Machine for winding spiral springs

Machine for winding spiral springs, made by Joseph Bramah, c. 1780

This machine was made in the works of Joseph Bramah for the purpose of winding the spiral springs needed for the barrel of the Bramah lock (see 211). It is made on the lines of a screw-cutting lathe, driven by treadle and flywheel, and having a saddle which travels the entire length of the bed, and is drawn by a lead-screw.

The lead-screw is driven from a headstock by change gears which permit the relative speeds of headstock rotation and saddle travel to be varied. Instead of a cutting tool, however, the saddle carries a reel of wire which is wound onto an arbor held between centres. Maudslay's later work on screw cutting suggests that Maudslay, who was Bramah's foreman from 1 789 to 1798, was responsible for the design of this machine.