Just read about the first elevator brake and it's way older than I thought

I was looking through some old trade stuff online and found a note about the first real safety brake for elevators. It was made in 1853 by a guy named Elisha Otis. He showed it off at a big show in New York by cutting the rope while he was standing on the platform. The thing that got me was the date. That's over 170 years ago, and the basic idea is still in a lot of the gear we work on. Makes you think about how long this trade has been building on good ideas. Has anyone else come across an old piece of tech that's still basically the same today?

3 comments

3 Comments

bethjackson3mo ago

Honestly, it feels like we give old ideas too much credit. A lot of that old tech is just a starting point, and the real genius is in all the tiny improvements we've made since. Calling a modern system the same as a 170 year old brake is a real stretch.

ryan_kim633mo ago

My buddy found a 1908 lathe in a barn that still uses the same worm gear setup as his new one. I get what @bethjackson means about improvements, but sometimes the core idea just works. It's wild how much old tech is still hiding in plain sight.

the_reese2mo ago

Read a great piece a few months back about how the old Pratt and Whitney lathes are practically indestructible. People still find them in machine shops today working just fine. It's like the core design was so solid that all the updates are just making them easier to use or more precise, not changing the actual cutting process. Your buddy finding that 1908 lathe is a perfect example of that. The worm gear thing is basically a solved problem from a hundred years ago.