Interchangeable Parts

By ReesNG

  • First use of Interchangeable parts

    French General Jean-Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval promoted standardized weapons in what became known as the Système Gribeauval after it was issued as a royal order in 1765.
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    Interchangeable Parts

  • Interchangeable parts are first manufactured

    Gribeauval provided patronage to Honoré Blanc, who attempted to implement the Système Gribeauval at the musket level. By around 1778, Honoré Blanc began producing some of the first firearms with interchangeable flint locks.

  • Thomas Jefferson sees interchangeable parts in France

    Muskets with interchangeable locks caught the attention of Thomas Jefferson through the efforts of Honoré Blanc when Jefferson was Ambassador to France in 1785.

  • Eli Whitney is hired by George Washington to make 12,000 interchangeable muskets.

    President George Washington approved of the idea, and by 1798 a contract was issued to Eli Whitney for 12,000 muskets built under the new system.

  • Marc Isambard Brunel manufactures 100,000 interchangeable pulleys.

    At the time, the Napoleonic War was at its height, and the Royal Navy was in a state of expansion that required 100,000 pulley blocks to be manufactured a year. The Royal Navy then hired Brunel.

  • Eli Terry Manufactures the pillar-and-scroll clock

    Eli Terry's pillar-and-scroll clock, which came off the production line in 1814 at Plymouth, Connecticut was the first mass production of interchangeable parts in America.

  • Ford Motor Company is founded

    Henry Ford, found of Ford Motor Company, uses interchangeable parts in his cars.