Editing Standardization (section)

===18th century attempts===
[[File:Maudslay screw-cutting lathes of circa 1797 and 1800.png|thumb|[[Henry Maudslay]]'s famous early screw-cutting lathes of {{Circa|1797}} and 1800]]

The implementation of standards in industry and commerce became highly important with the onset of the [[Industrial Revolution]] and the need for high-precision [[machine tool]]s and [[interchangeable parts]].

[[Henry Maudslay]] developed the first industrially practical [[screw-cutting lathe]] in 1800. This allowed for the standardization of [[screw thread]] sizes for the first time and paved the way for the practical application of [[Interchangeable parts|interchangeability]] (an idea that was already taking hold) to [[Nut (hardware)|nuts]] and [[Screw|bolts]].<ref name="Ping">{{citation|url=http://www.eastwestcenter.org/fileadmin/stored/pdfs/econwp117.pdf|title=A Brief History of Standards and Standardization Organizations: A Chinese Perspective|author=Wang Ping|publisher=EAST-WEST CENTER WORKING PAPERS|date=April 2011|access-date=2014-01-13|archive-date=2019-06-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190612142253/https://www.eastwestcenter.org/fileadmin/stored/pdfs/econwp117.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Before this, screw threads were usually made by chipping and filing (that is, with skilled freehand use of [[chisel]]s and [[file (tool)|files]]). [[Nut (hardware)|Nuts]] were rare; metal screws, when made at all, were usually for use in wood. Metal bolts passing through wood framing to a metal fastening on the other side were usually fastened in non-threaded ways (such as clinching or upsetting against a washer). Maudslay standardized the screw threads used in his workshop and produced sets of [[Tap and die|taps and dies]] that would make nuts and bolts consistently to those standards, so that any bolt of the appropriate size would fit any nut of the same size. This was a major advance in workshop technology.<ref>{{cite book|last=Rolt|first=L. T. C.|title=Great Engineers|year=1962|publisher=Bell and Sons}}</ref>