Hendey-Norton Quick Change Gear Box for Lathe
date: label: date made
content: 1899
notes: label: Description
content: This quick-change gear box for a lathe was made in 1899 based on a design patented in 1892 by Wendell P. Norton. Norton’s quick-change gear design is distinctive because it allowed the gear ratios to be readily changed without disassembling the machine. Prior to Norton’s invention, changing the speed of the machine was a tedious process that required the machinist to open the gear box, physically move the gears, and then reassemble the gear box. This gear box, used in conjunction with a five-foot-long lathe, was used to cut threads on screws, but Norton’s design was also applied to many other machine tools. The gear box was manufactured by the Hendey Machine Company of Torrington, Connecticut, which acquired the patent from Norton. The company received gold medals when they exhibited their quick-change gear box at the 1892 Chicago Columbian Exposition and at the 1900 Paris Exposition.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Mechanical and Civil Engineering
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Westinghouse Electric Corporation
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MC.314993
label: catalog number
content: 314993
label: accession number
content: 214382
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Gearbox, Lathe
label: Object Name
content: Gears
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall - from catalog card: 5 ft x 12 in; 1.524 m x 30.48 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 8 in x 21 1/2 in x 11 in; 20.32 cm x 54.61 cm x 27.94 cm