Engineering, Building, and Architecture

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  Coradi Polar Compensating Planimeter Sold by Keuffel & Esser (Model 4242)

  Description

  The adjustable tracer arm on this German silver and bronzed brass instrument is evenly divided to tenths of a unit, with each unit equal to 5mm, and numbered from 5 to 36. The measuring wheel, vernier, and registering dial are white plastic. A second vernier is made of German silver and used with the scale on the tracer arm. The carriage for the measuring wheel is marked: N^o 25743. The pole arm fits inside a tube attached to a cylindrical weight, allowing the arm's length to be adjusted. The pole arm has a scale like the scale on the tracer arm, but it is numbered from 30 to 34. The tube is marked: G. Coradi, Zürich Switzerland.

  An oblong German silver testing rule is marked for 0", 1", 2", and 3". It is also marked: G. Coradi Zürich. A wooden case covered with black morocco leather is lined with purple velvet. A printed paper chart is pasted inside the case. The chart has columns for Scales, Position of the vernier on the tracer bar, Value of the unit of the vernier on the measuring roller, and Constant. The values in the Position and Constant columns are handwritten in the same hand that indicates the Coradi firm manufactured this planimeter with serial number 25,748 in 1917.

  The label is also stamped in purple: 4242. This was the model number used by Keuffel & Esser of New York, which sold the instrument from 1901 to 1972. The price was $46.50 in 1909, $33.50 in 1915, and $55.00 in 1921; presumably, World War I affected Coradi's ability to export planimeters. By 1936, a German firm was manufacturing model 4242 for K&E's Paragon product line. Compare to 1998.0032.03. See 1991.0882.02 for a later instruction manual.

  References: Clark McCoy, "Collection of Pages from K&E Catalogs for the 4242 Family of Polar Planimeters," http://www.mccoys-kecatalogs.com/PlanimeterModels/ke4242family.htm; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser, 33rd ed. (New York, 1909), 322; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser, 35th ed. (New York, 1915), 315; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser, 36th ed. (New York, 1921), 257; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser, 38th ed. (New York, 1936), 340.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1917

  maker

  Coradi, Gottlieb

  ID Number

  1999.0250.01

  accession number

  1999.0250

  catalog number

  1999.0250.01

  maker number

  25748

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

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  Instructions for Amsler Polar Planimeters

  Description

  This undated large 4-page booklet is titled, "Instructions for Using Amsler's Planimeters." It describes and depicts nine types of polar planimeter sold by the firm established by Jacob Amsler in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, in 1854, but in less detail than the German-language pamphlet, 1986.0316.09. As in that pamphlet, the arms of Types 1 and 2 are equal in length, even though some surviving examples and advertisements such as Dietzgen's 1904 and 1926 catalogs have a shorter tracer arm. Dietzgen also sold Types 4 and 6 in 1904 and Type 4 in 1926.

  References: Catalogue & Price List of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 7th ed. (Chicago, 1904), 360–361; Catalogue & Price List of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 12th ed. (Chicago, 1926), 180–181.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  after 1912

  maker; author

  Amsler, Jacob

  ID Number

  1999.0250.02

  accession number

  1999.0250

  catalog number

  1999.0250.02

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

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  Cast Iron Whale

  Description

  The words “BAKER NEW BEDFORD.” appear on the back of this cast-iron sperm whale, which has two mounting lugs on the bottom for fastening to a flat surface. These features suggest that it was a shop sign for one of the many stores in New Bedford, Massaschusetts that provided items to whalers needed for their dirty and dangerous business. In the 1878 New Bedford city directory, the only person listed with the surname Baker was Ansol Baker, a machinist.

  New Bedford was the largest American whaling port in the industry, which flourished until the Civil War and lasted into the early 20th century.

  Date made

  19th century

  possible owner of sign

  Baker, Ansol

  ID Number

  CL.25052

  catalog number

  25052

  accession number

  2009.0157

  catalog number

  2009.0157.01

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

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  Ship Model, Fishing Schooner Dauntless

  Description

  This model represents the fishing schooner Dauntless, built at Essex, Mass., about 1855. Its hull is of the “sharpshooter” type, meaning the bottom has a sharp V-shape, as distinct from the rounded hulls of most fishing craft built in New England. The model shows the typical deck arrangement for a schooner sailing to or from the offshore fishing grounds, with the dory boats nested together and lashed bottom-up on the deck. All of the sails are set, including the jib and flying jib on the vessel’s long bowsprit.

  Fishing on the shallow banks stretching from Georges Bank east of Massachusetts to the Grand Bank off the coast of Newfoundland was a dangerous enterprise. Thousands of lives were lost in the race to catch more fish and deliver them to market before the competition. The demand for fast schooners led to designs that favored speed over safety. The Dauntless is an example of a mid-century schooner with a fast hull and a great deal of sail. The sailing rig would have required crewmen to venture out on the bowsprit to furl the jib, a dangerous proposition, especially in rough weather.

  Details of what happened to the Dauntless and its crew in September 1870 are unknown. But the schooner was lost at sea with all hands aboard, while making a passage to the Bay of St. Lawrence from Gloucester. Those lost included Jas. G. Craig, master, John La Pierre, Martin Costello, John Todd Jr., George Todd, Daniel Herrick, Edward Smith, James Smith, James Welch, George Goodwin, and two others, whose names are unknown.

  Date made

  1894

  date made

  1855

  model built

  ca 1855

  schooner was lost at sea

  1870-09

  master of schooner's crew

  Craig, Jas. G.

  sailor

  La Pierre, John

  Costello, Martin

  Todd, Jr., John

  Todd, George

  Herrick, Daniel

  Smith, Edward

  Smith, James

  Welch, James

  Goodwin, George

  ID Number

  TR.076244

  catalog number

  076244

  accession number

  028022

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

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  Ship Model, Schooner Fredonia

  Description

  This model represents the fishing schooner Fredonia, designed by the well-known yacht designer Edward Burgess of Boston. Burgess designed several America’s Cup racing yachts, including the Puritan, the Mayflower, and the Volunteer, which successfully defended the cup in 1885, 1886, and 1887, respectively. From Burgess’s plans, Moses Adams built the Fredonia in 1889, at Essex, Mass. The schooner measured 111’-6” long, with a beam (width) of 23’-6”, and a depth of 10’-3”. Adams also built the schooner Nellie Dixon from the same plans in East Boston that year.

  After launching, the Fredonia was used as a yacht and made a transatlantic cruise before being refitted for work in the offshore fisheries. The vessel became known for its speed, and attracted attention for its fine lines. Its clipper-style bow with carved trail boards led to a long bowsprit (a spar extending forward from the bow that carried the jib). The design influenced fishing schooners for years to come, and vessels built on the Fredonia model came to represent the quintessential New England fishing schooner.

  The Fredonia’s influence belied its short life. In 1896 the vessel met with disaster while fishing for cod on the Grand Banks. During a December storm the Fredonia sank, with all but two of its crew of 23 saved by other schooners fishing in the area.

  date made

  1889

  ship built

  1889

  ship sank

  1896-12

  designer

  Burgess, Edward

  shipbuilder

  Adams, Moses

  ID Number

  TR.076253

  catalog number

  076253

  accession number

  28022

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

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  Half Model, Fishing Schooner Helen B. Thomas

  Description

  Unlike most of the half-hull models in the Smithsonian’s National Watercraft Collection, this one was not intended for use in shipbuilding. Instead, this half model of the fishing schooner Helen B. Thomas was made to show a radical design innovation to potential vessel owners. Its maker, Thomas F. McManus, a naval architect in Boston, adapted an idea from sailing yachts to the fishing schooners of New England. He eliminated the bowsprit, the spar projecting forward from the schooner’s bow, in an attempt to make the vessel safer for the fishermen working in treacherous conditions far offshore. In McManus’s new design, fishermen would not have to clamber out on the bowsprit to tend the jib (the vessel’s forward-most sail), a dangerous task especially in bad weather that, in McManus’s view, resulted too often in injury or death.

  McManus made this half-hull model and displayed it in his Boston office, hoping to attract a client. After nearly a year, Capt. William Thomas of Portland, Maine, decided to try the design and contracted with the Oxner & Story yard in Essex, Mass., to build the schooner. The Helen B. Thomas was launched in 1902 and measured 106’-7” overall, with a beam (width) of 21’-6” and 13’ deep. The vessel became a successful fishing schooner. While no other schooners were built to this exact design, many were built without the bowsprit, a schooner design that became known as the “knockabout.”

  date made

  1901

  Associated Date

  early 20th century

  ship built from model design

  1902

  Captain who contracted the design

  Thomas, William

  contractors who built the ship

  Oxner & Story

  maker

  McManus, Thomas F.

  ID Number

  TR.310888

  catalog number

  310888

  accession number

  131237

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

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  STP-Paxton Turbocar, 1967

  Description

  At the 1967 Indianapolis 500, STP CEO Andy Granatelli and his racing team unveiled one of the most innovative and controversial cars ever to race at the Brickyard. The STP Paxton Turbine Car was the first turbine-powered car to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. Vince Granatelli and Joseph Granatelli constructed the car in total secrecy but within all racing regulations. The car was propelled by a Pratt and Whitney turbine engine typically used in helicopters. During practice, onlookers dubbed the quiet vehicle Silent Sam while others called it the Whooshmobile, mimicking the whooshing sound it made passing by. The car featured four-wheel drive, a centrally located fuel tank, and a side-by-side design that placed the driver beside the mid-mounted engine. Andy Granatelli promoted his racer as the world’s first truly space age car. Racing legend Parnelli Jones manned the cockpit and dominated the race, starting from the first lap and leading 171 laps. With only three and one-half laps left to victory, a transmission bearing failed, and Jones coasted into the pits while A.J. Foyt took first place. “Silent Sam” lost the race but succeeded in shaking up Indy car racing. The STP Paxton turbine car launched a brief period of turbine Indy cars marked by intense debate and controversy. Many people welcomed turbine cars as innovations while others wanted them banned from competition. The 1968 Champ Car season saw several turbine racers brought by STP, Lotus, and Shelby. By 1969 racing regulations made turbine cars noncompetitive at Indy, and dual overhead cam engines became the sport’s mainstay.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1967

  maker

  Granatelli Enterprises

  Paxton Corp.

  ID Number

  TR.336464

  accession number

  1978.0418

  catalog number

  336464

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

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  Navigational Bell Buoy

  Description

  Unlike car drivers on land, navigators at sea have no road signs to indicate speed limits, dangers, or routes. Navigational buoys are floating objects anchored to the bottom that serve as aids to navigation. Their distinctive shapes, colors, and other markings provide information indicating their purpose and how to navigate around them.

  The placement and maintenance of navigational buoys are essential to shipping, since they often provide the only guidance for channel locations, shoals, reefs, and other hazards. If damaged by collisions, extinguished, or broken loose from their moorings, the Coast Guard will repair, replace, refuel, or relocate the failed buoy.

  Designated an 8X20 LBR, this particular type of buoy was used by the U.S. Coast Guard Lighthouse Service on the East Coast from around 1930 until the early 1950s. It measures 8 feet in width and 20 feet high, and the letters mean Lighted, Bell, and Radar Reflector. It originally weighed ca. 15,600 pounds, including the 225-lb bell. The bottom of this example was removed to fit into the gallery.

  It was designed to be deployed in shallow, protected coastal waters and could be seen about two miles away in daylight. The light on the top was powered by batteries stored under the round hatches in the large bottom compartment. The bell was rung by the rocking of the buoy in the waves.

  ID Number

  TR.336771

  accession number

  1978.2285

  catalog number

  336771

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

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  Shipyard Plate Puller

  Description

  The assembly line revolutionized labor and production in early 20th-century America, and its innovations of prefabricated parts and streamlined processes were applied to shipbuilding in World War I. This tool was used by shipyard workers to align pre-punched holes in standardized hull plates before riveting them together with steam-powered hydraulic riveting guns. Riveting was an exhausting task, but essential for ensuring the overall strength of these mass-produced freighters.

  Beginning in 1918, the U.S. federal government initiated many programs designed to boost morale among workers on the home front. A popular event at shipyards was a riveting competition. The first record was set at the Baltimore Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company, where a riveting gang drove 658 rivets in eight hours. As reports of this spread across the country, other shipyards tried for their own records and newspapers began offering cash prizes. The record climbed to 2,919 rivets in nine hours, but the United States Shipping Board soon realized that these publicity stunts were wearing out the riveting gangs. The board halted the contests, but began publishing a ranking system of each shipyard’s daily riveting totals to continue the friendly (and productive) rivalries.

  date made

  1918

  first riveting competitions

  1918

  hosted riveting competitions

  Baltimore Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company

  regulated riveting gangs and competitions

  United States Shipping Board

  ID Number

  TR.336914

  catalog number

  336914

  accession number

  1979.0413

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

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  Corliss Vacuum Dash Pot, Patent Model

  Description

  The model was filed on October 27, 1875, to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to George H. Corliss, June 6, 1876, no. 178275.

  The model is a brass miniature of a vacuum dash pot designed to combine the functions of supplying the force to close the steam valve and to arrest the motion without shock after the valve is closed. The vacuum dash pot has some advantages over heavy weights and springs for closing valves.

  The dash pot consists of a casting in which is bored a cylinder having a lower section of small diameter and an upper section of larger diameter. A plunger, having corresponding sections of large and small diameters, fits the cylinder. When the steam valve to which the plunger is attached is opened the plunger rises in the cylinder forming a vacuum in the part of smaller diameter. At the same time small leather valves in the larger part of the plunger open and allow air to enter the cylinder under this part of the plunger. When the valve is released the vacuum draws down the plunger and closed the valve. The air under the upper part escapes through a port in the cylinder until the plunger covers the port. The air trapped in the cylinder at this point acts a s a cushion and brings the valve quickly but gently to rest.

  Reference:

  This description comes from the 1939 Catalog of the Mechanical Collections of the Division of Engineering United States Museum Bulletin 173 by Frank A. Taylor.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1876

  patent date

  1876-06-06

  inventor

  Corliss, George H.

  ID Number

  ER.308692

  accession number

  89797

  catalog number

  308692

  patent number

  178,275

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

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