No Factory Will Run On Memorial Day - NARA - 533867

The Bullard Machine Tool Company was a large American

machine tool builder A machine tool builder is a corporation or person that builds machine tools, usually for sale to manufacturing, manufacturers, who use them to manufacture products. A machine tool builder runs a machine factory, which is part of the machine industry ...

. It specialized in vertical boring mills and was largely responsible for the development of the modern form of that class of

machine tool A machine tool is a machine for handling or machining metal or other rigid materials, usually by cutting, Boring (manufacturing), boring, grinding (abrasive cutting), grinding, shearing, or other forms of deformations. Machine tools employ some s ...

s.
pp. 183-185
/ref> The firm was founded in 1894 by Edward Payson Bullard Sr. (born April 18, 1841, in

Uxbridge, Massachusetts Uxbridge is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States, first colonized in 1662 and incorporated in 1727. It was originally part of the town of Mendon, and named for the Earl of Uxbridge. The town is located southwest of Boston an ...

, US; died December 22, 1906, in

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the List of cities in New England by population, fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Loc ...

, US
pp. 113-114
/ref>). He received formative experience at the Colt armory and

Pratt & Whitney Pratt & Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of RTX Corporation (formerly Raytheon Technologies). Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation (especially ...

, which were influential development centers for generations of toolmakers.
p. 174
/ref> Bullard Sr is believed to have developed the first small boring machine designed to do the

accurate Accuracy and precision are two measures of ''observational error''. ''Accuracy'' is how close a given set of measurements (observations or readings) are to their ''true value''. ''Precision'' is how close the measurements are to each other. The ...

work previously performed on the faceplate of a

lathe A lathe () is a machine tool that rotates a workpiece about an axis of rotation to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, deformation, facing, threading and turning, with tools that are applied to the w ...

.
p. 184
/ref> Roe (1916) says that "Up to that time boring machines were relied on only for large and rough work." Bullard Sr.'s son, Edward Payson Bullard Jr. (1872–1953), continued the family machine tool business and brought the turret principle to the vertical boring mill, making it a vertical turret lathe. For a while in America during the 20th century, the name "Bullard" on the shop floor was something of a

genericized trademark A generic trademark, also known as a genericized trademark or proprietary eponym, is a trademark or brand name that, because of its popularity or significance, has become the generic term for, or synonymous with, a general class of products or ...

for vertical turret-head boring mills.. E.P. Bullard Jr led the development of the company's multiple-

spindle Spindle may refer to: Textiles and manufacturing * Spindle (textiles), a straight spike to spin fibers into yarn * Spindle (tool), a rotating axis of a machine tool Biology * Common spindle and other species of shrubs and trees in genus ''Euonym ...

brand machine that became an important

automatic lathe In metalworking and woodworking, an automatic lathe is a lathe with an automation, automatically controlled cutting process. Automatic lathes were first developed in the 1870s and were mechanically controlled. From the advent of NC and CNC in t ...

in the mass production of parts for the

automotive industry The automotive industry comprises a wide range of company, companies and organizations involved in the design, Business development, development, manufacturing, marketing, selling, Maintenance, repairing, and Custom car, modification of motor ve ...

. Bullard Jr was president of the company for 40 years, through

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

, and

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, a period during which the Bullard company was the largest machine tool builder in the U.S., and vast volumes of military

matériel Materiel or matériel (; ) is supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commercial supply chain context. Military In a military context, the term ''materiel'' refers eith ...

were produced by countless companies running Bullard machines. Bullard is now owned by

Bourn & Koch Bourn is a small village and civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, England. Surrounding villages include Caxton, Eltisley and Cambourne. It is 8 miles (12 km) from the county town of Cambridge. The population of the parish was 1,015 at th ...

, based in

Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, Winnebago and Ogle County, Illinois, Ogle counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located in far northern Illinois on the banks of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock River, Rockfor ...

. Bourn & Koch continues to provide OEM parts, service and support for their machines.

References

Bibliography

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