Existing comment:
Drafting Room
Putting Ideas on Paper:
A sketch makes it easy to share an idea with others who have the skills to build the actual device. In the lab's early days, some experimenters could do it all: generate an idea, draw a model, and build it. As the scale of Edison's projects grew, a simple sketch was no longer enough. For example, in 1901 Edison needed a 150-foot-long kiln built for his cement business. How would the parts fit together? What should they be made of? Detailed drawings could help answer questions like these. This former experimental from was changed into a drafting room, where rough sketches were turned into large-scale, measured drawings. Drafting became part of a new Engineering and Experimental Department in 1911.
The Process:
(1) Draftsmen work from sketches and notes to create large-scale, measured drawings.
(2) The foreman orders materials and assigns the project to a team of experimenters and/or machinists.
(3) The team builds and tests a prototype, making sketches and notes about any changes needed.
(4) The draftsmen revise the drawings based on sketches and notes.
(5) The process is repeated until everyone is satisfied, including Thomas Edison.
(6) The foreman has blueprints made form the final drawings to use for production. |