Machine Shop Yard. Hagley Museum.
by Chris Kusik
Title
Machine Shop Yard. Hagley Museum.
Artist
Chris Kusik
Medium
Photograph - Digital
Description
These gears were out side the machine shop and millright at the Hagley Museum in
Wilmington, Delaware. The museum is on the site of a gunpowder mill founded by E.I. Dupont in 1802 on the Brandywine River.In the nineteenth century, the production of black powder entailed mechanical operations, not chemical processes. It consisted of preparing and blending together saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal with a
small amount of water. Workers purified the saltpeter by melting it in large vats. The liquid saltpeter was decanted into other vats and water wheels powered the mills. By the 184Os, more efficient iron water turbines began replacing the wooden wheels. Examples of both technologies are visible at the site today, including a reconstructed 16-foot breast wheel at the Birkenhead Mills. The large waterwheels and
the comparatively small turbines, developing upwards of 40 horsepower, turned shafts that powered gear trains to operate the machinery.
Uploaded
July 30th, 2013
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