# What is the oldest (still working) piece of machinery **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 27, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-still-working-piece-of-machinery/242351 "2004-04-27T21:20:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McDeath_the_Mad)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-still-working-piece-of-machinery/242351/21 "2004-04-28T15:20:32Z")
Yeah I was thinking of “complex” machines with moving parts. So I’m discounting funny shaped rocks and “inclines”. I’m assuming that the oldest machines will probably be water wheels, somewhere. And BTW, I don’t think aquaducts would qualify as a machine, to my knowledge they are just rock “path ways” for water to go. Don’t get me wrong I am fascinated by the fact they still stand and still supply cities with water. MtM ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-still-working-piece-of-machinery/242351/22 "2004-04-28T16:11:19Z")
> [@Slithy Tove](#): > > I recall reading about a water wheel in Syria that’s been in operation since the middle ages. However, it reminds me of the man who held up a brand new hatchet and said “this is the same hatchet that George Washington used to cut down the cherry tree. Oh sure, the handle’s been replaced a dozen times and the head three or four times, but still…” This is an old joke, and yet… in some sense, it IS the same axe. A couple of years ago I went to “The Bridge” at Lexington and Concord (I don’t remember which town it’s actually in!). Probably at this point virtually every timber in it has been replaced since 1776, but, damn it all, it IS the same bridge upon which the American Revolution began. The same is true of the water wheel. Probably every single piece of wood in it has been replaced multiple times since medieval times, but, yeah, it’s the same wheel. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-still-working-piece-of-machinery/242351/23 "2004-04-28T16:39:41Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > A couple of years ago I went to “The Bridge” at Lexington and Concord (I don’t remember which town it’s actually in!). Probably at this point virtually every timber in it has been replaced since 1776, but, damn it all, it IS the same bridge upon which the American Revolution began. The [Old North Bridge](http://www.concordma.com/magazine/nov98/bridge.html) in Concord. It’s a completely different bridge, no attempt to build a sense on continuity with the bridge that existed when the battle was fought. There was no bridge on the site for many years after the battle. How about the longest serving soup stock? Some places claim to have a continous pot of soup/stew/whatever that they just keep adding more ingredients to without ever emptying the pot. ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-still-working-piece-of-machinery/242351/24 "2004-04-28T16:59:23Z")
Something like [this](http://www.digbible.org/tour/olivepress.html), perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-still-working-piece-of-machinery/242351/25 "2004-04-28T17:35:10Z")
Slight hijack… Many of these are examples of devices “kept alive” strictly for the sake of historical curiosity. But what about machinery still being used for real industrial use? I once heard that the machinery used by a major manufacturer of **paper clips** is over 100 years old. They’ve never upgraded because they said the machines work great, and only require routine maintenance & repair. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-still-working-piece-of-machinery/242351/26 "2004-04-28T18:57:07Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > The [Old North Bridge](http://www.concordma.com/magazine/nov98/bridge.html) in Concord. It’s a completely different bridge, no attempt to build a sense on continuity with the bridge that existed when the battle was fought. There was no bridge on the site for many years after the battle. _sigh_ I knew that was going to get me in trouble. But, it doesn’t alter my point… George Washington’s axe (yeah, I know the story of the cherry tree is fiction from Parson Whasisname), even with a couple of dozen new handles and three or four new heads, still in some sense is the same damn axe! ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-still-working-piece-of-machinery/242351/27 "2004-04-28T19:02:48Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Slight hijack… > > Many of these are examples of devices “kept alive” strictly for the sake of historical curiosity. But what about machinery still being used for real industrial use? > > I once heard that the machinery used by a major manufacturer of **paper clips** is over 100 years old. They’ve never upgraded because they said the machines work great, and only require routine maintenance & repair. I seem to recall a segment of “Hands-On History” where they looked at a 100-year old printing press still in active service with the Philadelphia Inquirer (I think – it could have been some other large city paper). This press produced a non-trivial part of their daily production. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-still-working-piece-of-machinery/242351/28 "2004-04-28T19:32:59Z")
> [@Rayne Man](#): > > From memory there is one in Wells Cathedral that dates from the 14th century. Yes, I’ve seen it myself in fact.[Here’s some information about it](http://www.wellscathedral.org.uk/history/presentbuilding/theclock.shtml)…the Cathedral believes that it dates from before 1390. In absence of an older contender, I would be inclined to declare the Wells Clock as the winner here. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-still-working-piece-of-machinery/242351/29 "2004-04-28T20:18:49Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > But, it doesn’t alter my point… George Washington’s axe (yeah, I know the story of the cherry tree is fiction from Parson Whasisname), even with a couple of dozen new handles and three or four new heads, still in some sense is the same damn axe! “It’s had the handle replaced 3 times, and this isn’t the original head, but it occupies the same space.” It’s like the puzzler about a ship that leaves port and during the voyage has every board, spar, and plank replaced one at a time as they wear out. When it returns there is no original piece of wood. Is it the same ship? I wonder about the Wells clock, aside from the face how much of the clock is truely original? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-still-working-piece-of-machinery/242351/30 "2004-04-28T21:49:18Z")
So what if some archaeologist finds the original dull, rusted head of Washington’s axe, and the original rotted, splitting handle, and puts the one back on top of the other? Which, now, is Washington’s original axe? Both? Neither? ---
**Author:** ![3.885AM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/58956e/32.png) [@3.885AM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3.885AM)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-still-working-piece-of-machinery/242351/31 "2004-04-28T23:36:12Z")
In the last half century every cell in my body has been replaced, am I still the same person? ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2004, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-still-working-piece-of-machinery/242351/32 "2004-04-29T03:02:14Z")
> [@3.885AM](#): > > In the last half century every cell in my body has been replaced, am I still the same person? Most of your brain cells have never been replaced. That counts for most of “you.” BTW, the machinery driving the [San Francico cable cars](http://www.artcom.com/Museums/vs/sz/94108-10.htm) is fairly old, I think. Not sure _how_ old, though. The _Pioneer_ and _Voyager_ spacecraft are still operational, and the Voyager probes are still transmitting data, as I recall. And I think one of the early [_Vanguard_](http://www.astronautix.com/craft/vanuard1.htm) satellites is still in orbit, albeit not-operating. ---
**Author:** ![DaToad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@DaToad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaToad)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2004, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-still-working-piece-of-machinery/242351/33 "2004-04-29T04:04:41Z")
I believe, in Iran, near the city of Isfahan, there remains an irrigation system that rely on huge stones that can be moved to and fro to irrigate different tracts of land. Iran. IIRC this hydraulic system was built by the Medes, cir. 6oo B.C. and is still usable today. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-still-working-piece-of-machinery/242351.md?page=1)