A Whale-Oiled Machine(99percentinvisible.org)
99percentinvisible.org
A Whale-Oiled Machine
https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/a-whale-oiled-machine/
57 comments
I produced a nice PD edition of Moby Dick for Standard Ebooks if you’re looking for a copy: https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/herman-melville/moby-dick
It also lead to one of my geekier deep-dive commits: https://github.com/standardebooks/herman-melville_moby-dick/...
It also lead to one of my geekier deep-dive commits: https://github.com/standardebooks/herman-melville_moby-dick/...
I’m currently reading your standard ebook! Very nice.
I have to admit, “very nice” here just means I haven’t noticed your work because it sits in the background and lets me enjoy the book. Lol. Such is the fate of a good front end developer as well.
I have to admit, “very nice” here just means I haven’t noticed your work because it sits in the background and lets me enjoy the book. Lol. Such is the fate of a good front end developer as well.
I also enjoyed the recent whaling documentary that takes up the middle hour of Avatar 2.
I'd recommend cutting that middle out if you just want to watch Avatar2. And then at a later date watch that hour as a in-world whaling doc.
I'd recommend cutting that middle out if you just want to watch Avatar2. And then at a later date watch that hour as a in-world whaling doc.
You can tell how much James Cameron cares about the sea just by the fact how much time he spent on it for Avatar 2.
The analogies are NOT subtle, but the CGI is so good we don't care.
The analogies are NOT subtle, but the CGI is so good we don't care.
BBC presents: Avatar 2
Narrated by: David Attenborough
I love your last observation. Reminds me of:
> It is plain, then, that phrenologically the head of this Leviathan, in the creature's living intact state, is an entire delusion. (Moby Dick)
Melville's meditations on the anatomy of the whale are absolutely stunning, especially when you add layers of meaning to what "the whale" may represent (God, justice or injustice, morality, nature, etc etc...)
> It is plain, then, that phrenologically the head of this Leviathan, in the creature's living intact state, is an entire delusion. (Moby Dick)
Melville's meditations on the anatomy of the whale are absolutely stunning, especially when you add layers of meaning to what "the whale" may represent (God, justice or injustice, morality, nature, etc etc...)
Great tip. I hadn't heard of that museum and will have to check it out. If anyone else is interested in whaling, particularly Nantucket's past sperm whale industry, "In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex" is a great read.
I was going to write the same comment. That’s a great book!
Fun fact , sperm whale oil was used in car transmissions until the 1970s when it was outlawed by the Endangered Species Act.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sperm_oil#Applications
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sperm_oil#Applications
Wow:
> The loss of sperm oil had a profound impact in the automotive industry, where for example, transmission failures rose from under 1 million in 1972 to over 8 million by 1975.
> The loss of sperm oil had a profound impact in the automotive industry, where for example, transmission failures rose from under 1 million in 1972 to over 8 million by 1975.
Yeah that stuck out to me too.
Even if you assume that it's a raw number and is also reflecting increased adoption of automatic transmission it's kind of hard to blame a huge 8x multiple on solely the oil without something else to corroborate it (like sales figures for wet clutch and brake friction parts used in industrial applications which would be subject to the same increased wear if the oil was sub-par).
Transmission fluid isn't special. It's basically just yet another variant of hydraulic fluid. The hydraulic parts of a transmission pretty much never have problems relative to the frequency with which the friction parts simply wear out. So other oil running clutches so see the same increase in failure rate over that time.
Assuming the number itself is accurate OEMs producing designs with additional gears and lockup converters with the bare minimum of refinement (ship now fix later type engineering) in response to the fuel crisis probably deserves some blame.
Even if you assume that it's a raw number and is also reflecting increased adoption of automatic transmission it's kind of hard to blame a huge 8x multiple on solely the oil without something else to corroborate it (like sales figures for wet clutch and brake friction parts used in industrial applications which would be subject to the same increased wear if the oil was sub-par).
Transmission fluid isn't special. It's basically just yet another variant of hydraulic fluid. The hydraulic parts of a transmission pretty much never have problems relative to the frequency with which the friction parts simply wear out. So other oil running clutches so see the same increase in failure rate over that time.
Assuming the number itself is accurate OEMs producing designs with additional gears and lockup converters with the bare minimum of refinement (ship now fix later type engineering) in response to the fuel crisis probably deserves some blame.
Spermaceti (whale oil) based lubricants handled much higher temperatures than petroleum based lubricants. That was why automatic transmissions used spermaceti instead of petroleum based lubricants. That's also why the shift away from spermaceti impacted reliability: automatic transmissions in the 1970s needed lubricants that handled higher temperatures.
Fun fact: Spermaceti is actually a wax, not an oil.
Fun fact: Spermaceti is actually a wax, not an oil.
This doesn't make any sense, because sperm oil was known for its low temperature advantages. Not its high temperature ones.
Even in 1975 the problem cited was corrosion:
https://www.nytimes.com/1975/04/17/archives/transmission-pro...
"The fittings between the cooling unit and the radiator gave no trouble when whale oil was the fluid, but the substitute allowed the fittings to corrode. "
The resulting corrosion allowed mixing of oil and coolant. Causing issues in both, although the transmission is going to be the first to have problems.
I will also point at the idea that the lack of sperm oil caused this is....stupid. The way you avoid this entire problem is by using a device called an oil cooler. It's a separate finned radiator from the coolant radiator. If it leaks you get a little pinhole leak. Then you replace it & topoff the fluid. Automotive manufacturers insist on using combined units because they are being cheap and don't care about the long term practicality of a vehicle. So even if there was some amazing advantage to sperm oil, it neither prevented this specific problem nor did the ban on it cause it.
Even in 1975 the problem cited was corrosion:
https://www.nytimes.com/1975/04/17/archives/transmission-pro...
"The fittings between the cooling unit and the radiator gave no trouble when whale oil was the fluid, but the substitute allowed the fittings to corrode. "
The resulting corrosion allowed mixing of oil and coolant. Causing issues in both, although the transmission is going to be the first to have problems.
I will also point at the idea that the lack of sperm oil caused this is....stupid. The way you avoid this entire problem is by using a device called an oil cooler. It's a separate finned radiator from the coolant radiator. If it leaks you get a little pinhole leak. Then you replace it & topoff the fluid. Automotive manufacturers insist on using combined units because they are being cheap and don't care about the long term practicality of a vehicle. So even if there was some amazing advantage to sperm oil, it neither prevented this specific problem nor did the ban on it cause it.
The plot thickens. Those coolers have been constructed of brass since forever and often still are. IDK if the specific brass alloy has changed. Perhaps the new fluid was slightly corrosive to yellow metals? That's not unheard of but plenty of transmissions have bronze bushings in various places do you'd think they'd create a fluid that was safe for yellow metals.
Edit: It was the solder.
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2015/03/16/tech-101-automat...
They hint that the whale oil was relevant to the performance of friction modifiers. Friction modifiers are notoriously nasty so it doesn't surprise me that without the whale oil they had to use the "next best thing" which wasn't quite good enough at the margin.
https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/218915/do-the-japane...
These ^ guys allege to have done some research and stop just short of saying "gm was making excuses for problems they brought on themselves".
Edit: It was the solder.
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2015/03/16/tech-101-automat...
They hint that the whale oil was relevant to the performance of friction modifiers. Friction modifiers are notoriously nasty so it doesn't surprise me that without the whale oil they had to use the "next best thing" which wasn't quite good enough at the margin.
https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/218915/do-the-japane...
These ^ guys allege to have done some research and stop just short of saying "gm was making excuses for problems they brought on themselves".
There is an interesting assertion in there:
"because when combined with sulfur it made an excellent lubricant,"
Almost anything is a good lubricant when you add sulfur. The reason why sulfur isn't added anymore is environmental reasons. Newer diesel fuel isn't as good of a lubricant as the old fuel was because highway diesel has to be low sulfur now.
So if sperm oil was only a good lubricant when mixed with sulfur, then it's a pretty average lubricant.
Also the article says 5500 transmissions "failed prematurely" 1973-1975. In the US, 5550 transmissions might as well be zero. Even in 1975, most cars were already being sold with automatic transmissions. This whole thing sounds like GM was using sperm oil because it was available and known to work. Then the ban comes in & GM made some poor decisions, then blamed the whole thing on "conservationists".
If only whalers had managed to hunt all whales to extinction in the 19th century GM could have been saved the total embarassment of selling junk cars.
"because when combined with sulfur it made an excellent lubricant,"
Almost anything is a good lubricant when you add sulfur. The reason why sulfur isn't added anymore is environmental reasons. Newer diesel fuel isn't as good of a lubricant as the old fuel was because highway diesel has to be low sulfur now.
So if sperm oil was only a good lubricant when mixed with sulfur, then it's a pretty average lubricant.
Also the article says 5500 transmissions "failed prematurely" 1973-1975. In the US, 5550 transmissions might as well be zero. Even in 1975, most cars were already being sold with automatic transmissions. This whole thing sounds like GM was using sperm oil because it was available and known to work. Then the ban comes in & GM made some poor decisions, then blamed the whole thing on "conservationists".
If only whalers had managed to hunt all whales to extinction in the 19th century GM could have been saved the total embarassment of selling junk cars.
The fact that engines are designed so that coolant and lubricants can mix has always left me a bit suspicious of planned obsolescence.
I think realistically it’s a limitation of the casting process, but it is to me the dumbest part of internal combustion engine design. Point the channels in two different directions on the casting, and only a cracked block should allow them to touch.
I think realistically it’s a limitation of the casting process, but it is to me the dumbest part of internal combustion engine design. Point the channels in two different directions on the casting, and only a cracked block should allow them to touch.
You should watch videos on how hard head gaskets are to design if you want an idea of some of the engineering involved- I think "engineering explained" did one recently on youtube.
What I’m saying is, should we still be building engines that rely on “the” head gasket to keep fluids separate?
An engine cylinder at a minimum must deal with: lubrication, fuel, and gasses. The exhaust manifold deals with half of the gases. I can’t recall if common rail injectors are still technically part of the head (I can find pictures where the CRI system sits on the head, with separate gaskets, but I’m not a mechanic).
With modern manufacturing would we not be better off splitting these tasks up so that only a cracked engine block can mix fluids. Not a torn gasket, not a warped head, not a thrown rod (though rods are going away too).
An engine cylinder at a minimum must deal with: lubrication, fuel, and gasses. The exhaust manifold deals with half of the gases. I can’t recall if common rail injectors are still technically part of the head (I can find pictures where the CRI system sits on the head, with separate gaskets, but I’m not a mechanic).
With modern manufacturing would we not be better off splitting these tasks up so that only a cracked engine block can mix fluids. Not a torn gasket, not a warped head, not a thrown rod (though rods are going away too).
but that is unrelated. Automatic transmission fluid isn't circulating through the engine on any vehicle by design that I have seen.
Plenty of vehicles with a standard gearbox just use the engine oil as the transmission lubricant. In motorcycles this is called "unit construction". I've heard of some older Saabs that did this as well.
Plenty of vehicles with a standard gearbox just use the engine oil as the transmission lubricant. In motorcycles this is called "unit construction". I've heard of some older Saabs that did this as well.
> The resulting corrosion allowed mixing of oil and coolant.
Why is that unrelated?
Why is that unrelated?
because the mixing the article talks about it transmission oil and coolant.
When a passageway cracks in a cylinder head & engine oil becomes "milkshake" that is the mixing of engine oil and coolant. Two separate kinds of oil in different places.
When a passageway cracks in a cylinder head & engine oil becomes "milkshake" that is the mixing of engine oil and coolant. Two separate kinds of oil in different places.
The magnitude of the claim is contradicted by the lack of circumstantial evidence.
If the difference was that stark aren't there old timers talking about how the old whale oil stuff was so good and why don't people find gallons of it saved here and there the same way you find lead paint or R12 refrigerant? Why isn't there some body of tribal knowledge saying that transmissions sucked in the 70s like we have for engines?
I don't doubt for a minute that the government would ham-fistedly ban something without a viable alternative and that the textbook engineer types would crunch numbers on the replacement and conclude that "it'll be fine with no changes to our hardware, run it" leading to a higher failure rate, but 8x failure (or even 5x failure rate, to account for increased number of automatic transmissions out there) rate? That's absurd.
I'd love to read the source for the claim but it's a paper version of a trade publication...
If the difference was that stark aren't there old timers talking about how the old whale oil stuff was so good and why don't people find gallons of it saved here and there the same way you find lead paint or R12 refrigerant? Why isn't there some body of tribal knowledge saying that transmissions sucked in the 70s like we have for engines?
I don't doubt for a minute that the government would ham-fistedly ban something without a viable alternative and that the textbook engineer types would crunch numbers on the replacement and conclude that "it'll be fine with no changes to our hardware, run it" leading to a higher failure rate, but 8x failure (or even 5x failure rate, to account for increased number of automatic transmissions out there) rate? That's absurd.
I'd love to read the source for the claim but it's a paper version of a trade publication...
> If the difference was that stark aren't there old timers talking about how the old whale oil stuff was so good
When I was wrenching on cars in the 80s there absolutely were! We're talking about 50 years ago so you might need to find some older old timers but this was totally a thing.
When I was wrenching on cars in the 80s there absolutely were! We're talking about 50 years ago so you might need to find some older old timers but this was totally a thing.
Due to my hobby I hang out with mechanically inclined men aged ~30-70. I have heard them praise all manner of things from years past. If there's one thing they agree has pretty much constantly gotten better with no regressions along the way it's automotive lubricants, at least up until the point where they took the zinc out of motor oil. Now, I suspect there definitely are some regressions, but they're definitely small enough to get lost.
I don't know how good whale oil transmission fluid actually was btw, I didn't experience the transition.
I remember older people talking about how much better it was. But like most times when people talk about how much better something used to be, I assume it was mostly not as good as they remember it.
I remember older people talking about how much better it was. But like most times when people talk about how much better something used to be, I assume it was mostly not as good as they remember it.
The positraction in my 1967 GTO REQUIRED whale oil to the point I was buying 'New Old Stock' in the 90s.
But even 70 year old today would have been only 20 years old in 1973 when whale oil was banned, so likely they would have had only very few years of experience if any of using whale oil
this is fairly typical behaviour. when a product is outlawed, there’s nearly always an adaptation phase
for example, solder from the few years after the British ban on production use of the leaded stuff is often very poor, but—contrary to what vested interests would have you believe—humans adapt. demand creates solutions
for example, solder from the few years after the British ban on production use of the leaded stuff is often very poor, but—contrary to what vested interests would have you believe—humans adapt. demand creates solutions
I remember a datacenter at an old job had a run in with "tin whiskers" forming off power supplies and eventually causing shorts that I believe was related to the solder issue.
I still have a bottle of 'New Old Stock' GM whale oil for the rear differential in my old GTO. GM positraction in those old muscle cars relied on the stuff.
There seems to have been a similar issue with gun lubricants - sperm oil was used for that, as well, and for similar reasons, so when transition happened, it affected reliability:
https://www.cherrybalmz.com/history-sperm-whale-oil
https://www.cherrybalmz.com/history-sperm-whale-oil
Even more fun fact:
Yes wrote the song "Don't Kill the Whale:" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NO8h_uTkdU&pp=ygUYeWVzIGdvd...
They also were known to travel in separate private limousines in LA, which probably had whale oil transmissions.
I always think about them traveling to a vegetarian restaurant in LA in separate limos when I listen to that song.
Yes wrote the song "Don't Kill the Whale:" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NO8h_uTkdU&pp=ygUYeWVzIGdvd...
They also were known to travel in separate private limousines in LA, which probably had whale oil transmissions.
I always think about them traveling to a vegetarian restaurant in LA in separate limos when I listen to that song.
In the 90's we'd add a GM lubrication additive to transmissions...it instantaneously improved shift effort and we joked about it being whale jizz...turns out it isn't...and is.
https://www.loandiscount.store/product/Gm-1050081-1965-75-No... DESCRIPTION GM# 1050081 1965-75 NOS POSI LUBRICANT QNTY 2 QTS ALL GENERAL MOTORS REAR HYPOID GEAR POSI LUBE EARLY SUPERIOR MIX WITH WHALE SPERM CHANGED TO 1052271 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975
https://www.loandiscount.store/product/Gm-1050081-1965-75-No... DESCRIPTION GM# 1050081 1965-75 NOS POSI LUBRICANT QNTY 2 QTS ALL GENERAL MOTORS REAR HYPOID GEAR POSI LUBE EARLY SUPERIOR MIX WITH WHALE SPERM CHANGED TO 1052271 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975
There is a very interesting HBS case on whaling [0]. It explains how the high risk and high return nature of whaling drove the development of concepts like syndication and limited liability corps that we take for granted today. Pretty interesting the tangible connections of modern startups and VC to hunting for whales.
[0] - https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=43322
[0] - https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=43322
For a person of GenX this is a fascinating thread, most notably for the lack of moral posturing. We were raised to consider whaling an unspeakable evil. To the current generation it looks like an engineering and history discussion. I wonder if we could get away with wearing fur again? Has enough time passed that activists have forgotten they are supposed to hurl blood at anyone wearing a fur coat?
Tom Nicholas, an HBS professor, wrote a book about the history of VC (1) which spends the first chapter of the book talking about the whaling industry and how it created the venture structure we know today. Many whaling voyages failed to find whales, and some outright sank or disappeared, but some came home full of whale oil. He found the parallels in the data striking. It is a great book and a good companion to Mallaby's Power Law.
Fun fact: his source for whaling data was a book by Alexander Starbuck.
1. https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/42449471
Fun fact: his source for whaling data was a book by Alexander Starbuck.
1. https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/42449471
When I played Dishonored (very recommended if you like "a thinking man's FPS") I thought the whole Victorian "whale oil economy" of the game world was very interesting but ultimately fiction, but somehow the game triggered a desire to learn more about the actual history of whale oil usage and I was surprised that the basic idea of the game's economy based on whale oil wasn't that far from the truth.
Fifty years of tribology
http://www.eng.cam.ac.uk/news/fifty-years-tribology
http://www.eng.cam.ac.uk/news/fifty-years-tribology
Wow, technology is really amazing:
"Now, in modern drives, the heads fly at less than 10 nm, a feat that demands not only precise modelling of the air film and head dynamics but also the production of disk surfaces of extraordinary flatness, protected by a 15 nm coating of hard carbon and a lubricant layer only one nm (about 10 atoms) thick."
"Now, in modern drives, the heads fly at less than 10 nm, a feat that demands not only precise modelling of the air film and head dynamics but also the production of disk surfaces of extraordinary flatness, protected by a 15 nm coating of hard carbon and a lubricant layer only one nm (about 10 atoms) thick."
I wonder if any distant relation to Bill Nye the Science Guy.
EDIT: I wasn't going to listen to a 40 minute podcast to hear that, so thanks.
EDIT: I wasn't going to listen to a 40 minute podcast to hear that, so thanks.
From Nye Lubricants' web page (https://www.nyelubricants.com/the-science-guy-and-nye-1): "Bill Nye [the science guy] is a direct descendant of our founder’s brother, Captain Nye."
Yep - they actually talk to him in the episode.
Hot take: we should eat more whale!
The common mink whale is least-concern, and can be harvested more without danger to the species. Morally I see no difference between eating mink whale and a hunted moose, definitely better than factory farmed animals (including farmed fish) with all the suffering they endure before beeing eaten.
(But leave the endangered species alone).
The common mink whale is least-concern, and can be harvested more without danger to the species. Morally I see no difference between eating mink whale and a hunted moose, definitely better than factory farmed animals (including farmed fish) with all the suffering they endure before beeing eaten.
(But leave the endangered species alone).
Lol, the headline reminds me of "whale oil beef hooked". Can't remember where I saw it, maybe early reddit days or b3ta, but it's a long time ago and my brain held onto it for no reason. (It's supposed to be a way to speak with an Irish accent)
Penguins and seals became an important alternative as whale populations waned at the end of the 19th century.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Hatch
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Hatch
>Petroleum products were terrible for the climate...
What are you talking about. It's not being burned.
Certainly better than genociding the oceans. The article overall is very ambivalent to the anglo horror that was industrial whaling.
What are you talking about. It's not being burned.
Certainly better than genociding the oceans. The article overall is very ambivalent to the anglo horror that was industrial whaling.
Nye Lubricants for anyone else wondering.
the article began by referring to the man himself, then started talking about the company, all the way referring to both as “Nye”. I’m not sure why they didn’t give the full company name at least once. perhaps to avoid the impression of a puff piece?
The article appears to be written by taking key sentences out of the podcast transcript, and then doing a very light edit only to vaguely connect the sentences together.
In the actual podcast they mention the company by name multiple times. I think including the company name just got missed in the edit
In the actual podcast they mention the company by name multiple times. I think including the company name just got missed in the edit
so dishonored is true
Well, it’s more sustainable than fossil fuels.
Fun fact: Clifford Ashley of Ashley's Book of Knots (ABOK) was also a painter. The museum has some of his work in their collection.
Also: if you have any interest in whaling and haven't read Moby Dick, you really ought to. People will complain that it's principally a book about whaling with a bit of story mixed in. That's true, but it turns out whaling is fascinating.
Imagine a world without whales. If JK Rowling had written a book about people sailing to the far side of the world to hunt sea creatures whose heads are full of substance that looks suspiciously like semen, nobody would have published it because it would be too unrealistic.