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Wheel splitting' machine

Hulot PèreCirca 1760

Musée des arts et métiers

Musée des arts et métiers
Paris, France

Behind its curious appellation is a machine that was designed to cut the teeth of clock wheels. The quest for increasingly accurate time measurement required components cut increasingly precisely. This machine has a disc engraved with series of concentric points, a file and an alidade to maintain the wheel on which the craftsman is working. The overall design was devised by the clockmaker Taillemard and perfected by his pupil Hulot, clockmaker to the king. This machine was admired in its time, praised by the great clockmaker Ferdinand Berthoud, honoured by the Académie des Sciences and still referred to in the mid-19th century.

Details

  • Title: Wheel splitting' machine
  • Creator: Hulot Père
  • Date: Circa 1760
  • Date Created: Circa 1760
  • Location: France
  • Provenance: Musée des arts et métiers
  • Contributor: Author: Lionel Dufaux. English translation: David Wharry
  • Inventory number: Inv. 00101
  • Credits: © Musée des arts et métiers-Cnam/photo studio Cnam

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