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ARCHIVE UKBritish Machine Tool Archive

Britain is the country where the machine tool itself was born. The boring machine that bored steam engine cylinders accurately, the screw-cutting lathe that could cut the same thread anywhere, the planer that made flat surfaces, and the standards for flat surfaces and threads behind them: what Maudslay and his pupils created in the first half of the 19th century became the starting point for machine tools in the U.S., Germany and Japan. This archive follows that story, the 20th-century era of being overtaken, and the comeback in NC and measuring machines, checking each point against technical journals of the time, patents, official records and museum materials, and gives a source for every event.

Thread and flat-surface
standards
came from Britain!

Chips, the Kezuriba mascot
c. 1800Screw-cutting lathe1850sPlaner, steam hammer1950sProduction latheTodayMC and touch probe
How British machine tools changed: screw-cutting lathe, planer and steam hammer, production lathe, machining center with probe (illustration; not a specific model)

Chapters

You can read it in two ways: chapters by era, and chapters by machine type (lathes, milling machines/machining centers, grinders, gear machines, other machines). 9 of the 9 chapters are available now (569 events, all with sources).

By era

Chapter 1 · c. 1770–1850The Birth of the Machine Tool: Maudslay and His PupilsWilkinson's boring machine and the steam engine, Bramah and Maudslay, the Portsmouth block mills, the screw-cutting lathe and flat-surface standards, the planers, shapers and steam hammers of Clement, Roberts, Nasmyth and Whitworth, and the Whitworth thread.Read →Chapter 2 · 1850–1914The Workshop of the World and Britain OvertakenThe Great Exhibition of 1851 and the 1854 mission to the U.S., Enfield's American machines, the machine tool makers of Manchester and Leeds, Alfred Herbert and Coventry's bicycles and cars, and the debate over why Britain was overtaken by the U.S. and Germany.Read →Chapter 3 · 1914–1945The Two World Wars and Machine Tool ControlThe shell shortage of 1915 and the Ministry of Munitions, the interwar slump and rearmament, Machine Tool Control in World War II and machines from the U.S. (Lend-Lease), and the shadow factories and aero engines.Read →Chapter 4 · 1945–NC, FMS, Industrial Decline and RevivalFerranti's NC and measuring machines, Molins' System 24, the troubles of Herbert-Ingersoll and the decline of the 1980s, Renishaw's touch probe, Delcam's CAM, and research centers such as the AMRC and MTC.Read →

By machine type

Chapter 5 · 1770s–The Lineage of British LathesMaudslay's screw-cutting lathe, Holtzapffel's ornamental lathe, Whitworth's lathes, the capstan and turret lathes of Herbert and Ward, Colchester and Myford, Dean Smith & Grace, and NC lathes.Read →Chapter 6 · 1820s–The Lineage of British Milling Machines and Machining CentersNasmyth's small milling machine, the introduction of American-style universal milling machines, Parkinson, Kearns and Archdale, Cincinnati's British plant, Adcock & Shipley's Bridgeport, Ferranti's NC milling machine, Molins and Kearney & Trecker Marwin.Read →Chapter 7 · 1830s–The Lineage of British Grinding MachinesNasmyth and Whitworth on lapping and flat surfaces, Churchill's cylindrical grinders, Jones & Shipman's tool and surface grinders, Matrix thread grinders, Newall's crankshaft grinding, and CNC grinding.Read →Chapter 8 · 1800s–The Lineage of British Gear MachinesWhitworth's gear cutting, David Brown's gear works, Sykes's double helical gear shaper, Parkinson's gear planer, Holroyd's hobbing machines and rotor grinding, reduction gears for ships and tanks, and the British Standard gear standards.Read →Chapter 9 · 1770s–Other British Machine Tools: Boring Machines, Planers, Shapers, Drilling Machines, Measuring Machines and MoreWilkinson's cylinder boring machine, the planers of Roberts and Whitworth, Nasmyth's shaper and steam hammer, Asquith's radial drill, Whitworth's measuring machine and Ferranti's coordinate measuring machine, and Renishaw's probe.Read →

How to read the history of British machine tools

The history of British machine tools is easier to see if you divide it into "the age of setting standards" and "the age of being overtaken". From the late 18th century to the mid-19th century, Britain created machine tools for steam engines, textile machinery and shipbuilding, and set the standards for flat surfaces, threads and measurement. From the late 19th century it was caught up by the U.S., which pushed interchangeable manufacture, and by Germany, which studied production engineering at its universities, and in the 20th century it became a country that imported many of its machine tools. Even so, in early NC development, the coordinate measuring machine, the touch probe and CAM, that is, in measuring and controlling, Britain still influences the world today.

This archive consists of four chapters by era and five chapters by machine type (lathes, milling machines/machining centers, grinders, gear machines, other machines). Machines born in Britain, such as planers, shapers and boring machines, are covered in the "Other machines" chapter, and the gear machines and works of David Brown, Sykes, Holroyd and others in the "Gear machines" chapter.

Links with Japan

The first models for the factories of Meiji Japan were British machines. The earliest Japanese-built lathes are called "English-type lathes" (Japanese Archive, Chapter 1). At the Akabane Engineering Works of the Ministry of Public Works, the British engineer Henry Dyer, a former Whitworth scholar, managed the works and students of the Imperial College of Engineering trained there (Chapter 2).

How we checked

Years, model names and makers have been checked against two or more sources. Among British sources, biographies such as Smiles's Industrial Biography (1863) are known to enlarge their subjects, and later research has revised some years and "firsts." The text distinguishes which source says what.

⌛Key events (mini timeline)

The events from each chapter that matter most for following the story. Colored tags show the chapter, and numbers refer to the sources below. All events are in each chapter's timeline.

  1. 1775BirthWilkinson bores the first cylinder for a Boulton & Watt steam engine at his ironworks at Bersham (near Wrexham). Because a heavy boring bar passed through the cylinder and was supported at both ends, the bore came out straight and round even if the casting was crooked. All of Watt's early cylinders were bored on this machine[1, p.11][1, p.13][2, frame 10][2, frame 69]
  2. 1775Other machinesAt his works at Bersham (near Wrexham), Wilkinson bores the first Boulton & Watt cylinders on a boring machine whose heavy boring bar passes through the cylinder and is supported at both ends. The cutter head slid along the bar as it was fed, and the bar itself served as the straightedge, giving a straight, round bore even if the casting was crooked[3, frame 69][4, p.11][4, p.12][5]
  3. c. 1800BirthMaudslay builds a screw-cutting lathe with a cast-iron bed. The lead screw had 30 threads per inch, and by combining 28 change gears of 15 to 50 teeth it could cut threads of 16 to 100 per inch. Cutting various pitches with one lead screw and change gears became the prototype of thread cutting on today's lathes[1, p.41][2, frame 11][6, p.214]
  4. c. 1800LathesMaudslay's first screw-cutting lathe. Two triangular bars formed the bed, and a lead screw between them moved the carriage. The carriage had an infeed screw with micrometer graduations, and the lead screw was connected to the spindle by change gears (now lost). Hand-operated, about 3 ft (about 0.9 m) long[7][8, frame 50][8, frame 51][9, p.40][10, frame 46]
  5. 1802–08BirthAt the Portsmouth naval dockyard, 44 block-making machines, including saws, boring machines, mortising machines and shaping machines, are installed in sequence. With many machines lined up and the work divided into operations, replacing the handwork of skilled craftsmen, it is regarded as the first large-scale mass production plant using machine tools[2, frame 12][6, p.221][6, p.222][1, p.29]
  6. 1805Other machinesThe block mills make all the blocks the navy needs, saving about £17,000 a year. Ten unskilled men are said to have done the work of 110 skilled men. There were 45 machines of 22 kinds (44 according to Roe), built by Maudslay[3, frame 131][4, p.29][4, p.31][11]
  7. 1817Other machinesRoberts builds a planer, the oldest surviving planer; chisel and file marks remain on its bed. The table (52 in long, 11 in wide) was moved back and forth by hand with a chain and drum, and the tool was held in a hinged clapper that lifted on the return stroke[3, frame 77][4, p.51][12]
  8. 1829–31Milling/MCThe young Nasmyth, newly at Maudslay's works, builds a machine to cut the small hexagon nuts used in model steam engines, combining a hard steel disk cutter (he called it a "revolving file") with a dividing plate on which the nut was mounted. The six faces were cut in turn by indexing, more accurately and quickly than with a hand file, which delighted Maudslay[13, p.145][13, p.146][14, frame 12][15, p.7]
  9. 1833BirthWhitworth rents a room with power in Manchester and puts up a sign reading "Joseph Whitworth, Tool Maker, from London." He began improving lathes, planers, drilling machines, slotting machines and shapers[1, p.99][2, frame 14]
  10. June 1835Gear machinesIn British patent No. 6,850 (June 11, 1835), Whitworth shows a machine that cuts worm wheels by linking the blank and the hob in an exact ratio through a gear train. Woodbury regards it as the first use of hobbing in a production machine and the first machine to generate involute teeth (helical gears and worm wheels only)[16, frame 43][16, frame 57]
  11. 1836Other machinesNasmyth builds the shaper, a planer scaled down for small parts. A ram carrying the tool is reciprocated by a crank, and the work table is fed sideways little by little. It allowed flat faces, keyways and the faces of nuts on parts to be cut without filing[17, p.415][3, frame 79][4, p.92]
  12. 1838Gear machinesRobert Willis of Cambridge devises and names the odontograph (a graduated rule for drawing tooth forms approximated by circular arcs) and publishes how to make it, with tables. He proposed a 14.5° pressure angle for involute teeth and gave the name diametral pitch to the system known as "Manchester pitch." In 1841 he published Principles of Mechanism[16, frame 17][16, frame 19][18, p.31]
  13. November 1839BirthConsulted on how to forge the 30-inch paddle shaft of the steamship Great Britain, Nasmyth sketches in his notebook on November 24 a hammer that lifts a heavy iron block by steam and drops it straight down. The force of the blow could be varied from just cracking an eggshell to heavy forging[19, p.240][2, frame 13][1, p.93][1, p.94]
  14. 1840GrindersJoseph Whitworth reads "Plane Metallic Surfaces, or True Planes" to the British Association in Glasgow. Until then, surface plates and guideways were filed and then "ground" by rubbing together with emery; he pointed out that rubbing transfers errors to the other surface and that powder collects at the edges and rounds them, and showed the method of trying three plates against each other and scraping off only the high spots[20, frame 19][20, frame 25][20, frame 27]
  15. 1841BirthWhitworth presents "a uniform system of screw threads" to the Institution of Civil Engineers. He collected bolts from the main works throughout Britain and averaged them by diameter, settling on a thread angle of 55 degrees with crests and roots rounded by one-sixth. This became the later Whitworth thread[21, p.23][21, p.31][21, p.33][1, p.102]
  16. June 1842Other machinesHaving seen a steam hammer built to his own design already in use at Le Creusot in France, Nasmyth takes out a patent two months later, on June 9. Which came first became a dispute with Bourdon[4, p.95][4, p.96][22]
  17. 1851Workshop of the worldAt the Great Exhibition in London (Crystal Palace), Whitworth shows 23 items including machine tools, measuring machines and gauges, standing far above the rest for accuracy and workmanship. The other 20 firms showed one to three items each[23, frame 13][23, frame 14][24, p.99]
  18. 1851LathesWhitworth takes first place among machine tools at the Great Exhibition in London. While the other 20 firms showed one to three machines each, he showed 23 items: machines for turning, planing, shaping, slotting, drilling, gear cutting and screw cutting, and measuring machines. At the 1862 exhibition, too, he was first among 60 firms and occupied a quarter of the machine tool floor space[10, frame 13][10, frame 14][8, frame 56]
  19. 1854–55Workshop of the worldThe Board of Ordnance sends a committee of Lieutenant-Colonel Burn, Lieutenant Warlow and Anderson (the Committee on the Machinery of the United States) to the U.S. to order arms-making machinery. Its 1855 report said Britain led in ordinary machines, but should learn from the U.S. in special machines built for a single operation[25][26, p.420]
  20. 1855Workshop of the world157 arms-making machines are shipped from the U.S. to the government small arms factory at Enfield (Royal Small Arms Factory). Most were milling machines and special machines; the machines for copy-turning gunstocks were bought from the Ames company. The spread of the milling machine in Britain is said to have started with these machines[24, p.138][26, p.427][23, frame 15]
  21. 1855Milling/MC157 machines were shipped from the U.S. to Britain for Enfield, 74 of them milling machines. Gilbert of the Science Museum sums up that the milling machine came into Britain with this import of machines for Enfield[27, p.138][15, p.9]
  22. 1856Other machinesIn his presidential address to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) in Glasgow, Whitworth calls true planes and the power of measurement the two key elements of machine making, and shows a measuring machine that detects a millionth of an inch by the feel of end measures. He also said that a flat surface that cost 12 shillings per square foot by hand 30 years earlier now cost less than a penny on the planer[28, p.42][28, p.43][28, p.48][4, p.101]
  23. 1860Gear machinesDavid Brown starts as a pattern maker in Huddersfield. Its specialty was patterns for cast gears[29, p.69][30]
  24. 1873Workshop of the worldHenry Dyer comes to Japan as principal (tokei) and teacher of civil and mechanical engineering at the Kogakuryo (later the Imperial College of Engineering), staying until 1882. Its six-year course combined theory with practical training in the works[31][32, frame 25]
  25. c. 1887–88Workshop of the worldHaving finished his apprenticeship in Leicester, Alfred Herbert buys a small works in Coventry with his friend William Hubbard and starts as Herbert & Hubbard. At first they made machines for pills and ribbons, then moved into machines for making bicycles with the cycle boom[33, frame 5][34, frame 8][23, frame 52]
  26. October 1890Milling/MCAddy reads a paper, "On Milling Cutters," at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE). In the discussion it was said that "less than 60% of British engineering works have milling machines," and some complained that British engineers had long been blamed for being slow to adopt the milling machine. On the other hand, the railway's Nine Elms works reported that milling had cut costs by 30–40%[35, frame 977][35, frame 982][35, frame 979]
  27. 1895LathesThe first Herbert No. 4 capstan lathe. It had a chasing saddle for cutting right- and left-hand threads, and a single lever withdrew the tool and the nut together. More than 24,000 were built by 1961[36, frame 180][37]
  28. 1900Workshop of the worldThe treatment discovered by Taylor and White in the U.S., heating chromium-tungsten steel to near its melting point (high-speed steel), is announced at the Paris Exposition together with demonstrations of lathes cutting at high speed. Tool life and cutting speed rose two- to fourfold[38, frame 54][38, frame 105][38, frame 237]
  29. 1906GrindersChurchill Machine Tool Company is founded in Manchester. At first it made various machine tools but soon focused on grinders. British works of the time regarded the grinder as "a necessary evil for machining hard things"[39, frame 20][40]
  30. 1908Gear machinesParsons buys the cargo ship Vespasian (4,350 tons), removes its reciprocating engine and refits it with geared turbines. Turbine pinions at 1,400 rpm, propeller shaft at 70 rpm. Coal savings of 15%, and 22% after modifying the propeller[41, p.48][41, p.49][41, p.50][42, p.371]
  31. December 1912Gear machinesParsons, Carnegie and Cook file a British patent for the "creep mechanism" (published December 1913). The table carrying the blank is shifted slightly relative to the master worm wheel on every revolution, scattering the master wheel's errors around the gear in a helix and eliminating periodic errors (the cause of noise)[43][42, p.372][44, p.146]
  32. April 1915The two world warsOn April 25, at the request of Girouard of the War Office, Herbert agrees to organize the machine tool industry, and on the 27th the Machine Tool Department starts work at Cecil Chambers in London. At first it was a section of the War Office with unclear powers[45, frame 381][46, frame 416]
  33. May 1915The two world warsOn May 14, The Times prints Repington's article, and the public learns of the shortage of high-explosive shells for breaking down enemy trenches (the Shell Crisis). On the 19th, the formation of a coalition government is announced[45, frame 548]
  34. End of World War IGrindersCoventry Gauge & Tool brings out the first Matrix thread grinder. At first it ground with a single-rib wheel, but later it incorporated a multi-rib diamond dresser patented by Harley's son Stanley Harley, so that many ribs could be ground at once[47, frame 153]
  35. 1932Gear machinesBS 436 "Machine-Cut Gears: Helical and Straight Spur" (spur and helical gears) is issued (revised 1940), followed by BS 545 for bevel gears (1934), BS 721 for worm gears (1937) and BS 978 for instrument and clock gears (1941)[48]
  36. 1934LathesHerbert brings out the "Preoptive" headstock. The next spindle speed can be preselected while cutting and engaged with a single lever. On the No. 4 capstan lathe, eight speeds from 42 to 1,000 rpm could be changed while cutting[36, frame 180][49, frame 152][50]
  37. 1934Milling/MCCincinnati of the U.S. builds a plant in Britain, and the first British-built Cincinnati milling machines and tool grinders appear in 1934. An American museum also presents this as the year an American company began making machine tools in Western Europe[51, frame 47][52]
  38. March 1936The two world warsThe Defence White Paper (Cmd. 5107) announces the "shadow industry" for aircraft. Motor companies would run factories built at state expense, making aircraft and Bristol-type engines; seven motor companies joined at first[53, p.218][53, p.219][53, p.255]
  39. Autumn 1939The two world warsWith the outbreak of war, the Machine Tools Control Order (S.R.&O. 1939 No. 1373) is issued, and the adviser Rowse becomes Controller of Machine Tools. Everyone who made, owned or used machine tools was obliged to follow the Ministry of Supply's directions, and from October import licenses for machine tools also had to go through the Controller[53, p.346][53, p.348][54][55, p.547]
  40. March 1941The two world warsLend-Lease is enacted in the U.S. Until then purchases had been "cash and carry," paid for and shipped by Britain itself, with scarce dollars going to food, raw materials and machine tools. During 1941, Lend-Lease supplies were mainly food and raw materials[56, p.229][56, p.236]
  41. 1942The two world warsBritish machine tool output reaches its peak: 95,788 machines worth £33.5 million, over 200,000 tons in weight. Firms making mainly machine tools grew from about 190 in 1939 to over 330, subcontractors building complete machines to about 310, and more than 600 firms were involved[53, p.326][53, p.330][53, p.333][53, p.336]
  42. 1942GrindersBritain produces 11,903 grinders in 1942. Grinder imports from the U.S. reached about 11,000 in the peak year, equal to 92% of British production[57, frame 351]
  43. February 1946LathesThe Model Engineer previews Myford's new ML7 of Beeston (Nottingham) (3.5 in center height, 20 in between centers, gap bed). The motor was built in from the start, and the guideways were ground[58, frame 18][58, frame 19][59]
  44. September 1954GrindersAt the European Machine Tool Exhibition in Milan, Jones & Shipman shows the Model 1300 semi-universal grinder, just entering production, alongside its "well-known" hydraulic surface grinder Model 540. The 540 was already a standard machine by then[60, frame 8]
  45. June 1956NC and revivalAt the International Machine Tool Exhibition at Olympia in London (June 22 to July 6), Ferranti's first NC product is unveiled, and the aircraft maker Fairey Aviation offers joint development. At the same exhibition EMI also showed NC and teamed up with Cincinnati to move on to 3-axis control[61, p.91][61, p.93][61, p.94]
  46. May 1959Milling/MCAdcock and Shipley of Leicester, under an agreement with Bridgeport Machines of the U.S., begins building Bridgeport turret milling machines in Britain. A rotating head (turret) and ram sat on top of a knee-type column, and the table was 42 × 9 in (about 1,070 × 230 mm)[62, frame 96][63, frame 105]
  47. August 1959Other machinesFerranti announces an inspection machine that measures by coordinates. When a probe hanging from a cantilever beam is set on the center of a hole, photocells count the moiré fringes of a diffraction grating and display the X (24 in) and Y (15 in) coordinates digitally to 0.001 in. It replaced inspection with surface plates, dial gauges, gauge blocks and height gauges[64][65]
  48. December 1959NC and revivalFerranti announces a machine that measures parts by coordinates. Using the same optical gratings and electronic counting as its NC, it displays the position of the probe digitally to a thousandth of an inch over a range of 24 × 15 in, greatly reducing time compared with measuring with dial gauges and a surface plate. Research had begun about two years earlier, and it was said that nothing of the same type existed anywhere in the world[66][67, p.142]
  49. 1967Milling/MCMolins, the cigarette machinery maker, announces "System 24," which moves workpieces among several NC machines under computer command. Its development was led by D. T. N. Williamson, who had come from Ferranti. Parts on pallets were carried by racks and conveyors, aiming at 24-hour operation[68][69][70, frame 18]
  50. September 1967NC and revivalMolins, the cigarette machine maker, presents System 24 at the 8th International Machine Tool Design and Research Conference in Manchester. Under computer direction, parts on pallets travel among NC machines, a concept for making the small parts of cigarette machines, led by Williamson, who had moved from Ferranti. The first installation, at Deptford in London, consisted of six machines[71, p.16][71, p.17][72, p.11]
  51. 1972GrindersAt the 6th Japan International Machine Tool Fair at Harumi, Tokyo, Britain shows Churchill grinders, Jones & Shipman grinders, grinders and lathes from Matrix-Churchill (the machine tool division of Tube Investments) and Wickman internal grinders. The Diaform device was also demonstrated on machines of Japanese, Italian and Swiss exhibitors[73, frame 16]
  52. September 1972Other machinesMcMurtry of Rolls-Royce devises a probe that gives a signal on touch, to inspect parts of the Concorde's Olympus engine, and files in Britain (US patent 4,153,998 claiming September 21 as priority date, granted 1979). The stylus returns to a position defined by three balls, and when the stylus moves, a contact circuit opens[74][75]
  53. 1973NC and revivalMcMurtry and John Deer set up Renishaw Electrical Ltd and launch the TP1 probe for coordinate measuring machines[76]
  54. 1980NC and revivalAlfred Herbert, once said to be the world's largest machine tool maker, goes into voluntary liquidation. Coventry's city history describes machines being put up for sale in the deserted works as a symbol of Coventry's slump in the early 1980s[77][78][79]
  55. 1980LathesThe final closure of Alfred Herbert is announced in July, and it goes into voluntary liquidation in October[80][81][82]
  56. June 1987NC and revivalYamazaki Mazak's British subsidiary begins full operation of a computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) plant at its European factory in Worcester. It now covers 29,000 square meters with more than 900 people[83][84]
  57. June 1987LathesYamazaki Mazak's European factory (CIM plant) in Worcester, England, starts operation (June). In March 1988, NC machine tools built at the British plant were shipped to Japan for the first time[85][86]
  58. June 1987Milling/MCJapan's Yamazaki Mazak opens its British plant in Worcester. Its European production base, it now builds more than 1,000 machine tools a year, and the VCN-600 vertical machining center is labeled as made in Britain[87][88][89][90]
  59. 2016Gear machinesDavid Brown combines with Santasalo of Finland to become David Brown Santasalo. An industrial gear unit company, it has also taken over servicing for old gear brands such as Power Plant Gears, Sykes, BTH and Radicon[30][91]

🔎Using British research and archive sites

We checked the events in this archive using the sites listed here. We actually opened every one in October 2026 to see what is available and whether the full text can be read from Japan. Many old trade journals, patents and government reports can be read for free.

Papers & journals

British machine tool history has been studied around the question "Why was Britain, which led the world in the 19th century, overtaken by the U.S. and Germany in the 20th?" Start with the business history and economic history journals and the basic books in the field.

Business History (Taylor & Francis)British business history journal

What's there
An academic journal of business history in Britain, published by Taylor & Francis. It carries Saul's 1968 paper, the starting point for research on the British machine tool industry, as well as studies of machine tool industries in other countries such as Spain.
When to use it
Use it to get the scale, specialization, exports and imports of British machine tool makers up to 1914 from the standard paper. It backs up the background explanations in the timelines.
How to search
In OpenAlex, filter to the journal (ID S942037226) and put machine tool, machine-tool or engineering industry in the title to build a list. Open the DOIs you find on the publisher's pages.
Access
The full text is paid. The publisher's site (tandfonline.com) returned 403 even on a later recheck, so bibliographic details were checked in Crossref. Whether older issues can be read on JSTOR or elsewhere could not be confirmed.
Examples found

Cambridge Core (Business History Review, monographs)Cambridge University Press online

What's there
Cambridge University Press's online books and journals. They include Floud's The British Machine Tool Industry, 1850–1914 (1976), the basic study of the British machine tool industry, and papers on British machine tools in Business History Review, the American business history journal.
When to use it
Floud's book is a quantitative study of the productivity and markets of British machine tool makers and is a mainstay of the background for the British chapters. There is also a paper on the British machine tool industry between the wars (Aldcroft 1966).
How to search
Searching OpenAlex for "British machine tool industry" brings up Floud's book together with the reviews of it in various journals. Reading the reviews tells you how the book was received and its weaknesses. Opening a DOI takes you to the publisher's page.
Access
The online edition is paid (institutional subscription or purchase). Business History Review is a subscription journal published by Harvard Business School and available on Cambridge Core, with only some articles free (open access) (founded in 1926; its predecessor was the Bulletin of the Business Historical Society). Bibliographic details were checked in Crossref and OpenAlex. Old issues of the journal can sometimes be read in JSTOR's free tier.
Examples found

JSTORdigital archive of academic journals

What's there
A digital archive of English-language academic journals. It includes old issues of Technology and Culture (history of technology), the Economic History Review (economic history), Business History Review and others, with papers and reviews on British machine tools.
When to use it
Use it to read reviews of basic studies such as Floud and Saul, and papers on Britain's adoption of the "American system of manufactures."
How to search
Search for "British machine tool," "Whitworth," "Maudslay" and "Alfred Herbert," and narrow by journal title. Sort out items only one page long as reviews.
Access
Searching is free. A free personal account lets you read up to 10 articles on screen every 30 days (cut from 100 to 10 from September 2026). Early Journal Content does not count toward this and is free.
Examples found

OpenAlexfree API for a catalog of papers

What's there
A free API for looking up a catalog of the world's papers, books and theses. It returns titles, journals, years, citation counts and DOIs as JSON. You can use it just by typing a URL into a browser. Because bibliographic data is collected regardless of publisher, British and American journals can be lined up in the same format.
When to use it
Use it to rank research on British machine tools by citation count and decide what to read first. You can also make lists limited to Business History or the Economic History Review.
How to search
Example: /works?search=British machine tool industry 1850-1914. To filter by journal, look up the ID with /sources?search=business history and add filter=primary_location.source.id:S942037226.
Access
Free, no registration needed. Without an API key, however, you share a daily allowance worth $0.10 with all users on the same IP (as shown in 2026).

Digital libraries, old books & trade journals

The British technical weeklies The Engineer (1856–) and Engineering (1866–) are the core primary sources on 19th- and 20th-century machine tools. Free scans of both are available.

Grace's Guide to British Industrial Historyencyclopedia of British industrial history

What's there
A charity's site collecting British industrial history, with more than 150,000 pages on companies, people and products. It offers PDFs of The Engineer for 1856–1951 (and 1953), with an index for each year.
When to use it
The most convenient way to open issues of The Engineer by year and month. Company pages (e.g. Alfred Herbert) are a quick way to get name changes and dates. But company pages are contributed summaries, so open the cited issues to check.
How to search
On The Engineer page, find articles via the "Index" for a volume (e.g. January–June 1900) and open issues via "Issues." Companies can be looked up by page name, such as "Alfred_Herbert." Issues for 1952 and 1954–68 are not included.
Access
Free, no registration needed. The site's text is licensed under CC BY-SA, but terms of use for the PDFs of The Engineer specifically were not stated on the pages or on the disclaimer page. No fees are listed, and there is a donate button. Use the company page text as a lead, and cite the original issue (date and page of The Engineer).
Examples found

Internet Archive (The Engineer, Engineering and others)nonprofit digital library

What's there
A US nonprofit digital library, with about 1,950 items of The Engineer from 1860 to 1968. It also has old volumes of Engineering and books on British machine tool history (Rolt, A Short History of Machine Tools, 1965; Steeds, A History of Machine Tools 1700–1910, 1969).
When to use it
Use it to read issues of The Engineer as they are and to search for words in the OCR text. You can also find issues for 1954–68, which Grace's Guide does not have.
How to search
In advancedsearch, write something like collection:pub_engineer AND year:1930 to list the issues for that year. The body text can be read at /stream/<ID>/<ID>_djvu.txt.
Access
Free. Issues of The Engineer could be read without registering. Rolt (1965) and Steeds (1969) are "Borrow" only and require login.
Examples found

HathiTrust Digital Library (British trade journals)shared digital library of US university libraries

What's there
A shared digital library of US university libraries that also holds British trade journals. 587 volumes of The Engineer and 432 of Engineering are registered. The contents of every volume are full-text searchable.
When to use it
Use it to find issues of The Engineer and Engineering by volume and year, and to check with full-text search which issues mention a company or model name.
How to search
Look up the journal title at catalog.hathitrust.org and choose from the list of volumes. Check the rights code: pd = full text worldwide, pdus = U.S. only, ic = search only. The Engineer has 391 pd volumes and Engineering 140.
Access
Free. From Japan only pd volumes can be read in full. The main site stopped at a bot check this time, so volume counts and rights codes were checked with the bibliographic API.
Examples found

British Library CatalogueBritish Library catalog

What's there
The catalog of the books and journals of Britain's national library, reopened with a new interface (Primo) after the 2023 cyberattack. You can check the whereabouts of company histories, trade association publications and technical books published in Britain. The text of the new catalog is published under a CC BY license.
When to use it
Use it to check the titles and publication years of company histories of British machine tool makers and of trade association yearbooks. The volumes held of trade journals (such as The Engineer) can also be checked here.
How to search
Enter a company name or title in the catalog search box. As the notice on screen says, archival material and manuscripts are not in this catalog, so search for them separately. The new catalog changed its search URL format, so old links may not open; start again from the search box.
Access
The catalog is free (text under CC BY). However, on a recheck on 2026-10-22, entering terms such as “American machinist” in the search box still returned “No records found,” so examples of trade journal holdings could not be confirmed. Seeing the items themselves requires reader registration. A notice said some reading rooms would be closed and ordering limited on October 24–25, 2026.

Patents

British patents were numbered by year (e.g. 1914 No. 20,448). In Espacenet they appear in the form "GB1914" + number.

Espacenet (European Patent Office)European Patent Office patent search

What's there
The European Patent Office's (EPO) free patent search. Some old British patents (GB19xx...) include the applicant's name and a short summary (abridgment), making them easier to find than old German patents. You can also trace patents for the same invention filed in other countries (families).
When to use it
Use it to check the patents and dates (priority and publication dates) of British machine tool makers. Many tool patents (drills, milling cutters) also come up. Good for checking years and numbers.
How to search
Write pa= for applicant, in= for inventor and pd= for publication date. Old applicant names are stored abbreviated and rearranged (e.g. "HERBERT LTD A"), so narrow down with the company's full name, as in pa="Alfred Herbert Ltd". A person's name alone mixes in many different people with the same name.
Access
Free, no registration needed. WebFetch and curl got 403, but it opened in a browser. Image PDFs are also displayed.
Examples found

Government and parliamentary records

In both world wars, the British government put machine tools under state control. The story is preserved in the National Archives and the parliamentary debates.

The National Archives – DiscoveryUK National Archives (Kew) catalog

What's there
The catalog of the UK National Archives at Kew, outside London, where you can search government records together with the catalogs of archives across the country. It holds records of machine tool control by the Ministry of Munitions in World War I and the Ministry of Supply (AVIA and others) in World War II.
When to use it
Ideal for checking the whereabouts and dates of records of wartime machine tool control (Machine Tool Control) and the minutes of the Ministry of Munitions' Machine Tool Committee. There are also records of the control of machine tools in the occupied zones of Germany after the war.
How to search
Search with terms in quotation marks (e.g. "machine tool control" gives 164 results). Narrowing by series code is quick: add MUN (Ministry of Munitions), AVIA (Ministry of Supply and others) or BT (Board of Trade) to the terms. Cite each record's Reference (e.g. MUN 4/5019).
Access
The catalog is free. Many documents are not digitized, so you view them at Kew or request a copy quotation (paid). It opened in a browser.
Examples found

Hansard (UK Parliament)UK Parliament debates

What's there
The debates of the House of Commons and House of Lords, searchable from 1803. The decline of the machine tool industry and government support came up many times in the 1970s, and there are a number of debates titled "Machine Tool Industry."
When to use it
Use it to check, through dated statements, how the government viewed the British machine tool industry and how imports (from Japan, Germany and elsewhere) were debated.
How to search
Enter "machine tool industry" in the Debates search and set a period (e.g. 1940–1990 brings up many debates from 1971–79). You can also search by company name (Alfred Herbert). The old Historic Hansard site (1803–2005) is also still available.
Access
Free. WebFetch got 403, but it opened in a browser. Parliamentary material can be used under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0; when you use it, credit it with “Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.” Parliamentary material under Crown copyright from before August 1, 1989 is also covered.
Examples found

Museums, archives and learned societies

Britain is the birthplace of the machine tool, and actual machines by Maudslay, Whitworth and others survive in museums. Learned societies and local archives hold the records of companies and engineers.

Science Museum Group CollectionScience Museum Group collection

What's there
The collection of the group that includes the Science Museum in London and the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester, with more than 7.3 million items. The online collection search lists more than 500,000 objects and documents (as stated on the site). Most of the collection is kept at the Hawking Building in Wiltshire.
When to use it
Use it to check, with object numbers, whether actual machines and materials such as early British machine tools and measuring instruments by Maudslay, Whitworth and others are in the collection.
How to search
In the collection search, enter a person, company or machine name. Search addresses take the form /search?q=Whitworth machine tool, and you can filter by objects, documents and people. “Maudslay lathe” returned 922 results and “Whitworth machine tool” more than 10,000. Each page gives the object number, maker and donor. To see actual objects, apply for a research visit.
Access
Searching is free. It would not open last time, but it opened on a later recheck. Object pages state that data such as title, date and maker are CC0, descriptions are CC BY 4.0, and images are CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum) (check the image terms on each page).
Examples found

Science and Industry Museum (Manchester)Science and Industry Museum, Manchester

What's there
A museum in Manchester, the world's first industrial city, and one of the Science Museum Group. It presents objects and stories under themes such as "Engineering and mass production." The 1830 station and warehouse buildings are closed for restoration.
When to use it
Use it to see, through exhibits and the collection, the background to Manchester's engineering industry (the city where Whitworth and others set up works). A candidate for "Places to visit."
How to search
From "Researchers" on the site, go to the research guide, and search the collection with the group's collection search. The address is Liverpool Road, Manchester M3 4FP. Some buildings are under restoration, so check in advance whether the exhibits you want to see are open.
Access
Admission was shown as daily, 10:00–17:00 (closed December 24–26 and January 1). Check before you go whether machine tools are on display.

Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) – Library and ArchiveIMechE library and archive

What's there
The library and archive of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE). It has membership records, engineers' papers, photographs, drawings and an online "Virtual Archive," covering the history of British mechanical engineering. There is also a separate search for the library and electronic resources.
When to use it
Use it to find the careers of machine tool engineers (members of the Institution) and the records of papers and discussions presented at the Institution. A basic resource for writing about the people of British machine tool engineering.
How to search
Search the archive catalog (archivecat.imeche.org) by person, company or subject. The catalog is searched within the page, and it was not possible to open a search directly by putting terms in the URL. Book a visit with the research support staff.
Access
The catalog is free. Archive visits are by appointment, at the library at One Birdcage Walk, London. Non-members can book too, but need documents showing their name and address. You may take your own photos for personal research; photography by staff is charged. The electronic edition of the Proceedings for 1847–1998 is sold separately by the publisher SAGE as the “IMechE Archive” (the price was not given on the page).

Coventry Archives (Herbert Art Gallery & Museum)Coventry Archives

What's there
The archives of Coventry, the city of Alfred Herbert Ltd, Britain's leading machine tool maker, housed in the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum. It has city records, maps, newspapers, local history and special collections.
When to use it
Use it to find local records of Coventry's machine tool industry (Alfred Herbert and others) and motor industry. Local newspaper files can also be found here.
How to search
Search for company names in the shared catalog coventrycollections.org (catalogs of the archives, transport museum and art gallery). If nothing turns up, ask the archives to search for you, or look for records of local organizations in the UK National Archives' Discovery.
Access
The catalog is free, and the top page says more than 300,000 records can be read. However, on a recheck on 2026-10-22, searching for “Alfred Herbert” in the search box led to an error page, so holdings could not be confirmed. Researchers who email the archive can have it search on their behalf or arrange a visit (replies usually within four weeks).

Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley MillsLeeds Industrial Museum (Armley Mills)

What's there
An industrial museum in an old Leeds woolen mill building, with collections of spinning machinery (spinning mules) and locomotives. It presents the history of science and industry in Leeds. A plan to review the railway collection is also under way.
When to use it
A place to see the engineering industry of Leeds, a city of textile machinery and locomotives, in an actual mill building. The Powerhouse Gallery features the 1871 mill steam engine that drove all of Armley Mills and names Leeds engineering firms such as Fowler and Greenwood & Batley. The gallery information did not mention any display of machine tools themselves.
How to search
Open Tuesday–Friday 10:00–17:00 and Saturday–Sunday 12:00–17:00, closed Mondays (open on bank holiday Mondays); last entry 16:00. The address is Canal Road, Leeds; the postcode differed between the body of the visit page (LS12 1QF) and the page footer (LS12 2QF). If you want to see machine tool material, contact the museum before you go to check whether it is in the collection.
Access
Admission is £6.40 for adults and £3.50 for children (ages 3–18) (as shown in October 2026). A notice said the main car park is closed for works until spring 2027, and the engine shed and locomotives cannot be seen during the works.

Search terms (Japanese and English)

The same machine was called different names in different eras and companies. When searching old trade journals, also search with the terms of the time.

JapaneseEnglishNotes
machine toolmachine toolSame in Britain and the U.S.
LatheslatheAn ordinary lathe is a centre lathe (US: engine lathe)
turret lathecapstan lathe / turret latheIn Britain the terms are often distinguished: capstan for smaller machines where the ram moves, turret for larger ones where the whole saddle moves
automatic screw machineautomatic lathe / auto (single-spindle / multi-spindle automatic)Equivalent to the US screw machine
CentercentreUS spelling: center
Milling machinemilling machine"Miller" is rarely used in Britain
Planerplaning machineUS: planer
shapershaping machineUS: shaper
slotterslotting machine
drilling machinedrilling machineUS: drill press. A radial is a radial drilling machine
boring machineboring machine (horizontal boring machine)
Jig borersjig borer (jig boring machine)
Grindersgrinding machine
centerless grindercentreless grinderUS spelling: centerless
Hobbing machinegear hobber (gear hobbing machine)
gear shapersgear shaper (gear shaping machine)
Gear cutting machine (general term)gear cutting machine
Gearsgear / gearwheelBevel gears: bevel gear
Thread cuttingscrew cuttingThe British standard thread is the Whitworth thread (BSW)
Whitworth threadWhitworth thread (British Standard Whitworth, BSW)
Measuring machine, gaugemeasuring machine / gaugeBritish spelling is gauge (the U.S. also uses gage)
Surface platesurface plateWhitworth's three-plate method
Toolingtool / small tools"Small tools" means drills, cutters and other tooling
Jig, fixturejig, fixture
numerical controlnumerical control (NC) / CNC
Machining centermachining centreUS spelling: center
flexible manufacturing systemflexible manufacturing system (FMS)
machine worksengineering works / machine shop"Engineering" is often used to mean the machinery industry
Machinery industryengineering industry
Lathe operator, assemblerturner / fitterNamed by trade
Apprenticeapprentice / apprenticeship
Machine tool controlMachine Tool ControlGovernment control in World War II
Ministry of MunitionsMinistry of Munitions (records code MUN)World War I
Ministry of SupplyMinistry of SupplyWorld War II. Its records are split among AVIA and other series
Board of TradeBoard of Trade (records code BT)
Parliamentary debatesHansardCommons (lower house), Lords (upper house)
trade journaltrade journalThe Engineer (1856–), Engineering (1866–), Machinery (British edition)
Patent (British)patent specification / Letters PatentA summary is an "abridgment"
Priority date, publication datepriority date / publication date
Company (private / public)Ltd (private limited company) / plcCompany histories mention events such as becoming a public company in 1944
Receivership, liquidationreceivership / liquidationHow British makers ended in the 1970s and 1980s
NationalizationnationalisationUS spelling: nationalization
trade showsMachine Tool Exhibition (Olympia)The machine tool exhibition at Olympia, London
Inch, footinch / footBritain moved toward the metric system from the 1960s

Cautions when reading British sources

  • British patents were numbered by "year + number" until about 1916 (e.g. 1914 No. 20,448). In Espacenet the year and number are joined, as in GB191420448A, so do not search by the number alone.
  • Company pages on Grace's Guide are secondary sources in which contributors summarize The Engineer and others. They are handy for years and company names, but cite the original journal issue.
  • British companies often changed names through mergers and acquisitions (e.g. Alfred Herbert → Herbert-BSA → TI Herbert-Churchill → TI Machine Tools). In timelines, write the name used at the time and add today's name in parentheses.
  • British and American English name machines differently (capstan lathe and turret lathe, planing machine and planer, centre and center). Search with both terms.
  • Many sources are written in inches (Whitworth threads, British dimensions), with a shift to metric from the 1960s. Keep the original units for figures and add millimeters in parentheses.
  • Records from the two world wars (Ministry of Munitions, Ministry of Supply) sometimes exaggerate or withhold production figures. Official histories written after the war explain the government's position, so check them against the original minutes.
  • In parliamentary debates (Hansard), figures and assessments differ with political position. For explanations of the machine tool industry's decline, read government and opposition statements side by side.
  • At the US university digital library HathiTrust, even British journals can be read in full from Japan only in volumes marked pd. Volumes marked pdus (U.S. only) can only be searched.
  • Many sites of well-known British institutions and publishers refuse automated access with bot checks (Cloudflare) or 403 (tandfonline, the ICE Virtual Library, the British Newspaper Archive and others). Check bibliographic details in Crossref and OpenAlex, and open the text in a browser.

Places to visit

Museums and historic sites where you can see real machines and former factories. Check opening days and tour bookings in each facility's guide before you go.

Science MuseumLondon (England)The home of Britain's machine tool collection. The 1966 catalog lists two Maudslay screw-cutting lathes (c. 1797 and c. 1800), Roberts's planer and back-geared lathe (1817), the Portsmouth block-making machinery, Wilkinson's boring bar, and the model steam hammer Nasmyth donated in 1857. Check the collection search for what is on display now before you go[2][92][23][93][7][94][95][16]BirthWorkshop of the worldLathesGear machines
Science and Industry MuseumManchester (England)A museum of the history of industry and science in Manchester, where Roberts, Whitworth, Nasmyth and Fairbairn set up their works[96][1][97][98][99][100][16]BirthLathesGear machines
Site of the Bersham ironworksBersham, near Wrexham (Wales)The site of the ironworks where Wilkinson bored Watt's cylinders from 1775. A model of the ironworks and the boring bar said to have been installed here are in the Science Museum's collection (1966 catalog). Check before you go whether there is a facility you can visit[2][1]Birth
Herbert Art Gallery & MuseumCoventry (England)The city art gallery and museum, to whose founding Alfred Herbert donated £200,000. It has displays on the history of Coventry[101][34][102]Workshop of the worldThe two world wars
Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley MillsLeeds (England)A museum of science and industry in Leeds, housed in an old mill building. It tells the story of industry in the city where Greenwood & Batley and Fairbairn built machine tools[103][104]Workshop of the world
National Museum of Nature and ScienceTaito City, TokyoThe English-type 9-foot lathe built by the Ikegai works in 1889 (Mechanical Engineering Heritage No. 53). A British-style lathe with back gears and a gap in the bed[105]Workshop of the world
Museum Meiji-muraInuyama, Aichi PrefectureA double-housing planer built in 1879 by the Akabane Engineering Works of the Ministry of Public Works (Mechanical Engineering Heritage No. 67). The Akabane works was managed by Dyer of the Imperial College of Engineering, and students trained there[106][32]Workshop of the world
The National ArchivesKew, London (England)Holds the primary sources for this chapter, such as the minutes of the Ministry of Munitions' Machine Tool Committee (MUN 4/5019) and the narrative records of machine tool control in World War II (AVIA 46/180). Viewing requires reader registration and booking[107][108]The two world wars
Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC)Near Sheffield (England)An advanced manufacturing research center set up by the University of Sheffield with Boeing. The core of the Advanced Manufacturing Park, begun in 2004, with facilities for joint research with industry. Visits by events or arrangement[109][110]NC and revival
Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC)Coventry (England)A manufacturing technology research center set up by three universities in 2010, with research facilities for additive manufacturing, metrology, automation and more. Visits by events or arrangement[111]NC and revival
Yamazaki Mazak European factory and European Technology CentreWorcester (England)Yamazaki Mazak's European factory and technology center, in full operation since 1987. Machines and the factory can sometimes be seen during open house events[84][83]NC and revival
Factory museum at Sielpia WielkaSielpia Wielka (Poland)A factory into which James Fox of Derby installed a complete set of machine tools in 1826 survives as a museum. Woodbury writes that an actual Fox lathe and the original drawings can be seen there[10][8]Lathes
Science MuseumLondon (England)A Brown & Sharpe No. 1 universal milling machine (built 1865), said to be one of five sold to Britain, is on display in the Making the Modern World gallery. The museum also holds a model of a mid-19th-century machine shop that includes a milling machine close to Nasmyth's design (check the displays before you go)[112][15][14][113][3][11][114][115][116]Milling/MCGrindersOther machines
Science Museum Group collection (online catalog)London and elsewhere (England)The catalog lists a Bridgeport turret milling machine built in Britain by Adcock and Shipley, a Parkinson 1A plain milling machine, a universal boring and milling machine by George Richards of Broadheath, a model of a Cramic NC milling machine, and more. The catalog does not give display locations, so ask the museum if you want to see them[117][118][119][120]Milling/MC
American Precision MuseumWindsor (Vermont, USA)A machine tool museum in the very armory building (a National Historic Landmark) of Robbins & Lawrence, which built many of the gun-making machines sent to Britain's Enfield factory in 1855. You can see the beginnings of the British milling machine from the American side[121][27]Milling/MC
Shepherd Wheel WorkshopSheffield (England)A water-powered grinding workshop turned by the Porter Brook. Going back to the 1500s, it ground cutlery such as penknives and butchers' knives. It kept running on water power into the 1930s, after other grinding hulls had gone electric, and is the oldest complete example in the city. Open on weekends (check the times in the visitor information)[122][123]Grinders
Abbeydale Industrial HamletSheffield (England)A scythe works village going back to the 1700s. Waterwheels fed from a river weir drove hammers and bellows, grindstones and boring machinery. A grinding hull and Britain's last complete crucible steel furnace survive. Check the opening days in the visitor information[124]Grinders
Discovery Museum (Turbinia)Newcastle upon TyneDisplays Turbinia (launched 1894), Parsons's first turbine ship. Turbinia's turbines drove the propellers directly; Parsons later moved on to geared turbines with reduction gears, and devised the creep-mechanism hobbing machine to cut those gears[125][41]Gear machines
Science and Industry MuseumManchester (England)The Revolution Manchester gallery has a slotting machine built by Sharp, Roberts & Co. in 1835. It is related to the machines that cut keyways in the wagon wheels of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, and can be seen in the city where Roberts started the slotting machine (displays change from time to time)[126]Other machines
Bersham Ironworks and Bersham Heritage CentreNear Wrexham (Wales)The site of the ironworks where Wilkinson bored cannon and cylinders; the remains of a boring mill of the 1780s were excavated and recorded around 1988. Wrexham has held free guided tours, meeting at the Bersham Heritage Centre. Check dates with the city's museum[127][128]Other machines

FAQ

Where should I start reading the history of British machine tools?
To get the overall picture, the quickest way is to read the mini timeline on this page and then go on to Chapter 1, "The Birth of the Machine Tool." If you are interested in a particular machine, the machine-type chapters (Chapters 5–9) are written so that they can be read on their own.
Can Maudslay's screw-cutting lathe still be seen?
Lathes connected with Maudslay's works and machines from the Portsmouth block mills survive at the Science Museum in London and elsewhere. What can be seen where is listed under "Places to visit" in each chapter and in the list on this page.
Can I read old articles from The Engineer and Engineering?
Many issues have been scanned, and some can be read free of charge. Where to read them, and points to note when reading them from Japan, are explained in "Using research and archive sites."
What is the Whitworth thread?
It is an inch screw thread proposed by Joseph Whitworth in an 1841 paper, with a uniform thread angle of 55 degrees and rounded crests and roots. It became the British standard, and in Japan it is also known as the "Whit thread." Details are in Chapter 1.

Sources

Sources for the mini-timeline and Places to visit. Each chapter page lists all the sources for that chapter. “p.” is a page of the source and “frame” is the scan sequence number; click one to open that page.

  1. Joseph W. Roe, English and American Tool Builders, Yale University Press (1916; the Internet Archive copy is the 1926 McGraw-Hill printing, with the same pages)p. 11, 13, 29, 41, 93, 94, 99, 102
  2. K. R. Gilbert, The Machine Tool Collection: Catalogue of Exhibits with Historical Introduction, Science Museum/HMSO, London (1966) (numbers are scan frames: Internet Archive n-numbers)Frames 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 69
  3. K. R. Gilbert, The Machine Tool Collection: Catalogue of Exhibits with Historical Introduction, Science Museum/HMSO (1966) (numbers are scan frames)Frames 69, 77, 79, 131
  4. Joseph W. Roe, English and American Tool Builders, Yale University Press (1916; the scan is the 1926 reprint)p. 11, 12, 29, 31, 51, 92, 95, 96, 101
  5. Science Museum Group, "Model, scale 1:12 of Bersham boring mill 1775" (accession number 1927-985)
  6. Samuel Smiles, Industrial Biography: Iron Workers and Tool Makers, John Murray, London (1863)p. 214, 221, 222
  7. Science Museum Group Collection, "Henry Maudslay's original screw-cutting lathe, c.1800"
  8. Robert S. Woodbury, History of the Lathe to 1850, Society for the History of Technology (1961) (numbers are scan frames; n50–n58 = about pp.98–116)Frames 50, 51, 56
  9. Joseph W. Roe, English and American Tool Builders, Yale University Press (1916; the scan is the 1926 reprint)p. 40
  10. K. R. Gilbert, The Machine Tool Collection: Catalogue of Exhibits with Historical Introduction, Science Museum and HMSO (1966) (numbers are scan frames)Frames 13, 14, 46
  11. Science Museum Group, "Boring machine, Yard No. 642," Henry Maudslay, 1804–1807 (a machine from the Portsmouth block mills, accession number 1948-142)
  12. Science Museum Group, "Planing machine," Richard Roberts, Manchester, 1817 (accession number 1860-59)
  13. James Nasmyth, James Nasmyth, Engineer: An Autobiography, ed. Samuel Smiles, John Murray (1883)p. 145, 146
  14. Robert S. Woodbury, History of the Milling Machine: A Study in Technical Development, MIT Technology Press (1959). Note: numbers are scan frames (Internet Archive n-numbers; 1–2 pages per frame)Frames 12
  15. K. R. Gilbert, The Machine Tool Collection: Catalogue of Exhibits with Historical Introduction, Science Museum/HMSO (1966) (numbers are the page numbers shown in the Internet Archive viewer, one more than the printed page)p. 7, 9
  16. Robert S. Woodbury, History of the Gear-Cutting Machine, MIT Technology Press (1958). Numbers are scan frames (Internet Archive n numbers; one frame shows one or two pages)Frames 17, 19, 43, 57
  17. James Nasmyth (ed. Samuel Smiles), James Nasmyth, Engineer: An Autobiography, John Murray (1883)p. 415
  18. William Fairbairn, Treatise on Mills and Millwork, Part II, Longman (1864)p. 31
  19. James Nasmyth (ed. Samuel Smiles), James Nasmyth, Engineer: An Autobiography, John Murray, London (1883)p. 240
  20. Joseph Whitworth, Miscellaneous Papers on Mechanical Subjects, Longman and others, London (1868; includes "Plane Metallic Surfaces, or True Planes" of 1840 and "Standard Decimal Measures of Length" of 1857)Frames 19, 25, 27
  21. Joseph Whitworth, Miscellaneous Papers on Mechanical Subjects, Longman, London (1858) (includes the paper on plane surfaces (1840), the paper on screw threads (1841) and the 1856 address)p. 23, 31, 33
  22. Science Museum Group, "Nasmyth's Steam Hammer," 1845–1855, used at the Royal Mint until 1933 (accession number 1933-520)
  23. K. R. Gilbert, The Machine Tool Collection: Catalogue of Exhibits with Historical Introduction, Science Museum/HMSO, London (1966) (numbers are scan frames: Internet Archive n-numbers)Frames 13, 14, 15, 52
  24. Joseph W. Roe, English and American Tool Builders, Yale University Press (1916; the Internet Archive copy is the 1926 McGraw-Hill printing, with the same pages)p. 99, 138
  25. Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), The American System of Manufactures: The Report of the Committee on the Machinery of the United States 1855, and the Special Reports of George Wallis and Joseph Whitworth 1854, Edinburgh University Press (1969)
  26. Nathan Rosenberg, "Technological Change in the Machine Tool Industry, 1840–1910," The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 23, No. 4, pp.414–443 (1963)p. 420, 427
  27. Joseph W. Roe, English and American Tool Builders, Yale University Press (1916; the scan is the 1926 reprint)p. 138
  28. Joseph Whitworth, "Address to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Glasgow, 1856," in Miscellaneous Papers on Mechanical Subjects, Longman (1858)p. 42, 43, 48
  29. "Gear Works of David Brown's, Huddersfield," The Engineer, Vol. 160 (July 19, 1935), p.69 ff. (with a two-page supplement)p. 69
  30. David Brown Santasalo, "Our Story" (company history)
  31. Kato Shoji, "The Whitworth Medal: The Medal Awarded to H. Dyer, a Foreign Teacher at the Imperial College of Engineering" (in Japanese), Bulletin of the University of Tokyo Archives, No. 40 (2022)
  32. Henry Dyer, The Education of Civil and Mechanical Engineers, E. & F. N. Spon, London (1880) (written by the principal of the Imperial College of Engineering; numbers are scan frames)Frames 25
  33. "Sir Alfred Herbert, K.B.E.," The Engineer, Vol. 203, No. 5288, p.822 (May 31, 1957) (numbers are scan frames)Frames 5
  34. "Obituary: Sir Alfred Herbert," Engineering, Vol. 183, No. 4760, p.680 (May 31, 1957) (numbers are scan frames)Frames 8
  35. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, 1890 (George Addy, "On Milling Cutters," and discussion; meeting of October 30, 1890) (numbers are scan frames)Frames 977, 979, 982
  36. P. A. Sidders, "Machine Tool Building in Britain—1: Alfred Herbert, Ltd., Head Works, Coventry," Machinery (London), Vol.99 No.2554 (October 25, 1961), pp.963ff.Frames 180
  37. Science Museum Group Collection, "Herbert No. 4 Capstan lathe, c. 1907"
  38. F. W. Taylor, "On the Art of Cutting Metals," and discussion (F. M. Osborn and others), Transactions of the ASME, Vol. 28 (1906–07) (numbers are scan frames)Frames 54, 105, 237
  39. "Grinder Story: Growth of Churchill's," Engineering, Vol. 183 (March 8, 1957), p.309 (review of the company history The Story of the Churchill Machine Tool Company)Frames 20
  40. L. T. C. Rolt, Tools for the Job: A Short History of Machine Tools, Batsford (1965)
  41. Charles A. Parsons, The Steam Turbine: The Rede Lecture 1911, Cambridge University Press (1911)p. 48, 49, 50
  42. C. A. Parsons, "Mechanical Gearing for the Propulsion of Ships" (read at the Institution of Naval Architects, INA, March 13, 1913), Engineering, Vol. 95 (March 14, 1913), pp.371–373p. 371, 372
  43. British patent GB191229380A, "Improvements in Gear-cutting Machines," C. A. Parsons, A. Q. Carnegie and S. S. Cook (filed December 20, 1912; published December 18, 1913)
  44. W. Steeds, A History of Machine Tools 1700–1910, Clarendon Press (1969; lending-only on Internet Archive; contents checked through full-text search snippets)p. 146
  45. Ministry of Munitions, History of the Ministry of Munitions, Vols. 1 and 2 (HMSO, c. 1922; Vol. 1, Part 3, Industrial Mobilisation 1914-15; Vol. 2, Part 1, General Administration) (numbers are scan frames: Internet Archive n-numbers)Frames 381, 548
  46. Ministry of Munitions, History of the Ministry of Munitions, Vol. 8, Control of Industrial Capacity and Equipment (HMSO, c. 1922) (numbers are scan frames: Internet Archive n-numbers)Frames 416
  47. "Coventry Gauge–Rockwell Merger," Machinery (London), Vol. 93 (October 15, 1958)Frames 153
  48. H. E. Merritt, "Whither British Standards for Gears?" The Engineer, Vol. 202 (October 19, 1956)
  49. William H. Atherton, Workshop Practice, Vol.IV, Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons (1944)Frames 152
  50. American Machinist, Vol. 79 (January 16, 1935), new products, “Lathe Headstock, ‘Preoptive’ — Alfred Herbert, Ltd., Coventry”
  51. Machinery, January 3, 1958 issue, "Cincinnati Milling Machines Expansion" (numbers are scan frames)Frames 47
  52. American Precision Museum, “Frederick V. Geier” (Machine Tool Hall of Fame entry)
  53. William Hornby, Factories and Plant, History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Civil Series (HMSO, 1958)p. 218, 219, 255, 326, 330, 333, 336, 346, 348
  54. The Board of Trade Journal, Vol. 143, No. 2238 (October 26, 1939): import licenses for machine tools and the Controller of Machine Tools
  55. The Engineer, Vol. 169, No. 4406 (June 21, 1940), p.547, "Ministry of Supply Departmental Changes"p. 547
  56. M. M. Postan, British War Production, History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Civil Series (HMSO, 1952)p. 229, 236
  57. William Hornby, Factories and Plant, History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Civil Series, HMSO, London (1958; British official war history)Frames 351
  58. "A New Myford Lathe," The Model Engineer, Vol.94 No.2337 (February 21, 1946), pp.201–203Frames 18, 19
  59. Science Museum Group Collection, "Myford ML7 lathe"
  60. "The European Machine Tool Exhibition at Milan: (1) Some British Exhibits," Engineering, Vol. 178 (September 17, 1954), pp.359–360Frames 8
  61. Ross Hamilton, Continuous Path: The Evolution of Process Control Technologies in Post-War Britain, PhD thesis, University of Warwick (1997) (numbers are PDF pages: the printed page of the thesis + 9)p. 91, 93, 94
  62. The Engineer, May 15, 1959 issue (Adcock and Shipley to build Bridgeport turret milling machines in Britain) (numbers are scan frames)Frames 96
  63. Automobile Engineer, August 1960 issue (licensed production of Bridgeport turret milling machines in Britain) (numbers are scan frames)Frames 105
  64. The Engineer, Vol. 208, No. 5405 (August 28, 1959), "Co-ordinate Inspection Machine" (within an article on Ferranti's numerical control equipment)
  65. Mechanical World and Engineering Record, Vol. 139, No. 3485 (December 1959), "Co-ordinate Inspection Machine"
  66. Mechanical World and Engineering Record, Vol. 139, No. 3485 (December 1959), "Co-ordinate Inspection Machine" (Ferranti)
  67. American Machinist, Vol. 104, No. 10 (May 16, 1960), pp.141–142, "Bendix to Distribute Ferranti Positioning, Numerical Control And Inspection Systems"p. 142
  68. Machinery and Production Engineering, Vol. 111 (July–December 1967), index: "Molins Machine Co., Ltd.: System 24 — a new concept of manufacture"
  69. Electronics Australia, May 1968 issue (an explanation of Molins' System 24)
  70. RAND (DTIC ADA004612), Computer-Based Automation of Discrete Product Manufacture (1974) (numbers are scan frames)Frames 18
  71. Electronics Australia, May 1968, pp.16–17 (a reprint of an article by New Scientist's technology editor on Molins' System 24)p. 16, 17
  72. Computer-Based Automation of Discrete Product Manufacture: A Preliminary Discussion of Feasibility and Impact (July 1974, DTIC ADA004612), pp.11–12p. 11
  73. "Lively buying interest at Tokyo Machine Tool Fair," Trade and Industry, Vol. 9, No. 11 (weekly of the British Department of Trade and Industry, December 14, 1972), p.516Frames 16
  74. US Patent 4,153,998, "Probes," David R. McMurtry, Rolls Royce (1971) Ltd (priority from British application 43659/72 of September 21, 1972; granted May 15, 1979)
  75. Renishaw, "Our history" (company timeline)
  76. Renishaw, "Our history"
  77. Science Museum Group Collection, "Alfred Herbert Ltd"
  78. Coventry City Council, "Coventry in the 20th century"
  79. Financial Times, September 26, 1980 (losses of the NEB's Alfred Herbert and the extraordinary general meeting on voluntary liquidation)
  80. Industrial Policy and Innovation, Heinemann Educational Books (1981)
  81. John Redwood, Going for Broke: Gambling with Taxpayers' Money, Blackwell (1984)
  82. Financial Times, September 26, 1980 (losses of the NEB's Alfred Herbert and the extraordinary general meeting on voluntary liquidation)
  83. Yamazaki Mazak (UK), "Company History"
  84. Yamazaki Mazak (UK), "About Mazak Europe"
  85. Yamazaki Mazak: History
  86. Yamazaki Mazak U.K., "About Mazak Europe"
  87. Yamazaki Mazak, Master of Manufacturing Technology: The 70-Year History of MAZAK (1989)
  88. The Times, 1992 (an article listing Japanese-owned manufacturers in Britain; Internet Archive scan of a full year)
  89. Yamazaki Mazak, "Production Facilities: UK (European Manufacturing Plant, Worcester)"
  90. Yamazaki Mazak, "Vertical Machining" (VCN series vertical machining centers)
  91. David Brown Santasalo, "Heritage Brands" (list of the gear brands the company has taken over)
  92. Science Museum Group Collection (collection search)
  93. Science Museum Group Collection (collection search)
  94. Science Museum Group Collection, "Model of Henry Maudslay's screw-cutting lathe, 1800-1820"
  95. Science Museum Group Collection, "Richard Roberts' Original slide lathe, 1817"
  96. Science and Industry Museum (Manchester), official website
  97. Science Museum Group Collection, "Treadle operated lathe, Richard Roberts, 1817-1823"
  98. Science Museum Group Collection, "Whitworth Lathe No. 4, 1841"
  99. Science Museum Group Collection, "Smith & Coventry Capstan Lathe, c.1890"
  100. Science and Industry Museum (Manchester), official website
  101. Herbert Art Gallery & Museum (Coventry), official website
  102. Engineering, Vol. 183, No. 4760 (May 31, 1957), p.680, obituary "Sir Alfred Herbert"
  103. Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley Mills (Leeds Museums and Galleries), official website
  104. Roderick Floud, The British Machine Tool Industry, 1850–1914, Cambridge University Press (1976)
  105. JSME Mechanical Engineering Heritage No. 53: Ikegai Works' No. 1 Lathe
  106. JSME Mechanical Engineering Heritage No. 67: Japanese-made double-column planer
  107. The National Archives (Kew), MUN 4/5019, "Machine Tool Committee: minutes" (July 1915–April 1919)
  108. The National Archives (Kew), AVIA 46/180, "Machine tool control 1939-1945" (Ministry of Supply narrative records)
  109. B. Grubb, L. Lane and A. Power, Sheffield City Story, LSE CASE Report 103 (2016) (numbers are PDF pages)
  110. University of Sheffield, "Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC)"
  111. Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC), "Our journey"
  112. Science Museum Group Collection, "Brown and Sharpe first universal milling machine," 1865 (1961-56)
  113. K. R. Gilbert, The Machine Tool Collection: Catalogue of Exhibits with Historical Introduction, Science Museum, HMSO, London (1966)
  114. Science Museum Group, "Original coaking machine, installed at Portsmouth," Henry Maudslay, 1804 (accession number 1933-133)
  115. Science Museum Group, "Whitworth's self-acting screw feed reversing tool box planing machine, 1842" (accession number 1908-20)
  116. Science Museum Group, "Micrometer type mechanical comparator," Whitworth's millionth-of-an-inch measuring machine, 1855 (accession number 1919-265)
  117. Science Museum Group Collection, "Bridgeport milling machine" (1975-14, Bridgeport Machines Ltd.; Adcock-Shipley)
  118. Science Museum Group Collection, "Parkinson 1A plain horizontal/milling machine" (1980-1659)
  119. Science Museum Group Collection, "Universal Facing, Boring, Drilling and Milling Machine Made by George Richards & Co. Ltd," 1886–1930 (Y2005.34)
  120. Science Museum Group Collection, "Model N.C. milling machine" (1971-147, Cramic Engineering Co.)
  121. American Precision Museum, "About"
  122. Sheffield Museums, "Spotlight: Shepherd Wheel Workshop"
  123. Sheffield Museums, "Shepherd Wheel Workshop" (visitor information)
  124. Sheffield Museums, "Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet" (visitor information)
  125. Discovery Museum (Newcastle upon Tyne), "Turbinia" guide
  126. Science Museum Group, "Slotting machine," Sharp Roberts & Co., Manchester, 1835 (accession number Y1970.44)
  127. Coflein (Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales), "Bersham Ironworks: Boring Mill," NPRN 24854
  128. Wrexham County Borough Council, "Discover Wrexham's industrial past on this free tour" (May 2019)