Wire-drawing machine, cranes and lifting devices
A screw-wheel that both draws and presses; siphons, tongs, ladders
A dense sheet of mechanical studies in pen over pencil. Beneath a wire-drawing machine a note explains that its screw-wheel performs two offices at once — it draws the wire and presses it — which it could not do if it stood still. Around it are sketches the catalogue links to cranes, siphons for raising water, tongs, double-threaded screw frames and collapsible ladders, with polygonal geometrical figures at the top. A salutation opening a draft letter appears at the upper right and a further block of mirror-script notes at the left; neither is included in the transcription.
On this page
Wire-drawing machine: the screw-wheel
A note set beneath the wire-drawing machine explains that its screw-wheel performs two offices, drawing the wire and pressing it at once. It could not do this if it stood still, or if its circumference, being extended, were of a certain length equal to the length of the drawn wire.
Siphons for raising water
Among the sketches are curved tube and vessel forms which the catalogue reads as siphons, including water raised by a large siphon. They stand alongside the machinery devoted to lifting.
Cranes, tongs and collapsible ladders
Further studies include wheel-and-frame lifting gear, gripping tongs and a lattice of hinged, scissor-like members. The catalogue groups these as a crane, pincers for grasping objects underwater, double-threaded screw frames and collapsible ladders.
Polygonal figures at the top
At the top of the sheet are an octagon and a faceted polygonal net drawn in ink, geometrical figures set apart from the mechanical studies below.