Benjamin Forstner (25 March 1834 – 27 February 1897), was an American gunsmith, inventor, and

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merchant.

Early life

Forstner was born in

Beaver County, Pennsylvania Beaver County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 168,215. Its county seat is Beaver. The county was created on March 12, 1800, from parts of Allegheny and Washington counties. It took ...

Forstner bit

In 1886, Forstner patented the Forstner bit. The bit was revolutionary as it did not feature the lead screw (which Forstner called the "gimlet-point") or and thus proved especially useful to gunsmiths and high-end woodworkers. The bit was unsurpassed in drilling a smooth-sided hole with a flat bottom. It was also better than Russell Jennings twist bits for boring at an angle and not following the grain of the wood. Forstner eventually made arrangements for the manufacturing and sale of his bit with two Connecticut firms:

Colt's Manufacturing Company Colt's Manufacturing Company, LLC (CMC, formerly Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company) is an American firearms manufacturer, founded in 1855 by Samuel Colt and is now a subsidiary of Czech holding company Colt CZ Group. It is the s ...

of Hartford, and Bridgeport Gun Implement Company, successors to Union Metallic Cartridge Company. The Forstner bit continues to be manufactured, although it has evolved into a split-ring design. Also, modern Forstner bits normally feature a (non-screw) lead point (AKA " brad point" or "center spur"), unlike Forstner's original, although rim-guided bits are still available from some manufacturers.

Career

Forstner invented an electric motor.Salem Pioneer Cemetery Records for Benjamin Forstner
/ref> In the early 1850s, he moved to Missouri where he fell under the influence of communal Utopian

William Keil William Keil (March 6, 1812 – December 30, 1877) was the founder of communal religious societies in Bethel, Missouri, and Aurora Colony in Oregon, that he established and led in the nineteenth century. Influenced by German Lutheranism, pietis ...

. He followed Keil to the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Tho ...

in 1863, where they founded the colony of Aurora in Marion County,

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

. In 1865 Forstner settled in Salem, Oregon, and the following year married Louisa Snyder. Their only child was an adopted daughter, Snyder's niece. Forstner became established as a gunsmith. He often traveled on business trips, mainly on the east coast, including the 1876

Centennial Exhibition The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair to be held in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the ...

in Philadelphia and the 1893

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, hel ...

in Chicago where his bits won recognition. Through lucrative royalty payments he became a wealthy Salem citizen and property owner.

Legacy

Forstner retired in 1891. His residence and workshop were situated on the west side of Commercial Street and later occupied by the Salem woolen mill store and E. F. Neff. He erected a large residence on his land near the northern end of Commercial Street. He possessed considerable farm property across the river in Polk county, and also owned of timber near Gates, on the upper

Santiam river The Santiam River is a tributary of the Willamette River, about long, in western Oregon in the United States. Through its two principal tributaries, the North Santiam and the South Santiam rivers, it drains a large area of the Cascade Range a ...

. Forstner died in Salem, Oregon after a prolonged bout of flu. He was interred on 2 March 1897. His wife Louisa died 12 Sept 1897, aged 75, at 265 North Commercial Street, Salem, and was buried in Odd Fellows cemetery.Salem Pioneer Cemetery Records for Louisa Forstner
/ref>

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Forstner, Benjamin 1834 births 1897 deaths 19th-century American inventors Gunsmiths Infectious disease deaths in Oregon People from Salem, Oregon Deaths from influenza