Hi everyone,
Bernard make a good point. For a topic in technical history which
has not been previously researched and written up, it is often quite
hard to get firm facts about who invented/patented what and when.
A case in point was the origins of the wire gauze Davey had
available when working on the safety lamp. We failed completely to
find anything in print about the techniques of manufacture then.
Apart from finding that wire gauzes of incredibly fine meshes were
being produced for sieving purposes and used in trades like paper-
making and the sifting of drugs, flour and gunpowder, the
practicalites of manufature now seem to be completely lost. It was
clearly a craft-based industry, but the form of looms used and how
the fine wires were handled has not yet been discovered. In contrast
the techniques and equipment used in drawing the wires in the first
place are very well docuimented.
The many differing gauges of wires produced by different makers
then is worth a study itself.
On wire-rope patents, the patents can readily be traced from the
printed indices and abridgements which cover the Old Law (1617-
1852) and the patents after the reforms made in the latter year.
Once found copies of individual patents can be readily purchased
from the Bl for about £5 each.
Cheers
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