Why we made the plans for this mystery

[COMPLETELY FREE AND OPEN]
The plans and photos: / watt-micrometer-101111695
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Video from original visit: • World's Oldest Microme...
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[@chris.hinsley]

At last ! Another video on this channel. We have waited so long…. :)

[@gregpenismith1248]

I feel like they're related to Clickspring.

[@eriktempelman2097]

Never, NEVER go away please. Your videos are pure gold - and some of them are mandatory viewing for my students. Plus, you'll be in my next book, "Manufacturing". Should be out early next year 😊

[@machinethinking]

That's awesome! Let me know!

[@tonywilson4713]

@@machinethinking Aerospace engineer here and I absolutely agree on this sentiment. My goal in life was a moon base as was many of my classmates back in the late 80s. We truly believed we'd build Space Station Freedom and then go back to the Moon. Then 1 morning Challenger happened. Irrespective I haven't given up the hope we'll get there and a couple of you videos have brought real clarity to what we'll need to do to build a moon base. Its a simple matter that we can't simply fly everything we'll need to the Moon. Its the simple cost. By various estimates its between 1,000 and 1,000,000 times more expensive to put 1kg on the Moon than it is in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). I do industrial control systems and I can tell you that copper is heavy so wiring up a Moon Base like its the Rebel Alliance snow base in the Empire Strikes back or any other Sci-fi movie is JUST NOT GOIGN TO WORK unless you can get the Copper locally. The same goes for all the other stuff we'd need. But we will need to make things that go together with parts made on the Earth. So one of the most important items that MUST GO to the Moon is a set of Johansson Gauge Blocks. I would NEVER have known that without your video. There's a pile of stuff I have learnt form your videos and unfortunately due to circumstances I can't do a lot more right now than thank you and offer my encouragement to keep doing what you do.

[@sjsomething4936]

I passed along the information on this channel to the machine shop teacher at our local high school, I’m occasionally in contact with him as the CNC mill for our robotics team resides in his shop / classroom. I’ll see if he thinks this is a project that any of the seniors can take on, it’d be an awesome project to work on. Thanks very much for this latest episode!

[@evanbarnes9984]

I used to teach shop and math, and your videos were mandatory in my classes too!

[@skenzyme81]

Big @Clickspring Energy. Awesome!

[@Daxis834]

I would love to watch Chris make this with modern machinery.

[@paulekstorm-hughes1894]

When I saw the thumbnail I assumed it was clickspring

[@andersjjensen]

@@Daxis834 Considering how he's going about the Antikythera Mechanism I think he would end up in some deep dive with authentic tools and another PhD....

[@modellingmark]

Except Chris would make his own period tools and make it with them! It would be an awesome video.

[@edwardneal4819]

Where have you been?! We've waited so long. Your content is completely unmatched and without parallel.

[@Chef_PC]

I'd love to see This Old Tony make one too.

[@SarahMaywalt]

"The nice thing about it... Is the Watt ifs." I see what you did there, Mr. Science History Man.

[@ostsan8598]

Regardless of who did actually invent it, that micrometer is still an impressive piece of kit. Hopefully we learn about the person who did create that little guy.

[@skenzyme81]

He's back!

[@jeffarmstrong1308]

Glad to see a new video from your channel. Thank you for your generosity sharing these plans even to the non-Patrons (like me!).

[@gunnar_langemark]

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I love this channel. Just thank you so much for making the effort and taking the time.

[@Noone-jn3jp]

Bro! I have full access to a CNC shop. Were going pro

[@jimjackson4256]

I’m glad you are back.I hope everything is good in your life and you are working on new ideas and objects because there are a lot out there waiting to be discovered. Thank you

[@barrishautomotive]

It doesnt matter if it's Watt's or not. At this point it's a MacGuffin. It's interesting regardless.

[@sffpv9671]

Fantastic update! Such an interesting piece. Looking forward to seeing people's recreations.

[@dalesideroadclassiccarwork9038]

You've got to imagine that back then, when you go out to make an accurate measuring device when all your tools are innacurate. You produce a piece that goes on to produce more accurate tools to produce more accurate measuring devices. We definitely stand on the shoulders of giants!

[@WeberMachineWorks]

right

[@TheKnacklersWorkshop]

Hello, Super interesting video, thank you... Looking forward to seeing a future video with everyone's home build. Take care. Paul,,

[@johncarey9149]

As pre-teens, my sister and I would spend the school holidays with my mother's family in London, and the happiest memories of that time is the days and days I spent dragging my aunt and sister around both the Science and the Natural History museums. Thank you for reminding me ... 🙂

[@user-cs2it4ic7n]

These videos from machine thinking are Gold!!. I look forward to everyone!. In my happy place watching latest video.

[@andersjjensen]

Good to hear you're back! Machine Thinking and New Mind are my two favourite YT channels, and both of you are "low volume"... because quality takes time...

[@brett8090]

This passion is fundamental to keeping our world turning. As a hobby machinist you have inspired me today. Thank you

[@iron_jonesy]

Incredible, thank you for your work!

[@davidrussell8689]

Great video ! We’ve been missing your videos ! Ben Russell’s input is fascinating. A true industrial historian .

[@jakobrosenqvist4691]

If I ever get that mini lathe that I have been wanting to get for a while I will for sure try to build this thing.

[@pitobread]

I remember showing the one I made on reddit years ago and sharing the plans for mine with you. I am glad you got one drawn up that is true to the original so I can now compare and see the details I missed.

[@machinethinking]

Yes! yours is so beautifully made it really was an inspiration! I hope mine is nearly that nice! If you want get in touch with me (again) via my contact page and I can include your photos in the compilation video I hope to make

[@josephlovell6951]

Yes I think I will have a go at building one. Thanks for sharing the plan's God bless you in all you do

[@Dr_Do-Little]

I've seen images and videos about this micrometer before but never close up of parts like you see at 2:36. The "badly made parts". I'm still in awe for the object but funny that now I can think: "I could had made better parts in my first months of machining school!" Of course I wasn't born in the 1700's. That's a huge difference.

[@0MoTheG]

With what? How are you going to make anything without proper tools? I want to see you make anything straight without something that is already straight.

[@Distortion0]

So glad you're back! I missed your videos

[@robertpatrick3350]

Birmingham City Museum has an amazing collection of Watt related items in its collection, sadly few are on display.

[@davidrussell8689]

This museum used to be a reference. It was an inspiring place to go . Now it’s just a mess .

[@dittilio]

1 a.m. I should slee- MACHINE THINKING! WOO!

[@catsupchutney]

I love that museum! I really must return there.

[@intellectualiconoclasm3264]

This is really awesome of you.

[@RinoaL]

I love how it looks.

[@motjuste8549]

What a great set of plans! Now I really need a machine shop just to make one of my own.

[@Dinnye01]

This one was worth the wait.

[@robertweeks4240]

wow ... indeed brilliant work! bravo!

[@dmeemd7787]

New video!! Awesome!! 🤩

[@sciencetoymaker]

It's a great day when Machine Thinking drops a video!

[@robertstuckey6407]

HE'S BACK

[@chrisdsouza8685]

Where have you been? I have been checking daily for your video for at least 4 months 😍

[@ocratitude]

Love your content. Please keep up the hard work!

[@petercolquhoun2086]

I would love to purchase stl files to 3D print this!

[@machinethinking]

I can send you the STLs. get in touch via my contact page (in video description)

[@ZetaPyro]

8:40 Is that the first face reveal on this channel? Great work! Looking forward to completion of your micrometer!

[@aserta]

Whomever made this, understood the one thing, that's key to micrometers (because essentially this is a modern micrometer, cut into bits) - precision. The anvil could be replaced by a sleeve type and then the graduations naturally will be used on the sleeve rather than bother with the cumbersome worm. Regardless of quality, the person understood tolerances and backlash. Given the quality of the work, but more importantly the quality of the parts... i'm wondering if this isn't an apprentice piece. We have this in art, why not in a machine shop. Be it copy of "an" original or a stray though made with scraps from other work... it's old and therefore interesting.

[@JohnBare747]

Perhaps a prototype made from scrap bin pieces as there for sure are reused stock, who knows? Fun to conjecture, and for sure food for thought.

[@bosanaz2010]

probably.Every machinest will tell you working with out CNC takes time.And if you need something fast or if its just a proof of concept you dont start chamfering every corner,rounding stuff of on the mill.Doing stuff precise ,where there is no need,too What is strange is worm gear.Its so warped its strange.Curios if its heat threatet maybe? Also watt was maybe just a poor machinest in the end? I mean not everybody feels the file as a extension of his arm.... I think i will remake it with my modern workshop,when my konventionel mill is free@@JohnBare747

[@ebenwaterman5858]

@@JohnBare747 Hmmmmm, a knock off? Why not? :)

[@carlthor91]

@aserta I think the reason for the attached andvil is that the maker, could not zero on the andvil any other way, as the measurements have to be up to today's standards to come close.

[@fxm5715]

In some trades it's traditional for people to make their own set of tools of the trade during their apprenticeship/education, particularly in the machinist world. It is the shop that can build itself, after all. A number of my professors in college still had the tools they had made for themselves at the start of their careers.

[@LawatheMEid]

I like history of sciences.. another long awaited video. Thanks

[@DragonsAndDragons777]

Hooray! Another video!

[@dubsydubs5234]

Never mind that micrometre the graphics of it and it coming apart blew my mind.

[@brianpeers]

Ben who is a man of detail searched his wardrobe and brought out the same tie from the original interview. Well done. A sense of humour I’m guessing. I like his style.

[@JohnSmith-xs4sx]

i really enjoy your videos and thanks for the drawings and other info , nicely done to i must say , might give it go once a few other projects are completed ....do you think the original maker would agree with me cnc machining a lot of it ? :)

[@lightandlabor]

All that slop in the original is a motivator for me to actually take on making one.

[@FEStanley]

Well done everyone, real curatorship!

[@johndilsaver8409]

Ok, now I have "discovered" your channel, more videos to watch, . . . sigh. Thank you for posting.

[@Antuan2911]

Your videos are so amazing, you give to us so many knowledge. Thank you! Regarding the poor condition of the micrometer and the consequent lack of accuracy that this implies, I would like to say some thoughts. At that time, when the standards had not yet been fixed, maybe they didn't mind if making for example, a shaft with a diameter of d, it ended up being d+0.05 due to micrometer error. Of greater importance to them was probably whether they wanted to make other shafts with the same diameter or to make a hole that this shaft would pass through, measuring with the same micrometer so that they also came out the same, i.e. repeatability. That is, if the construction was completed and the customer took it and worked, then their dimensions and accuracy no longer mattered because a part would never be taken from one machine to put it in another. Everything was custom.

[@gertjevanpoppel7270]

Again a beautiful video 👍😀 Im going to take a look at the plans and give it a try 😀. It's going to take a few months to build it and i have no doubt that my pile of shame will get bigger 🤣. But it will make a great project and a beautiful piece 👍

[@horrible1083]

hell yeah good work.

[@AHMW5541]

Matt here, with the Buffalo Pitts traction engine and A.V. Carrol engine lathe. Though life has gotten in the way recently, I am still working on these projects and will gladly take this one on. Thanks for making plans available.

[@machinethinking]

You're welcome! Film your build! :D

[@dixonqwerty]

Really cool!!

[@gabrielespindola4461]

He is alive!

[@aryanlearn]

He's back🎉

[@KipIngram]

I like to look back at how the developments in physics "fed" the progress of technology. It's of course a very complex interplay, but I think we can generalize it to some degree. I do it like this, at the highest level: 1) Mechanics (Newton's laws, F=ma, etc.) 2) Geometric optics 3) Thermodynamics 4) Chemistry 5) Electromagnetism (optics improved) 6) Quantum theory (nuclear processes, chemistry improved, optics improved)

[@mrtnsnp]

Maybe if you tickle "Inheritance Machining" the right way, he picks this up.

[@mikeyjohnson5888]

On the topic of build quality. TBH, it being nearly the first of its kind, I can see it being a test platform for what works and what doesn't. Machining was far more labor and time intensive than these days. It needs to be understood that while it wasn't perfect I'm sure it blew any metrological equipment of the day out of the water. Even in its crude state, I'm sure it was a boon to people that could appreciate it. People need to understand that most things we take for granted had pretty humble beginnings.

[@guytech7310]

Just because its crudely made does not mean it wasn't from Watts. Very possible it was a prototype using bits of scrap material to prove the concept. Likely the second made version was much better constructed, and because it was better made it didn't get put on a shelf or box for safe keeping because it was used daily. Lots of people make crude prototypes before making a much better version.

[@JackGladstoneHolroyde]

Genuinely I might 3d print this 😂

[@thesalamnder]

I'd love the plans to recreate in Solidworks as a project.

[@machinethinking]

Oh I can give you a .step file. Contact me

[@Noone-jn3jp]

I understand the assignment. It’s time to make Ben proud!

[@johndennis3181]

Cool simple design, I think keeping the spindle tight to the gib would be a challenge without binding the lead screw. Other that that is looks like it would work well. How parallel is the anvil face to the spindle face?

[@just_eirik]

Would love to see click spring make one.

[@BubbleOnPlumb]

It seems like it might have been a prototype built as a "proof of concept" for the device. When you are not entirely sure that your concept as a whole will be appropriate for the purpose, a maker will often coble together a preliminary version just to verify that its going to function as intended and be suitably suitably accurate. Going through this exercise typically identifies changes and modifications you will want to incorporate into the next generation of the device. Once you are satisfied with your design, you can then take the time and trouble to "perfect" your finished version for the utmost level of performance you are hoping to achieve.

[@gardnep]

Just a glance at the screw thread shows, even on the video, shows it has different thread forms on the one screw.

[@TheDistur]

Very cool

[@StripeyType]

OH. MY. GOSH. New MT video dropped AND ALSO LIFE-CHANGING METALWORKING PROJECT dropped!

[@ericlotze7724]

AMAZING! Just to be considerate what is the licensing of all this, “Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike” maybe?

[@machinethinking]

CC BY

[@Critter145]

I’d be in favor of modern precision instruments made in the style of Watt. Excellent work.

[@dielaughing73]

I'd be very keen to know which photogrammetry software you use. I do a lot of reverse-engineering and struggle with 3D scans sometimes

[@Margarinetaylorgrease]

Well, you took your time

[@fridgeffs5662]

When you think about it a micrometer isn't that amazing. You just scale up orders of magnitude to view something small in a number you can measure. But it really was one of the most important things ever made. To allow for the new precision of machinery opened a lot of doors

[@krjames5880]

I'd be interested in learning more about early micrometers. How did the 18th century engineers measure things before the standard micrometer designed had evolved?

[@CalebWalker-lp3rz]

what photogrammetry software did you use?

[@robertdascoli949]

Yeah, I know. Everyone talking about the micrometer, but that software is almost magic.

[@machinethinking]

I've used a couple different ones, but the one that's the most magic is PhotoCatch. It runs very quickly on M series Macs (I had one for work) and has almost no options (unlike the others which have a dizzying array) but produces beautiful meshes straight away. Seriously blown away. My go-to on PCs is 3DF Zephyr, but that's mostly because I have an old perpetual license. It takes a lot more fiddling to get results like this (especially the thin feature of the back dial).

[@jdsstegman]

I'm so happy to see yoy came back to this. I really can't believe Watt made this. The quality of his engines, and there is this crudly made device, that by its design is ment to be precise. I don't believe he made something so poorly.

[@robertdascoli949]

Babe, wake up. MT just dropped a new video.

[@GarageWorx]

Amazing the things that could be built without modern machinery.

[@oyou812]

I thought this was very interesting and informative as well as just fun examples of what if............

[@jonathanloeppky]

"Was this an apprentice piece?" Lol, brutal 😂

[@dielaughing73]

Pretty rough, considering this was literally the first precision instrument of its type. How would a craftsman of any skill level manage to make it perfectly?

[@MadeleineTakam]

Fantastic plans in PDF. Thanks. Do you intend to make the .DWG files available?

[@machinethinking]

Maybe? Would other formats be useful, too?

[@MadeleineTakam]

@@machinethinking I think for people with a 3D printer or access to CNC machines .dwg and .dxf would be very useful. I retired a couple of years ago, so I am only familiar with AutoCad 2012, but I used a copy of AutoCad 2019 last night and found I could convert the .pdf to dwg after separating pages in Acrobat DC. But will not be as good as the original 3D model space files, that your CAD modeler produced. I should imagine your Micrometer could be made in a few hours on a serious CNC Machine and maybe one of your younger viewers might be able to get this passed at college, as a project if they are doing a CNC machine course.

[@daze8410]

Yeah another MT video!

[@gertjevanpoppel7270]

I have been looking at the drawings and they are great 👍😀 But know comes the question.... How do i make a metric version ?.... what parts do I need to change and what are the best dimensions to use for the lead screw and the dial divisions 😁...

[@BlaiseMibeck]

YES!

[@GingerTwiglet]

I hope Inheritance Machining sees this.

[@cybair9341]

Maybe 3D print a copy of this micrometer in nylon-carbon fibre ?

[@TheWorldBelow360]

Watt, was he thinking when he tore his machine heart apart? From what we all here would have had let suffice, his mind was already very well Eulered and so augering now sure feels nice.

[@larryscott3982]

As for its crude appearance, could it be an experimental prototype? A proof of concept model? Looking forward to seeing modern machining make one. I suppose a true ‘replica’ would have to be crudely made. But a faithful rendition that represents the design and truly a functional micrometer would an homage to Watt - assuming it’s his design. The question is whether the design is a micrometer, theoretically. Or is it part of some other machine. I assumed that question has been answered.

[@orimilegov4046]

Can you tell me what photogrammetry software you have used? I once had one but it was awkward...

[@machinethinking]

I used PhotoCatch on a M series Mac. It's so much easier than other programs I've used

[@claybair4904]

Having hand made numbers of tools , I may change the ideas I have a dozen times , to get the final tool . In this case the screw and the nut are the important parts . They had only the crudest of tools to make their device . Their question to self ? it is not parallel . Does it have to be parallel to work . It will take X # of hours to remake the body of the tool . Will it make a significant change in the tool ? If not use it . Then make the next one more accurate .

[@SethKotta]

Ben seems like a cool guy.

[@davidliddelow5704]

I’ve been wondering about this for a while. I’m happy with the conclusion. It smelt like bs to me too.

[@appa609]

The first micrometer was made to metric measurements?

[@RegebroRepairs]

Do we have documentation of Whitworth's prototypes? This one looks more like Gascoines that Whitworth's, so I don't think it's inspired by Whitworth, but it could be him just throwing something together trying to build Gascoines micrometer, and as a result coming up with a lot of ideas on how to make it better. But maybe we know this isn't the case? I'm just throwing ideas out there. :-D

[@appa609]

The real question is how did anyone make a decent micrometer without access to other precision tools? It's relatively eady on a modern lathe because the lathe is, effectively, a better micrometer. How do you cut a thread to a better tolerance than the tool used to make it?

[@Davidsavage8008]

1 " in. Micrometer . sure appeared to have 1" in. Of threads equally spaced.😊

[@camdoice]

love your videos! could you do a video on Tesla and its technology?