Funny stray marble thought

[Steph]

I am riding my bike home tonight, alongside Lake Michigan. At night, it is like a time machine and I think about the people who lived and worked beside this massive body of water 100 or more years ago.

But since I am going by bike I tried to conjure up a circa 1900 version ... and I thought of the circa 1900 ball bearings somewhere in the bike ....

And I heard myself say, "Thank you, Mr. Christensen." Because M. F. Christensen revolutionized the manufacture of ball bearings before he applied his genius to the rounding of glass. 

Okay, not so funny.   Lol.  But it amused me. 😜

 

[Fire1981]

That’s really cool Steph that that came to you on a bike ride. Heck ! I never knew the ball bearing MFC history. From steal to glass. How cool is that🔥

RAR

[Steph]

15 hours ago, Fire1981 said:

That’s really cool Steph that that came to you on a bike ride. Heck ! I never knew the ball bearing MFC history. From steal to glass. How cool is that🔥

RAR

The money he made from the ball bearing patent allowed him to retire from his previous profession and start his marble business.

Now that would have been an interesting series of thoughts and discussions ... following how Martin came up with the idea of going into marbles and making the marbles in a way that no one else had ever done before. 

[Fire1981]

I wonder if he was riding his bike when he decided to do this🔥

RAR

[Shamrock Marbles]

On 5/29/2025 at 9:58 PM, Steph said:

I am riding my bike home tonight, alongside Lake Michigan. At night, it is like a time machine and I think about the people who lived and worked beside this massive body of water 100 or more years ago.

But since I am going by bike I tried to conjure up a circa 1900 version ... and I thought of the circa 1900 ball bearings somewhere in the bike ....

And I heard myself say, "Thank you, Mr. Christensen." Because M. F. Christensen revolutionized the manufacture of ball bearings before he applied his genius to the rounding of glass. 

Okay, not so funny.   Lol.  But it amused me. 😜

 

Bearing balls were made long before MFC’s patent.

In fact, there was prior art to his patent. US and foreign.

He may have sold 80% of his patent rights, but can anyone point to a company that used his device successfully in a commercial adventure?

Don’t get me wrong. I like a good story, but the plot has to be rooted in fact.

MFC was NOT the inventor of the bearing ball machine. He just had a variation on the theme.

[Steph]

2 hours ago, Shamrock Marbles said:

Bearing balls were made long before MFC’s patent.

In fact, there was prior art to his patent. US and foreign.

He may have sold 80% of his patent rights, but can anyone point to a company that used his device successfully in a commercial adventure?

Don’t get me wrong. I like a good story, but the plot has to be rooted in fact.

MFC was NOT the inventor of the bearing ball machine. He just had a variation on the theme.

I know ball bearings existed before his patent.  But I thought his process was considered a quantum leap up from the older versions.  More reliably round, lower cost, and possibly better physical integrity.   

Do you have reason to believe that his improvement/variation was not employed in manufacturing ball bearings?

 

[Shamrock Marbles]

16 hours ago, Steph said:

I know ball bearings existed before his patent.  But I thought his process was considered a quantum leap up from the older versions.  More reliably round, lower cost, and possibly better physical integrity.   

Do you have reason to believe that his improvement/variation was not employed in manufacturing ball bearings?

 

Let's take a look at Patent US-0632336-A:

From a machining point of view, the Inner and Outer Cones would be very expensive to make.  How long would they last before having to be replaced?

From a production point of view, imagine if there was a jam inside. You would have to completely dismantle the machine to get at the problem.

Not all babies are pretty.

**

My question still stands: "He may have sold 80% of his patent rights, but can anyone point to a company that used his device successfully in a commercial adventure?"

Getting a Patent doesn't mean the idea will become commercially viable. Current viability rate is 2%-4%.

Wouldn't you like to know what company or companies employed Patent 632,336?

**

Your question: "Do you have reason to believe that his improvement/variation was not employed in manufacturing ball bearings?"

Well, that is an interesting question!

I came across this...

Machinery's Reference Series - Google Books

On pages 6 & 7:

Things like this create more questions. 😀

[Ric]

23 minutes ago, Shamrock Marbles said:

Not all babies are pretty.

I like your style, John -nice bit of research here.