BUDDING, Edwin, Beard (1795 - 1846)

English engineer and inventor, notably of the lawnmower and the adjustable wrench.

Budding got the idea of the lawnmower after seeing a machine in a local cloth mill which used a cutting cylinder (or bladed reel) mounted on a bench to trim the irregular nap from the surface of woollen cloth and give a smooth finish. He realised that a similar device could be used to cut grass if the mechanism was mounted in a wheeled frame to make the blades rotate close to the lawn's surface. Budding's mower was designed primarily to cut the lawn on sports grounds and extensive gardens, as a superior alternative to the scythe. Budding went into partnership with a local engineer, John Ferrabee, and together they made mowers in a factory at Thrupp near Stroud. In an agreement between John Ferrabee and Edwin Budding dated May 18, 1830, Ferrabee paid the costs of development, obtained british letters of patent on August 31, 1830 and acquired rights to manufacture. The first machine produced was 19in in width with a frame made of wrought iron. It took ten more years and further innovations to create a machine that could be worked by animals, and sixty years before a steam-powered lawn mower was built. Budding also invented the adjustable wrench, used all over the world to this day. Before the second Budding's invention, spanners had to be adjusted with wedges. His spanners made it much easier to hold non-standard hand-forged bolts.

variant spelling:
BUDDING, Edwin, Beard

Curriculum vitae

* 1795		born
1830		Invention de la clé à molette.
31.08.1830		Invention de la tondeuse à gazon.
1840		Vente d'un millier de tondeuse.
† 1846		died
1848		Vente de 7000 tondeuses.

Collections

		Industrial Revolution, ca. 1780-1850
		Industrialisation, ca. 1850-1920

Secondary literature

Gardening - Design - « Georgian and Regency ».
Author:
Published: 2009

Permanent links

DMG-Lib		https://www.dmg-lib.org/dmglib/handler?biogr=24521004
Europeana		http://www.europeana.eu/portal/record/2020801/dmglib_handler_biogr_24521004.html

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BUDDING, Edwin, Beard (1795 - 1846)