James Hartness (September 3, 1861 – February 2, 1934) was an American business executive, inventor, mechanical engineer, entrepreneur, amateur astronomer, and politician who served as the 58th governor of Vermont from 1921 to 1923.

Hartness had an unpleasant experience at Union Hardware: he had been understandably naive about arranging for royalties on his patents, and the business owners chose not to help rectify the oversight.

[3][6] Roe (1937) surmised that Hartness developed the idea of the flat-turret lathe sometime before this period and sought a suitable machine tool company at which to build it.

Here he found his chance to manufacture the flat-turret lathe, which increased efficiency and productivity and was especially well adapted to the burgeoning automobile industry.

Hartness also developed an array of highly advanced tooling to complement the lathe, including improved roller bar feed and die head designs.

Hartness changed J&L's business model from making a wide variety of machines to order to specializing in the manufacturing and improving of this one product.

[7] In 1915 Hartness reluctantly decided to engage in "war business," heeding his brother John's pleas from the London office of J&L.

During World War I Hartness, as a representative of American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), became Chairman of the National Screw-Thread Commission, the mission of which was to create international standards for the measurement and sizing of screw threads.

Nevertheless, it remained a very successful product until after Hartness's retirement, when a new J&L turret lathe model by John Lovely finally replaced it.

[9] This contribution stemmed from Hartness' work as the Chairman of the U.S. National Screw-Thread Commission and from his familiarity with optics in astronomy and telescope-building.

Joseph Roe ranked Hartness in the class of Henry Maudslay and Elisha K. Root for his mentorship of a younger generation of machine tool builders.

[14] His son-in-law, Ralph Flanders, reported that Hartness examined "some of the elements which go into making workmen both contented and productive" in his book The Human Factor in Works Management.

[7] His Hartness Turret Lathe Manual starts with the statement, "Since the machine is only an implement, it cannot be considered a thing entirely apart from the man.

[3] In the same year the American Philosophical Society and the City Trusts of Philadelphia[17] awarded the John Scott Medal to Hartness for the flat turret lathe, citing its usefulness in making artillery.

[9] Hartness's interest in optics and astronomy led to his development of a telescope mount with the revolving dome on an equatorial plane.

[23][24] Under his leadership, the board took steps to standardize teacher training and improve the physical condition of Vermont's small rural schools.

[29] During his 1921 to 1923 term, he worked to improve Vermont's road network and promote manufacturing as the key to expanding the state's economy.