FOR MERCHANTS AND MANUFACTURERS OF MACHINERY
[Sidenote: A Change in Public Opinion]
An appreciation of the science of mechanical engineering is so
indispensable to the manufacture and sale of machinery that the reader
of this Guide might simply have been referred to the chapter _For
Engineers_ as covering the industry, if it were not that the Britannica
contains (as the list at the end of this chapter shows) a great number
of articles dealing with individual machines. The amount of space which
the new Britannica devotes to mechanical subjects, and the great number
of expert contributors whose collaboration was enlisted in this
connection, are significant from more than one point of view. All other
general encyclopaedias, including earlier editions of the Britannica
itself, seem to have been influenced by the old-fashioned fetish of
“pure” scholarship and “pure” science, treating theory as a subject of
study much more dignified than the application of knowledge to the
practical affairs of life. Until recent days the great universities of
such important manufacturing countries as England, Germany and France
were almost exclusively devoted to the teaching of philosophy, history,
Greek and Latin, mathematics and pure or natural science. The older
universities of the United States, too, were for a long time reluctant
to recognize the growing importance of technical education, and the
necessity, apart from technical education, of giving the general student
some knowledge of mechanics. And it is a significant fact that the
Britannica, the first encyclopaedia that has ever been published by a
university, should be, although it comes from one of the oldest of all
universities, the first to give full recognition to the importance of
this department of knowledge.
Men in the machinery trade will welcome this change of attitude in the
Britannica, not because they crave a public acknowledgment of the great
share of the world’s work that they are doing, but because public
ignorance of mechanical subjects results in the abuse of machines and in
unreasonable complaints against manufacturers when improperly used
machinery fails to do its work. A curious illustration of the general
disregard of the subject is supplied by the fact—as true of the United
States as of England, Germany or France—that representative government
is, in practice, chiefly government by lawyers, and that in this age of
machinery it is the exception to find in the cabinet which directs the
affairs of any country, a single member who has any knowledge of
mechanics. The same ignorance is conspicuous in newspaper offices. Even
the most dignified dailies seem unable to deal with any news that has to
do with machinery without making ridiculous blunders.
[Sidenote: Influence of Automobiles]
Fortunately, the automobile is beginning to stimulate interest in
practical mechanics, for no one can attempt to drive his own car, or
even to obtain proper service from his chauffeur and from garage
workmen, without realizing that he failed, at school, to learn some of
the most useful of lessons. Before long the authorities responsible for
our public schools may realize that it is absolute barbarism to neglect
mechanical teaching as they do; and the new Britannica is already doing
good service in stimulating public interest in the subject.
An examination of the articles mentioned in detail in the following
summary, and a glance at the long list of articles at the end of the
chapter, will show the comprehensiveness with which the Britannica
treats all types of machinery. The materials employed are, logically,
the first subjects upon which information will be desired.
IRON AND STEEL (Vol. 14, p. 801), by Professor H. M. Howe of Columbia
University, is a mine of information about the properties and uses of
the different varieties of the indispensable metal of which 50,000,000
tons per annum are employed. In the manufacture of electrical apparatus
COPPER (Vol. 7, p. 102) is largely employed, and for this reason alone
the article has great value for the manufacturer. Almost as important is
ALLOYS (Vol. 1, p. 704). Its chief author, Sir William Chandler
Roberts-Austen, is the greatest living authority on alloys, and it is
full of interesting facts about new admixtures.
The processes of ANNEALING, HARDENING AND TEMPERING are described in J.
G. Horner’s article under that title (Vol. 2, p. 70). This authority
explains clearly the difference between hardening and tempering and
gives valuable advice as to the most efficient methods of hardening.
FOUNDING (Vol. 10, p. 743), also by J. G. Horner, is fully illustrated,
and the question of the highest economies of machine moulding are among
the practical matters considered. FORGING (Vol. 10, p. 663), with 19
illustrations, discusses fullering, swaging, upsetting, bending,
welding, pinching, cutting-off, and die-forging. There is also a
separate article, WELDING (Vol. 28), in which the section on _Electric
Welding_ is written by Elihu Thomson, who invented the process. A table
of energy used in electric welding is added. See also BRAZING AND
SOLDERING (Vol. 4, p. 463).
[Sidenote: Manufacturing Methods]
The designer of machinery will find much practical information in
DRAWING, _Drawing Office Work_ (Vol. 8, p. 556), and SUN-COPYING (Vol.
26, p. 93). It is a remarkable fact that prints identical in scale with
the originals are now made up to a length of 22 feet.
BEARINGS (Vol. 3, p. 578), illustrated, is written by Professor Dalby of
the South Kensington Central Technical College. The article TOOL (Vol.
27, p. 14), by J. G. Horner, is 33 pages in length and has 79
illustrations. The whole subject is completely covered. In the section
on _Machine Tools_ are discussed turning lathes, reciprocating machines,
machines with drill and bore holes, milling machines, machines for
cutting the teeth of gear wheels, grinding machinery, sawing machines,
shearing and punching machines, hammers and presses, portable tools,
appliances, wood-working machines, and measurement. In regard to the
last subject great advances have lately been made. A thousandth of an
inch is now considered a coarse dimension in the machine shop, where
gauges within one five-thousandth of an inch are often used. This
article is an invaluable manual for the machine-shop, and supplies many
hints which should be given to workmen, for, to use the author’s words,
“a clumsy workman is as much out of place in a modern machine-shop as he
would be in a watch-factory.” Another article useful to the mechanic is
SCREW (Vol. 24, p. 477), with 10 illustrations, by J. G. Horner, with a
section on the _Errors of Screws_, by the late Henry A. Rowland, the
American physicist, whose skill, shown in the construction of dividing
engines of extraordinary precision and delicacy, made him famous the
world over. See also GRADUATION (Vol. 12, p. 312).
[Sidenote: Engines and Motors]
The articles on the prime-movers are an important and noteworthy part of
the new Britannica. Professor Ewing, of Cambridge University,
contributes AIR ENGINE (Vol. 1, p. 443) and STEAM ENGINE (Vol. 25, p.
818), both fully illustrated. The latter has a most interesting
preliminary historical account of engines from the aeolipile of Hero of
Alexandria (about 130 B.C.) to the steam-turbine, the most modern type
of all. The newest forms of internal combustion motors, OIL ENGINE (Vol.
20, p. 35) and GAS ENGINE (Vol. 11, p. 495), are described by Dugald
Clerk, inventor of the Clerk cycle gas engine, and the articles are
fully illustrated. Under HYDRAULICS (Vol. 14, p. 91) will be found
complete information as to the construction of water-pressure engines,
water-wheels, turbines, and also pumps. The article is written by
Professor W. C. Unwin, and has been universally declared to be the best
treatise on the subject that has yet appeared. There is a separate
illustrated article WATER-MOTORS (Vol. 28, p. 382), by Professor Beare
of Edinburgh University. See also WINDMILL (Vol. 28, p. 710).
Designers and constructors of electrical machinery will be greatly
interested in C. C. Hawkins’ illustrated article DYNAMO (Vol. 8, p.
764), which explains fully how the dynamo is constructed and gives its
history from Faraday’s discovery of the principle in 1831. Dr. Louis
Bell, of the General Electric Co., writes on MOTORS, ELECTRIC (Vol. 18,
p. 910).
[Sidenote: Machinery for Special Purposes]
In hundreds of articles on manufacturing and manufactured products there
are excellent descriptions of the machinery employed. COTTON-SPINNING
MACHINERY (Vol. 7, p. 301), by Professor Fox, of Manchester University,
gives details, with illustrations, of the modern systems of spinning,
all founded on the inventions of Paul, Arkwright, Hargreaves and
Crompton, while an historical account of primitive machines as well as
much practical information, will be found under SPINNING (Vol. 25, p.
685). WEAVING has a section _Weaving Machinery_ (Vol. 28, p. 443). An
account of the special machinery and appliances used in the manufacture
of woollens is included in Professor Barker’s illustrated article WOOL,
WORSTED AND WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES (Vol. 28, p. 805). In HOSIERY (Vol. 13,
p. 788) we learn about framework knitting and warp-knitting machines. It
is recorded that up to the middle of the 19th century only a flat web
could be knitted, and that a circular knitting machine of American
origin is the type of machine on which is produced the seamless hosiery
of to-day. This was introduced by J. W. Lamb in 1863. ROPE AND ROPE
MAKING (Vol. 23, p. 713), by Thomas Woodhouse, of the Dundee Technical
College, is richly illustrated with pictures of the most modern type of
machinery for the manufacture of fibre and wire ropes. The various
machines and apparatus for sugar making are carefully described in
SUGAR, _Sugar Manufacture_ (Vol. 26, p. 35). For milling machinery see
FLOUR AND FLOUR MANUFACTURE (Vol. 10, p. 548), by George F. Zimmer,
author of _Mechanical Handling of Material_. The latest designs in
agricultural machines, with illustrations, as well as a history of their
development, will be found under PLOUGH AND PLOUGHING (Vol. 21, p. 850),
SOWING (Vol. 25, p. 523), HARROW (Vol. 13, p. 27), REAPING (Vol. 22, p.
944), THRASHING (Vol. 26, p. 887), etc. It is a matter of interest that
the first successful reaping-machine was invented by a Scotch clergyman
in 1826. For machinery used in the modern dairy see DAIRY AND DAIRY
PRODUCTS (Vol. 7, p. 750). The germ of the sewing machine dates back to
1755, and the whole story of its development is told in SEWING MACHINES
(Vol. 24, p. 744). [Sidenote: A Vast Encyclopaedia of Machinery] The
descriptions of machinery of various kinds are continued under such
headings as BREWING, _Brewing Operations_ (Vol. 4, p. 506), illustrated;
BELLOWS AND BLOWING MACHINES (Vol. 3, p. 705), illustrated; PIN (Vol.
21, p. 615); NEEDLE (Vol. 19, p. 338); TYPOGRAPHY, _Modern Practical
Typography_ (Vol. 27, p. 542), illustrated; PRINTING (Vol. 22, p. 350),
illustrated; BOOKBINDING, _Modern Methods_ (Vol. 4, p. 218),
illustrated; TEXTILE PRINTING (Vol. 26, p. 694); ALKALI MANUFACTURE
(Vol. 1, p. 674), illustrated; REFRIGERATING AND ICE MAKING (Vol. 23, p.
30); SILK, _Silk Manufacture_ (Vol. 25, p. 102); LACE, _Machine-made
Lace_ (Vol. 16, p. 44), illustrated; CARPET, _Modern Machinery_ (Vol. 5,
p. 396); LEATHER (Vol. 16, p. 330), illustrated; BICYCLE (Vol. 3, p.
913), illustrated; TYPEWRITER (Vol. 27, p. 501), illustrated; DREDGE AND
DREDGING (Vol. 8, p. 562), illustrated; and PAPER, _Paper Manufacture_
(Vol. 20, p. 727), illustrated.
Biographies of many inventors, designers and builders of machines are
included in the list of articles at the end of the chapter _For
Engineers_ in this Guide, and are therefore omitted in the following
alphabetical summary.
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL MACHINES AND APPLIANCES DESCRIBED IN
THE BRITANNICA AND GENERAL SUBJECTS AND ARTICLES ON MACHINERY
Accumulator
Acetylene Generator
Aerating Apparatus
Aeroplane
Air Brake
Alternators
Alloys
Ammunition Hoist
Anemometer
Annealing, Hardening and Tempering
Archimedes, Screw of Babbitt’s Metal
Back-starching Mangle
Bale-breakers
Band-knife Cutting Machine
Barbed Wire Machinery
Barker’s Mill
Barrel Organ
Bearings
Beating Machine
Beetling Machine
Bellows and Blowing Machines
Bessemer Convertor
Bevel
Bicycle
Black-ash Revolving Furnace
Blast Furnace
Blocking Machine
Boiler
Bolt-screwing Machines
Book-sewing Machine
Boring Tools
Brake, Hydraulic
Brass
Brazing and Soldering
Breaker Card
Brewing Machinery
Bronze
Bundling Press
Burner
Butter Worker
Butyrometer
Calculating Machines
Calender Machine
Calipers
Calorimeter
Carburetter
Carding Engine
Carpet-making Machinery
Case-making Machine
Casing-in Machine
Centrifugal Machines
Chisel
Chronograph
Chucks
Churn, Mechanical
Clepsydra, or Waterclock
Clock
Coal-cutting Machines
Coal-wedging Machines
Coal-weighing Machine
Coining Press
Comber
Compressed-air Machines
Continuous Press
Conveyors
Copper
Copying Machines
Core-making
Cotton-gin
Cotton-spinning Machinery
Cranes
Crushing Machine
Cultivator
Current Meter
Curvometer
Cutting Machines
Cutting Tools
Damping Machines
Dash Wheel
Depth Recorder
Die
Differential Machines
Dividing Engines
Diving Bell
Doublers
Dough Kneaders
Dough Dividers and Moulders
Dough Mixers
Drawing-box
Drawing-frame
Drawing-office
Dredgers
Dressing Machine
Drill
Drop Hammer
Drying Machine, Horizontal
Dye-jigger
Dynamo
Dynamometer
Eccentric
Elevators, Lifts and Hoists
Error of Screws
Fans, Rotary
Fire-engines
Flour-sifters
Flying Machines
Fly-shuttle
Forging
Forging Press, Hydraulic
Founding
Friction
Furnace
Gas Engine
Gas Plants
Gas Producers
Gill Frame
Glass-blowing Machine
Glass Press
Graduation
Gravity Stamp
Grinding Machinery
Gyroscope and Gyrostat
Hackling and Spreading Machine
Half-stuff Machine
Hammer
Hand Drill, Electric Harrow
Hat-making Machines
Hay Elevator
Hide Mill, or Double-Acting Stock
Hoe, Horse
Holden Burner
Hydraulic Machines
Hydraulics
Hydro-extractors
Ice-making Machines
Indicator
Injector
Integrators
Iron and Steel
Ironing Machines
Jigger, Hydraulic
Jigs
Jute-Crusher
Jute-Opener
Jute-softening Machine
Kier
Knitting Machines
Labour Legislation
Lace Machines
Lappet Looms
Lathe, Automatic
Laundry Machines
Lever
Lifts, Hydraulic
Linotype Machine
Liquid-air Machine
Lithographing Machines
Loaders
Lock
Locomotives
Loom
Lubricants
Luggage-weighing machine, Automatic
Machine
Machine Gun
Machine Moulding
Mandrel Lathe
Mangling Machines
Manometer
Measuring Machine
Mercerizing Machines
Metal-turning Tools
Meter, Electric
Micrometer
Microtome
Milling Cutters
Milling Machines
Milling Stock
Monotype Machine
Mortising Machine
Motors, Electric
Motor Vehicles
Mowers
Mule, Crompton’s
Nail Machines
Needle Machines
Netting Machine
Oil Engine
Oil Muffle Furnace
Opening Machine
Ore-Breaker
Pantograph
Paper-making Machines
Patent logs
Patents
Perpetual Motion
Phonograph
Phosphor Bronze
Pin Machine
Pig-casting Machine
Planimeters
Planing Tools
Plug and Ring Gauge
Pneumatic Hammer
Potter’s Wheel
Power-looms
Power Transmission
Price-computing Weighing Machine
Printing Presses
Pulley
Pumps
Purifiers
Rag Boiler, Revolving
Rag-breaking Engine
Rake, Horse
Reaping Machines
Reciprocating Machines
Rectifiers
Reel Paper-Cutter
Reels
Refrigerating Machines
Remontoire
Reverbatory Furnace
Rifling Machine
Ring-frame
Rock Drill
Rod Gauge
Roller Milling Machine
Roller Washing Machine
Rolling, Mill
Rope-making Machines
Rotary Washing Machines
Rounding and Backing Machines
Rusden and Eeles Burner
Salt-cake Furnace, Mechanical
Sawing Machines
Scalpers
Screw cutting
Screw-Gill Drawing Frames
Screw-thread gauge
Screw
Screwing Machine
Scutcher
Separators
Sewing Machines
Shaping Machines
Shearing and Punching Machines
Shuttles
Signal Lever
Silk-reeling Machine
Slide-rule
Slime-tables
Slotter Tools
Sowing Machines
Spinning-jinny
Splitting Machine
Steam Engine
Steam Hammers
Steam Plough
Steam Turbines
Stentering Frame
Still
Stocking Frame
Strength of Materials
Sugar-making Machinery
Sugar Weighing Machine, Automatic
Sulphuric-Acid Plant
Sun Copying
Swathe Turners
Sweep Rake
Table, Mathematical
Tea-weighing Machine
Teasel
Technical Education
Testing Machines
Thermodynamics
Thrashing Machines
Throstle
Tool
Tractors, Steam and Oil
Trepans
Turbine
Turning Lathes
Turret Lathe
Type-setting Machines
Typewriter
Units, Physical
Vacuum brake
Valve
Vanners
Vernier
Voting Machines
Vulcanizer
Washing Machines
Wash Mill
Watch
Water Motors
Water-pressure Engines
Water Wheels
Weaving Machinery
Weighing Machines
Welder, Automatic
Welding
Welding, Electric
Winding Machines
Windmill
Wire-winding Machine
Wiring Machine
Wood-working Machines
Woolen Mule