In 1862, he made a universal milling machine instead of filing twist drills by hand. This kind of milling machine has a vertical lifting table and a screw head connected with the feed mechanism, which can be used for indexing and milling threads, as well as milling left spiral and conical spiral grooves. It has the basic characteristics of modern milling machines, and Brown obtained a patent for a forming milling cutter for machining gears in 1864. In 1867, Brown tried to install the grinding wheel on the modified lathe tool rest for machining, and he continued to experiment after the corundum grinding wheel appeared in 1873. Brown died in June 1876, and the universal grinder came out in the same year.