Abstract
DURING the War, the danger that New Zealand might be cut off from supplies (and the difficulty of getting any) led to considerable effort to find substitutes. The short article in Nature1 on “Meter and Instrument Jewels and Pivots” reminded me of a good substitute we found for the sapphire-steel combination used in prismatic compasses. The jewel was made by press-moulding a molten drop of Pyrex glass in a two-piece chromium-steel mould—it emerged almost a finished article with a fired surface that proved very good. The pivot was made by turning softened silver steel (Stubbs, gauge 17) by means of projection turning and then hardening, electro-cleaning, polishing, etc., and finally electroplating on the tip with chromium. The radii of the pivots and of the jewels were measured by microscope projection for the former and mirror-image formation for the latter2.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
References
Nature, 156, 89 (1945).
Stott, Nat Phys. Lab. Coll. Res., 24, 1.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
BURBIDGE, P. A Substitute Jewel Bearing. Nature 157, 810 (1946). https://doi.org/10.1038/157810b0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/157810b0
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.