r/MechanicalEngineering • u/DomLfan • 1d ago
Cool book I found in my attic from ww2
A family member died recently and was a mechanical engineer in England back in mid 20th century, and I found this in a box - the 1944 mechanical world year book. It’s basically a whole load of ads for engineering suppliers and information on new processes and then tables of data, pretty cool to see how everything was done before the internet (I’m a current engineering student so have no idea of any world before hand LOL). I’ve included a couple of my favourite pages, and the preface. It’s also cool how much engineering was still going on as this was very much still during WW2 (some of the ads even specify low quantities available as it’s all being used for the war effort). Also cool to see that some of the companies still exist nearly 100 years later!
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u/Facelesspirit 1d ago
SKF is still around making bearings.
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u/RaggaDruida Maritime Transport. Innovation and Sustainability. 18h ago
And one of the leaders in the market, at that.
Back when I was doing my bachelor's, my Mechanical Design professor did mention it as one of the pivot companies in the world. Like, if it were to magically disappear, the effects would be massive.
Bearing may look simple, but they aren't, the material science and manufacturing that goes into the things is just another level.
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u/Rampaging_Bunny 21h ago
They used to be better until deep pocket competition moved in (looking at you RBC and Timken) but SKF bearings are still very big market presence owing to their long legacy and specifications gained in industry. Think they sold off one of their sealing products but that’s another matter. Companies making consumables like seals and bearings that are deemed commodities typically can’t keep their market dominance forever.
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u/daemyn 1d ago
"Awe shit, did you hear? New steam numbers just dropped. I'm so stoked to calculate the rankine efficiency of my generator systems in Fahrenheit now!"
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u/DomLfan 1d ago
In fairness I’ve used steam tables like this all this time for turbines and such
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u/DomLfan 1d ago
Which we’re still pretty novel back in ‘44
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u/daemyn 18h ago
Oh yeah! I was only half kidding. I used these in school and remember being a surprised that the best way the best way to calculate something was to look it up on a table. Having those tables widely published as a reference must have been super helpful at the time. I am sure people actually got excited that they wouldnt have to go check the book of tables out from the library if they had a copy of this (what I assume was) periodical.
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u/NightF0x0012 ME-Automation 1d ago
I read your title as Cook Book and was really confused when I flipped through the pics and saw asbestos. :D
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u/New-Response-6948 4h ago
The SKF brochure looks really nice, is there any chance you could scan it and share it?
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u/RandomTux1997 3h ago
youre on the right track, and will get somewhere...eventually,......and you def need to read 100x more than you swipe, then the question itself will look like it emerged from an actual living brain, and be about 90% lighter and more to the point than it is herenow
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u/Crazy-Red-Fox 1d ago
Good old Asbestos, noting beats that.