Strap in everybody, we've got another packed issue of Work! There's something for everyone, to be sure, but the prize for this week's most interesting article goes to "A TANGENT GALVANOMETER FOR WOOD TURNERS." Science geeks and lathe fiends alike should get a kick out of this one.
A tangent galvanometer is a device that measures electrical current by pitting the field strength of an energized coil against the earth's magnetic field. After some initial calibration, the vector sum of the competing fields can be read on a simple compass needle set into the illustrated dial. The device can also be reconfigured to measure the magnitude of the earth's magnetic field. A boon to many fields of study, without a doubt. According to the article, The Post Office employed the finest quality galvanometers. At first I was puzzled by this, but Joel suggested they might have been used in some way for telegraphy.
Just in case the tangent galvanometer isn't your cup of tea, we have two David Denning articles; one on building a hall stand and one on French polishing. For all the Scouts in the audience, I've also posted a diagram from this week's issue showing how to lift heavy objects using only ropes and scaffold members. This ought to be of some interest for anyone working on their Pioneering merit badge. -TIM
Disclaimer: Articles in Work: The Illustrated Weekly Journal for Mechanics describe materials and methods that would not be considered safe or advisable today. We are not responsible for the content of these magazines, and cannot take any responsibility for anyone attempting projects or procedures described therein.
The first issue of Work was published on March 23rd, 1889. The goal of this project is to release digital copies of the individual issues starting on the same date in 2012, effectively republishing the materials 123 years to the day from their original release.
The original printing was on thin, inexpensive paper. There are many cases of uneven inking and bleed-through from the page behind. Our copies of Work come from bound library volumes of these issues and are subject to unfavorable trimming, missing covers, etc. To minimize harm to these fragile volumes, we've undertaken the task of scanning the books ourselves. We do considerable post processing of the scans to make them clear but please bear with us if a margin is clipped too close, or a few words are unreadable. We would like to thank James Vasile and Karl Fogel for their help in supplying us with a book scanner and generally enabling this project to get off the ground.
You are welcome to download, print, and pretty much do what you want with the scan for your own personal purposes. Feel free to post a link or a copy on your blog or website. All we ask is a link back to the original project and this blog. We are not answering requests for commercial downloads or reprinting at this time.
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