Comments on: How precision engineers created the modern world

By: Sam J.

Sam J. — Fri, 26 Oct 2018 08:34:11 +0000

Kirk is right about some guy in the background making things happen a lot of times. Happens over and over. If you like stuff on the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution a GREAT series of videos are “Industrial Revalations”. Here’s the first one. If you interested in this sort of thing it’s very good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFQ-f1Ax_Pg

And let’s not forget about Whitworth who made the first standardized screw and was a fervent believer in accuracy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Standard_Whitworth

By: Bill

Bill — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 22:17:01 +0000

Here’s another take on this idea, a short video entitled “The 1751 Machine that Made Everything”. Much easier going, Candide III:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djB9oK6pkbA

It shows the actual metal lathe created by Jacques de Vaucanson in 1751 that made possible the tools of the Industrial Revolution.

By: Candide III

Candide III — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 09:59:20 +0000

I tried reading this book and couldn’t even get halfway through. It’s turgid, full of digressions and personal anecdotes and irritating verbal tics one would expect from an old Guardian writer. The book could be easily condensed to a tenth of the size without loss of anything substantial.

By: Alien

Alien — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 06:24:46 +0000

Tolerance made things work; zero variance made them perfect.

By: Bruce

Bruce — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 04:39:44 +0000

According to Roy Dunlap's Ordnance Went Up Front, in WWII rifles still didn't really have interchangeable parts — though people kept thinking they did. Anyone know about 2018 guns?

By: Phil B.

Phil B. — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 20:01:17 +0000

I know that in British service, prior to the Industrial Revolution, at any one time about one-third of the muskets were out of service due to parts breakages, and the individual parts had to be hand made and fitted.

The 1853 Enfield rifles were the first to use gauges and standardised templates to produce the parts needed to assemble the rifles — all part of the trickle-down effect of precision needed by the Military-Industrial complex of the day into every day life.

By: Kirk

Kirk — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 16:40:42 +0000

What fascinates me, more than anything, is the way all the “enabling connectors” like Wilkinson are forgotten in the conventional histories, and guys like Watt are lionized. Watt would likely be a footnote, without Wilkinson–And, yet, whose name is immortal, and whose name is a trivial pursuit question?

It is the same in nearly every field I have ever studied, so much so that whenever I go into something new, I first begin by looking at the big names, and then start looking for the behind-the-scenes sorts, in order to gain a better understanding of the subject. Examine, as an example, the Edison/Marconi/Tesla triad: Of the three, Edison is the one that everyone remembers, but in reality? He was just the best self-promoter.

By: Borepatch

Borepatch — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 13:58:23 +0000

I remember reading David Landes' The Unbound Promethius (history of the Industrial Revolution) back in the '70s. Dad was a history professor and thought it was big stuff. I remember the discussion about how screws had each been made by hand. He seemed to think that the world needed a good history of the development of lubricating oils.

By: Ross

Ross — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 12:46:46 +0000

Juicy stuff!

invention…repetition…finer tolerance…increased efficiency..repeatability…mass production.

I’ve never thought of Walter Shewhart and Deming as coming closer to the end than the beginning of this parade, but this is a good perspective…

By: Bob Sykes

Bob Sykes — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 12:43:01 +0000

When I attended the old Boston Technical High School in downtown Boston, our machine shop had belt-driven lathes from the 1890′s. We actually made small tools like clamps on those monsters.

The belts on each lathe were driven by a series of belts and pulleys hanging from the ceiling (15 foot) and connected to a huge DC motor. That part of Boston was probably still DC supplied by an old Edison generator.