Machine studies: toothed wheels, cylinders and a distaff
Notes on a napping device, a lead-weighted gear and a cylinder mechanism
An irregular sheet crowded with small mechanical sketches in brown ink and red chalk, including a large red toothed wheel meshing with a smaller gear, a ring of segmented blocks, a horizontal cylinder in a frame, and several winch- or drum-like devices. The scattered captions treat the working of these machines: a note on whether the nap of a material runs one way or the reverse, a large machine turning twice each way, a toothed wheel weighted with lead so that it descends, and a cylinder machine whose distaff must be shifted from side to side. The drawings and notes are read in several orientations, one caption explicitly for the sheet turned upside down. Further faint sketches and figures appear that the transcription does not cover.
On this page
Instruction on the nap of the material
A figure at the lower left is annotated to check whether the nap runs in a single direction, while the companion piece is worked in reverse. The note reads as a working instruction for a device that raises or dresses a napped surface.
Lead-weighted toothed wheel
One caption, written for the sheet turned upside down, labels a machine with a large toothed wheel. It specifies that the wheel is weighted with lead so that it descends, driving the mechanism by its own falling weight.
Cylinder machine and the shifting distaff
A cylinder machine at the foot of the sheet is captioned with an operating direction. Here one must shift the distaff now to one side, now to the other, alternating its position as the machine runs.