Whitworth Gear Cutting Machine

Made:
circa 1854 in Manchester
maker:
Joseph Whitworth and Company
Gear-cutting machine, made by Joseph Whitworth & Co

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Gear-cutting machine, made by Joseph Whitworth & Co
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Gear-cutting machine, made by Joseph Whitworth & Co., of Manchester, c. 1854.

This gear cutting machine was made by J. Whitworth & Co. from a design first conceived in 1840. Like other gear cutters, it is a specialised milling machine. It can vary the number and size of teeth to be cut from a gear blank using ‘change gears’. These set the index that regulates the measurement of the teeth. A special chart of tables was used to calculate the change gears needed to achieve a specific pattern of teeth. The Manchester locomotive engineering company, Beyer Peacock, originally purchased this gear cutting machine from Whitworth in 1854. It came to the Museum in 1973, after being used for several years by the engineers Edgar Allen Tools Ltd of Openshaw, Manchester.

Details

Category:
Hand and Machine Tools
Object Number:
Y1973.47
Materials:
cast iron and metal (unknown)
Measurements:
Overall: 1475 mm x 1000 mm x 1680 mm,
type:
gear-cutting machine
credit:
Gift of Edgar Allen Tools Ltd