Sunday, September 06, 2009

Rudolph J. Drillis

As you can see from the drawing above by R.J. Drillis, the basic motions of the hands provided the model for all the forms of machine tools currently in use. What we do with our advanced tools and machines are replications and refinements of what the hands have always done. As written by Charles H. Ham in 1886, “the axe, the saw, the plane, the hammer, the square, the chisel, and the file. These are the universal tools of the arts, and the modern machine shop is an aggregation of these rendered automatic and driven by steam.”

In addition, you will find that with the exception of the metric system, human measure- ment was derived from the human scale built into our own hands and body. The drawing at left is also by R.J. Drillis and was published in his article, "Folk Norms and Biomechanics" in the Occupational Ergonomics Handbook.

An example of the use of the hands in measuring is shown at left from Craftsman of the Cumberlands, on the work of chairmaker, Chester Cornett. Click on the image at left to enlarge the text so it can be read.

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