Machine Thinking

Screws, Damned Screws and Worm Gears

 

The title is a play on the old adage, “Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics”. I was frustrated as I was racing against the clock before I packed up my shop and moved away for a year.  When the last sequence ended in a failure I had no choice but to include it in the final video. In a way, I think it makes it stronger as too often I think mistakes are covered up.  But literally a minute after the last frame of video I started mothballing the entire shop. It was a bittersweet moment for sure and made very concrete my imminent departure for 5500 miles away

 

The 1751 Machine that Made Everything

 

In this video I look at what I consider to be the world’s first modern lathe – Vaucanson’s 1751 all metal lathe.

If you want any of the historical photos I’m happy to share. They are all from the Library of Congress with edits to make them more attractive.