Section II
Escapement
Letting the wheel go, one tooth at a time.
The train of wheels only carries power. The escapement decides whether a clock can be believed — it releases one tooth at a time and returns a push to the oscillator, two jobs that fight each other. Four entries on the forms that were actually used.
4 entries
Each one a mechanism and the error it defeats- 01
What an escapement does
It releases the train one tooth at a time and returns a push to the oscillator, doing two jobs that fight each other.
- 02
The deadbeat
George Graham's escapement stopped the recoil that pushed the pendulum back and improved rate immediately.
- 03
The lever
Thomas Mudge's escapement is in almost every mechanical watch made since.
- 04
The grasshopper
Harrison's near-frictionless escapement needed no oil, which is why his clocks kept running.
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