Tag: history of technology
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Blacksmithing Techniques Used on the Dominy’s Engine
As part of my research and reconstruction of the Dominy’s wheel cutting engine, I visited the machinist, metalsmith, and conservator Daniel Ravizza. Daniel very kindly taught me the basic blacksmithing techniques the Dominy’s (or associated blacksmiths) used to make the wheel cutting engine. This included: I regret not taking more photos, but essentially Daniel would…
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Making a Dividing Plate
As part of reconstructing an 18th century American wheel cutting engine I am exploring techniques used to divide and cut the teeth into gears (known in horology as wheels). Instead of quite laboriously marking out the divisions onto the wheel to be cut, as I previously explored, I am going to try using a dividing…
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Cutting a Brass Gear by Hand (Without a Dividing Plate)
As part of my reconstruction of a wheel cutting engine, I cut a brass gear by hand with files, a saw, and a treadle-powered lathe. I did not use a dividing plate but rather marked the divisions straight onto the wheel. This is part of my reconstruction of an eighteenth century wheel cutting engine. I…
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Dominy Wheel Cutting Engine Prototype
For my masters thesis at Winterthur, I have chosen to research a wheel cutting engine in the Dominy collection. Made (or perhaps purchased or commissioned) in the 1770’s by Nathaniel Dominy IV, it is a tool used to aid in cutting the teeth on clock wheels. Compared to other wheel cutting engines, it has several…
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Verge or Crown Wheel Escapement Comtoise/Morbier Clock
This is a french Comtoise or Morbier clock with a crown wheel escapement. Also known as a verge escapement, this form of controlling the release of energy is the earliest known type of escapement, and the one used for the longest time, supplanted in the early to mid 19th century by the anchor escapement. Here’s…
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Repairing an Eli Terry 30-Hour Wooden Clock
Here is a beautiful Pillar and Scroll clock, likely dating to the 1820’s or 1830’s. Eli Terry innovated new ways to produce wooden works clocks, achieving the first mass-production with interchangeable parts. Several very clever design and production details made this clock affordable to more people than previous brass-movement tall case clocks were. Our first…
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Dickory Dickory Clock: Curing “Mouseitis”
“Dickory Dickory dockThe mouse ran up the clockThe clock struck oneThe mouse sat stillThe Dickory Dickory clock was ill!” Here is a charming clock invented by Elmer Ellsworth Dungan around 1908 for his daughter who loved the nursery rhyme: “The Dickory Dickory Clock.” [at various times and places the rhyme has gone “hickory dickory,” “dickory…
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Pre-WWI Cuckoo Clock with Articulated Wings
This is a cuckoo clock that was probably made between 1860 to 1914 in the Black Forrest in Germany (according to this). Aside from having cast bronze plates with a lyre pattern, the beautiful wooden bird that the mechanism puppets not only opens its beak but also spreads its wings! First I disassembled and cleaned…
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My Mechanical Calculator: How and Why
This is my homemade mechanical calculator. For the why and how it works, I made this video about it: To give a little more about how I made it, I dug up old drawings I made of the parts. What follows is an explanation of making the calculator using those as a guide. After studying…
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Comtoise Clock: Repair and Determining Geography
This is what’s known as a Comtoise or Morbier grandfather clock. Let’s clean it up and get it ticking again, then we can discuss its name. Someone repainted the case. My instructor and I began to scrape the paint away, but that process is still ongoing. Here’s our first look at the movement. With a…
What Will Makes 