This damaskeening tool is a plate rose engine. It is similar in principle to the tools used to decorate jewelry until the mass jewelry business finally deteriorated in the U.S. The standard jewelry machine is much larger. The head of the lathe turns in synchronization with a carrier that rotates the headstock against a cam follower. This allows wavy patterns of any radial frequency to be drawn. The variety of cams changes the shape of the waves and the peak and valley ratio.
Damasceening Lathe
This lathe was possibly used at the United States Watch Co., Marion, NJ before going to the Rockford Watch Co. The machine has a pivoting headstock that moves with the contour of a rosette cam, which is selected by a moveable follower. It is used to ornament winding wheels and watch plates. The damasceening method was developed in America and first used at Waltham in the 1860's (1868 model and Nickel KW16 model).
John Stark Damasceening Machine
This machine was built by John Stark in the 1870's and sold to the Rockford Watch Co. It will do straight line, circular or wavy damasceening on watch plates or any combination of techniques on the same plate. Different sized laps are used on hand fed spindles to apply the pattern to the plates.
This machine is very similar to examples that were built in the Waltham factory. John Stark was born in Glasgow Scotland in 1828, came to American in 1849 and learned the machinist trade while employed at the Boston Mfg. Co. textile mill in Waltham. In 1864 he took up with two machinists from American Watch Co. who had opened the Waltham Machine Shop on Felton St making watchmaker lathes with attachments. Stark Tool Co. became a major builder of lathes, gear and pinion cutting machines and other automatic machines for watch factories in the U.S. and in Europe. Records from 1872 show that he built most of the machinery at the New York Watch Co. of Springfield Massachusetts.