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LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Licence
Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Licence
Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
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Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Circular instrument dividing engine made by John Troughton, London, England in 1778. The Cast brass, 46 1/4-inch dividing plate, with twelve spokes and 2160 teeth is supported on a heavy wooden frame and tripod table stand (foot treadle missing). It is similar to the first successful dividing engine which was completed by Jesse Ramsden in about 1775.
Completed by John Troughton (c 1739-1807), this is similar to the first successful dividing engine which was completed in about 1775 by Jesse Ramsden (1735- 1800). Until the 1770s, scales on scientific instruments had been marked out by skilled craftsmen in a process called 'dividing', this was partly mechanized from the 1770s when dividing engines were introduced. Originally used on small instruments, by the 1850s they were used to graduate scales on large astronomical telescopes, making hand-dividing obsolete.
"Four foot" circular dividing engine (c. 1778) by John Troughton, diameter of wheel to edge of teeth is 46 1/4 inches, with 2160 teeth, wooden treadle missing, and also a few unimportant details such as milled-head screws, near the 210 degree mark seven teeth are partly burred
Components from "Four foot" circular dividing engine (c. 1778) by John Troughton, diameter of wheel to edge of teeth is 46 1/4 inches, with 2160 teeth, wooden treadle missing, and also a few unimportant details such as milled-head screws, near the 210 degree mark seven teeth are partly burred
