from Machinery's Reference Series
(1913)
The bolt and nut industry in America
started in a very small way in Marion, Conn., in 1818. In that year
Micah Rugg, a country blacksmith made bolts by the forging process. The
first machine used for this purpose was a device known as a heading
block, which was operated by a foot treadle and a connecting lever. The
connecting lever held the blank while it was being driven down into the
impression in the heading block by a hammer. The square iron from which
the bolt was made was first rounded, so that it could be admitted into
the block. At first Rugg only made bolts to order, and charged at the
rate or sixteen cents a piece. This Industry developed very slowly
until 1839, when Rugg went into partnership with Martin Barnes;
together they built the first exclusive bolt and nut factory in the
United States in Marion, Conn. The bolt and nut industry was started in
England in 1838 by Thomas Oliver, of Dariston, Staffordshire. His
machine was built on a somewhat different plan from that of Rugg, but
no doubt was a further development of the first machine; Oliver's
machine was known as the "English Oliver."
As is generally the case with a new
industry, the methods and machines used were very carefully guarded
from the public, and this, characteristic seems to have followed this
industry down to the present time. Judging by the scarcity of
information available on the subject. Some idea of the methods which
were at first employed to retain all information in the factory in
which it was originated is well brought out by the following instance:
In 1842, when the Industry was beginning to be generally known. It is
stated that a Mr. Clark, who at that time owned a bolt and nut factory
in New England, and had devised a special machine for use in this
manufacture, had his forging machine located in a room separated from
the furnaces by a thick wall. A hole was cut through this wall, and the
man who operated the machine received the heated bars from the furnace
through the small hole in the wall. The only person who ever got a
glimpse of the machine was the operator. The forge man was not
permitted to enter the room.
Extract from: Nut and Rivet
Forging, Machinery's Reference Series, Publ.
The Industrial Press (1913), No. 113, Chap. 1, page 3.
Retyped from copy Digitized by Google (source)
