The Merlin Engine
 

Lets all pause for a second, and consider the manufacturing reality of the time.

The Merlin engine..... it didnt just blink into existance.

No such thing as CnC machining.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzYxBbitP_s

So much hands on work.

So many experts, a long lost time.

Never to be repeated.

Nice..

Great post and video.

Oh, god, all that polishing............

Brilliant!

However, IMO the most impressive part of the whole business was the fact that Royce and co were able to just draw the thing in the first place. Once you've got drawing to work from, building an engine is a process.

But the creative task of inventing and engine and then converting that idea into a set of drawings which men could build is almost magical. So I would argue that its the absence of CAD rather than the absence of CAM that really sets apart the engineering process of the past from that of the present.

In the case of the Merlin, it's all the more impressive when you consider that Royce was not in the best of health, and made most of his drawings whilst convalescing far from Derby.

Great stuff! Very informative..

Just one modern Occupational Health and Safety audit in that factory would ensure the Merlin never got off the drawing board. Those were the days, when Personal Protective Equipment meant a brown dust jacket and a cloth cap.

Not at all - the factory was clearly so dangerous that the inspectors obviously wouldn't make it out alive, and therefore could never make any reports. :-P

just the work i got into for drawing a 1 piston engine, with CAD.... cant imagine actaully creating one of these....


dB605 is better tough :-P

No, CAD is just another tool. The genious is not with tools but to find the sweet point between all the contradicting requirements that offers the best performance and a good dose of luck - says the engineer.