Richard Roberts (engineer) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Richard Roberts
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by Edward Villiers Rippingille
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| Born | 22 April 1789 |
| Died | 11 March 1864 (aged 74) |
| Nationality | Welsh |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Known for | Machine tools |
Richard Roberts (born April 22, 1789 – died March 11, 1864) was a clever Welsh patternmaker and engineer. He created amazing, super-accurate machine tools. These inventions were super important! They helped start "production engineering" and "mass production." This means making lots of things quickly and exactly the same way.
Contents
Early Life and Learning New Skills
Richard Roberts was born in a place called Llanymynech. This town is right on the border between England and Wales. His dad, William Roberts, was a shoemaker who also looked after a tollgate. Richard went to school with the local priest.
He started working early, first with a boatman on the Ellesmere Canal. Later, he worked at the local limestone quarries. A road surveyor named Robert Bough taught him some drawing skills.
Roberts then became a patternmaker at Bradley Iron works. Around 1813, he moved to a bigger job at Horsely Iron works. He learned how to turn wood, fix wheels, and repair mill machinery.
He had to move around to avoid joining the militia (a type of army). He went to Liverpool and then Manchester, where he worked as a turner. He then moved to Salford, making lathes and tools.
Later, he walked to London and found a job with Henry Maudslay. Maudslay was a famous engineer. Richard learned a lot from him, especially how important it was to have very accurate machines. He learned that machines could do work better than people's hands.
By 1816, after the war with Napoleon ended, it was safe for him to go home. He started his own business in Manchester. He made special lathes for turning metal. His first workshop was in a bedroom, and his wife helped power the machine! Soon, he moved to a bigger place and was known as a "Lathe and Tool Maker."
Amazing Machine Tools
Richard Roberts built many different kinds of machine tools. These are machines that help make other machines or parts. His first invention was a machine to cut gears. He also made a special tool to check the size of gears.
He started using spinning cutters, which he had seen at Maudslay's workshop. This was one of the first times a milling cutter was used in engineering. In 1816, he made the first reliable wet gas meter.
In 1817, he built a lathe that could turn very long pieces of metal. It had special gears to change speeds and a sliding part to move the tool along the metal. He also built a planing machine that year. Before this, workers had to make flat metal surfaces by hand. This was very hard work using hammers, chisels, and files. Roberts' machine made it much easier and more precise.
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Roberts' lathe at the Science Museum in London
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After his power loom became successful, he invented a slotting machine in 1825. This machine cut special grooves in gears and pulleys. Before, this was done by hand, which was slow. His machine had a tool that moved up and down. It also had a table that could move in any direction. This allowed it to machine complex shapes.
Later, he made the shaping machine. This machine moved a cutting tool back and forth over the metal. The metal could be moved in all directions by screws. You can see examples of his machines, including the oldest metal planer, at the National Museum of Science and Industry in London.
Roberts also made and sold tools for cutting threads on nuts and bolts. His inventions had a huge impact on other engineers, like Joseph Whitworth. Roberts' work was very important, even if it was sometimes overlooked.
Textile Machines and Factories
In 1821, Roberts moved his business to the Globe Works. There, he improved a machine that made reeds for weaving. In 1822, he received a patent for his own power loom. This loom was made entirely of iron and was built with great precision. This meant it could work very fast. By 1825, his company was making 4,000 of these looms every year!
In 1824, he invented his most famous machine: the self-acting spinning mule. He patented it in March 1825. These machines were made by the hundreds. Roberts used special templates and gauges to make sure every part was exactly the same. This helped make production faster and more consistent. By 1826, he was even helping build textile machines in France.
Sharp, Roberts & Co. Business
When Roberts was developing his textile machines, he teamed up with some partners. These included Thomas Sharp, an iron merchant, and his brother John Sharp. They formed a company called Sharp, Roberts & Co. This company later became famous for building locomotives (train engines).
In 1834, an engineer named Charles Beyer joined the company. He helped the company become very successful in building locomotives. Roberts soon let Beyer handle most of the train design work.
Roberts was a very busy inventor! He worked on many different things. He made turret clocks, road vehicles, and even helped build iron ships. He also invented a punching machine. This machine worked like a Jacquard loom and punched holes in the iron plates. These plates were used to build the Conwy Railway Bridge in North Wales.
His Alpha turret clock won a prize at the Great Exhibition of 1851. However, Roberts wasn't always the best at business. The company Sharp, Roberts & Co. closed in 1852.
Later Life and Lasting Impact
Richard Roberts continued to work as an engineer and inventor until he died. He took out 18 more patents. In 1860, when he was 71, he moved to London. He had some money problems then. His friends, mostly other engineers, raised money to help him.
He died in London on March 11, 1864, at the age of 74. He was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery in London. His daughter later received a special pension because of her father's great achievements.
Many people say he was the most important British mechanical engineer of the 1800s. According to a writer named Richard Leslie Hills, Roberts' biggest contribution was making better machine tools. Without these tools, it would have been impossible to make things with such high accuracy. This laid the foundation for "production engineering" as we know it today. It led to making parts that could be easily swapped out (interchangeable parts) and to mass production. A special mechanical link, called the Roberts linkage, is even named after him!
