MAKE: Blog: Happy President's day from MAKE - a look at a President who made things

Happy President's day from MAKE - a look at a President who made things - Thomas Jefferson

Mountrushmore Monument
President's day was once associated with just Washington (and later Lincoln) but now all Presidents are celebrated today, and by that I mean you might have the day off. Here's @ MAKE we're going to take a look at Thomas Jefferson.

Make Pt0424
Not only was Jefferson the author of the Declaration of Independence, the third president of the United States but an inventor. Here's a look at some of the things he made (or remade).

Wheelcipher Lg
Disassembled Wheel Lg
Wheel cipher - In 1792 while Jefferson was US Secretary of State he developed a wheel cipher to encode and decode secret messages (here's how it works).

Vc59.1
Portable copying press - called the polygraph, Jefferson helped perfect this two-pen writing device used to copy letters and used it for all his correspondance. It's like a manual BCC'ing! Here's a Quicktime VR of the device.

Plowttttt
Plow "Moldboard of least resistance" - using math, Jefferson designed a better plow to lift and turn over sod more effectively - this new plow had a huge impact and instead of patenting the invention, Jefferson gave it away it - to be "solely used for the good of the people and not for the advancement of the inventor, Jefferson encouraged public use of this easily duplicated invention".

Greatclock
The Great Clock - Jefferson created a cool clock - made from hanging cannonballs, this gravity power clock was connected to a giant gong on the roof of the entrance hall at Monticello. He also needed to invent a folding ladder to repair it (which was later used for other things like getting books and trimming trees).

Others:

Macaroni machine
Sundial
Dumb waiters
Automatic double doors
Revolving bookstand
Beds that lift
Revolving chairs

All these and more can be found at the Jefferson's inventions page - Link.

Further reading:

Thomas Jefferson - His Life as an Inventor - Link.
Jefferson @ Monticello - Link.
Jefferson @ Wikipedia - Link.

Related:

Comments

Oldest comments listed first.

Posted by: waterresistantto50meters on February 18, 2008 at 11:29 AM

if jefferson had only waited 2 years he could have done his manual BCCs with carbon copy paper. http://www.kevinlaurence.net/essays/cc.php

Posted by: paul on February 18, 2008 at 3:11 PM

You might actually be think of the pantograph.

But hats off to Mr Jefferson, all the same.

Posted by: ad_astra on February 18, 2008 at 9:45 PM

Actually, that device really was called a polygraph. We just use that word to mean something else these days...

Subscribe to MAKE Magazine!

Subscribe today, save 42% and get web access to MAKE free. MAKE Digital Edition is available only to subscribers.

$34.95 / 1 year
(4 Quarterly Issues)

Subscribe now

Void your warranty, violate a user agreement, fry a circuit, blow a fuse, poke an eye out... Welcome to the Make Blog!

Features and more @ MAKE!

Get MAKE 14 - Subscribe or on newsstands!

Add MAKE to iGoogle - GoogleGoogle.
Add MAKE to your RSS reader - Real simple.
Add MAKE on Twitter.
Add MAKE on FriendFeed & the MAKE room.

Why advertise on MAKE?
Read what folks are saying about us!

Click here to advertise on MAKE!

Phillip Torrone
Senior Editor
Tel: 707-827-7311

Gareth Branwyn
Robot Maker

Kip Kay
Video Maker

Jonah Brucker-Cohen
Artist / Researcher

Suggest a Site!

Natalie Zee Drieu
Senior Editor
CRAFT

Becky Stern
Culture jammer

Collin Cunningham
Sound Maker

Marc de Vinck
CNC Maker

Current Podcast

Weekend Project: Styrofoam Plate Speaker Get surprisingly good sound from disposable picnicware with this easy to make and inexpensive Styrofoam Plate Speaker. Thanks go to José Pino for the original article in Make Magazine.To download Styrofoam Plate Speaker MP4 click here or subscribe in... More...

Get the Make blog sent via email

Enter your email to receive the Make blog each day:

WOW! Thanks to everyone involved with Maker Faire Bay Area: attendees, makers, exhibitors, sponsors, volunteers, and crew...it was AMAZING! Over 400 Makers and 60,000+ attendees! Be sure to check out the photos @ Flickr, and our Maker Faire posts for all the action! The next scheduled Maker Faire is Austin: Oct. 18th & 19th, 2008 - Travis County Expo Center!