Today in Science History - Quickie Quiz

(source)

Thomas Blanchard

(24 Jun 1788 - 16 Apr 1864)

American inventor who made major contributions to the development of machine tools.

Short biography of Thomas Blanchard >>

Blanchard's Machine For Bending Wood

from Leading American Inventors (1912)

Blanchard's Machine For Bending Wood. (source)

As the result of many experiments, he designed a machine which bent steamed timbers quite free from fracture. Its curved links grasped a stick, while a stout screw firmly pressed the wood against its container. To stretch the fibers of wood, as Blanchard’s predecessors had done, was to weaken them; he employed only compression, which does little harm or none at all. His machine proved to be by far the most lucrative of Blanchard’s inventions. For its applications to ship timbers he received $150,000. It also profitably turned out handles for plows and other farm tools, it curved felloes for wheels, it provided slates and pictures with frames much stronger than those made of straight and jointed wood.

Text and image from George Iles, Leading American Inventors (1912), 116-118. (source)

See also:

24 Jun - short biography, births, deaths and events on date of Blanchard's birth.
Thomas Blanchard Biography from Eminent Engineers (1906)
Thomas Blanchard - seated, large picture, colored.
Thomas Blanchard Biography - from a A History of American Manufactures (1866).
Thomas Blanchard Biography - from Leading American Inventors (1912) with pictures of his inventions.
Thomas Blanchard - large photo of his original lathe, in the museum at the U.S. Armory, Springfield, Mass.
Thomas Blanchard - Tack Making Machine - illustration and description.
Description of Blanchard's patent - method for bending wood, as used for carriage wheel rims.

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