David WilkinsonDied 3 Feb 1852 at age 81 (born 5 Jan 1771). American inventor and manufacturer who patented a machine for cutting screw threads which incorporated the slide rest (14 Dec 1798). It had a heavy carriage supported on three rollers. With his father and brother, Wilkinson supplied the cotton industry by machining, casting and forging iron parts to build textile manufacturing equipment for such factories as Slater Mill, Pawtucket, Rhode Island. With such business to keep him occupied, Wilkinson did not further develop his screw machine. His business failed in the the financial panic of 1829. However, the slide-rest invention was widely applied by others, especially making firearms for the U.S. government. He petitioned Congress in 1848 for a financial reward for his invention and received $10,000.« |
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