|
|
Lamson & Goodenow Manufacturing Co.
| Name | Lamson & Goodenow Manufacturing Co. |
| Ortssitz | Shelburne Falls (Massachusetts) |
| Art des Unternehmens | Eisenwarenfabrik |
| $Anmerkungen | 1874: F. A. Ball, Leiter der Finanzen; jährlicher Produktionswert: 1,000,000. |
| Quellenangaben | [Wiley: American iron trade manual (1874) 35] [Bishop: History of American manufacturers 3 (1868) 338] |
| Zeit |
Ereignis |
| 1842 |
Ebenezer G. Lamson beginnt die Herstellung von Schneidwaren um 1842. |
| 1844 |
A. F. Goodnow wird Teilhaber. |
| 1858 |
E. G. Lamson kauft die Waffenfabrik in Windsor, Vermont. |
| Produkt |
ab |
Bem. |
bis |
Bem. |
Kommentar |
| Tischbestecke |
1874 |
[Wiley: American iron trade (1874)] |
1874 |
[Wiley: American iron trade (1874)] |
Vorgabe: Table cutlery |
| Zeit |
gesamt |
Arbeiter |
Angest. |
Lehrl. |
männl. |
weibl. |
Kommentar |
| 1874 |
400 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ZEIT | 1868 |
| THEMA | Firmenbeschreibung |
| TEXT | The largest manufactory of Cutlery in the United States. Like most of the other remarkably successful manufacturing establishments of the United States, this has grown up from small beginnings, having' been founded by Mr. Ebenezer G. Lamson, who commenced the manufacture of Cutlery at this place about the year 1842. Mr. Lamson is the son of Silas Lamson, who was the inventor of the present form of bent Scythe Snaths - the handles of scythes previous to his invention having been made straight; and for nearly sixty years the family, father and sons, have been manufacturers of these, useful articles. In 1844 Mr. A. F. Goodnow became associated with Mr. Lamson in the Cutlery manufacture, establishing the firm of Lamson & Goodnow. At that time American Cutlery had not yet overcome the prejudices with which it, in common with locks and other articles of hardware, was regarded by both dealers and consumers, and about forty men were sufficient to manufacture all that could be sold. By the introduction of machinery, however, not only the facilities of manufacturing were increased, but a uniformly good quality was secured, which elicited from Fleischmann, in his work on the branches of industry in the United States, the remark that the American "manufacturers of Cutlery have far surpassed those of the old world in the manufacture of Tools, and not merely in the excellence of the metal used, but especially in the practical utility of their patterns, and in the remarkable degree of the finish of their work." In this manufactory, Table Cutlery, Butcher and Pocket Knives, Augers and Bits, are made almost exclusively by machinery, much of it invented and constructed in the establishment. The blade is forged by trip and drop-hammers, which measure off the amount of steel for the particular kind of blade required, and hammer it into shape; and the shoulder or bolster is formed by hammering between dies or swages so constructed as to give the required form and size. The blade is then passed again under the trip-hammer and receives its last hammering, giving it the required thickness and taper, and at the same time condensing the steel so as to impart to it a good cutting quality. After this operation is performed, which is regarded very critical and requiring the best'skill, the blade is next passed through a punching press containing a pair of dies the exact shape of the entire blade, a process that secures uniformity to all; and then it is returned to the drop-hammer and at a low heat is struck between a pair of finishing dies, so made as to touch every part of the blade, and by this means is straightened perfectly. The blade having been thus forged is ready to receive the stamp of the Company, which is put on by means of a large press operated by one man somewhat as a hand printing-press. An expert operator will stamp 3.500 blades per day. Now the blade is ready to be hardened Mnd tempered, a very nice operation for which they use a machine of dieir own invention, and patented by them. This machine consists of a series of cast-iron tubes, say 2,5 inches internal diameter and 8 inches long, which are placed directly over the fire-box in such a manner as to allow the heat to pass all around them. In these tubes the blades are placed by the workman, commencing at one end of the machine. There is room in each tube for two blades - so, as one is takfcn out another is put in; and after the fire is once allowed to pass around the tubes, the workman continues to put in and take out of each tube in succession, not having to wait for the blades to heat, as they heat uniformly, and in perfect time, to the degree required. When heated and taken from the tubes they are placed in a vat of prepared oil and cooled; and when taken out and cleaned of the oil, they are passed into a sand bath heated by the same fire used for the tubes. In this bath they remain, watched by an experienced hand, until they are heated and reduced to the requisite temper. After the Blade is tempered it is ready for grinding and polishing, operations that are performed by hand, by skilled workmen, and i'n substantially the same manner as in Sheffield. The blade is now ready for the Handle, which is made from ivory, pearl, horn-tips, cattle shin-bones, cocoa wood, rosewood, ebony, or buffalo horns. The Handles are cut into shape by saws, then passed through various machines, giving them the required shapes, and fitting them to receive the Blades. Ordinarily the handles are fastened to the blade by cement or rivets, but in this establishment most of the handles are attached by special processes, that secure them firmly and prevents the possibility of their becoming loose by use or exposure to hot water. These improvements are patented by this Company and used only by them. This Company make about five hundred different styles of Cutlery, and consume in their manufacture 200 tons of Steel per year, 18.000 pounds of Ivory, 150 tons of Ebony, 300 tons of Rosewood, 300 tons of Cocoa wood, 400 tons of Coal, 100 tons of Grindstones, 10 tons of Emory, 5 tons of Sheet Brass and Brass Wire, and about 300.000 pieces of Shin Bones. The buildings are constructed so as to form a hollow square, and cover an area of seven acres of ground. The main building, which is of brick, is 208 feet long by 45 feet wide, and two stories high. Adjoining this is their forging shop, 128 feet long by 45 feet wide, in which they run twenty-one trip-hammers, ten drop-hammers, and other heavy machinery. At the opposite end of the main building is the Polishing Shop, 116 feft long by 25 feet wide, containing two rows of polishers. The other buildings comprise one for making Knife Handles and for Finishing; and another, 112 by 2ft, for hand-forging and Tempering the Blade. Extensive as these buildings are, they are not sufficiently so to accommodate the increasing business, and the Company propose to erect, during the present year (1864), new buildings affording nearly double the capacity of the present workshops. The manufacturing department is under the superintendence of J. W. Gardner, who has been with the Company the greater part of the time since they engaged in the manufacture of Table Cutlery, and who is the inventor of some of their most popular styles. For several years the works have been owned by a Company incorporated as the "Lamson & Goodnow Manufacturing Company", with E. G. Lamson, President, A. F. Goodnow, Treasurer, and J. W. Gardner, Agent, They employ nearly five hundred workmen, and produce Cutlery to the amount of $600.000 annually. In 1858, Mr. E. G. Lamson purchased the Armory at Windsor, Vermont, where the first Rifles were made by machinery to use the Minic ball or its equivalent, and where the greater part of the machinery and tools were made that are now in use in the principal armory in England, at Eufield, near Woolwich. Here he, in association with E. E. Lamson, under the name of E. G. Lamson & Company, is now making Springfield Rifled Muskets largely, having contracted in 1861 to supply the Government with fifty thousand of these weapons, nearly all of which have been delivered and approved. They also manufacture all kinds of Machinery for making Guns and Pistols, having patterns and drawings of every thing necessary to fit out a complete Armory. They are now engaged in manufacturing a new Breech-Loading Rifle, constructed on the repeating principle, which has been fired nine times in eleven seconds, as a Repeater; and without using the repeating principle, it has been fired twenty times per minute. This is the most rapid shooting of which we are advised. This Rifle has been tested by order of the Ordnance Department, and has been recommended as a most efficient weapon for soldiers' use. It belongs to the class called "magazine guns", the magazine being in the stock under the barrel. Experts who have examined almost all of the different kinds of breech-loading guns have expressed a preference for this, and even predict that it will inaugurate as important an era in the history of firearms as did the invention of Colt's Revolver. The repeating principle of this gun will be applied to Pistols. Ever since the invention of firearms the attention of ingenious men has been directed to the discovery of a perfect weapon loading at the breech. If our countrymen have succeeded in making a perfect weapon of this kind they will be entitled to the credit of having made an invention second only in importance to the invention of gunpowder. With such a weapon, an army lying on the ground and almost protected from harm, could pour into its antagonist a "sheet of flame and shower of lead" that none could withstand. With such a weapon and the metallic water-proof cartridge an army could make its most successful attacks in the heaviest rain-storms. With such a weapon and cartridge the present army of the United States, without calling for, much less impressing or conscripting one additional man, would be invincible by any foe armed with the ordinary musket or rifle, and standing exposed while "drawing ramrod" and going through the ceremonial required in loading at the muzzle after each single shot. Distinguished generals have expressed the opinion that the adoption of a weapon of proper construction, loaded at the breech, would double the effective force of an army, but in this instance common sense is quite equal to the most mature military experience. It is believed that the officers of the government are now taking all of this class of arms that can be manufactured, but if it can be proved that they are not, the next generation will not judge them with the leniency of the present. Messrs. E. G. Lamson & Co. are now employing about 400 men in their Armory and Machine Shop. |
| QUELLE | [Bishop: History of American manufacturers 3 (1868) 338] |
|
