Exactly

[Henry BrownParticipant @henrybrown95529]

I've recently finished reading this book, it charts the journey of precision, or lack of it in the early days, to the amazing achievements up to 2019 when my edition was published. A bit long winded in places, I enjoyed the read and it reminded me of lots of things I knew but had put into storage!

[Henry BrownParticipant @henrybrown95529]

Mat be interesting read for some…

[Ebenezer GoodParticipant @ebenezergood76202]

That looks interesting, I'll have to order a copy. Thanks for the post.

[VicParticipant @vic]

I’ve just bought the Kindle Copy for £3.99.

[Chris CrewParticipant @chriscrew66644]

Just got a hard copy from Amazon for £3.49 and they stung me £3.10 for the postage. It better be good!

BTW, there's a book by the same author entitled the The Perfectionists with the same strap line. Is this the same text under a different cover?

[Chris CrewParticipant @chriscrew66644]

Be careful with Amazon. I have used it before with no problem, but a pop-up appeared offering me a 30 day's free trial of Amazon Prime which I thought I had dismissed. I then received an email welcoming to me to the free trial which I intend to immediately cancel. However, if you click on the cancellation link it provides you with a PDF form which you have to print and then put in the snail mail to an address in Luxembourg so it is going to cost me an international stamp at the post office in the morning. After this nasty little trick I will never ever use Amazon again, period!

To say I am spitting feathers about this at the moment would be an understatement!

Well, now I have calmed down a little it seems you can cancel it online via customer services and my account which I hope I have done, but what what a sneaky thing to do? I am absolutely positive I dismissed the pop-up and went straight to 'basket' and proceed to payment. Anyway, they have now lost me as a customer.

Edited By Chris Crew on 26/07/2022 21:24:43

Edited By Chris Crew on 26/07/2022 21:35:44

[Frances IoMParticipant @francesiom58905]

the Amazon prime ‘auto enrol’ trick is well known – they were forced to make it easier to un-enrol but they haven’t got where they are in business by playing nice.

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

Easiest way Chris is don’t use amazon, I avoid it with a passion there are other sites

[Frank GorseParticipant @frankgorse]

Thanks for the recommendation,I’ve just ordered a copy. Not from amazon.

[DMBParticipant @dmb]

Chris,

I had forgotten to cancel a previous month for Prime and credit card statement recently, reminded me to act! Now! What a struggle to cancel. Beware all, of another trick, well as far as I'm concerned it is. Today being Wednesday, I was offered choice to cancel now or Wednesday 24/8. Charged to my CC on 24/6, so if I'd selected cancel on 24/8, they'd probably have charged me again! Needless to say, I read things carefully and took smart option to cancel now. It was only a short term membership in the first place but A P don't (want to) know when to stop. Sorry if off topic.

John

[DMBParticipant @dmb]

0n topic this time, read that book sometime ago.

John

[Gary WoodingParticipant @garywooding25363]

Hmm, the reviews on Amazon were not encouraging.

[Neil LickfoldParticipant @neillickfold44316]

I found it a great read.

[Bob WorsleyParticipant @bobworsley31976]

I bought this some years ago, and it is one of extremely few books I have never finished, the errors and the geewhiz were in the end just too much.

Use abebooks to buy books, whilst it is part of Amazon they keep it very quiet.

[ChrisLHParticipant @chrislh]

Plus 1 for sneaky Amazon. Like Chris C thought I had rejected the offer of Prime. Not discovered until I found a mystery £7.99 on my bank statement. Cancelled and never used Amazon since.

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

I read Simon Winchester's book Exactly a couple of years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. You have to remember Winchester is not an engineer but a journalist who churns out one of his incredibly researched books every year or two. I think it was published as "The Perfectionists" in the USA.

One interesting thing I remember learning was that mass production was pioneered in the USA, by Springfield Armory (in order to churn out guns for their Civil War that could be repaired in the field with standard sized parts), and not in the UK. I had always assumed the UK being the originator of the Industrial Revolution was the home of mass production. But apparently it was imported from the USA after the Civil War ended circa 1770 or so. .

Another interesting tidbit was that earlier than that, it was the invention of the boring machine (in the UK) for making cannon barrels with nice round and parallel bores that allowed James Watt to use the machines to make steam engine cylinders that actually fit the pistons without massive gaps and upped their efficiency no end. So there is nothing modern about the "military-industrial complex".

I get all my books from Book Depository. Shipping cost included in the price so no surprises, and can't be beaten on price usually. (Like everything else though, they are now owned by Amazon but seem to run their own race.)

Edited By Hopper on 27/07/2022 11:27:45

[Martin Johnson 1Participant @martinjohnson1]

The book is available at https://b-ok.cc/s/Exactly? As an epub free of charge. Also lots of other model engineering stuff.

Martin

[egaParticipant @ega]

Hopper:

In the same vein, I think it was the US sewing machine industry that gave impetus to the practice of grinding machine parts to a finish; Singer et al wisely decided that their product was likely to be driven hard!

Thanks to HB for the recommendation.

[GeorgineerParticipant @georgineer]

Posted by Chris Crew on 26/07/2022 21:20:13:

…To say I am spitting feathers about this at the moment would be an understatement!

Interestingly, Chris, I spit feathers when I'm parched, but I spit tacks when I'm angry. There must be a genetic mutation somewhere in one of our ancestors!

George

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Looks a worthwhile read. I have another of Simon Winchester's book, that on the gigantic Krakatoa / Krakatau eruption in 1883; and he dose have a flair for describing technical subjects well to non-specialists without patronising them.

I may well buy it but from a regular shop, not some dubious US Internet-based corporation. Even if slightly more expensive… or would it be by the time you've lumped in shipping-costs and trying to circumvent the Wall Street types?

[Simon Williams 3Participant @simonwilliams3]

My understanding of the history of the introduction of mass production is that Marc Brunel (Isambard's dad) built the first ever mass production facility at Plymouth Dockyard making pulley blocks.

Anyone know if this trumps the Americans?

Simon

[Nick WheelerParticipant @nickwheeler]

Posted by Simon Williams 3 on 27/07/2022 16:07:59:

My understanding of the history of the introduction of mass production is that Marc Brunel (Isambard's dad) built the first ever mass production facility at Plymouth Dockyard making pulley blocks.

Anyone know if this trumps the Americans?

Simon

It was in Portsmouth, not Plymouth. There wasn't much of America in 1803….

Although the Americans took the principles demonstrated, and built on them

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

Posted by Nicholas Wheeler 1 on 27/07/2022 17:17:35:

There wasn't much of America in 1803….

There may not have been much but some of what there was is due to Marc as he was engaged in building New York docks and other projects before he came to England. Who knows what he might have seen that influenced him.

One argument that I have have read states that the US embraced mass production because there was a shortage of skilled labour because most of the immigrants were agricultural workers from the edges of Europe with little heritage in the mechanical arts.

Rod

[lee websterParticipant @leewebster72680]

I have no evidence of this, but wouldn't cheap-ish pottery items of the 1700s have been mass produced? Make a mould and get thousands of cups and saucers etc.

[PatJParticipant @patj87806]

I read an article that a British engineer visited industrial facilities in the US in the 1800's, and was astounded that virtually the entire US industry used leather belts, and not ropes.

This made me wonder about leather belts, since a cow is not a very long animal, and a belt is a very long thing.

I found a little bit of information about how leather belts were made, using some sort of built-up layering process, apparently using some very flexible and durable glue. It amazes me that belts work, but they do work well, they can transmit a lot of load, and can be used at relatively high speeds too.

The belt industry in the 1800's in the US was pretty high tech in my opinion.

And Charles Porter brought the first modern high speed stationary steam engine to England and displayed it at the London International Exhibit in 1862. His engine design was pretty much dismissed by the leading engineers all over the world at the time, some of which had to do with the lack of a condenser.

Charles Porter was a lawyer by trade, and so certainly there would have been a reluctance in the engineering community to accept what was considered a somewhat radical design for the time period.

The head of the London Exposition forbid Charles Porter from running his engine faster than 100 rpm, and luckily Porter ignored him and ran it at 150 rpm, and the rest is history.

It just goes to show that genius in the techical world is not necessarily limited to engineers or specific countries.

.

Edited By PatJ on 27/07/2022 18:34:48

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