"whit3rd" wrote in message
...
On Wednesday, February 6, 2019 at 5:34:54 AM UTC-8, Jim Wilkins
wrote:
[about Saugus ironworks ]

I remember thinking the hammer drive didn't seem built to withstand
much use, as I had made toy wooden models of machinery and seen how
fast wood rubbing surfaces wear.

In the age of sail, the wood used for rubbing surfaces was lignum
vitae
or similar; it wore rather better than one would expect.
And, it's endangered with very little available for modelmaking.

Some old eighteenth-century clocks with lignum vitae bearings
are still telling time.

https://lignumvitaesolutions.com/ind...rine-industry/

My family heirloom wooden-geared grandfather clock is still telling
the time every 6:03.

My memory of visiting the Saugus Iron Works some 60 years ago was that
it looked "authentic", ie crude, compared to the structure in our 1830
mill owner's house.