Inventions Should Not Mix With Details.

In first working out the mechanical schemes no energy should be wasted in trying to make the sketches correct in proportion.  The very functioning of the brain along the draftsman’s line shifts it away from the inventive mood.  The exact drawing frequently shows the necessity of change in general scheme, but that is only one of the after-steps.

The fundamental idea is the starting-point, and must be sketched out as fully as possible without losing the very frail thread of thought.

A clear view of the scheme is not to be obtained on demand.  The schemer must wait in patience, as the astronomer waits for steady air, and, like the astronomer, he must have every facility in shipshape.  The clear view is only clear to the watching eye.

The coast-wise skipper in making a fog-bound harbor will see a buoy through a slight shift in fog, while a landsman might look in vain.

The wanderer in the happy dreamland of mechanical scheming must not be looking for complete drawings, specifications, and working model of the invention he wishes to bring into the breathless and waiting world.  He must be looking through the mist of the thickened senses as the skipper looks through the fog.  The buoy and the scheme may be never so faintly shown, but yet with sufficient clearness to give a positive guide for the course.

Inventive schemes cannot be forced by strenuous effort.  Such effort may result in slight refinements of a given type, but never would have invented the DeLaval or Tesla turbine.

It is not my purpose to belittle the great work that has been done in improving existing machines, for this, after all, is the real great work that must be done.  It is the work to which the world owes its greatest debt for progress in material wealth.  Furthermore, it is a phase that must be considered in connection with every invention before that invention can become of value to any one.  But just now we must consider how the inventor must work while dreaming out the fundamental ideas of a mechanical scheme.

The clear view of a mechanical scheme is more likely to come after a good night’s rest, particularly if the schemer has retired with the problem in mind.  There are times when invention comes under severe stress, hard physical work, and mental anxiety, but the most usual time is after a sleep which refreshed mind and body.  After this the inventor brings his scheme to the drafting board, to patent office, to factory, and to the market, and in each case he encounters barriers.

Designing by the Square Foot.

The ordinary work of machine design, in which well-known parts are grouped to accomplish a given end, without much thought of attaining anything approaching the best,—­such designing is like painting a fence, so many square feet of paper should be covered per day.  But the real higher type of work cannot be measured in this way.  It requires the forethought, the close application, the keen interest, and the comfortable idea building.