Shaping machine for hand, automatic feed, with attachment, by Nasmyth Gaskell & Co., Manchester

Together with his partner Holbrook Gaskell, James Nasmyth built many types of machine tools at their works in Patricroft, Manchester, including the steam hammer and this shaping machine, of which the company had built 236 by 1856. Nasmyth was later connected with the rise of interchangeable arms manufacture in Britain as a member of the government committee which led to the re-equipment of the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield.