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James Hartness
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James Hartness (September 3, 1861 - February 2, 1934) was an American inventor; a mechanical engineer; an entrepreneur who mentored other inventors to develop their machine tool products and create a thriving industrial center in southeastern Vermont; an amateur astronomer who fostered the construction of telescopes by amateurs in his town; an early aviator who built one of Vermont’s first airports; and Governor of Vermont from 1921 to 1923.
ness was born in Schenectady, New York, one of three sons.
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Encyclopedia
James Hartness (September 3, 1861 - February 2, 1934) was an American inventor; a mechanical engineer; an entrepreneur who mentored other inventors to develop their machine tool products and create a thriving industrial center in southeastern Vermont; an amateur astronomer who fostered the construction of telescopes by amateurs in his town; an early aviator who built one of Vermont’s first airports; and Governor of Vermont from 1921 to 1923.
Biographical
Hartness was born in Schenectady, New York, one of three sons. His family moved to Cleveland, Ohio in 1863 where his father was a foreman in local machine shops and Hartness attended public school. Hartness worked up through the ranks in machine shops in Connecticut before moving to Springfield, Vermont, where he had a brilliant career as an innovator of machine tools. He became one of the nation’s first aviators and became a one-term governor of the state of Vermont. He had two daughters, Anna and Helen. His daughter, Helen (Helen Hartness Flanders), was a noted folk song collector who married Ralph Flanders, a U.S. Senator from Vermont
Hartness died in Springfield in 1934. He is buried in the Summer Hill Cemetery in Springfield, not far from his mansion. The Hartness mansion is now (as of 2007) the "Hartness House", a bed-and-breakfast hotel and restaurant.
Engineering innovation and entrepreneurship
At age 16, Hartness began his career in machine shops. At age 21 he became a foreman at the Winsted-Norway Bolt Company in Winsted, Connecticut. He moved in 1886 to Torrington, Connecticut to work as a tool-maker and foreman at the Union Hardware Company. His lifetime achievement of more than 100 patents began here with patents of locks, roller skates, and bicycle pedal mechanisms.
Hartness had an unpleasant experience at Union Hardware: he had been understandably naive about arranging for royalties on his patents, and the business owners chose not to help rectify the oversight. He did not get to share in the profits derived from the patents. In September 1888, after he had lost several weeks' work to illness, Union Hardware told him not to return.
During the winter of 1888-1889, he worked briefly for several companies: Pratt & Whitney in Hartford, Connecticut; Eaton, Cole and Burnham Co. in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and a plant in Scottdale, Pennsylvania. Roe (1937) surmised that sometime during 1888 or a little before, the idea of the flat-turret lathe had developed in his mind; and that his peregrinations in the winter of 1888-1889 were in search of a suitable company at which to build it.
In April 1889 he moved to Springfield, Vermont to become the superintendent at the struggling Jones and Lamson (J&L) Machine Company. He used his creative energy to revitalize the company. Here he found his chance to manufacture the flat-turret lathe, together with a greatly expanded array of accessory tools, which increased efficiency and productivity and was especially well adapted to the burgeoning automobile industry.
The flat turret lathe improved upon earlier turret lathes via greater rigidity, allowing higher precision, higher speeds and feeds, and longer cuts. All of these advantages allowed better parts to be made faster, and thus less expensively, which made the lathe highly desirable to manufacturers. This time, Hartness was prepared to defend his interest in his patent. He arranged with J&L to receive a $100 royalty on each machine.
Hartness changed J&L’s business model from making a wide variety of machines to order to specializing in the manufacturing and improving of this one product. With rapid acceptance of this machine tool, orders reached 10 units per day from the manufacturing sector. As a result, Hartness reportedly received up to $1,000 per day in royalties.
He also introduced appealing and informative catalogues to market the new Jones and Lamson products. Hartness acquired a large interest in J&L. He became manager in 1896 and president in 1901 until his retirement in 1933.
In 1915 Hartness reluctantly decided to engage in “war business,” heeding his brother John’s pleas from the London office of J&L. During World War I Hartness, as a representative of American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), became Chairman of the National Screw-Thread Commission, the mission of which was to create international standards for the measurement and sizing of screw threads.
Hartness discouraged modernizing of the Hartness Flat Turret Lathe. Nevertheless, it remained a very successful product until after Hartness's retirement, when a new J&L turret lathe model by John Lovely finally replaced it.
Hartness’s interest in the measurement and standardization led to his invention of an optical device that allowed the profile of small parts to be illuminated and compared with their desired outline. Traditionally, mechanics used a mechanical gauge to assess whether screws were to specifications. Hartness employed his knowledge of optics and magnification to devise a much more practical optical method for measurement. The Hartness Screw-Thread Comparator was his crowning achievement in the profitability of J&L. Today optical comparators are a common form of equipment in many machine shops.
Mentor of machine tool entrepreneurs
Hartness encouraged talented inventors in his employ at J&L to strike out on their own as entrepreneurs. These included three Springfield companies and one Windsor, Vermont company:
- Edwin R. Fellows, founder of the Fellows Gear Shaper Company
- William L. Bryant, founder of the Bryant Chucking Grinder Company
- Fred P. Lovejoy, founder of the Lovejoy Tool Company
- George O. Gridley, founder of the National Acme Company
The companies started by these men helped make Springfield and Windsor a prosperous manufacturing region, thanks not to its access to raw materials or markets, but due to a pool of talented engineers and machinists.
Encouragement of smarter management with better relationship to workers
His son-in-law, Ralph Flanders, reported that Hartness examined “some of the elements which go into making workmen both contented and productive” in his book The Human Factor in Works Management. His Hartness Turret Lathe Manual starts with the statement:
In a sense Hartness was responding to the era's enthusiastic fervor for scientific management, which Hartness and many others felt did not adequately address the psychology of how to manage employees as human beings and maintain their respect.
Affiliations, degrees, and medals
Hartness was an active member of the following engineering, scientific, and arts societies:
His life achievements were recognized with honorary degrees from the University of Vermont (MA in 1910 and LLD in 1921) and Yale University (MA). The Franklin Institute awarded Hartness the Edward Longstreth Medal in 1921, recognizing his contributions to mechanical engineering. In the same year the American Philosophical Society awarded the John Scott Medal to Hartness for the flat turret lathe, citing its usefulness in making artillery.
Aviation
Hartness first flew in Germany in 1913 in a hydrogen-filled airship, designed by Ferdinand von Zeppelin. In 1914, Hartness learned to fly a Wright Flyer near Garden City, New York. He obtained his pilot's license from the Aero Club of America. He encouraged, and served as president of, the Vermont Aero Club. He donated the land for the Springfield Aerodrome to the state, establishing the first airfield in Vermont, now known as "Hartness State Airport".
After his trans-Atlantic flight, Charles Lindbergh toured the United States in the Spirit of St. Louis to promote aviation. He landed in Springfield on July 26, 1927 in his visit to Vermont and spoke at a large gathering at the airport. Hartness hosted Lindbergh at his home.
Astronomy
Hartness’s interest in optics and astronomy led to his development of a telescope mount with the revolving dome on an equatorial plane. An additional feature of this telescope, which still stands at the former Hartness Mansion, was that the optics of the telescope passed through a lens in the wall of the dome. This allowed the observer to stay warm in winter. (Conventional telescopes were often contained within domes that opened an aperture for the telescope to gain exposure both to the sky and the ambient air.) The success of this patent led to more telescope activities and commissions. With Hartness's encouragement and financial support, Russell W. Porter initiated the Springfield Telescope Makers Club. The club still celebrates their annual Stellafane gathering in Springfield.
Governor of Vermont
Hartness was a one-term governor of Vermont from 1921 to 1923. He campaigned on the issue of enticing Vermonters to stay in state rather than seek employment elsewhere. He also promised an improved transportation system and more manufacturing to supplement the traditional agricultural economy. He won the election by a wider margin in the state than Warren Harding, who carried Vermont in the presidential race that year.
Bibliography
Books by Hartness
- Republished by Hive Publishing Co (Hive management history series, no. 46) (ISBN 978-0879600471).*
- Republished by Kessinger Publishing, 2004, as ISBN 978-1-4191-2645-1.
Biography
Further reading
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