>London’s Great Exhibition of 1851 attracted some 6 million people eager to experience more than 14,000 exhibitors showcasing 19th-century marvels of technology and engineering. The event took place in the Crystal Palace, a 990,000-square-foot building of cast iron and plate glass originally located in Hyde Park. And it was built in an incredible 190 days. According to a recent paper published in the International Journal for the History of Engineering and Technology, one of the secrets was the use of a standardized screw thread, first proposed 10 years before its construction, although the thread did not officially become the British standard until 1905.
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>“During the Victorian era there was incredible innovation from workshops right across Britain that was helping to change the world,” said co-author John Gardner of Anglia Ruskin University (ARU). “In fact, progress was happening at such a rate that certain breakthroughs were perhaps never properly realized at the time, as was the case here with the Crystal Palace. Standardization in engineering is essential and commonplace in the 21st century, but its role in the construction of the Crystal Palace was a major development.”
>
>…
>
>Gardner was intrigued by the question of how the Crystal Palace was constructed so quickly and thought the thread form question might be relevant. So he enlisted the help of co-author Ken Kiss, curator of the Crystal Palace Museum. Kiss had excavated the original columns at the Sydenham site (which were also used at the original Hyde Park site), and the men were able to take relevant measurements for their research.
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>”Unfortunately, none of these braces or bolts have been found in existence, and the thread form is not specified in surviving drawings,” the authors wrote. “These would have been expensive items to produce, and it is highly likely that they would have been re-used at Sydenham rather than being scrapped then remade after such a short time.” Although the threads in the drawings did feature slightly rounded peaks and troughs consistent with Whitworth’s thread form, Gardner and Kiss knew they needed more tangible evidence.
>
>They found it in the remains of the building and the south water tower nearby. A column bolt from the building matched the Whitworth measurements. They also found a nut and bolt at the water tower. After soaking them in oil, they heated and hammered the objects to remove all the accumulated rust, revealing screw threads that also matched the Whitworth measurements. For good measure, Gardner made his own new bolts following the Whitworth standard and they fit nicely into the original nuts.
>This article establishes that the British Standard Whitworth thread form, suggested in 1841 and not adopted as a standard until 1905, was being used at the Crystal Palace sites (1851–1854).
Conclusion:
>The first meeting of the British Engineering Standards Committee, later the British Standards Institute (1931), fell on the day the Victorian age ended, 22 January 1901; the date of Queen Victoria’s death. The Engineering Standards Committee subsequently adopted the British Standard Whitworth Screw Thread (B.S.W.) in 1905. This became, successively, BS 84:1918; BS 84:1940; BS 84:1956 and it was again awarded currency in November 2007 when it was updated to BS 84:2007. The foreword of BS 84:1956 ends with ‘Whitworth threads will undoubtedly continue to be used for many years, especially on replacements or spare parts.’ In 2007 the BSI wrote on updating the standard: ‘The present revision of BS 84 has been undertaken because, fifty years on, this continues to be the case.’ In fact, the Whitworth thread is not only used in repairs, but is still manufactured for UK scaffolding, camera tripods, light fittings and microphone stands among other items. Furthermore, the widely used British Standard Pipe thread (BSP) still follows the Whitworth standard. Whitworth’s standard suggested in 1841 and utilised at the Crystal Palace site a decade later persists. Nonetheless, this is a vernacular standard that came from the average of existing workshop practices. Often technical objects such as nuts and bolts seem distant from the human, based in theories and standards that are set from above. However, the Whitworth screw thread is in fact an organic form with human practice at its centre. It is a form that has influenced all standard thread forms since.
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From the news report:
>London’s Great Exhibition of 1851 attracted some 6 million people eager to experience more than 14,000 exhibitors showcasing 19th-century marvels of technology and engineering. The event took place in the Crystal Palace, a 990,000-square-foot building of cast iron and plate glass originally located in Hyde Park. And it was built in an incredible 190 days. According to a recent paper published in the International Journal for the History of Engineering and Technology, one of the secrets was the use of a standardized screw thread, first proposed 10 years before its construction, although the thread did not officially become the British standard until 1905.
>
>“During the Victorian era there was incredible innovation from workshops right across Britain that was helping to change the world,” said co-author John Gardner of Anglia Ruskin University (ARU). “In fact, progress was happening at such a rate that certain breakthroughs were perhaps never properly realized at the time, as was the case here with the Crystal Palace. Standardization in engineering is essential and commonplace in the 21st century, but its role in the construction of the Crystal Palace was a major development.”
>
>…
>
>Gardner was intrigued by the question of how the Crystal Palace was constructed so quickly and thought the thread form question might be relevant. So he enlisted the help of co-author Ken Kiss, curator of the Crystal Palace Museum. Kiss had excavated the original columns at the Sydenham site (which were also used at the original Hyde Park site), and the men were able to take relevant measurements for their research.
>
>”Unfortunately, none of these braces or bolts have been found in existence, and the thread form is not specified in surviving drawings,” the authors wrote. “These would have been expensive items to produce, and it is highly likely that they would have been re-used at Sydenham rather than being scrapped then remade after such a short time.” Although the threads in the drawings did feature slightly rounded peaks and troughs consistent with Whitworth’s thread form, Gardner and Kiss knew they needed more tangible evidence.
>
>They found it in the remains of the building and the south water tower nearby. A column bolt from the building matched the Whitworth measurements. They also found a nut and bolt at the water tower. After soaking them in oil, they heated and hammered the objects to remove all the accumulated rust, revealing screw threads that also matched the Whitworth measurements. For good measure, Gardner made his own new bolts following the Whitworth standard and they fit nicely into the original nuts.
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Link to the journal article: [Thread form at the Crystal Palace](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17581206.2024.2391984)
Abstract:
>This article establishes that the British Standard Whitworth thread form, suggested in 1841 and not adopted as a standard until 1905, was being used at the Crystal Palace sites (1851–1854).
Conclusion:
>The first meeting of the British Engineering Standards Committee, later the British Standards Institute (1931), fell on the day the Victorian age ended, 22 January 1901; the date of Queen Victoria’s death. The Engineering Standards Committee subsequently adopted the British Standard Whitworth Screw Thread (B.S.W.) in 1905. This became, successively, BS 84:1918; BS 84:1940; BS 84:1956 and it was again awarded currency in November 2007 when it was updated to BS 84:2007. The foreword of BS 84:1956 ends with ‘Whitworth threads will undoubtedly continue to be used for many years, especially on replacements or spare parts.’ In 2007 the BSI wrote on updating the standard: ‘The present revision of BS 84 has been undertaken because, fifty years on, this continues to be the case.’ In fact, the Whitworth thread is not only used in repairs, but is still manufactured for UK scaffolding, camera tripods, light fittings and microphone stands among other items. Furthermore, the widely used British Standard Pipe thread (BSP) still follows the Whitworth standard. Whitworth’s standard suggested in 1841 and utilised at the Crystal Palace site a decade later persists. Nonetheless, this is a vernacular standard that came from the average of existing workshop practices. Often technical objects such as nuts and bolts seem distant from the human, based in theories and standards that are set from above. However, the Whitworth screw thread is in fact an organic form with human practice at its centre. It is a form that has influenced all standard thread forms since.