Last weekend I had the opportunity to tour a working 19th century machine shop. The Hagley Museum and Library in Delaware features an incredible display of mechanical engineering, including a restored water turbine from 1890 that once again churns in the banks of the Brandywine River to silently power some incredible metal work machines (for historic demonstration purposes, at least). I’m still not really sure how on earth the turbines work – something about gravity and water pressure creating a current in a chamber and I think there’s a wizard involved – but seeing it in action was very, very cool.
Above, the restored turbine in action, below, a drawing of what’s happening inside the machine.
And here are some great shots of drills, lathes, and more, all working machines from the 1800s, powered by nothing but water and mechanics – no electricity needed.
To contrast this experience, I also took a tour of a metal shop in a nearby maker-space, which has many machines that perform the same functions. I was impressed by both the differences and the similarities.
This is the way we use water to cut metal these days.
And we have a lot more safety features in shops now.
But the mechanisms are similar, even if the machines aren’t powered by water movement anymore.
The end!
5 thoughts on “Machine Shops, Then and Now”
coldhandboyack
What an awesome post. Thanks for sharing it. I’ve seen a couple of old machine shops, but they were early electric versions. Everything used canvas belts that hooked to a central engine.
M. Joelle
This shop operated that way until a year or two ago, when they found the actual turbine. I’m so glad they were able to restore it and put it to use! It was really neat to see.
coldhandboyack
Glad you shared it. Now I can see it too. Not a lot of water powered equipment in the American West.
robstroud
Quite interesting. My brother-in-law is a machinist with his own business. He’s not a fan of the internet, but I’ll forward this to him and I’m sure he would enjoy it.
M. Joelle
I hope he enjoys it!