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Learn Azure Synapse Data Explorer

A guide to building real-time analytics solutions to unlock log

and telemetry data

Pericles (Peri) Rocha

BIRMINGHAM—MUMBAI
Learn Azure Synapse Data Explorer
Copyright © 2023 Packt Publishing
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case
of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.
Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information
presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express
or implied. Neither the author, nor Packt Publishing or its dealers and distributors, will be held liable
for any damages caused or alleged to have been caused directly or indirectly by this book.
Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and
products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot
guarantee the accuracy of this information.

Publishing Product Managers: Birjees Patel and Arindam Majumder

Content Development Editor: Shreya Moharir
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First published: February 2023

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Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

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ISBN 978-1-80323-395-6

www.packtpub.com
 To my daughter, Isabella, I love you to the moon and all the way back. To my wife, Cecilia,
my partner, and the love of my life, thank you for your patience, love, friendship, and partnership
in life. I love you. To my brother, Plinio, my best friend, and my favorite companion in the things
we do together. And last but not least, in loving memory of my mother, Yara, and my father, Jose.
This work is dedicated to all of you.
 Contributors

About the author

Pericles (Peri) Rocha is a technical product manager, architect, and data scientist with more than 25
years of experience. He has worked with diverse challenges from building highly available database
environments to data science projects. He holds an MSc degree in data science from UIUC and is a
member of Tau Beta Pi. He currently works at Microsoft as a product manager in the Azure Synapse
engineering team. Originally from São Paulo, Brazil, Peri worked in Europe for three years before
relocating to the USA in 2016. In his spare time, he enjoys playing music, studying karate, and reading.
He lives near Redmond, WA, with his wife, daughter, two dogs, and nine guitars.

I’d like to thank everyone who crossed my path through 25 years of professional experience. All of you
helped me shape my own story and I am deeply thankful for it.
About the reviewer
Felipe Andrade is a client technical lead at Microsoft Canada. He has been at Microsoft for 9 years and
has been working with data analytics for over 10 years. He has spent most of his career at Microsoft
in analytics technical roles working with Power BI, SQL, Synapse, Databricks, and machine learning.
He also worked in a couple of startups as a software engineer running social network analytics.
I’d like to thank Peri Rocha for inviting me to be a technical reviewer for his book. Thanks to my family,
Leticia, Luisa, and Alice, for their patience and kindness.
 Table of Contents
Prefacexiii

Part 1: Introduction to Azure Synapse Data

Explorer
1
Introducing Azure Synapse Data Explorer 3
Technical requirements 4 Integrating Data Explorer pools with
Understanding the lifecycle of data 5 other Azure Synapse services 24
Introducing the Team Data Science Process 7 Query experience integrated into Azure
Tooling and infrastructure 8 Synapse Studio’s query editor 25
Exploring, preparing, and modeling data with
The need for a fast and highly Apache Spark 25
scalable data exploration service 8 Data ingestion made easy with pipelines 26
What is Azure Synapse? 9 Unified management experience 26
Data integration 10 Exploring the Data Explorer pool
Enterprise data warehousing 11 infrastructure and scalability 27
Exploration on the data lake 13
Data Explorer pool architecture 27
Apache Spark 14
Scalability of compute resources 28
Log and telemetry analytics 16
Managing data on distributed clusters 29
Integrated business intelligence 17
Mission-critical infrastructure 30
Data governance 18
How much scale can Data Explorer handle? 31
Broad support for ML 20
Security and Managed Virtual Network 21 What makes Azure Synapse Data
Management interface 21 Explorer unique? 31
When to use Azure Synapse Data
What is Azure Synapse Data Explorer? 23
Explorer32
Summary34
viii Table of Contents

2
Creating Your First Data Explorer Pool 35
Technical requirements 36 Creating a Data Explorer pool using
Creating a free Azure account 36 Azure Synapse Studio 50
Creating an Azure Synapse workspace 38 Basics tab 52
Additional settings tab 53
Basics tab 40
Tags tab 54
Security tab 43
Review + create tab 54
Networking tab 45
Tags tab 47 Creating a Data Explorer pool using
Review + create tab 48 the Azure portal 55
Finding your new workspace 49 Creating a Data Explorer pool using
the Azure CLI 57
Summary60

3
Exploring Azure Synapse Studio 61
Technical requirements 62 Saving your work and configuring
source control 76
Exploring the user interface of Azure
Synapse Studio 62 Managing and monitoring Data
Running your first query 64 Explorer pools 79
Creating a database 64 Scaling Data Explorer pools 79
Loading the data 67 Pausing and resuming pools 80
Verifying whether your data has loaded
Monitoring Data Explorer pools 81
successfully72
Working with data in Azure
Summary83
Synapse notebooks 74

4
Real-World Usage Scenarios 85
Technical requirements 86 Sources87
Building a multi-purpose end-to-end Ingest88
analytics environment 86 Store89
 Table of Contents ix

Process89 Processing and analyzing geospatial

Enrich90 data93
Serve90 Enabling real-time analytics with big
User91 data95
Summary91 Performing time series analytics 96
Managing IoT data 91 Summary97

Part 2: Working with Data

5
Ingesting Data into Data Explorer Pools 101
Technical requirements 102 Performing data ingestion 112
Understanding the data loading Using KQL control commands 112
process103 Building an Azure Synapse pipeline 118
Defining a retention policy 103 Implementing continuous ingestion 128
Using other data ingestion mechanisms 135
Choosing a data load strategy 107
Streaming ingestion 108 Summary136
Batching ingestion 111

6
Data Analysis and Exploration with KQL and Python 137
Technical requirements 138 Exploring Data Explorer pool data
Analyzing data with KQL 138 with Python 155
Selecting data 139 Creating an Apache Spark pool 156
Working with calculated columns 143 Working with Azure Synapse notebooks 158
Plotting charts 146 Reading data from Data Explorer pools 160
Obtaining percentiles 149 Plotting charts 163
Creating a time series 150 Performing data transformation tasks 170
Detecting outliers 152 Creating a lake database 174
Using linear regression 154 Summary176
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x Table of Contents

7
Data Visualization with Power BI 177
Technical requirements 178 Connecting Power BI with your
Introduction to the Power BI Azure Synapse workspace 187
integration178 Authoring Power BI reports from
Creating a Power BI report 179 Azure Synapse Studio 189
Adding data sources to your Power Summary193
BI report 184

8
Building Machine Learning Experiments 195
Technical requirements 196 Exploring additional ML capabilities
Understanding the application of ML 196 in Azure Synapse 213
Introducing ML into your projects Using pre-trained models with Cognitive
Services213
with AutoML 197
Finding patterns using KQL 215
Creating an Azure Machine Learning
Training models with Apache Spark MLlib 216
workspace198
Building applications with SynapseML 217
Configuring the Azure Machine Learning
integration200 Summary217
Finding the best model with AutoML 201

9
Exporting Data from Data Explorer Pools 219
Technical requirements 220 Exporting to cloud storage 224
Understanding data export scenarios 220 Exporting to SQL tables 227
Exporting to external tables 228
Exporting data with client tools 221
Using server-side export to pull data 222 Configuring continuous data export 230
Performing robust exports with Summary233
server-side data push 224
 Table of Contents xi

Part 3: Managing Azure Synapse Data Explorer

10
System Monitoring and Diagnostics 237
Technical requirements 238 Setting up alerts 243
Monitoring your environment 238 Creating action groups 246
Checking your Data Explorer pool capacity 239 Creating alert rules 248
Monitoring query execution 240 Summary251
Reviewing object metadata and changes 242

11
Tuning and Resource Management 253
Technical requirements 253 Queuing requests for delayed execution 260
Implementing resource governance Speeding up queries using cache
with workload groups 254 policies261
Managing workload groups 254 Summary264
Classifying user requests 258

12
Securing Your Environment 265
Technical requirements 266 Implementing network security 282
Security overview 266 Using a managed virtual network 284
Managing data encryption 267 Managed private endpoint connection 285
Enabling data exfiltration protection 289
Configuring data encryption at rest 268
Controlling public network access 291
Understanding data encryption in transit 270

Authenticating users 270 Protecting against external threats 293

Configuring access to resources 272 Summary293
Synapse RBAC roles 273
Reviewing role assignments 275
Assigning RBAC roles 276
Data Explorer database roles 279
xii Table of Contents

13
Advanced Data Management 295
Technical requirements 295 Purging personal data 305
Managing extents 296 Enabling purge on Data Explorer pools 306
Extent tagging 299 Executing data purge operations 307
Moving extents 302 Monitoring data purge operations 310
Dropping extents 304 Summary311

Index313

Other Books You May Enjoy 324

 Preface
Large volumes of data are generated daily from applications, websites, internet of things devices,
and other free-text, semi-structured data sources. Azure Synapse Data Explorer helps you collect,
store, and analyze such data, and enables you to work with other analytical engines, such as Apache
Spark, to develop advanced data science projects and maximize the value you get from your log and
telemetry data.
This book offers a comprehensive view of Azure Synapse Data Explorer, covering not only the core
scenarios of Data Explorer but also how it integrates into the whole picture within Azure Synapse.
From data ingestion, through data visualization and advanced analytics, you will learn an end-to-end
approach to maximizing the value of unstructured data and driving powerful insights using data science
capabilities. With real-world usage scenarios, you’ll learn how to identify key projects where Azure
Synapse Data Explorer can help you achieve your business goals. You will also learn how to manage
big data as part of a platform as a service offering, tune, secure, and serve data at scale to end users.
By the end of this book, you will have mastered the big data life cycle and be able to implement
advanced analytical scenarios from raw telemetry and log data.

Who this book is for

If you are a data engineer, data analyst, or business analyst working with unstructured data and want
to learn how to maximize the value of such data, this book is for you. To maximize your learning
experience from this book, you should be familiar with working with data and performing simple
queries using SQL or KQL. Even though it is not a requirement, familiarity with Python will help you
get more from the examples. This book is also excellent for professionals already working with Azure
Synapse who want to incorporate unstructured data into their data science projects.

What this book covers

Chapter 1, Introducing Azure Synapse Data Explorer, is the first of four chapters in Part 1, Introduction
to Azure Synapse Data Explorer, where you will be introduced to the product and learn the basics that
you need before you start to work with data. It welcomes you to Azure Synapse Data Explorer and
elaborates on the need for a fast and highly scalable data exploration service for telemetry and log
data. It introduces Azure Synapse and explains how the Data Explorer service fits under the Azure
Synapse umbrella. Finally, it discusses the architecture and infrastructure of Data Explorer pools, and
the scale of the service today.
xiv Preface

Chapter 2, Creating Your First Data Explorer Pool, gets your hands busy by walking you through the
creation of your first Azure Synapse workspace and a Data Explorer pool using the Azure portal, Azure
Synapse Studio, or the Azure Command-Line Interface (CLI). If you are not familiar with Azure yet,
don’t worry; this chapter guides you through the steps to create your first free Azure account, allowing
you to follow the examples in the book.
Chapter 3, Exploring Azure Synapse Studio, introduces the development and management environment
of Azure Synapse. You will learn about the user interface elements of Azure Synapse Studio, and where
to find what you are looking for by navigating through the hubs. In addition to that, in this chapter,
you will load some data into a database and run your first query to help you familiarize yourself
with the query editor. This chapter closes with an overview of where to manage and monitor your
environment using Azure Synapse Studio.
Chapter 4, Real-World Usage Scenarios, describes some example solution architectures you can use in
common log and telemetry data analytics scenarios. It looks at five real-world use cases that integrate
Azure Synapse Data Explorer with other Azure services and helps you understand the blueprints so
that you can build your own.
Chapter 5, Ingesting Data into Data Explorer Pools, kicks off Part 2, Working with Data. It walks you
through the data loading process, choosing your own data loading strategy, and walks you through
different ways to load data into Data Explorer pools. This chapter builds the data assets that you will
use in most chapters of the book.
Chapter 6, Data Exploration and Analysis with KQL and Python, is all about learning how to query,
transform, and get insights from your data using Kusto Query Language (KQL) and Python. You will
learn how to use KQL to explore the data you have at hand and familiarize yourself with the schema,
plot simple charts in the query editor, obtain percentiles, and even use native KQL commands to
look at trends in your data using linear regression. In the second half of this chapter, you will create
an Azure Synapse notebook to explore and transform data using Python and create a lake database.
Chapter 7, Data Visualization with Power BI, complements the previous chapter by helping you
configure Power BI integration with Azure Synapse and author new Power BI reports directly from
Azure Synapse Studio. It walks you through the creation of reports that connect to data in Data
Explorer pools, as well as to your new lake database.
Chapter 8, Building Machine Learning Experiments, provides an overview of applied machine learning,
and how to introduce advanced analytics to your Azure Synapse projects using automated machine
learning (AutoML). You will use Python to prepare your data for machine learning experiments,
train a series of models, and find the best model to help you predict values.
Chapter 9, Exporting Data from Data Explorer Pools, closes Part 2, Working with Data, by walking you
through data export scenarios. It explains scenarios where data exports are needed and walks you
through different options you have available to perform data exports, including continuous data exports.
 Preface xv

Chapter 10, System Monitoring and Diagnostics, is the first of four chapters in Part 3, Managing Azure
Synapse Data Explorer. In this chapter, you will learn about managing a platform-as-a-service service
such as Azure Synapse, and which parts of the service you should be concerned with. Through code
examples and guidance through the user interface, you will learn how to stay on top of your Data
Explorer pools and proactively monitor them. By setting up alerts, you’ll learn how to get notified on
your phone if an event of interest happens in your environment.
Chapter 11, Tuning and Resource Management, introduces resources to help you provide predictable
performance to end users and using cache policies to speed up queries. It walks you through the
implementation of resource management to help you categorize user requests to prioritize the execution
of critical workloads while queueing requests that can wait.
Chapter 12, Securing Your Environment, provides you with the information you need to make sure
your data is secure at rest and in transit, and that only people who are intended to access your data
have access to it. It walks you through an overview of the security issues you need to consider for
your own implementations, how to double-encrypt your data for an added layer of security, how to
authenticate and authorize users, and how to protect the network environment that transits your data.
Chapter 13, Advanced Data Management, covers how to adhere to governmental regulations for data
handling, including how to permanently purge personal data. You will learn how to use extents, or
data shards, in Azure Synapse Data Explorer to move large volumes of data quickly for archival.

To get the most out of this book

To maximize your learning experience, you should have a basic understanding of concepts around
data integration, data retrieval, and building basic data visualizations. Previous experience with SQL,
KQL, and Python is not required, but it will help you understand the concepts in the code examples
more quickly.

Software/hardware covered in the book Operating system requirements

Azure Synapse Studio Windows, macOS, or Linux
The Azure portal Windows, macOS, or Linux
Power BI Desktop Windows
Microsoft Azure App iOS or Android

The Azure portal and Azure Synapse Studio are web-based tools that are used to manage, develop,
and build solutions for Azure Synapse Data Explorer. Microsoft supports the latest versions of the
following browsers: Microsoft Edge, Safari (Mac only), Chrome, and Firefox.
To install Power BI Desktop, visit https://learn.microsoft.com/power-bi/
fundamentals/desktop-get-the-desktop.
xvi Preface

To install the Microsoft Azure App, visit http://aka.ms/getazureapp on your mobile device,
or look for the Microsoft Azure App in your device’s app store.
If you are using the digital version of this book, we advise you to type the code yourself or access
the code from the book’s GitHub repository (a link is available in the next section). Doing so will
help you avoid any potential errors related to the copying and pasting of code.

Download the example code files

You can download the example code files for this book from GitHub at https://github.com/
PacktPublishing/Learn-Azure-Synapse-Data-Explorer. If there’s an update to the
code, it will be updated in the GitHub repository.
We also have other code bundles from our rich catalog of books and videos available at https://
github.com/PacktPublishing/. Check them out!

Download the color images

We also provide a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots and diagrams used in this book.
You can download it here: https://packt.link/DQQ7A.

Conventions used
There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.
Code in text: Indicates code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file
extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles. Here is an example: “To create
or alter a new workload group, use the .create-or-alter workload_group command.”
A block of code is set as follows:

.alter-merge workload_group ['Engineering Department WG'] ```

{
  "RequestQueuingPolicy": {
      "IsEnabled": true
  }
} ```

Any command-line input or output is written as follows:

az synapse kusto pool create --name "droneanalyticsadx"

--resource-group "rg-AzureSynapse" --sku name="Compute
optimized" size="Small" --workspace-name "drone-analytics"
 Preface xvii

Bold: Indicates a new term, an important word, or words that you see onscreen. For instance, words
in menus or dialog boxes appear in bold. Here is an example: “To enable it, you must select the Enable
option next to Double encryption using a customer-managed key, in the Security tab of the Create
Synapse workspace wizard.”

Tips or important notes

Appear like this.

Get in touch
Feedback from our readers is always welcome.
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xviii Preface

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 Part 1
Introduction to Azure
Synapse Data Explorer

To maximize your learning experience, you should quickly become familiar with the core concepts
and tools you will work with when reproducing the examples and learning new concepts, and how
these concepts can help you in real-life projects. The first part of the book focuses on introducing
Azure Synapse Data Explorer and all of its layers. You will learn about the service architecture, all
of the platform elements within Azure Synapse, and how to create your own lab environment to
run through the book examples. You will also become familiar with Azure Synapse Studio, and the
development and management interface of Azure Synapse. Finally, you will learn about solution
templates from real-world usage scenarios that will help you speed up your own Azure Synapse Data
Explorer implementations.
This part comprises the following chapters:

• Chapter 1, Introducing Azure Synapse Data Explorer

• Chapter 2, Creating Your First Data Explorer Pool
• Chapter 3, Exploring Azure Synapse Studio
• Chapter 4, Real-World Usage Scenarios
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best prices!
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
course, applies to cases where a bar is fed through fixed bearings
placed at one or both ends of a hole to be bored. If a boring-bar is
bent, or out of truth between its bearings, the diameter of the hole
being governed by the extreme sweep of the cutters is untrue to the
same extent, because as the cutters move along and come nearer to
the bearings, the bar runs with more truth, forming a tapering hole
diminishing toward the rests or bearings. The same rule applies to
some extent in chuck-boring, the form of the lathe spindle being
communicated to holes bored; but lathe spindles are presumed to be
quite perfect compared with boring bars.
The prevailing custom of casting machine frames in one piece, or
in as few pieces as possible, leads to a great deal of bar-boring,
most of which can be performed accurately enough by boring bars
supported in and fed through bearings. By setting up temporary
bearings to support boring-bars, and improvising means of driving
and feeding, most of the boring on machine frames can be
performed on floors or sole plates and independent of boring
machines and lathes. There are but few cases in which the
importance of studying the principles of tool action is more clearly
demonstrated than in this matter of boring; even long practical
experience seldom leads to a thorough understanding of the various
problems which it involves.
Drilling differs in principle from almost every other operation in
metal cutting. The tools, instead of being held and directed by
guides or spindles, are supported mainly by the bearing of the
cutting edges against the material.
A common angular-pointed drill is capable of withstanding a
greater amount of strain upon its edges, and rougher use than any
other cutting implement employed in machine fitting. The rigid
support which the edges receive, and the tendency to press them to
the centre, instead of to tear them away as with other tools, allows
drills to be used when they are imperfectly shaped, improperly
tempered, and even when the cutting edges are of unequal length.
 Most of the difficulties which formerly pertained to drilling are now
removed by machine-made drills which are manufactured and sold
as an article of trade. Such drills do not require dressing and
tempering or fitting to size after they are in use, make true holes,
are more rigid than common solid shank drills, and will drill to a
considerable depth without clogging.
A drilling machine, adapted to the usual requirements of a
machine fitting establishment, consists essentially of a spindle
arranged to be driven at various speeds, with a movement for
feeding the drills; a firm table set at right angles to the spindle, and
arranged with a vertical adjustment to or from the spindle, and a
compound adjustment in a horizontal plane. The simplicity of the
mechanism required to operate drilling tools is such that it has
permitted various modifications, such as column drills, radial drills,
suspended drills, horizontal drills, bracket drills, multiple drills, and
others.
Drilling, more than any other operation in metal cutting, requires
the sense of feeling, and is farther from such conditions as admit of
power feeding. The speed at which a drill may cut without heating or
breaking is dependent upon the manner in which it is ground and
the nature of the material drilled, the working conditions may
change at any moment as the drilling progresses; so that hand feed
is most suitable. Drilling machines arranged with power feed for
boring should have some means of permanently disengaging the
feeding mechanism to prevent its use in ordinary drilling.
I am well aware how far this opinion is at variance with practice,
especially in England; yet careful observation in a workshop will
prove that power feed in ordinary drilling effects no saving of time or
expense.
(1.) What is the difference between boring and drilling?—(2.) Why will drills
endure more severe use than other tools?—(3.) Why is hand feeding best
suited for drills?—(4.) What is the difference between boring with a bar
supported on centres and one fed through journal bearings?
 C H A P T E R X X X V.
MILLING.
Milling relates to metal cutting with serrated rotary cutters, and
differs in many respects from either planing or turning. The
movement of the cutting edges can be more rapid than with tools
which act continuously, because the edges are cooled during the
intervals between each cut; that is, if a milling tool has twenty teeth,
any single tooth or edge acts only from a fifteenth to a twentieth
part of the time; and as the cutting distance or time of cutting is
rarely long enough to generate much heat, the speed of such tools
may be one-half greater than for turning, drilling, or planing tools.
Another distinction between milling and other tools is the perfect
and rigid manner in which the cutting edges are supported; they are
short and blunt, besides being usually carried on short rigid
mandrils. A result of this rigid support of the tools is seen in the
length of the cutting edges that can be employed, which are
sometimes four inches or more in length. It is true the amount of
material cut away in milling is much less than the edge movement
will indicate when compared with turning or planing; yet the
displacing capacity of a milling machine exceeds that of either a
lathe or a planing machine. Theoretically the cutting or displacing
capacity of any metal or wood cutting machine, is as the length of
the edges multiplied into the speed of their cutting movement; a rule
which applies very uniformly in wood cutting, and also in metal
cutting within certain limits; but the strains that arise in metal
cutting are so great that they may exceed all means of resisting
them either in the material acted upon, or in the means of
supporting tools, so that the length of cutting edges is limited. In
turning chilled rolls at Pittsburg, tools to six inches wide are
employed, and the effect produced is as the length of the edge; but
the depth of the cut is slight, and the operation is only possible
because of the extreme rigidity of the pieces turned, and the tools
being supported without movable joints as in common lathes.
Under certain conditions a given quantity of soft iron or steel may
be cut away at less expense, and with greater accuracy, by milling
than by any other process.
A milling tool with twenty edges should represent as much
wearing capacity as a like number of separate tools, and may be
said to equal twenty duplicate tools; hence, in cutting grooves,
notches, or similar work, a milling tool is equivalent to a large
number of duplicate single tools, which cannot be made or set with
the same truth; so that milling secures accuracy and duplication,
objects which are in many cases more important than speed.
Milling, as explained, being a more rapid process than either
planing or turning, it seems strange that so few machines of this
kind are employed in engineering shops. This points to some
difficulty to be contended with in milling, which is not altogether
apparent, because economic reasons would long ago have led to a
more extended use of milling processes, if the results were as
profitable as the speed of cutting indicates. This is, however, not the
case, except on certain kinds of material, and only for certain kinds
of work.
The advantages gained by milling, as stated, are speed,
duplication, and accuracy; the disadvantages are the expense of
preparing tools and their perishability.
A solid milling cutter must be an accurately finished piece of work,
made with more precision than can be expected in the work it is to
perform. This accuracy cannot be attained by ordinary processes,
because such tools, when tempered, are liable to become distorted
in shape, and frequently break. When hardened they must be
finished by grinding processes, if intended for any accurate work; in
fact, no tools, except gauging implements, involve more expense to
prepare, and none are so liable to accident when in use.
Such tools consist of a combination of cutting edges, all of which
may be said to depend on each one; because if one breaks, the next
in order will have a double duty to perform, and will soon follow—a
reversal of the old adage, that 'union is strength,' if by strength is
meant endurance.
In planing and turning, the tools require no exact form; they can
be roughly made, except the edge, and even this, in most cases, is
shaped by the eye. Such tools are maintained at a trifling expense,
and the destruction of an edge is a matter of no consequence. The
form, temper, and strength can be continually adapted to the varying
conditions of the work and the hardness of material. The line of
division between planing and milling is fixed by two circumstances—
the hardness and uniformity of the material to be cut, and the
importance of duplication. Brass, clean iron, soft steel, or any
homogeneous metal not hard enough to cause risk to the tools, can
be milled at less expense than planed, provided there is enough
work of a uniform character to justify the expense of milling tools.
Cutting the teeth of wheels is an example where milling is profitable,
but not to the extent generally supposed. In the manufacture of
small arms, sewing machines, clocks, and especially watches, where
there is a constant and exact duplication of parts, milling is
indispensable. Such manufactures are in some cases founded on
milling operations, as will be pointed out in another chapter.
Milling tools large enough to admit of detachable cutters being
employed, are not so expensive to maintain as solid tools. Edge
movement can sometimes be multiplied in this way, so as to greatly
exceed what a single tool will perform.
Milling tools are employed at Crewe for roughing out the slots in
locomotive crank axles. A number of detachable tools are mounted
on a strong disc, so that four to six will act at one time; in this way
the displacement exceeds what a lathe can perform when acting
continuously with two tools. Rotary planing machines constructed on
the milling principle, have been tried for plane surfaces, but with
indifferent success, except for rough work.
There is nothing in the construction or operation of milling
machines but what will be at once understood by a learner who sees
them in operation. The whole intricacy of the process lies in its
application or economic value, and but very few, even among the
most skilled, are able in all cases to decide when milling can be
employed to advantage. Theoretical conclusions, aside from practical
experience, will lead one to suppose that milling can be applied in
nearly all kinds of work, an opinion which has in many cases led to
serious mistakes.
(1.) If milling tools operate faster than planing or turning tools, why are
they not more employed?—(2.) How may the effect produced by cutting tools
generally be computed?—(3.) To what class of work are milling machines
especially suited?—(4.) Why do milling processes produce more accurate
dimensions than are attainable by turning or planing?—(5.) Why can some
branches of manufacture be said to depend on milling processes?
 CHAPTER XXXVI.
SCREW-CUTTING.
The tools employed for cutting screw threads constitute a separate
class among the implements of a fitting shop, and it is considered
best to notice them separately.
Screw-cutting is divided into two kinds, one where the blanks or
pieces to be threaded are supported on centres, the tools held and
guided independently of their bearing at the cutting edges, called
chasing; the other process is where the blanks have no axial
support, and are guided only by dies or cutting tools, called die-
cutting.
The first of these operations includes all threading processes
performed on lathes, whether with a single tool, by dies carried
positively by slide rests, or by milling.
The second includes what is called threading in America and
screwing in England. Machines for this purpose consist essentially of
mechanism to rotate either the blank to be cut or the dies, and
devices for holding and presenting the blanks.
Chasing produces screws true with respect to their axis, and is the
common process of threading all screws which are to have a running
motion in use, either of the screw itself, or the nut.
Die-cutting produces screws which may not be true, but are still
sufficiently accurate for most uses, such as clamping and joining
together the parts of machinery or other work.
Chasing operations being lathe work, and involving no principles
not already noticed, what is said further will be in reference to die-
cutting or bolt-threading machines, which, simple as they may
appear to the unskilled, involve, nevertheless many intricacies which
will not appear upon superficial examination.
Screw-cutting machines may be divided into modifications as
follows:—(1) Machines with running dies mounted in what is called
the head; (2) Machines with fixed dies, in which motion is given to
the rod or blank to be threaded; (3) Machines with expanding dies
which open and release the screws when finished without running
back; (4) Machines with solid dies, in which the screws have to be
withdrawn by changing the motion of the driving gearing; making in
all four different types.
If these various plans of arranging screw-cutting machines had
reference to different kinds of work, it might be assumed that all of
them are correct, but they are as a rule all applied to the same kind
of work; hence it is safe to conclude that there is one arrangement
better than the rest, or that one plan is right and the others wrong.
This matter may in some degree be determined by following through
the conditions of use and application.
Between a running motion of the dies, or a running motion of the
blanks, there are the following points which may be noticed.
If dies are fixed, the clamping mechanism to hold the rods has to
run with the spindle; such machines must be stopped while
fastening the rods or blanks. Clamping jaws are usually as little
suited for rotation on a spindle as dies are, and generally afford
more chances for obstruction and accident. To rotate the rods, if
they are long, they must pass through the driving spindle, because
machines cannot well be made of sufficient length to receive long
rods. In machines of this class, the dies have to be opened and
closed by hand instead of by the driving power, which can be
employed for the purpose when the dies are mounted in a running
head.
With running dies, blanks may be clamped when a machine is in
motion, and as the blank does not revolve, it may, when long, be
supported in any temporary manner. The dies can be opened and
closed by the driving power also, and no stopping of a machine is
necessary; so that several advantages of considerable importance
may be gained by mounting the dies in a running head, a plan which
has been generally adopted in late years by machine tool makers
both in England and America.
In respect to the difference between expanding and solid dies it
consists mainly in the time required to run back, and the injury to
dies which this operation occasions. Uniformity of size is within
certain limits insured by solid dies, but they are more liable to
derangement and less easy to repair than expanding or independent
dies.
Another difference between solid and expanding dies, which may
be pointed out, is in the firmness with which the cutting edges are
held. With a solid die, the edges or teeth being all combined in one
solid piece, are firmly held in a fixed position; while with expanding
dies their position has to be maintained by mechanical devices which
are liable to yield under the pressure which arises in cutting. The
result is, that the precision with which a screwing machine with
movable dies will act, is dependent upon the strength of the
'abutment' behind the dies, which should be a hard unyielding
surface with as much area as possible.
Connected with screw dies, there are various problems, such as
clearance behind the cutting edge; whether an odd or even number
of edges are best; how many threads require to be bevelled at the
starting point; and many other matters about which there are no
determined rules. The diversity of opinion that will be met with on
these points, and in reference to taps, the form of screw-threads,
and so on, will convince a learner of the intricacies in this apparently
simple matter of cutting screw-threads.
(1.) Describe the different modifications of screw-cutting machines.—(2.)
What is gained by revolving the dies instead of the rod?—(3.) What is gained
by expanding dies?—(4.) What is the difference between screws cut by
chasing and those cut on a screw-cutting machine?
 CHAPTER XXXVII.
STANDARD MEASURES.
Machines are composed of parts connected together by rigid and
movable joints; rigid joints are necessary because of the expense,
and in most cases the impossibility, of constructing framing and
other fixed detail in one piece.
All moving parts must of course be independent of fixed parts, the
relation between the two being maintained by what has been called
running joints.
It is evident that when the parts of a machine are joined together,
each piece which has contact on more than one side must have
specific dimensions; it is farther evident that as many of the joints in
a machine as are to accommodate the exigencies of construction
must be without space, that is, they represent continued sections of
what should be solid material, if it were possible to construct the
parts in that manner. This also demands specific dimensions.
In arranging the details of machines, it is impossible to have a
special standard of dimensions for each case, or even for each shop;
the dimensions employed are therefore made to conform to some
general standard, which by custom becomes known and familiar to
workmen and to a country, or as we may now say to all countries.
A standard of lineal measures, however, cannot be taken from one
country to another, or even transferred from one shop to another
without the risk of variation; and it is therefore necessary that such
a standard be based upon something in nature to which reference
can be made in cases of doubt.
 In ages past, various attempts were made to find some constant
in nature on which measures could be based. Some of these
attempts were ludicrous, and all of them failures, until the vibrations
of a pendulum connected length and space with time. The problem
was then more easy. The changes of seasons and the movement of
heavenly bodies had established measures of time, so that days,
hours, and minutes became constants, proved and maintained by
the unerring laws of nature.
A pendulum vibrating in uniform time regardless of distance, but
always as its length, if arranged to perform one vibration in a given
time, gave a constant measure of length. Thus lineal measure comes
from time; cubic or solid measures from lineal measure, and
standards of weight from the same source; because when a certain
quantity of a substance of any kind could be determined by lineal
measurement, and this quantity was weighed, a standard of weight
would be reached, provided there was some substance sufficiently
uniform, to which reference could be made in different countries.
Such a substance is sea or pure water; weighed in vacuo, or with
the air at an assumed density, water gives a result constant enough
for a standard of weight.
It is a strange thought that with all the order, system, and
regularity, existing in nature, there is nothing but the movements of
the heavenly bodies constant enough to form a base for gauging
tests. The French standard based upon the calculated length of the
meridian may be traced to this source.
Nothing animate or inanimate in nature is uniform; plants, trees,
animals, are all different; even the air we breathe and the
temperature around us is constantly changing; only one thing is
constant, that is time, and to this must we go for all our standards.
I am not aware that the derivation of our standard measures has
been, in an historical way, as the foregoing remarks will indicate, nor
is it the purpose here to follow such history. A reader, whose
attention is directed to the subject, will find no trouble in tracing the
matter from other sources. The present object is to show what a
wonderful series of connections can be traced from so simple a tool
as a measuring gauge, and how abstruse, in fact, are many
apparently simple things, often regarded as not worth a thought
beyond their practical application.
(1.) Why are machine frames constructed in sections, instead of being in
one piece?—(2.) Why must parts which have contact on opposite sides have
specific dimensions?—(3.) What are standards of measure based upon in
England, America, and France?—(4.) How can weight be measured by time?
—(5.) Has the French metre proved a standard admitting of test reference?
 CHAPTER XXXVIII.
GAUGING IMPLEMENTS.
Among the improvements in machine fitting which have in recent
years come into general use, is the employment of standard gauges,
by means of which uniform dimensions are maintained, and within
certain limits, an interchange of the parts of machinery is rendered
possible.
Standard gauging implements were introduced about the year
1840, by the celebrated Swiss engineer, John G. Bodmer, a man who
for many reasons deserves to be considered as the founder of
machine tool manufacture. He not only employed gauges in his
works to secure duplicate dimensions, but also invented and put in
use many other reforms in manipulation; among these may be
mentioned the decimal or metrical division of measures, a system of
detail drawings classified by symbols, the mode of calculating wheels
by diametric pitch, with many other things which characterise the
best modern practice.
The importance of standard dimensions, and the effect which a
system of gauging may have in the construction of machines, will be
a matter of some difficulty for a learner to understand. The
interchangeability of parts, which is the immediate object in
employing gauges, is plain enough, and some of the advantages at
once apparent, yet the ultimate effects of such a system extend
much farther than will at first be supposed.
The division of labour, that system upon which we may say our
great industrial interests are founded, is in machine fitting promoted
in a wonderful degree by the use of gauging implements. If standard
dimensions can be maintained, it is easy to see that the parts of a
machine can be constructed by different workmen, or in different
shops, and these parts when assembled all fit together, without that
tedious and uncertain plan of try-fitting which was once generally
practised. There are, it is true, certain kinds of fitting which cannot
well be performed by gauges; moving flat surfaces, such as the
bearings of lathe slides or the faces of steam engine valves, are
sooner and better fitted by trying them together and scraping off the
points of contact; but even in such cases the character of the work
will be improved, if one or both surfaces have been first levelled by
gauging or surface plates.
In cylindrical fitting, which as before pointed out, constitutes the
greater part in machine fitting, gauges are especially important,
because trial-fitting is in most cases impossible.
Flat or plane joints nearly always admit of adjustment between
the fitted surfaces; that is, the material scraped or ground away in
fitting can be compensated by bringing the pieces nearer together;
but parallel cylindrical joints cannot even be tried together until
finished, consequently, there can be nothing cut away in trying them
together. Tapering, or conical joints, can of course be trial-fitted, and
even parallel fits are sometimes made by trial, but it is evident that
the only material that can be cut away in such cases, is what makes
the difference between a fit too close, and one which will answer in
practice.
As to the practical results which may be attained by a gauging
system, it may be said that they are far in advance of what is
popularly supposed, especially in Europe, where gauges were first
employed.
The process of milling, which has been so extensively adopted in
the manufacture of guns, watches, sewing-machines, and similar
work in America, has, on principles explained in the chapter on
milling, enabled a system of gauging which it is difficult to
comprehend without seeing the processes carried on. And so
important is the effect due to this duplicating or gauging system,
that several important branches of manufacture have been
controlled in this way, when other elements of production, such as
the price of labour, rent, interest, and so on, have been greatly in
favour of countries where the trying system is practised.
As remarked, the gauging system is particularly adapted to, or
enabled by milling processes, and of course must have its greatest
effect in branches of work directed to the production of uniform
articles, such as clocks, watches, sewing-machines, guns, hand
tools, and so on. That is, the direct effect on the cost of processes
will be more apparent and easily understood in such branches of
manufacture; yet in general engineering work, where each machine
is more or less modified, and made to special plans, the commercial
gain resulting from the use of gauges is considerable.
In respect to repairing alone, the consideration of having the parts
of machinery fitted to standard sizes is often equal to its whole
value.
Machinery subjected to destructive wear, and to be operated at a
distance from machine shops—locomotive engines for example—if
not constructed with standard dimensions, may, by the detention
due to repairing, cause a loss and inconvenience equal to their
value; if a shaft wheel bearing, or even a fitted screw bolt is broken,
time must be allowed to make the parts new; and in order to fit
them, the whole machine, or such of its details as have connection
with the broken parts, must be taken to a shop in order to fit by
trial.
The duplicate system has gradually made its way in locomotive
engineering, and will no doubt extend to the whole of railway
equipment, as constants for dimensions are proved and agreed
upon.
The gauging system has been no little retarded by a selfish and
mistaken opinion that an engineering establishment may maintain
peculiar standards of its own; in fact, relics of this spirit are yet to be
met with in old machines, where the pitch of screw-threads has
been made to fractional parts of an inch, so that engineers, other
than the original makers, could not well perform repairing, or replace
broken parts.
One of the effects of employing gauges in machine fitting is to
inspire confidence in workmen. Instead of a fit being regarded as a
mysterious result more the work of chance than design, men
accustomed to gauges come to regard precision as something both
attainable and indispensable. A learner, after examining a set of well
fitted cylindrical gauges, will form a new conception of what a fit is,
and will afterwards have a new standard fixed in his mind.
The variation of dimensions which are sensible to the touch at one
ten-thousandth part of an inch, furnishes an example of how
important the human senses are even after the utmost precision
attainable by machine action. Pieces may pass beneath the cutters
of a milling machine under conditions, which so far as machinery
avails will produce uniform sizes, yet there is no assurance of the
result until the work is felt by gauges.
The eye fails to detect variations in size, even by comparison, long
before we reach the necessary precision in common fitting. Even by
comparison with figured scales or measuring with rules, the
difference between a proper and a spoiled fit is not discernible by
sight.
Many of the most accurate measurements are, however,
performed by sight, with vernier calipers for example, the variation
being multiplied hundreds or thousands of times by mechanism, until
the least differences can be readily seen.
In multiplying the variations of a measuring implement by
mechanism, it is obvious that movable joints must be employed; it is
also obvious that no positive joint, whether cylindrical or flat, could
be so accurately fitted as to transmit such slight movement as occurs
in gauging or measuring. This difficulty is in most measuring
instruments overcome by employing a principle not before alluded
to, but common in many machines, that of elastic compensation.
 A pair of spring calipers will illustrate this principle. The points are
always steady, because the spring acting continually in one direction
compensates the loose play that may be in the screw. In a train of
tooth wheels there is always more or less play between the teeth;
and unless the wheels always revolve in one direction, and have
some constant resistance offered to their motion, 'backlash' or
irregular movement will take place; but if there is some constant and
uniform resistance such as a spring would impart, a train of wheels
will transmit the slightest motion throughout.
The extreme nicety with which gauging implements are fitted
seems at first thought to be unnecessary, but it must be
remembered that a cylindrical joint in ordinary machine fitting
involves a precision almost beyond the sense of feeling, and that any
sensible variation in turning gauges is enough to spoil a fit.
Opposed to the maintenance of standard dimensions are the
variations in size due to temperature. This difficulty applies alike to
gauging implements and to parts that are to be tested; yet in this,
as in nearly every phenomenon connected with matter, we have
succeeded in turning it to some useful purpose. Bands of iron, such
as the tires of wheels when heated, can be 'shrunk' on, and a
compressive force and security attained, which would be impossible
by forcing the parts together both at the same temperature.
Shrinking has, however, been almost entirely abandoned for such
joints as can be accurately fitted.
(1.) How may gauging implements affect the division of labour?—(2.) In
what way do standard dimensions affect the value of machinery?—(3.) Why
cannot cylindrical joints be fitted by trying them together?—(4.) Under what
circumstances is it most important that the parts of machinery should have
standard dimensions?—(5.) Which sense is most acute in testing accurate
dimensions?—(6.) How may slight variations in dimensions be made apparent
to sight?
 CHAPTER XXXIX.
DESIGNING MACHINES.
It will scarcely be expected that any part of the present work,
intended mainly for apprentice engineers, should relate to designing
machines, yet there is no reason why the subject should not to some
extent be treated of; it is one sure to engage more or less attention
from learners, and the study of designing machines, if properly
directed, cannot fail to be of advantage.
There is, perhaps, no one who has achieved a successful
experience as an engineer but will acknowledge the advantages
derived from early efforts to generate original designs, and none
who will not admit that if their first efforts had been more carefully
directed, the advantages gained would have been greater.
It is exceedingly difficult for an apprentice engineer, without
experimental knowledge, to choose plans for his own education, or
to determine the best way of pursuing such plans when they have
been chosen; and there is nothing that consumes so much time, or
is more useless than attempting to make original designs, if there is
not some systematic method followed.
There is but little object in preparing designs, when their
counterparts may already exist, so that in making original plans,
there should be a careful research as to what has been already done
in the same line. It is not only discouraging, but annoying, after
studying a design with great care, to find that it has been
anticipated, and that the scheme studied out has been one of
reproduction only. For this reason, attempts to design should at first
be confined to familiar subjects, instead of venturing upon
unexplored ground.
Designing is in many respects the same thing as invention, except
that it deals more with mechanism than principles, although it may,
and often does include both. Like invention, designing should always
be attempted for the attainment of some definite object laid down at
the beginning, and followed persistently throughout.
It is not always an easy matter to hit upon an object to which
designs may be directed; and although at first thought it may seem
that any machine, or part of a machine, is capable of improvement,
it will be found no easy matter to detect existing faults or to
conceive plans for their remedy.
A new design should be based upon one of two suppositions—
either that existing mechanism is imperfect in its construction, or
that it lacks functions which a new design may supply; and if those
who spend their time in making plans for novel machinery would
stop to consider this from the beginning, it would save no little of
the time wasted in what may be called scheming without a purpose.
After determining the ultimate objects of an improvement, and
laying down the general principles which should be followed in the
preparation of a design, there is nothing connected with constructive
engineering that can be more nearly brought within general rules
than arranging details. I am well aware of how far this statement is
at variance with popular opinion among mechanics, and of the very
thorough knowledge of machine application and machine operation
required in making designs, and mean that there are certain
principles and rules which may determine the arrangement and
distribution of material, the position and relation of moving parts,
bearings, and so on, and that a machine may be built up with no
more risk of mistakes than in erecting a permanent structure.
Designing machines must have reference to adaptation,
endurance, and the expense of construction. Adaptation includes the
performance of machinery, its commercial value, or what the
machinery may earn in operating; endurance, the time that
machines may operate without being repaired, and the constancy of
their performance; expense, the investment represented in
machinery.
The adaptation, endurance, and cost of machines in designing
become resolved into problems of movements, the arrangement of
parts, and proportions.
Movements and strains may be called two of the leading
conditions upon which designs for machines are based: movements
determine general dimensions, and strains determine the proportions
and sizes of particular parts. Movement and strain together
determine the nature and area of bearings or bearing surfaces.
The range and speed of movement of the parts of machines are
elements in designing that admit of a definite determination from
the work to be accomplished, but arrangement cannot be so
determined, and is the most difficult to find data for. To sum up
these propositions we have:—
1. A conception of certain functions in a machine, and some
definite object which it is to accomplish.
2. Plans of adaptation and arrangement of the component parts of
the machinery, or organisation as it may be called.
3. A knowledge of specific conditions, such as strains, the range
and rate of movements, and so on.
4. Proportions of the various parts, including the framing, bearing
surfaces, shafts, belts, gearing, and other details.
5. Symmetry of appearance, which is often more the result of
obvious adaptation than ornamentation.
To illustrate the practical application of what has preceded, let it
be supposed, for example, that a machine is to be made for cutting
teeth in iron racks ¾ in. pitch and 3 in. face, and that a design is to
be prepared without reference to such machines as may already be
in use for the purpose.
 It is not assumed that an actual design can be made which by
words alone will convey a comprehensive idea of an organised
machine; it is intended to map out a course which will illustrate a
plan of reasoning most likely to attain a successful result in such
cases.
The reader, in order to better understand what is said, may keep
in mind a common shaping machine with crank motion, a machine
which nearly fills the requirements for cutting tooth racks.
Having assumed a certain work to do, the cutting of tooth racks ¾
in. pitch, and 3 in. face, the first thing to be considered will be, is
the machine to be a special one, or one of general adaptation? This
question has to do, first, with the functions of the machine in the
way of adapting it to the cutting of racks of various sizes, or to
performing other kinds of work, and secondly, as to the
completeness of the machine; for if it were to be a standard one,
instead of being adapted only to a special purpose, there are many
expensive additions to be supplied which can be omitted in a special
machine. It will be assumed in the present case that a special
machine is to be constructed for a particular duty only.
The work to be performed consists in cutting away the metal
between the teeth of a rack, leaving a perfect outline for the teeth;
and as the shape of teeth cannot well be obtained by an adjustment
of tools, it must be accomplished by the shape of the tools. The
shape of the tools must, therefore, be constantly maintained, and as
the cross section of the displaced metal is not too great, it may be
assumed that the shape of the tools should be a profile of the whole
space between two teeth, and such a space be cut away at one
setting or one operation. By the application of certain rules laid
down in a former place in reference to cutting various kinds of
material, reciprocating or planing tools may be chosen instead of
rotary or milling tools.
Movements come next in order, and consist of a reciprocating
cutting movement of the tools or material, a feed movement to
regulate the cutting action, and a longitudinal movement of the rack,
graduated to pitch or space, the distance between the teeth.
The reciprocating cutting movement being but four inches or less,
a crank is obviously the best means to produce this motion, and as
the movement is transverse to the rack, which may be long and
unwieldy, it is equally obvious that the cutting motion should be
performed by the tools instead of the rack.
The feed adjustment of the tool being intermittent and the
amount of cutting continually varying, this movement should be
performed by hand, so as to be controlled at will by the sense of
feeling. The same rule applies to the adjustment of the rack for
spacing; being intermittent and irregular as to time, this movement
should also be performed by hand. The speed of the cutting
movement is known from ordinary practice to be from sixteen feet to
twenty feet a minute, and a belt two and a half inches wide must
move two hundred feet a minute to propel an ordinary metal cutting
tool, so that the crank movement or cutter movement must be
increased by gearing until a proper speed of the belt is reached;
from this the speed of intermediate movers will be found.
Arrangement comes next; in this the first matter to be considered
is convenience of manipulation. The cutting position should be so
arranged as to admit of an easy inspection of the work. An operator
having to keep his hand on the adjusting or feed mechanism, which
is about twelve inches above the work, it follows that if the cutting
level is four feet from the floor, and the feed handle five feet from
the floor, the arrangement will be convenient for a standing position.
As the work requires continual inspection and hand adjustments, it
will for this reason be a proper arrangement to overhang both the
supports for the rack and the cutting tools, placing them, as we may
say, outside the machine, to secure convenience of access and to
allow of inspection. The position of the cutting bar, crank,
connections, gearing, pulleys, and shafts, will assume their
respective places from obvious conditions, mainly from the position
of the operator and the work.
 Next in order are strains. As the cutting action is the source of
strains, and as the resistance offered by the cutting tools is as the
length or width of the edges, it will be found in the present case that
while other conditions thus far have pointed to small proportions,
there is now a new one which calls for large proportions. In
displacing the metal between teeth of three-quarters of an inch
pitch, the cutting edge or the amount of surface acted upon is equal
to a width of one inch and a half. It is true, the displacement may be
small at each cut, but the strain is rather to be based upon the
breadth of the acting edge than the actual displacement of metal,
and we find here strains equal to the average duty of a large planing
machine. This strain radiates from the cutting point as from a centre,
falling on the supports of the work with a tendency to force it from
the framing. Between the rack and the crank-shaft bearing, through
the medium of the tool, cutter bar, connection, and crank pin, and in
various directions and degrees, this strain may be followed by means
of a simple diagram. Besides this cutting strain, there are none of
importance; the tension of the belt, the side thrust in bearings, the
strain from the angular thrust of the crank, and the end thrust of the
tool, although not to be lost sight of, need not have much to do with
problems of strength, proportion, and arrangement.
Strains suggest special arrangement, which is quite a distinct
matter from general arrangement, the latter being governed mainly
by the convenience of manipulation. Special arrangement deals with
and determines the shape of framing, following the strains
throughout a machine. In the present case we have a cutting strain
which may be assumed as equal to one ton, exerted between the
bracket or jaws which support the work, and the crank-shaft. It
follows that between these two points the metal in the framing
should be disposed in as direct a line as possible, and provision be
made to resist flexion by deep sections parallel with the cutting
motion.
Lastly, proportions; having estimated the cutting force required at
one ton, although less than the actual strain in a machine of this
kind, we proceed upon this to fix proportions, beginning with the
tool shank, and following back through the adjusting saddle, the
cutting bar, connections, crank pins, shafts, and gear wheels to the
belt. Starting again at the tool, or point of cutting, following through
the supports of the rack, the jaws that clamp it, the saddle for the
graduating adjustment, the connections with the main frame, and so
on to the crank-shaft bearing a second time, dimensions may be
fixed for each piece to withstand the strains without deflection or
danger of breaking. Such proportions cannot, I am aware, be
brought within the rules of ordinary practice by relying upon
calculation alone to fix them, and no such course is suggested;
calculation may aid, but cannot determine proportions in such cases;
besides, symmetry, which cannot be altogether disregarded,
modifies the form and sometimes the dimensions of various parts.
I have in this way imperfectly indicated a methodical plan of
generating a design, as far as words alone will serve, beginning with
certain premises based upon a particular work to be performed, and
then proceeding to consider in consecutive order the general
character of the machine, mode of operation, movements and
adjustments, general arrangement, strains, special arrangement, and
proportions.
With a thorough knowledge of practical machine operation, and an
acquaintance with existing practice, an engineer proceeding upon
such a plan, will, if he does not overlook some of the conditions, be
able to generate designs which may remain without much
modification or change, so long as the purpose to which the
machinery is directed remains the same.
Perseverance is an important trait to be cultivated in first efforts at
designing; it takes a certain amount of study to understand any
branch of mechanism, no matter what natural capacity may be
possessed by a learner. Mechanical operations are not learned
intuitively, but are always surrounded by many peculiar conditions
which must be learned seriatim, and it is only by an untiring
perseverance at one thing that there can be any hope of improving it
by new designs.
 A learner who goes from gearing and shafts to steam and
hydraulics, from machine tools to cranes and hoisting machinery, will
not accomplish much. The best way is to select at first an easy
subject, one that admits of a great range of modification, and if
possible, one that has not assumed a standard form of construction.
Bearings and supports for shafts and spindles, is a good subject to
begin with.
In designing supports for shafts the strains are easily defined and
followed, while the vertical and lateral adjustment, lubrication of
bearings, symmetry of supports and hangers, and so on, will furnish
grounds for endless modification, both as to arrangement and
mechanism.
In making designs it is best to employ no references except such
as are carried in the memory. The more familiar a person is with
machinery of any class, the more able he may be to prepare
designs, but not by measuring and referring to other people's plans.
Dimensions and arrangement from examples are, by such a course,
unconsciously carried into a new drawing, even by the most skilled;
besides, it is by no means a dignified matter to collect other people's
plans, and by a little combination and modification produce new
designs. It may be an easy plan to acquire a certain kind of
proficiency, but will most certainly hinder an engineer from ever
rising to the dignity of an original designer.
Symmetry, as an element in designs for machinery, is one of those
unsettled matters which may be determined only in connection with
particular cases; it may, however, be said that for all engineering
implements and manufacturing machinery of every kind, there
should be nothing added for ornament, or anything that has no
connection with the functions of the machinery.
Modern engineers of the abler class are so thoroughly in accord in
this matter of ornamentation, both in opinion and practice, that the
subject hardly requires to be mentioned, and it will be no
disadvantage for a learner to commence by cultivating a contempt
for whatever has no useful purpose. Of existing practice it may be
said, that in what may be called industrial machinery, the amount of
ornamentation is inverse as the amount of engineering skill
employed in preparing designs.
A safe rule will be to assume that machinery mainly used and seen
by the skilled should be devoid of ornament, and that machinery
seen mainly by the unskilled, or in public, should have some
ornament. Steam fire engines, sewing machines, and works of a
similar kind, which fall under the inspection of the unskilled, are
usually arranged with more or less ornament.
As a rule, ornament should never be carried further than graceful
proportions; the arrangement of framing should follow as nearly as
possible the lines of strain. Extraneous decoration, such as detached
filagree work of iron, or painting in colours, is so repulsive to the
taste of the true engineer and mechanic that it is unnecessary to
speak against it.
(1.) Name some of the principal points to be kept in view in preparing
designs?—(2.) Why should attempts at designing be confined to one class of
machinery?—(3.) What objection exists to examining references when
preparing designs?
 CHAPTER XL.
INVENTION.
The relation between invention and the engineering arts, and
especially between invention and machines, will warrant a short
review of the matter here; or even if this reason were wanting, there
is a sufficient one in the fact that one of the first aims of an
engineering apprentice is to invent something; and as the purpose
here is, so far as the limits will permit, to say something upon each
subject in which a beginner has an interest, invention must not be
passed over.
It has been the object thus far to show that machines, processes,
and mechanical manipulation generally may be systematised and
generalised to a greater or less extent, and that a failure to reduce
mechanical manipulation and machine construction to certain rules
and principles can mainly be ascribed to our want of knowledge, and
not to any inherent difficulty or condition which prevents such
solution. The same proposition is applicable to invention, with the
difference that invention, in its true sense, may admit of
generalisation more readily than machine processes.
Invention, as applied to mechanical improvements, should not
mean chance discovery. Such a meaning is often, if not generally,
attached to the term invention, yet it must be seen that results
attained by a systematic course of reasoning or experimenting can
have nothing to do with chance or even discovery. Such results
partake more of the nature of demonstrations, a name peculiarly
suitable for such inventions as are the result of methodical purpose.
 In such sciences as rest in any degree upon physical experiment,
like chemistry, to experiment without some definite object may be a
proper kind of research, and may in the future, as it has in the past,
lead to great and useful results; but in mechanics the case is
different; the demonstration of the conservation of force, and the
relation between force and heat, have supplied the last link in a
chain of principles which may be said to comprehend all that we are
called upon to deal with in dynamical science, and there remains but
little hope of developing anything new or useful by discovery alone.
The time has been, and has not yet passed away, when even the
most unskilled thought their ability to invent improvements in
machinery equal with that of an engineer or skilled mechanic; but
this is now changed; new schemes are weighed and tested by
scientific standards, in many cases as reliable as actual experiments.
A veil of mystery which ignorance of the physical sciences had in
former times thrown around the mechanic arts, has been cleared
away; chance discovery, or mechanical superstition, if the term may
be allowed, has nearly disappeared. Many modern engineers regard
their improvements in machinery as the exercise of their profession
only, and hesitate about asking for protective grants to secure an
exclusive use of that which another person might and often does
demonstrate, as often as circumstances call for such improvement.
There are of course new articles of manufacture to be discovered,
and many improvements in machinery which may be proper subject
matter for patent rights; improvements which in all chance would
not be made for the term of a patent, except by the inventor; but
such cases are rare; and it is fair to assume that unless an invention
is one which could not have been regularly deduced from existing
data, and one that would not in all probability have been made for a
long term of years by any other person than the inventor, such an
invention cannot in fairness become the property of an individual
without infringing the rights of others.
It is not the intention to discuss patent law, nor even to estimate
what benefits have in the past, or may in the future, be gained to
technical industry by the patent system, but to impress engineering
apprentices with a better and more dignified appreciation of their
calling than to confound it with chance invention, and thereby
destroy that confidence in positive results which has in the past
characterised mechanical engineering; also to caution learners
against the loss of time and effort too often expended in searching
after inventions.
It is well for an apprentice to invent or demonstrate all that he can
—the more the better; but as explained in a previous place, what is
attempted should be according to some system, and with a proper
object. Time spent groping in the dark after something of which no
definite conception has been formed, or for any object not to fill an
ascertained want, is generally time lost. To demonstrate or invent,
one should begin methodically, like a bricklayer builds a wall, as he
mortars and sets each brick, so should an engineer qualify, by
careful study, each piece or movement that is added to a mechanical
structure, so that when done, the result may be useful and
enduring.
As remarked, every attempt to generate anything new in
machinery should be commenced by ascertaining a want of
improvement. When such a want has been ascertained, attention
should be directed first to the principles upon which such want or
fault is to be remedied. Proper mechanism can then be supplied like
the missing links in a chain. Propositions thus stated may fail to
convey the meaning intended; this systematic plan of inventing may
be better explained by an example.
Presuming the reader to remember what was said of steam
hammers in another place, and to be familiar with the uses and
general construction of such hammers, let it be supposed steam-
hammers, with the ordinary automatic valve action, those that give
an elastic or steam-cushioned blow, are well known. Suppose further
that by analysing the blows given by hammers of this kind, it is
demonstrated that dead blows, such as are given when a hammer
comes to a full stop in striking, are more effectual in certain kinds of
work, and that steam-hammers would be improved by operating on
this dead-stroke principle.
Such a proposition would constitute the first stage of an invention
by demonstrating a fault in existing hammers, and a want of certain
functions which if added would make an improvement.
Proceeding from these premises, the first thing should be to
examine the action of existing valve gear, to determine where this
want of the dead-stroke function can best be supplied, and to gain
the aid of such suggestions as existing mechanism may offer, also to
see how far the appliances in use may become a part of any new
arrangement.
By examining automatic hammers it will be found that their valves
are connected to the drop by means of links, producing coincident
movement of the piston and valve, and that the movement of one is
contingent upon and governed by the other. It will also be found
that these connections or links are capable of extension, so as to
alter the relative position of the piston and valve, thereby regulating
the range of the blow, but that the movement of the two is
reciprocal or in unison. Reasoning inductively, not discovering or
inventing, it may be determined that to secure a stamp blow of a
hammer-head, the valve must not open or admit steam beneath the
piston until a blow is completed and the hammer has stopped.
At this point will occur one of those mechanical problems which
requires what may be called logical solution. The valve must be
moved by the drop; there is no other moving mechanism available;
the valve and drop must besides be connected, to insure coincident
action, yet the valve requires to move when the drop is still.
Proceeding inductively, it is clear that a third agent must be
introduced, some part moved by the drop, which will in turn move
the valve, but this intermediate agent so arranged that it may
continue to move after the hammer-drop has stopped.
This assumed, the scheme is complete, so far as the relative
movement of the hammer-drop and the valve, but there must be
some plan of giving motion to this added mechanism. In many
examples there may be seen parts of machinery which continue in
motion after the force which propels them has ceased to act; cannon
balls are thrown for miles, the impelling force acting for a few feet
only; a weaver's shuttle performs nearly its whole flight after the
driver has stopped. In the present case, it is therefore evident that
an independent or subsequent movement of the valves may be
obtained by the momentum of some part set in motion during the
descent of the hammer-head.
To sum up, it is supposed to have been determined by inductive
reasoning, coupled with some knowledge of mechanics, that a steam
hammer, to give a dead blow, requires the following conditions in the
valve gearing:
1. That the drop and valve, while they must act relatively, cannot
move in the same time, or in direct unison.
2. The connection between the hammer drop and valve cannot be
positive, but must be broken during the descent of the drop.
3. The valve must move after the hammer stops.
4. To cause a movement of the valve after the hammer stops
there must be an intermediate agent, that will continue to act after
the movement of the hammer drop has ceased.
5. The obvious means of attaining this independent movement of
the valve gear, is by the momentum of some part set in motion by
the hammer-drop, or by the force of gravity reacting on this auxiliary
agent.
The invention is now complete, and as the principles are all within
the scope of practical mechanism, there is nothing left to do but to
devise such mechanical expedients as will carry out the principles
laid down. This mechanical scheming is a second, and in some sense
an independent part of machine improvement, and should always be
subservient to principles; in fact, to separate mechanical scheming
from principles, generally constitutes what has been called chance
invention.
 Referring again to the hammer problem, it will be found by
examining the history that the makers of automatic-acting steam-
hammers capable of giving the dead stamp blow, have employed the
principle which has been described. Instead of employing the
momentum, or the gravity of moving parts, to open the valve after
the hammer stops, some engineers have depended upon
disengaging valve gear by the concussion and jar of the blow, so
that the valve gearing, or a portion of it, fell and opened the valve.
The 'dead blow gear,' fitted to the earlier Nasmyth, or Wilson,
hammers, was constructed on the latter plan, the valve spindle when
disengaged being moved by a spring.
I will not consume space to explain the converse of this system of
inventing, nor attempt to describe how a chance schemer would
proceed to hunt after mechanical expedients to accomplish the valve
movement in the example given.
Inventions in machine improvement, no matter what their nature,
must of course consist in and conform to certain fixed modes of
operating, and no plan of urging the truth of a proposition is so
common, even with a chance inventor, as to trace out the 'principles'
which govern his discovery.
In studying improvements with a view to practical gain, a learner
can have no reasonable hope of accomplishing much in fields
already gone over by able engineers, nor in demonstrating anything
new in what may be called exhausted subjects, such as steam-
engines or water-wheels; he should rather choose new and special
subjects, but avoid schemes not in some degree confirmed by
existing practice.
It has been already remarked that the boldness of young
engineers is very apt to be inversely as their experience, not to say
their want of knowledge, and it is only by a strong and determined
effort towards conservatism, that a true balance is maintained in
judging of new schemes.
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