How machines learned precision

glinscott.github.io

223 pointsglinscott68 comments

Author here. This is a sequel to my beam engine article: https://glinscott.github.io/beam-engine/.

I started digging into Watt's challenges getting an accurate cylinder bore for his pistons, and it spiraled out from there :).

The article covers some of the key techniques developed during the industrial revolution to measure and make incredibly precise parts. There are a lot of animations and interactive figures to explore how it works.

Armchair metrologist here. Did metalworkers back then use 16ths, or 12ths and 24ths? I'm familiar with the use of 1/12th lines ''' and multiples of 1/144th points ''''.

Good question! From my reading, English engineering shops like these used 1/8ths and 1/16ths. Whitworth did push for "decimal inches" (1/10, 1/100, etc). It seems like the 1/12th and 1/144th were more common in watchmaking and optics.

Interesting that many of the early steam mills used a steam engine to pump water into a water tower, which then drove a conventional water wheel to power the millworks.

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