924nutter
PCGB Member
Extracts from the diaries of Count Rolf Piola
Since the time of the Romans, mankind has been fascinated with the search for the nail which doesn't pull out so easily, and when it was finally invented, like a bolt from the blue, they couldn't think of a name. "˜The nail which doesn't pull out so easily,' was a bit of a mouthful, even in those days, so it was named the screw, due to its similarity to the Archimedean screw, an ancient water lifting device. Although not known at the time, this was the best thing before sliced bread, since sliced bread was still over a thousand years later in coming. Imagine not coming for a thousand years ???
For many centuries Roman man continued to use this invention for the manufacture of furniture, and by the end of the 16th Century, due to the earlier spread of the Roman Empire, it was taken completely for granted throughout Europe and the Lowlands. During this period, manufacturing methods started to become more automated, pre industrial revolution, with the invention of the wood lathe, and the saw, whereas, previously the menfolk all used their choppers for obtaining a good screw. With the ever changing discernment of the population, it soon became apparent that having a naked screw on a table (have you ever tried that?) with no protection was no longer aesthetically pleasing, so something had to be done.
A lowly cabinet maker from the black-countries, one Helmet Wasche, began experimenting with various methods, and soon conceived the solution, in the form of a thin piece of wood under the screw-head, the so called sacrificial shim, which prevented damage to the parent material. Initially these were square, to match the heads of the largely hand manufactured screws, but with the lathe now available, it was easier and quicker to "˜turn' one. This of course led to many people becoming proficient in changing their choppers to make roundheads. (at least those who didn't own or have access to a lathe for screw-making)
These new non-damaging rings proved to be so successful that soon, other cabinet makers wanted to use the idea, and pre Victorian engineers started to see the benefits of using the same sort of thing in metal. (there were no such things as patents in those days) Just as the vacuum cleaner became the hoover, and the ball point pen the biro, named after their respective inventors, the piece of wood became known at first, as the Helmet. It was pointed out that it was customary to use the inventors surname, so this was hastily changed, to the Wasche. (in German this is pronounced vasher) Of course, when the idea and the name came to England there was confusion over the pronunciation, (just like modern day Porsche [ed] ) and over the years the "˜v' sound became lost in the U.K., and by using the "˜W' in our ignorance instead, the word evolved into washer. Great Britain was at the time regarded as a great seafaring nation, largely due to the fact that our ships were bolted, not nailed together, and didn't spring leaks at sea. So it was that our spelling stuck, world-wide as spoken English became more universal, due to the expansion of the British Empire, and this tiny little disk became forever known as the washer.
Unedited story in Encyclopaedia Britannica APR-JUL pages 01/04
Since the time of the Romans, mankind has been fascinated with the search for the nail which doesn't pull out so easily, and when it was finally invented, like a bolt from the blue, they couldn't think of a name. "˜The nail which doesn't pull out so easily,' was a bit of a mouthful, even in those days, so it was named the screw, due to its similarity to the Archimedean screw, an ancient water lifting device. Although not known at the time, this was the best thing before sliced bread, since sliced bread was still over a thousand years later in coming. Imagine not coming for a thousand years ???
For many centuries Roman man continued to use this invention for the manufacture of furniture, and by the end of the 16th Century, due to the earlier spread of the Roman Empire, it was taken completely for granted throughout Europe and the Lowlands. During this period, manufacturing methods started to become more automated, pre industrial revolution, with the invention of the wood lathe, and the saw, whereas, previously the menfolk all used their choppers for obtaining a good screw. With the ever changing discernment of the population, it soon became apparent that having a naked screw on a table (have you ever tried that?) with no protection was no longer aesthetically pleasing, so something had to be done.
A lowly cabinet maker from the black-countries, one Helmet Wasche, began experimenting with various methods, and soon conceived the solution, in the form of a thin piece of wood under the screw-head, the so called sacrificial shim, which prevented damage to the parent material. Initially these were square, to match the heads of the largely hand manufactured screws, but with the lathe now available, it was easier and quicker to "˜turn' one. This of course led to many people becoming proficient in changing their choppers to make roundheads. (at least those who didn't own or have access to a lathe for screw-making)
These new non-damaging rings proved to be so successful that soon, other cabinet makers wanted to use the idea, and pre Victorian engineers started to see the benefits of using the same sort of thing in metal. (there were no such things as patents in those days) Just as the vacuum cleaner became the hoover, and the ball point pen the biro, named after their respective inventors, the piece of wood became known at first, as the Helmet. It was pointed out that it was customary to use the inventors surname, so this was hastily changed, to the Wasche. (in German this is pronounced vasher) Of course, when the idea and the name came to England there was confusion over the pronunciation, (just like modern day Porsche [ed] ) and over the years the "˜v' sound became lost in the U.K., and by using the "˜W' in our ignorance instead, the word evolved into washer. Great Britain was at the time regarded as a great seafaring nation, largely due to the fact that our ships were bolted, not nailed together, and didn't spring leaks at sea. So it was that our spelling stuck, world-wide as spoken English became more universal, due to the expansion of the British Empire, and this tiny little disk became forever known as the washer.
Unedited story in Encyclopaedia Britannica APR-JUL pages 01/04
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