Millwright
The word "millwright" has long been used to describe the man who was
marked by everything ingenious and skillful. For several centuries in
England and Scotland the millwright was recognized as a man with a
knowledge of carpentry, blacksmithing and lathe work in addition to
the fitter and erector. He was the recognized representative of
mechanical arts and was looked upon as the authority in all
applications of winds and water, under whatever conditions they were
to be used, as a motive power for the purpose of manufacture. In other
words, as the above definition would indicate, he was the area
engineer, a kind of jack of all trades who was equally comfortable at
the lathe, the anvil or the carpenter's bench. Thus, the millwright of
the last several centuries was an itinerant engineer and mechanic of
high reputation and recognized abilities. He could handle the axe, the
hammer and the plane with equal skill and precision. He could turn,
bore or forge with the ease and ability of one brought up in those
trades. He could set and cut in the furrows of a millstone with an
accuracy equal to or superior to that of the miller himself. In most
instances, the millwright was a fair arithmetician, knew something of
geometry, leveling and measurements, and often possessed a very
competent knowledge of practical mathematics. He could calculate the
velocities, strength and power of machines; could draw in plans,
construct buildings, conduits or watercources, in all the forms and
under all the conditions required in his professional practice. He
could build bridges, cut canals and perform a variety of work now done
by civil engineers. In the early days of North America millwrights
designed and constructed the mills where flour and grist were ground
by water power. Water was directed over hand-constructed wooden mill
wheels to turn big wooden gears and generate power. Millwrights
executed every type of engineering operation in the construction of
these mills. The introduction of the steam engine, and the rapidity
with which it created new trades, proved a heavy blow to the
distinctive position of the millwrights, by bringing into the field a
new class of competitors in the form of turners, fitters, machine
makers, and mechanical engineers. Although there was an extension of
the demand for millwork, it nevertheless lowered the profession of the
millwright, and leveled it to a great degree with that of the ordinary
mechanic. It was originally the custom for the millwrights to have
meetings for themselves in every shop. These meetings usually included
long discussions of practical science and the principles of
construction which more often than not ended in a quarrel. One benefit
of these meetings was the imparting of knowledge, as young aspirants
would frequently become excited by the illustrations and chalk
diagrams by which each side supported their arguments.
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Ron wrote:
> Millwright
> The word "millwright" has long been used to describe the man who was
> marked by everything ingenious and skillful. For several centuries in
> England and Scotland the millwright was recognized as a man with a
> knowledge of carpentry, blacksmithing and lathe work in addition to
> the fitter and erector. He was the recognized representative of
> mechanical arts and was looked upon as the authority in all
Apparently breaking text into more easily readable paragraphs isn't part
of the millwright's forte'...
;D
On Jul 3, 12:29 am, "nailshoote...@aol.com" <nailshoote...@aol.com>
wrote:
> On Jul 2, 9:00 pm, "Lee Michaels" <leemicha...@comcast.net> wrote:
>
> > Reminds me of the advice an english teach told me in Junior High. He said
> > that I should first write my paper. Then go back and break up each sentence
> > into three sentences. How's that for a hint?
>
> Excellent advice. My problem is one that took a long time to develop,
> though. I used to sit and make sure every detail of a posting was
> perfect, and check for proper grammar and usage. I found it was a
> laborious task to do a simple post.
>
> Now I whack away at the keyboard and let it all fall where it will.
> After all, there are plenty that frequent newsgroups, bulletin boards,
> forums, blogs, etc., that have nothing to contribute but their
> criticism of posting form and spelling. To me, it is their job to
> whine about spelling, comma placement and grammar.
>
> I like to read the content.
>
> Robert
Yeah, but...when it gets too densely forested with mistakes, it
becomes difficult to understand. At that point, many people simple
click on the next item.
On Jul 2, 9:00 pm, "Lee Michaels" <leemicha...@comcast.net> wrote:
> Reminds me of the advice an english teach told me in Junior High. He said
> that I should first write my paper. Then go back and break up each sentence
> into three sentences. How's that for a hint?
Excellent advice. My problem is one that took a long time to develop,
though. I used to sit and make sure every detail of a posting was
perfect, and check for proper grammar and usage. I found it was a
laborious task to do a simple post.
Now I whack away at the keyboard and let it all fall where it will.
After all, there are plenty that frequent newsgroups, bulletin boards,
forums, blogs, etc., that have nothing to contribute but their
criticism of posting form and spelling. To me, it is their job to
whine about spelling, comma placement and grammar.
I like to read the content.
Robert
<nailshooter41@aol.com> wrote
> On Jul 2, 1:23 pm, Woodie <woo...@gmx.com> wrote:
>
>> Apparently breaking text into more easily readable paragraphs isn't part
>> of the millwright's forte'...
>> ;D
>
> Got a good chuckle out of that one!
>
> As a master of the run-on sentence, the only way I can end one
> sometimes is to start a new paragraph!
>
Reminds me of the advice an english teach told me in Junior High. He said
that I should first write my paper. Then go back and break up each sentence
into three sentences. How's that for a hint?
<nailshooter41@aol.com> wrote in message
news:fae2bd87-3777-4a4d-aab9-5f0ce590a31e@p25g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
> On Jul 2, 9:00 pm, "Lee Michaels" <leemicha...@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>> Reminds me of the advice an english teach told me in Junior High. He
>> said
>> that I should first write my paper. Then go back and break up each
>> sentence
>> into three sentences. How's that for a hint?
>
> Excellent advice. My problem is one that took a long time to develop,
> though. I used to sit and make sure every detail of a posting was
> perfect, and check for proper grammar and usage. I found it was a
> laborious task to do a simple post.
If I did that, my post would be obsolite by the time I clicked Send. ;~)
>
> Now I whack away at the keyboard and let it all fall where it will.
> After all, there are plenty that frequent newsgroups, bulletin boards,
> forums, blogs, etc., that have nothing to contribute but their
> criticism of posting form and spelling. To me, it is their job to
> whine about spelling, comma placement and grammar.
Hell, if we did not display poor grammer and spellin some times, "they"
would have nothing to respond to.
On Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:51:51 -0700, Ron wrote:
> Millwright
> The word "millwright" has long been used to describe the man who was
> marked by everything ingenious and skillful. For several centuries in
> England and Scotland the millwright was recognized as a man with a
> knowledge of carpentry, blacksmithing and lathe work in addition to the
> fitter and erector. ...
{snip}
From my point of view:
A competent Millwright of time past must, by broad range of knowledge,
have an extensive quantities and variety of tools available to him to
cover all the skill trades he uses to complete the task(s) at hand.
Tools cost money. Each tool takes time to learn how to use. That means
a very large investment in time and money to build up the full skill
set. In short, we are talking about a 12 to 15 year apprenticeship.
That implies living under the thumb, and whims, of the Master, or
Journeyman craftsman till well into the Early 30's of one's life. And
the pay ain't that great as an apprentice trying to buy the tools of his
trade as well. Trips to the tavern become a little slim also, or even
only occasionally.
But admit it, much of the respect given to a millwright of long ago was
also tied up in sympathy and awe that he survived his long, and poverty
stricken, apprenticeship. Not an apprenticeship for the uncommitted or
lazy person.
Just IMHO
Phil