Automatic Screw Machine, c.1871
Charles Vander Woerd
Waltham, Massachusetts
Charles Vander Woerd was born in Leyden, Holland and came to this country at an early age. First employed at the Nashua Watch Company, he went on to serve as the mechanical superintendent of the Waltham Watch company. While there, he designed many of the unique machines required to manufacture the various components of a Waltham watch.
Vander Woerd developed the first automatic screw machine in 1871. The machine mechanized the operations previously performed by earlier manual screw cutting machines. The basic lathe design was similar to its predecessors but this model was activated by a series of cams. The cams engaged the open collet, fed the steel rod stock through the collet, moved the cutter into position to cut the threads and finally the screw off at the head. A "picker arm" activated by another camshaft removed the screw and repositioned it to the back of the machine where a second slotting tool was located. After the screw was slotted, it was released into a collecting container located under the machine. The production output of this machine was approximately 8,000 screws per day.
The efficiency of Vander Woerd's machine allowed one operator to attend to four units simultaneously. Although it could only process one screw at a time, it greatly advanced the automation of factory operations. as a result, the automatic screw machine receive much attention when exhibited at the Philadelphia Centennial exposition in 1876
Courtesy The O'Grady and Fletcher Family Foundation and NAWCC Shenandoah Valley of Virginia Chapter #32
10.1999