World's Oldest Micrometer - 1776! Who made this thing?? 

The hammer marks around the stand off post for the small dial are most likely from driving the pins tight with a bench hammer Concentric circles are a very common form of instrument ornamentation in the 18th century. Couldn’t the knurling around the dial face be to aid in reading the dial? They had dividing engines to index the dial but the final demarcation would have been hand engraved over those lines Yes, the anvils are wrought iron but more likely than not, they are case hardened on the working faces The mounting holes are rough, out of round and countersunk because that is what it looks like when you cold punch holes by hand. Lathes could be driven by a great wheel. They could cut wrought iron, it is as soft as butter, just don’t blow out the grain. Much larger iron screws were being turned before this. Think printing presses and leg vises. But the threads would sometimes be swaged in hot before being turned to size. This saves on material and avoids cutting across the grain of the iron. Two things to look into: 1. Surface finish. Non critical surfaces should be cross filed fairly coarsely an irregular. Finer surfaces may be draw filed. Critical surfaces would have been ground or lapped, possibly scraped. 2. Check the assembly screws. They most likly show signs of being cold swaged, not cut. With wrought iron the grain is everything. Watt or not. If it was made in the 18th century it was made by hand, with files chisels and hammers. These men were not machinists, which is not to say that they weren’t insanely talented, but they had very different priorities. You don’t drill a hole if you can punch it. If it needs to be round, ream it, if not, leave it be. You don’t make everything perfect and precise unless it needs to be. Good hand work looks good, functions well and has no reverence for extraneous precision or regularity. I have more to share. Message me for more info.

I'm a 7 year time served toolmaker and this is the kind of project given to an apprentice to be constructed in the early years of his apprenticeship to give experience of using all types of predominantly but not exclusively, hand tools and processes. It has all the hallmarks of an early learning apprentice. When times where slack and orders light the project would be worked on, so would take some time ( maybe ?) to complete and have various levels of workmanship exhibited, here from very poor hand counter sink holes to poorly finished file and hammer marks and poor dimensioning, evidenced in the stand height , as the apprentice's skill level progressed . It would also answer the questions of why the seemingly unnecessary application of ' decoration ' knurling, et al., which would have been for experience of the various processes in the craft and also some of the apparently 're used ' materials surplus to requirements from maybe the scrap bin or left over from other projects which could be utilised at low cost (if any ) for a seemingly useless apprentice's project that could , ( would?) more than likely never possibly be finished ?) . I myself had a similar project as i am sure many, many other apprentices did also? The craftsman that taught me served his apprenticeship in the 1800's and he would not allow me to use any power tools of any kind and definitely no emery cloth !...Everything was ( to my annoyance in the 1960's ) by hand ...something I later valued more than any other aspect of the trade I learned.

My biggest disappointment with this channel is finding out I've run out of videos.

You are a special person. Please don't change

As a machinist, I've made dozens of special tools for specific jobs. Decades ago, I began stamping my initials, and date in my custom tooling, and most has my mark, but all my early tooling made to purpose generally wasn't marked, and many of them got made into other tooling. All the tool marks you showed make sense, if one thinks of 18 century, and only make sense later, if it were an apprentice's work, not at all a journeyman, but certainly well on his way. I've worked on a 17th century clock, in New Bern, NC, in Tryon Palace, and it was very similar in construction tool marks, strikes, there was an awful lot of handwork done even in the 19th century, but l would easily put it prior to the 19th unless found reason to think otherwise. Thanks for this, it was very interesting, and a real question to be answered,

This devise was probably bolted to a workbench on the shop floor in Watt's factory and used to gauge parts during production. It would remain there in use every day until the product(s) it was gauging ceased production or it was made obsolete by modernization. In our shop we have made lots of custom gauges to quickly measure parts in production. These gauges are mostly made from scraps we have on hand. No need to look pretty, just get the job done. Once the gauge is no longer required it goes into storage just in case the job it was used for returns. This "micrometer" in particular just happened to make it to show & tell at the museum.

The base holes that you referred to as being chamfered look exactly like holes that I hot punch in the blacksmith shop. You back punch then turn it over and punch through a bolster. When you flatten out the burr it has the appearance of being chamfered.

I used "1751" and other stuff you've given us so generously in my classroom to give my children the understanding of how science was created. I thank you for your wonderful insight and perspective.

I just binge watched everything on your channel. Much to my dismay you are still young as channels go. FWIW I have an engineering sheepskin and plenty of machining experience along with a strong interest in the history and science and manufacturing. The way you have organized information along with testing and research is WAY above par. Much respect!!

Please please please keep making these. Your videos are fantastically informative and interesting and it's so cool to hear this stuff from someone who's just super psyched about it. You're just super.

it was made by sir james click-spring in 1759

Your channel is amazing. I'm no mechanical engineer, but I've started to take an interest in how the stuff I'm into is made and your philosophy of appreciating the hard work that's gone into the world around us is inspiring.

I LOVE the Science Museum in London. I've visited many a time starting when I was eight years old... In my career as a Senior School Science Lab Tech, I used to go there with classes of students. I now take my grandchildren there. I still love it just as much as I did when I first went there. Probably love it more, now I have a greater understanding of the history of some of the exhibits... I once had a sample of my own work there when I worked for a company that held the World Record for the lowest mass of objects that could be accurately measured. It could accurately weigh the mass of 1/50 of the ink of a full stop in a newspaper. This was pre-digital. Everything was mechanical, with old fashioned 12 volt light bulbs the illuminate graticules.

You could find out if the dial markings were made using the hands of the instrument itself by seeing if the deviations in the lead-screw follow a pattern that is also seen replicated in the dial face markings. The hole in the dial was likely used to indicate the position of the two dials when assembling it as there are also indicating holes or marks in the small dial, possible a pin is placed in the hole then the other dial is placed with it's marks at the quarters and a block is placed in the "U" to indicate the lead-screw then everything tightened. The outer edge serrations were likely not just decorations as the rest of the tool doesn't indicate a "decorative mind" made this device likely used to ad more precision to assembly or they interface with other device parts that are now missing. This might also be why the unit doesn't sit flat on a table as it was used in a larger device now long gone. The soldered in pieces are a common way to align parts that were made on cruder devices, this way they can be filed by hand to fit more precisely. The screws holding the base on were crude because they didn't need to be more precise. The marks on the back are directly in line with the pins and indicate how many times the pins were driven in and out. The marks are vise jaw marks where the piece was held to be cut and filed....not hammer marks. This might have been more of an adjustable "Go No Go gauge" as the crudeness indicates less needed repeated accuracy as once set it could be locked in place, one would assume that the bottom of the "U" shaped channel was made this way by drilling a hole then sawing down to the circle, this could also indicate the precise edge to locate a single piece to be checked repeatedly. Everything to me indicates that this was part of a larger machine and not so much a single tool measuring device as there are indications that the dials had other uses in the device and the base was made to locate the opening in the "U" at some specific place in the bigger machine. Just my tow cents not in any way to be confused with "facts", and darn well worth what you paid for them.

I concur with the other comments that making a tool in-house is usually a necessity when access to the expenditure of funds is restricted, but you can overcome this hurdle by scavenging in the scrap metal bin to find the materials you need to make the needed tool. Often times a specialized tool is so rare, no one else makes or sells them and that is the motivator to make it yourself. It is so rewarding to see your creation work as intended.

You've done an excellent job taking this apart, scrutinize and pointing out inconsistencies in this piece. Impressive! This only the second time I've seen your program. So I subscribed. Thank you! Also I must agree with Anchor Bait."You are a special person. Please don't change."

I think this was a purpose built micrometer like it was mounted on something and used for basically the same part or process on a particular machine.

Excellent video! Its very cool they let you help take it apart and examine it. The large brass back plate looked almost like it had been cold rolled like a modern plate. Hard to tell on a phone screen. The screw and the movable jaw fascinate me. My guess as to why the jaw has deeper grooves in the middle is the lead screw may have a slight bow. Or that was the main use of travel and I'm sure allot of dirt got in there. I just visited the Precision machine museum in Windsor VT. They have the #1 Bridgeport there as well as the #1 Brown ad Sharp gauge block inspecting micrometer. Keep it up you are doing an awesome job telling this story!

Just found this channel a few days ago, and I'm blown away buy the quality of information that you are providing. I regularly run 7 axis WFL Millturn machines, orbital grinders, and other extremely impressive modern machines, and have worked on shafts that sell for $750,000, and while they are very cool machines the machines/tools that you are are simply some of the most amazing things that I've ever seen. Thanks for the videos, and keep up the amazing work

extremely interesting - horribly jealous that you got such a good look at the object! so many questions - await russell's article with bated breath

Excellent work. Your channel is the best thing on yt:)

10:44 "In my highly inexpert opinion..." Basically how I start all my sentences.

MT, I just stumbled across your channel. Man what a hidden gem you have here! This content is amazing and very rare on youtube in such a well done manner. I hope this channel blows up in short order. Keep up the wonderful work. Regards A new fan

This is so very key. I finally found my favorite RU-vid channel. Thank you sir.

Im a watchmaker by trade, and i see a lot of watchmaker/builder type of markings and methods used.

This video is amazing. I very much appreciate how you use strong deductive logic to determine form and function of this early micrometer. Many people don't realize how much went into this sort of instrument and this video shines light on some of that unappreciated work. I haven't read through all the comments below, but this video made me think of a book I read by William Rosen called The Most Powerful Idea in the World. The book touches on how lead screws on lathes allowed for more precision and repeatability. Keep these videos coming as they are some of the more interesting content on RU-vid!

Hello from France, you are such a good narrator and your videos are very well realized. Please keep going. They are few channels like yours on youtube, it is truly a gem.

i cant say how much i enjoyed this. when i became a machinist, 1971. i got interested in machine tool history. but not much was available. dont forget, you dont know where you are going if you dont know where you came from.

Alec Steele sent me here and I am already in love with this channel, it may be weird to say but that Micrometer is gorgeous.

Man, your channel is AWESOME, I just watched all your videos at once and I need more... keep up the good work! also make a patreon account!

Came here from Alec Steele, and got what I expected. Professional, well made videos. Of course, I immediately subscribed. I look forward to seeing more videos in the future.

Hi Machine Thinking, RU-vid just reminded me of your channel, and I really miss your great videos! I absolutely love how you're explaining the origins of precision machining and how it all started. Hope you put out some new videos soon! All the best :)

This measuring tool appears to have been made for a more specific application rather than a general hand held measuring tool as later shown.

The base could have been attached to a block like you show, or it could have been to bolt the mic down so it doesn't get borrowed. It also looks like a later addition, possibly a spare part, to replace a broken original. If it has seen use in a workshop it may have battlescars. I don't see hammer marks in the back of the fixed anvil, but I do see the knurling we still have in the jaws of bench vises. The 'convex' thread depth of the moving anvil is perplexing. Perhaps it was sawed in two. ...IMO filing isn't crude. It just takes manual dexterity.

Happy New Year! Thanks for all the content in 2018!

Had to give this a like as it's fascinating. You are so lucky to have got close up with an item in The Science Museum.

never thought I would be so interested in mechanics

Regarding the hammer marks at the back, I couldn't help but notice that the orientation of the marks and their positions are in line with the pins on the posts. It looks like a hammer and a punch of sorts was used to drive them in which lead to clouds of hammer marks with a particular orientation and distance regarding the pins.

Man this is so friggin cool. Even though I've been a subscriber for years and I thought I had gone through most of your videos, this is just showing up in my feed. Belated thank you for this and I share in your excitement and reverence for this device.

the mystery! the intrigue! beautiful work, and I'll love to see what's uncovered.

It's funny just last week I made a small fabricated metal part for a fixture,similar to the micrometer base that had 4 counter sunk holes evenly spaced on each side but after it was forming. Since I used to be pretty good at forming things I drilled and countersunk the 4 holes first for the sake of ease in clamping and drilling in the drill press. When I went to assemble the fixture the countersunk holes were facing the wrong direction, Damn, how did I do that! I need the fixture finished right now so I countersunk another set of hole on the opposites side of the 4 original holes countersunk in error and installed the part, no one will ever notice unless they take it apart, by then I will be long gone in my grave. May this be have happen to James Watt micrometer, or the maker of the micrometer who ever he was?

Alec Steele brought me here and I’m glad he did

Please dont' stop those kind of videos. I really like your channels as a whole. I have heard things in here that were not talked about on other channels. You view things from other angles... nice.

Just came across your channel, subscribed love the content. Thank you!

I'm going to derive a little bit of pride when this channel has hundreds of thousands of subscribers, and I was here at, (the already impressive) 17k.

Interesting piece of history. Are the irregularities on the big dial really "random", or is this actually a correction because the threaded rod is not perfect? I do think the bent sheet metal base was not initially there and was just added in a rush to make it more presentable for the exhibition.

This channel is going to unbelievably big, once people realize it's here. New subscriber here. It only took about 35 seconds of the video to convince me to subscribe. Keep up the great work! 🙂👍

Coming here after your feature in Destin’s recent video. I can tell already I’m going to be a big fan of yours. Great video! Really enjoyed this.

How on earth this channel has so few subscribers? Thank you for your work!

This micrometer appears to have been cobbled together for use in a factory or in an artisan's shop. The sloppily made screws, the re-purposed "dials" (gears?), the poorly mounted hands, the poor quality of the stock (which appears to have been scrap), the rough workmanship, ... It was expected to suffer a lot of abuse, so it wasn't finely made. It had to be accurate enough only for factory purposes. Also, it's very big, so it wasn't intended to make scientific instruments. Possibly it was intended to make interchangeable parts for rifles.

First off, you DO sound like an expert, or at least further along than basically anyone I've ever heard talk. Your self deprecation is funny, and lends to your intelligence, but is unwarranted in my opinion. :) Secondly, this video is awesome, I've been a machinist for 12 years and this was a treat to watch. I can't being to imagine what type of equipment they were using in the 1700s, but I wouldn't knock the craftsmanship of this because doing things like that by hand is incredibly hard if you don't have the tools we have access to today. I'd put my hat in the ring of this being a prototype.

These videos always blow my mind. So pleasant to watch.

Please start a Patreon account and I’ll support. Please make more excellent videos. Thanks again.

I subscribed 15 sec ago, and it was 19k. Now it's 24k. Hi all fans of Alec Steele! o/

Martin from Wintergatan sent me here. Immediately subbed after watching this video, the one on rail road and the Mesta press!! Keep up the good work!

I don't recall if James Burke discussed this particular instrument on his brilliant show Connections, but I do remember one episode that told the centuries long story of ever-increasing screw precision. Thank you for this wonderful video!

How accurate is it? Did you test it with anything of known thickness? This channel is AWESOME! THANK YOU!!!!

Someone like Watt who produced precision instruments wouldn't intentionally downgrade his skills to make something that may be a prototype even if it was made in haste. Pride of workmanship just wouldn't allow it.

That was great! Keep us updated when we learn more.

Excellent presentation! Compliments on the scripting of your work. Great writing. This is reminiscent of the Antikythera astrological instrument.

This strikes me as an apprentice's project.

Fascenating. Does anyone know how to get Clickspring's view on this?

Please please please keep posting videos. I'm a young Machinist in Houston and this material intrigues me.

How about William Gascoigne, british inventor who is credited to have invented a micrometer in 1640 by multiple written accounts as well as very detailed drawings ? I get that this one is still the Oldest to be around today but it would hardly be the first as you mention in your video.

well it definately wasnt made by Clickspring

Great video and comments. Im not sure but can confirm re-purposing bits of dead/redunant machine's commonplace in sheetmetal and general metal workshops in the 90's,we had some crude looking however pretty magical machines that used to bend tube as well as form flat stock into joists.Same can be said for many volunteer run mechanical restroration groups who mostly run on shoestring budgets often using century+ old machines,tools an skills.

love this video!!! I am so curious about precision and machining tools of the 1700's and before. thanks for the video!!!

Here's what it looks like to my *completely* uninformed and uneducated opinion: It was possibly made in Watt's workshop by none other than Matthew (or insert any other name), the faithful, unknown, unloved, lanky assistant. He made it with parts lying around one night as he was cleaning up all of the Master's gears from one of the work tables. He showed Watt what he had done the next morning, proud and excited, and probably talking quite a bit with many hand gestures, expounding about how it could lead to many revolutionary and futuristic machines "the likes of whiche we ha' ne'er seene afore an' which maye bringge about a newe age of technologyes an' other wonderes" (Unknown journal of my own invention, p. 56). Whereupon, Watt, amazed, promotes his lanky assistant and gives him another sixpence a year as a bonus, which allows our faithful hero Matthew to "marrye his belovede Mathilda of Essex whome he ha' seen passing through th' shoppe five yeares previous but ne'er mention'd it to anyone, keepinge it close an' secrete." (Unknown journal of my own invention, p. 72) Matthew becomes the foreman of the workshop, and the device passes into Watt's hands whom, because of his age, no longer can think of all of the amazing things it could help to create "for he hath runne out of his youthfulle ideas as his age an' successe sette in." (Unknown journal of my own invention, p 107). And, hence, the device was left forgotten after a time in the workshop, Matthew having long forgotten about it as well and settled in with his new family in the making, retiring as a respectable gentleman, and Watt having pursued other business interests, no longer even remembering the episode. Thus ends the tale of the first micrometer invented in the workshop of Watts by his faithful assistant Matthew.

Alec sent me here!

When I did my apprenticeship, each of the other students in my year made a part of a larger project, to prove the skills that they had learned. In my training school the project was a scale-miniature steam traction engine. The finished working engine took more than 5 year's apprentice-intakes efforts to complete. I never saw it running and don't know who has it now, but it showed how much a lad leaving school could learn in his first year in engineering training. This may well be such a piece, but obviously from a long time ago.

A very intelligent analysis. Please keep contributing!

The knurling on the dial looks to be functional and not cosmetic. Did you count the notches? They may be fractions. It would be easy to add a ratchet stop onto the knurled dial. You have a great narration style easy to listen to and you tell a great story.

you do realie you are helping us earthlings stay smart right?

YOu have some big RU-vid subscribers. I'm glad my RU-vid suggestions brought you in. Great video. I'll be watching the rest of them.

Your channel is EXCELLENT!

Alec Steele sent me here.

Made from scrap as an idea or proof of concept that is all still says nothing about who made it !!!!! 😯😯😯

How can i have missed this channel:o love the content!

I just watched your video about etching brass dials. Ferric chloride is a good choice for brass, but it needs to be diluted with water a lot, for aluminum as it thermally runs away (splattered on the neighbor's siding 20 feet away). For copper or brass there are two tricks that speed up the process, agitation and heat. Both can be done with aquarium supplies. A regulated heater in glass, you don't want to get your ferric chloride more than 80 - 100 deg F. A small air pump with a plastic tube used to inject oxygen for the fish, can stir up the ferric chloride across the material being etched. This gives two benefits, by moving fresh ferric chloride across the surface and removing any stationary bubbles.

Pretty obvious some crafty watchmaker did it.

Alec Steel sent me here

It must have been soooooo amazing back in that time, when they held that gathering to bring all the inventions into one place. Just to compare and examine what others were working on completely on their own. I wish I could take a time machine to events like that.

Great job fixing the flicker!

Alec Steele sent me

so you did not measure anything with it ?? what a waste

I love your videos. Very interesting stuff please make more!

Thanks for this video :) Using a hand countersink from both sides gives you a better chance of getting the hole close to the centre, from one side it’s more likely to go further off centre 🍀

MT, I sure hope you come back soon! Your videos are fantastic.

The errors you point out, and the possibility that it was made from scrap suggest to me it was a project attempted by an apprentice. I will allow others to grade his work but the fact it survived would suggest he, at least, was proud of the attempt

WOW! That's amazing, good job!

One of history’s mysteries, thanks for the great video

Great content, good work m8!

My guess is that it was a prototype that was made by Bergeon of Switzerland and made its way into service in a firearms factory. Bergeon has been making precision measuring tools for hundreds of years. Keep up the great videos, they are great!!

Great content !

Excellent video.

Amazing details, curious just how well it works as a micrometer from a practical standpoint.

Back of the fixed anvil hammer marks at 10:59 look more like vice marks in my opinion. Great work

Intresting video. I think alot of your questions as to orgin will be answered once the measurment increment is determined.

It definitely seems like a prototype that could have been made at that time. The base seems like it was made to allow the piece to be displayed. This would explain why it was so crudely made compared to the rest of the piece. The fact that it isn't working off of a division of 100 also indicates that it is likely an older piece of work.

Very interesting. Thank you.