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Joseph Clement was born at Great Ashby at Westmoreland, England. His father was a hand-loom weaver, a relatively humble profession. Despite his low station in life, he educated himself in natural history and several of the sciences, especially entomology.
Like most boys of his class, Clement only received a rudimentary education at the village school before going to work for his father. As the hand-weaving trade began to be threatened by the development of machine looms, Clement's father decided that his son should pursue a more profitable career, and at age 18, Joseph became a house-thatcher. He worked at this trade for five years.
Clement was very interested in mechanics, and when he wasn't busy with his work, he learned blacksmithing from the village smith. Around this time, his cousin Farer, a clock and watchmaker, brought him some books on mechanics from London. Clement's interest in mechanics increased, and with the help of his friend the blacksmith, he made a turning-lathe, which he used to produce musical instruments. At this time, he also tried his hand at screw-making, an activity for which he would become well known.
Clement finally decided to give up thatching and pursue an engineering career. He moved to a nearby town and got a job making power looms. Eventually, he moved to Glasgow, where he took drawing lessons and became an expert draughtsman. He then went on to Aberdeen and once again worked on making power looms.
By 1813, work was scarce in Scotland, and Clement moved to London, where he eventually ended up working for Joseph Bramah. Bramah promoted him to chief draughtsman and superintendent of the Pimlico Works. After Bramah's death, a dispute with Bramah's sons resulted in Clement going to work as chief draughtsman for Maudslay and Field.
In 1817, Clement decided to go into business for himself as a mechanical engineer. During this time, he invented an instrument that could draw ellipses as well as circles, for which he received a gold medal from the Society of Arts.
Clement went on to invent many new tools and machines. He enjoyed a "tough job," and other mechanics would bring their difficulties to him. He spent a great deal of time improving self-acting tools such as the slide-lathe. He also did some work on standardizing screws, establishing a standard thread pitch for screws. His idea would eventually be further developed by Joseph Whitworth.
Another of Clement's major contributions was the modification of the turning-lathe, which up to that point had not been able to produce a perfect cylinder, due to the majority of the pressure being in the centre of the lathe. Clement invented a self-adjusting two-armed driver, which distributed the pressure more evenly. He won the Society of Arts silver medal in 1828 for this achievement.
Clement also invented a "great planer," which could plane a work
of up to six square feet. Because of this invention, Clement is often credited
with being the inventor of the planer. Clement's final invention before he
died was an organ, which he played for his own enjoyment.
Sources:
GSN Machine Tools Group. “Pioneers of the Machine Tool Industry: Joseph Clement.” http://www.gsn.uk.com/clement.htmlSmiles, Samuel. Industrial Biography: Iron Workers and Tool Makers. Seattle: World Wide School, 1997 (Originally published in 1863).http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/hst/biography/IndustrialBiography/toc.htm
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