Genealogy Chat

Hello Does anyone out there have any information on this occupation please? ive looked on google but it doesnt say much about it only what it was (making the spindles and flys for the cotton looms), i want to know if they had to take an apprenticeship or something similar the years are abt 1820-1860 my gggreatuncle was one in lancashire. Thankyou. Sharmala.

I can't really answer your question, but I found these couple of paragraphs by Googling. I would think that an apprenticeship would probably have been served (most skilled jobs had apprentices in those days):- ---------------- The Industrial Revolution could not have developed without machine tools, for they enabled manufacturing machines to be made. They have their origins in the tools developed in the 18th century by makers of clocks and watches, and scientific instrument makers to enable them to batch-produce small mechanisms. The mechanical parts of early textile machines were sometimes called 'clock work' due to the metal spindles and gears they incorporated. The manufacture of textile machines drew craftsmen from these trades and is the origin of the modern engineering industry. Machine makers early developed special purpose machines for making parts. Machines were built by various craftsmen--carpenters made wooden framings, and smiths and turners made metal parts. Because of the difficulty of manipulating metal, and the lack of machine tools, the use of metal was kept to a minimum. Wood framing had the disadvantage of changing dimensions with temperature and humidity, and the various joints tended to rack (work loose) over time. As the Industrial Revolution progressed, machines with metal frames became more common, but required machine tools to make them economically. Before the advent of machine tools metal was worked manually using the basic hand tools of hammers, files, scrapers, saws and chisels. Small metal parts were readily made by this means, but for large machine parts, such as castings for a lathe bed, where components had to slide together, the production of flat surfaces by means of the hammer and chisel followed by filing, scraping and perhaps grinding with emery paste, was very labourious and costly. -------------------- Kath. x

Thankyou Kathleen It must have been a skilled job then, so he would have had to learn it from someone. thanks again sharmala.