Since the industrial age, innovative design through precision engineering has shaped the world, literally.
It was English industrialist, John Wilkinson, who pioneered the manufacture of cast iron. His boring machine that could bore cast iron cylinders to make cannon barrels and pistons was said to be the first machine tool – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_tool.
It is the machine tooling that makes things possible; cutting, shaping and grinding metals and other rigid materials to a specific design, and it was not until the Middle Ages that machine tools were used in the manufacture of metal parts.
Time for Change
In particular, as the world became more mechanised, it was the clockmakers of the Middle Ages who were some of the most important developers of machine tools. As clocks became more complex, requiring highly skilled technicians, the challenge was to make timepieces even smaller.
From the time of the Renaissance with the clockmakers, inventors and engineers such as Leonardo Da Vinci – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci – an industry of machine tool builders evolved as we define them today, with specialists who build machines to sell to others.
The job of the precision engineer, often using the latest cutting-edge technology, is to provide innovative solutions to modern-day problems.
Notably, in 1776 it was John Wilkinson who received an order of 500 identical cylinders from another inventor, James Watt, who was looking to overcome the issues with engine designs and how energy was wasted when the cylinder was repeatedly cooled and reheated.
With the ingenuity of early precision engineering, James Watt was able to enhance the design of the steam engine, radically improving its power, efficiency and cost-effectiveness, eventually adapting his engine to produce rotary motion for the use of pumping water.
Later known as the Watt Steam Engine, which came about through the combined partnership of John Wilkinson and James Watt, the invention was fundamental to worldwide changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution – https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/industrialization-labor-and-life/.
Manufacture through precision engineering
As with James Watt’s improvements, designs and manufacture through precision engineering precisely aim to not only reduce costs but expand the life span of a product, making it more durable, resilient, and absent of poor fitting and assembly issues.
Although pistons are thought to have been used as early as 150 BC, the true beginning of the cast iron piston and cylinder system was during the Industrial Revolution.
Pistons are vital components in many reciprocating engines, pumps and compressors, and the combination of pistons and cylinders brought the component to a higher state of efficiency when used in steam engines.
Sometime later, at the turn of the 19th century, Eli Whitney, an American inventor best known for his invention of the cotton gin, demonstrated the efficiency of interchangeable parts.
Interchangeable Parts.
Interchangeable parts have become important precision engineering elements. Working to precise specifications ensures that identical components are practical for purpose and fit into any assembly of the same type, meaning that any part can be replaced without custom fitting, allowing easy assembly and repair of existing devices. Again, reducing costs and increasing efficiency.
At the beginning of the 20th century, when the assembly line was introduced, the concept of interchangeable parts was crucial to efficient production.
Although we associate interchangeable parts with that of the early 19th century, evidence exists to trace the concept back to the 3rd century, when Rome was fighting with Carthage in the First Punic War.
In particular, Carthage warships had interchangeable parts that were even provided with an instruction manual and, also, during the Chinese Qin Dynasty, mass-produced bronze crossbows were manufactured with triggers and locking mechanisms that were designed to be interchangeable.
As you can see, this kind of technical ingenuity made life and death so much easier for everyone involved.
Helping to find a way around corners
From the smallest and the simplest to the largest and most complicated components, precision engineering facilitates all requirements around intricate mechanisms due to the need to design and manufacture almost everything in a moving system. Precision engineering helps to find a way.
There are no straight lines or sharp corners in nature – Antonio Gaudi.
About 6,000 years ago, one invention that changed the world and is still an endearing feature today is the wheel and axle.
Taken for granted, it’s as if the idea has always been there, from the very beginning of time but, like many inventions, there was nothing that already existed like this – there was no precursor to the wheel and axle, not even in nature.
Humans and creatures don’t roll, they walk, swim, run, climb, hop, slither, or fly but the aim was to solve the problem of performing and moving in a way that nature doesn’t but within the laws of nature, and often with the help of nature.
Wind-powered precision
Prior to the steam engine, the windmill was an ingenious device that sought to convert wind power into a useful mechanical engineering source of energy and this was one of the first inventions to cause mass unemployment as it replaced human beings as a main source of power.
Wind-powered machines are likely to have existed before the 1st century but the first practical windmill appeared in 9th century Persia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panemone_windmill – and windmills remained useful throughout the medieval period and right up until the 19th century when, finally – as we have touched upon – the windmill was replaced by the steam engine.
The old, functioning windmills that we still see today are often regarded as beacons of engineering ingenuity as well as pillars of a wind-powered, poor environmentally friendly generation.
However, in 2024, expect to see in an increase of offshore developments as more countries are looking to implement wind-powered energy as part of their eco-friendly strategy.
The future of wind-powered energy is looking nice and breezy with the advancements in technology expected to help reduce the cost of wind energy by up to 35% before the end of the next decade – https://www.renewableinstitute.org/9-reasons-wind-power-is-future-of-green-energy/
Before humans began to systematically extract more and more natural resources from the Earth, in order to power machinery and vehicles, one remarkable invention that now has ‘wood’ on its hands is the printing press – https://www.history.com/news/printing-press-renaissance
The knowledge of revolution
The printing press was a revolutionary idea. Not only did German goldsmith Johannes Guttenberg enable the mass distribution of knowledge, but he also touched upon the precision engineering ethos of aiming to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
Modelled on an ancient wine press, Guttenberg designed the press with rolling ink on a pre-arranged, raised surface of movable text, allowing books to be produced more quickly and more affordable.
Precision engineering that steps up a gear
3rd-century mathematician Archimedes defined the principle of the lever (fixed hinge or fulcrum) and his dedication to the study of mechanics possibly gives him indirect credit for the phenomena of the gear ratio and the mechanical advantage of torque.
A lever is defined as a mechanism that can be used to exert a large force over a small distance at one end of the lever by exerting a small force over a greater distance at the other end – https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/levers-d_1304.html. This provides a mechanical answer (leverage) to the question of having to move very heavy objects with relative ease.
Creative mechanism – https://www.creativemechanisms.com/gears -describes gears as mechanisms that mesh together via teeth to facilitate rotary motion. In fact, gears and cogwheels are integral components of any rotating machine, allowing a change in speed, torque or, in some cases, the precise direction of power.
Turn to simple precision
Seen as a simple configuration on bicycles, the gears are represented by two important aspects: radius and the count of teeth that are mounted or connected in some way, via a base element.
Gears require the turning of quality precision machined parts, often with the capability to work with a variety of materials, including steel, brass and plastic.
Precision engineers use the latest technology and project manage entire components of high quality, efficiently and effectively whilst factoring cost-effective considerations.
These days precision engineers use computer numerical control (CNC) machinery to operate tools such as lathes, drills, grinders and 3D printers.
Transforming precision engineering with CNC
The CNC machines transform material into specific shapes without manual operation. These programs are written by graphical CAD engineers to ensure that the control instructions are executed to perfection.
This state-of-the-art modern technology allows commonly made items such as springs and bearings to be made on demand and in bulk and, considering the technology involved to deliver such precision, it’s hard to believe that springs and bearings are inventions of the 18th century.
The first patented ball bearing was the invention of Philip Vaughan in 1794. Modern-day sophisticated bearings demand the highest level of precision engineering and high-quality manufacturing.
The coiled spring was invented over 30 years before, in 1763, by R. Tradewell – https://www.smalley.com/blog/invention-history-and-timeline-wave-spring. However, despite the spring technology dating back to the days of the bow and arrow, the first coiled spring wasn’t developed until 1857 and was used by upholsterers for chairs.
Future Precision
Into the 21st century, and over 4 billion computer transistors can be fixed on a microchip the size of a small fingernail. High-precision motors are in constant demand as a source of electrical power and AI is causing a shift in the field of precision engineering, with enormous potential using machine learning algorithms.