John Wilkinson (industrialist)

John Wilkinson (Iron Mad Wilkinson ) (* 1728, † 1808) was an English inventor. He is known especially for the invention of a precision drill for boring cannon barrels.

Life

He came from a family of mill people, who settled in Black Barrow in Lancashire. In 1747 he built there his first blast furnace. In the following years he acquired some blast furnace and iron works. In 1774 he applied for his first patent for a new method of casting and boring iron cannons, which was soon transferred to the drilling of engine cylinders. At the end of the 18th century he was the most respected expert in the field of ferrous metallurgy and one of the supporters of the project The Iron Bridge. He amused England, when he proposed to build a ship made ​​of iron - till then the ship knew only wood as a building material. In fact, he continued - to the established principles of Archimedes leaving - the first in history known iron watercraft together (1787 ). The first operational steam engine in accordance with the principle of Watt's 1776 was installed in the factory of John Wilkinson.