Table of contents:
Video: High tech renaissance. Part 2
2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55
We continue our excursion through the technologies of the highly developed culture of the Renaissance.
Previous part
Peacock clock
The watch was made in 1770 in England. Intended as a gift to the Chinese emperor, but were sold to Prince Potemkin for a gift to Catherine II. The watch was delivered disassembled and some details were lost on the way. They were restored and repaired by I. Kulibin, who was already a mechanic at the Academy of Sciences.
The clock is still in working order. They are turned on once a week to maintain their working condition. Every 15 minutes, music sounds and figures of three birds come to life. The elements of the movement are made of silver and gilded copper.
On the left is a watch from Germany, circa 1550. On the right is a clock from the 16th century, the British Museum.
Even then, there was a high level of engineering. Before manufacturing, you need to calculate the gear ratio of the mechanism so that it accurately moves the arrows in accordance with the duration of the day. And for this it was necessary to attract astronomical observations, or to be tied to the countdown of other clocks.
But this is a table clock. At the end of the 16th century. appeared miniature, here are examples:
One can only admire the engineers of that time. Or, as they are called, simply watchmakers.
Modern assembly process for Swiss mechanical watches:
But before assembly, all these parts must be made with the highest precision! Now all calculations are done in the program and parts are made on CNC machines. How was it before?
Modern production of gears for large clocks on lathes. I think it was exactly the same before. The gear plates still had to be cut straight.
On the right is a Merklein Rose machine, 1780 for creating symmetrical multi-lobed parts.
Left: Lathe, London, 1838
Apparently, it was on machines with this principle of operation that gears for watches were obtained. Not manually.
Spoiler (click to open)
Machine tools 17c.
I showed other examples in the previous part.
We can already say with confidence that various machines were not only at the beginning of the 19th century, but also in the 18th century, and maybe even earlier. This is evidenced by such products as barrel organs, watches, medieval robots (dolls).
The level of engineering thought in them is at a high level. For modern handicraft production - unattainable. And many say that stupid ancestors used to live.
Gear manufacturing technology is an interesting question. There is no detail about this process anywhere. The gears in the watch rotate in bushings. In modern - in ruby. And how were friction units made then, and especially in machine tools? How did you do the bearings? Or is there everything on the bushings too?
Another kind of masterpiece of engineering and musical ability of the masters of the 18-19th centuries. - these are barrel organs and music boxes:
Now it is difficult to imagine that some master would combine his talents in something like that. Maybe those masters wrote their music for such devices?
But this automation is 18th century. more "flowers". Look at the androids of the day who could write and play musical instruments!
Official information about this robot doll says: it was made in 1770. Swiss watchmaker Pierre Jaquet-Droz. This automaton is capable of writing sentences up to 40 characters long with a quill pen: “I love you, my city” or “Pierre-Jacquet Droz is my inventor”. The author gave it the name Calligrapher. The growth of the robot doll has a five-year-old child. The structure consists of 6,000 parts. The body is made of wood. The head is made of porcelain.
The doll does not just write sentences, she is still dipping a quill pen into an inkwell, shaking it off, turning her head, supposedly following this process and following her eyes. Pierre Jaquet-Droz has been making the doll for two years.
The author-designer also created clocks with singing birds and fountains. But he has two more works of engineering thought: the "Drawer" and "Musician" dolls.
The musician consists of 2,500 parts. She sat at a small but real harpsichord and played music by pressing the keys. She was able to perform five compositions. The doll even "breathed" and moved its eyes in the same way.
The doll can paint a portrait of Louis XVI and an image of his dog Tutu
All three dolls are in the Museum of Art and History of Neuchâtel and still work.
I think these are only products of the unique engineering skills of the craftsmen of that time that have come down to us. To repeat this now, you need the work of a team: from designers to specialists in turning.
Recommended:
High-tech renaissance mechanisms. Part 2
We continue our excursion through the technologies of the highly developed culture of the Renaissance
TOP-7 high-tech buildings of antiquity, shrouded in mysteries
Until now, amazing structures are found on our planet, which are more than one thousand years old. Especially impressive are those finds, the origin of which has not yet been unraveled, ranging from the materials from which they were erected, the technology of creation, incomprehensible bizarre architectural forms, and ending with mysterious inscriptions and incredible images inscribed by our inventive ancestors on boulders
High Tech Megalithic Civilization
All over the World there are Megaliths - processed stone blocks, their weight exceeds hundreds, and sometimes thousands of tons, these are the remains of the High-tech Megalithic Civilization. Unified Megalithic technologies are present in Siberia, Japan, China, the Middle East and even America
High-tech renaissance mechanisms. Part 1
Many researchers and those simply interested in the topic of antiquities argue that in the past there was a highly developed civilization on Earth. This is evidenced by traces of mechanical processing of granite and other solid rocks, on which traces of mechanisms inaccessible even to us are visible. Namely: sawing discs with a thickness of 1-2 mm, high-quality vessels with a wall thickness of a few millimeters, etc
High tech renaissance
Many researchers and those simply interested in the topic of antiquities argue that in the past there was a highly developed civilization on Earth. This is evidenced by traces of mechanical processing of granite and other solid rocks, on which traces of mechanisms inaccessible even to us are visible. Namely: sawing discs with a thickness of 1-2 mm, high-quality vessels with a wall thickness of a few millimeters, etc