Inventor John George Leyner revolutionized mining technology when he developed a water-flushed drill. To this day, drillers everywhere owe their health and possibly their lives to the incredible “Leyner drill.” Prior to his invention, drilling used in mines and quarries was done dry. The powerful drilling machines drove solid steel into rock, showering miners with dust and fragments. The drills were known as “widow-makers,” for they frequently caused the deadly “miner’s consumption” (silicosis).
Seeking to improve drilling efficiency, Leyner hit upon the idea of mucking out the drill holes by diverting compressed air down a hole in the drill steel and blowing out the rock cuttings. In 1897, he marketed the new drill, but the miners refused to work with them because of the huge clouds of dust they produced. Undaunted, he redesigned the drill. His new model used a column of water that passed through the drill steel along with the air. The water cooled the steel, created mud, which acted as an efficient wet-grinding compound, and completely eliminated the rock dust. Soon the new “drifter drill” was known worldwide for its superiority in safety and efficiency. The mining and quarrying states then enacted anti-dry drilling laws, and the “Leyner drill” came to be known throughout the industry.
At the J. George Leyner Engineering Works in Littleton, Colorado, Leyner developed air compressors to power mining and drilling equipment and, in 1904, the company won Grand Prize at the St. Louis Exposition for its superior compressors, drills, and hoisting equipment. In 1912, Leyner sold his highly successful patent to the Ingersoll-Rand Company and went on to found the Leyner Tractor and Manufacturing Company.
J. George Leyner, the ingenious savior of miners, brought safety and efficiency to drilling by reinventing the science. By eliminating the widow-makers, he saved untold numbers of miners from the ravages of silicosis.
