Two Whitworth surface plates 6" x 4" in box
Flat plane surfaces, to act as references and to form the basis for measurement, are essential to machine tool manufacture and to mechanical engineering. Originally, to make surface plates, two pieces of iron were filed and lapped to fit. However, if one was convex and the other concave, they could still fit together and appear flat. Whitworth, following Maudslay, prepared the plates by matching three, thus ensuring perfectly flat surfaces.
Details
- Category:
- Industrial Metrology
- Object Number:
- 1913-676
- Materials:
- cast iron
- Measurements:
-
object (each): 1.378 x 5.9843 x 4.0157 in.; 3.5 x 15.2 x 10.2 cm
- type:
- surface plate
- credit:
- Cole, A.S.
