Shopsmith Forums

I actually got to see the clocks which are located at the Greenwich Observatory in England located on the Prime Meridian in 1985. In fact it was John Harrison who sparked my interest in woodworking as he built, not a clock, but a chronometer out of wood which had to maintain accuracy despite the changing weather conditions at sea. Unfortunately, politics - Sir Isaac Newton wanted the prize money for himself for building the first accurate time piece and e fought John Harrison for years. It is a remarkable story.

Ironically, I sent a copy of the book to one of the outstanding people at Shopsmith last year. It's a short book & a quick read. If you ever get to the UK, you have to climb the Greenwich hill and see the clocks for yourself.

I could only hope to one day have the knowledge that John Harrison had in one finger with respect to understand wood properties.

This 1 hour video touches on so many areas I find fascinating that words failed me. Thanks backhertz for filling in a few of the blanks for the good folks here on the forum. I will definitely look forward to travelling to Greenwich some day.

My pleasure. On your way there, you'll see the Cutty Sark which was moored/docked (forgive me, I'm not a boat/ship person). Well, I'm not much of a woodworker either... It's on the South East part of London. Plan on spending about a week which will give you enough time to see the British Museum, the Tower of London, Tower Bridge (which people used to confuse with London Bridge in the kid's song), there is so much.

If you have the time, take a quick trip to Paris as well. There is the "Chunnel" where you can catch a train across the English Channel & over to France.

It was John Harrison whose tenacity in winning against "city hall" that literally changed the world in my opinion. Just a carpenter...<smile> What an understatement. He reminds me of my next door neighbor who quit school in the 5th grade. He might not be book smart and had trouble reading, but in my opinion, he has a PhD from the School of Hard Knocks and look at things and intuitively can build almost anything from wood or metal.

Anyone ever work with lignum vitae wood? I watched the Nova link earlier. Years ago, I read the book. This Nova episode was outstanding. Thanks!

backhertz wrote:Anyone ever work with lignum vitae wood?

Yes I have and it's HARD. I think I read somewhere tha the U.S. Navy use to use it in the propeller shaft bearings.

There is also a full length A&E movie starring Jeremy Irons and Michael Gambon, titled Longitude, as well as The Illustrated Longitude book by Dava Sobel. I highly recommend both. The original book by Sobel was not illustrated. The newer version is many times better.

Did not know about the movie version, thanks Mike!

beeg wrote:Yes I have and it's HARD. I think I read somewhere tha the U.S. Navy use to use it in the propeller shaft bearings.

I heard the same thing about the propeller bearings...amazing. I see you can get lignum vitae but it's not quite the same. From Rockler: "Argentine Lignum Vitae bears a striking resemblance to its famous tropical cousin “Lignum Vitae,” and makes an excellent, affordable alternative."

A math teacher in my recent college (MCC, for you Az types) gave me a book about John Harrison, which I've read a few times. I'll have to watch the movie. Maybe, right now.

steve

OK, one minute into the movie, and it's based on the book, my trig/ algebra teacher gave me.

Remeber the name, Sobel.

steve