Working on copies of the Engineer magazine, this lot from 1901, the paper was not only very large, but also quite flexible. This meant that a level of innovation was required in the binding. Rather than use a vee-box or a traditional board for punching the holes for sewing I used a flat board lined with polystyrene. This meant spending a little time lining up all the sheets, and also having small nicks cut from the template so that the centre lines could be aligned. The nicks allowed me to see the centre of the pages, and line these up with the centre of the template.
The best part about this process though is to be able to spend a little time reading some of the articles and looking at the amazingly well crafted images. Here are a few to give you a perspective on the times.
This is a full page drawing of the steam powered liner Celtic, for the White Star Line. A beautiful looking ship, wonderfully drawn. What a sleek looking boat, but still with masts as a reserve.
In a letter to the editor in the same magazine was a gentleman enquiring whether there was enough coal produced in Wales to provide sufficient fuel for the Navy.
Here is an article discussing the fact that an engineering company had to pay £100 to the roads department after they used three traction engines to transport a 68 ton metal machinery casting. The traction engines messed up the road pretty badly, so the company offered to pay for the damage.
The article goes on to say that the company might well have to consider not creating such pieces of machinery if they were going to have to pay that much money each time, as they would soon be out of business. The alternative is for the local authorities to ensure that the roads around such endeavours are built well enough to cater for the loads in the first place.
This one, in the patents section, is a drawing of a beet puller and topper, allowing for the quick and easy harvesting of beets. (Still done one at a time though.)
And finally an article, with photographs, of the results of an armour plate trial. The photograph shows the results of five shots into a piece of six inch armour plate.
A related article discussed the various wick and tube mechnisms used for firing cannon, and the dangers associated with the testing of them. Cannon were test fired as part of the proof of manufacture. In one test, three cannon were lined up and a 30 second fuse applied to each. Unfortunately the first one fired prematurely and blew up. The shrapnel hit the adjacent cannon and knocked it sideways, aiming it out over the town of Arsenal, just before it too went off.
After a couple of these types of mishaps, the law was changed to ensure that only one cannon was fired at a time, and also led directly to the invention of electric detonators instead of the error prone wick or fuse type.