Brown & Sharpe Machine?

[Steve WanParticipant @stevewan33894]

Anyone heard of Brown & Sharpe Machine?

[Steve WanParticipant @stevewan33894]

During my lunch happened to pass an old machine shop and was surprised seeing an old surface grinder machine branded – Brown and Sharpe. Does anyone knows about this brand hay days and which type of machine most popular using this brand? Where was it originated UK or USA?

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

Import from USA during war – “lend-lease”?  My dad had a B&S lathe, of which hundreds were around when sold as surplus.

[Steve WanParticipant @stevewan33894]

Hi John

 

Thanks! At least I know the history behind this machine whenever I pass the old machine shop at lunch.

 

Just a general info for all owners of old machines,  I chanced upon a website that sells reproduced copies of past machine manuals, am sure you guys may be hunting for years…www.ozark.woodworker.com

 

Happy machining you guys!

 

 

[Steve WanParticipant @stevewan33894]

Hi John

 

Thanks for the info.

 

I came across a website that sells reproduced copies of past machine manuals, am sure you guys may be hunting for years…www.ozark.woodworker.com

 

Happy machining you guys!

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Had a Friend until he went to the big workshop in the sky who had a great drill press ww1 war reparation,war has some advantage to some people.Ian S C

[Nigel McBurney 1Participant @nigelmcburney1]

Brown and sharp were one of the best known American manufacturers of first class machine tools,they invented the horizontal mill/universal mill as we know it around 1870,principally to produce twist drills by spirall milling they were also the principle developer of the cylindrical grinder,the turret or screw automatic lathes plus the whole range of precision hand tools, they had for a time a factory in Plymouth Devon.They published a number of very good handbooks including”A practical treatise on milling”   ‘a treatise on gearcutting’   and instigated the tables used for setting up dividing heads for spiral milling still in use today,their machine tools were known in the uk well before lend lease,i have uk catalogue dated 1924

[Laurence BParticipant @laurenceb]

An interesting thread.I have an old Browne and Sharpe 0-1″ micrometer (still in its wooden box) that belonged to my father.The micrometer is older than I am,and in much better condition!

The mike is inscribed “Browne and Sharp Mfg.Co. Providence, R.I. U.S.A.”

 

[Robert Thomas 3Participant @robertthomas3]

Browne and Sharpe, Providence, Rhode Island, once manufactured a variety of machines, as already mentioned. They even promoted their own taper for milling cutters, which became rather widely used, considering its proprietary nature.

 

My father bought a used B&S Model 0 Horizontal Milling Machine about 1946, which he used in construction of three 1″ scale locomotives. It was quite accurate and a very heavy and RUGGED floor-mounted machine, at its best hogging-out large chunks of cast iron into cylinders, or milling two 1/2″ thick steel bar frames at once. On the other hand, it was sensitive enough for small work; I machined a pair of bronze cylinder castings on it for my 2.5″ gauge locomotive.

 

B&S still produces precision measuring instruments, of which I have a few, in competition with their prime U.S. rival, Starrett. The B&S web page is at:  http://www.brownandsharpe.com/

 

Bob Thomas

[Author]

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