For many years at Waltham, girls used these machines to drill a series of holes in a watch plate that was held in a jig. Once a series of holes was finished, the plate was passed to the next operator and another series of holes were drilled. This system left much room for error. With the invention of the watch plate drilling and tapping machine by D. H. Church in 1897, jig and fixture work and much handling was eliminated.
