Blanchard, Thomas
inventor, was born June 24, 1788, in Sutton, Mass. While engaged with his brother in the manufacture of tacks by hand, he invented a machine which made 500 per minute, and sold the patent for $5,000. He also invented a lathe to turn the whole of a musket-barrel from end to end, by the combination of one single self-directing operation; the lathe for turning irregular forms, now in use in all armories, for making musket-stocks, also applied to busts, shoe lasts, handles, spokes, and a machine for bending timbers, called the compound bend. He died April 6, 1864, in Boston, Mass.