Lathe with slide rest and appliances

Made:
1823-1824 in London
maker:
Joseph Clement

Lathe with slide rest and appliances. Plus accessories. The lathe was owned by Charles Babbage. It was made to order for him by London toolmaker Joseph Clement in 1823-1824.

This lathe is of interest given Babbage's work on the Difference Engine. However, the phrase 'made to order' in the description needs to be unpicked. The lathe bed is a standard London-pattern type along the lines established by Holtzapffel (for example). however, the slide rest and tool holder are very out of scale with the rest of the machine. Given the known relationship between Babbage and Clement, I wonder if the latter, asked for a lathe to experiment with by the former, knocked it together from whatever he had to hand without spending too much time over it.

Details

Category:
Hand and Machine Tools
Object Number:
1878-89
Materials:
cast iron, steel (metal), metal (unknown) and wood (unidentified)
type:
lathe - machine
credit:
Babbage, Major-General

Parts

Small parts and accessories for lathe

Small parts and accessories for lathe

Small parts and accessories for lathe, by Joseph Clement, London, England, 1823-1824. The lathe was owned by Charles Babbage.

Object Number:
1878-89/2
type:
component - object