Geographical classification:
America > United States
Socio-cultural movements
Late modern period / Contemporary period
Groups by dedication
Technologists > Object designers
Technologists > Inventors
Context of feminine creation
Sarah Babbitt is credited with inventing the first circular saw. We can link this invention and its inventor to other far-reaching inventions for industry and technological progress made by women: Wifi (Hedy Lamarr), GPS (Gladys Mae West), the electronic book (Ángela Ruiz Robles), anti-reflective glass (Katharine Blodgett), vacuum-packing (Amanda Jones), optical fibre cable (Shirley Jackson), VoiP technology (Marian Croak), portable X-rays (Marie Curie), Kevlar (Stephanie Kwolek).
Review
Sarah Tabitha Babbitt invented the first circular saw. This was used to cut the logs into planks, in a more precise way and, above all, with much less danger and effort for the sawmill staff.
Spain > Technology and digitisation > 1st ESO > Troubleshooting process. Workshop tools and machines
Spain > Technology and digitisation > 2nd ESO > Troubleshooting process. Workshop tools and machines
Spain > Technology and digitisation > 3rd ESO > Troubleshooting process. Workshop tools and machines
Justifications
She is credited with inventing the first circular saw, which was used in a sawmill in 1813.
Thanks to this type of saw, the work of cutting logs was less dangerous and easier than before.
She is also credited with the invention of a process for the manufacture of false teeth and an improved distaff head, as well as the headless nail.
She did not patent any of her inventions.
Biography
Sarah Babbitt, also known as Tabitha Babbitt, was an early American shaker, toolmaker and inventor.
Babbitt is credited with inventing the first circular saw which was used in a sawmill in 1813. According to the Shakers (a community that did not allow patent applications, but believed in unrestricted intellectual property sharing), Sarah Babbitt was watching men use the unwieldy two-handed saw when she noticed that half the motion was wasted. She proposed to create a round blade to increase efficiency. The circular saw was connected to a hydraulic machine to reduce the effort of cutting wood. This first circular saw was used in Albany, New York. In the summer of 1948, a version of Sarah Babbitt's saw, built to her specifications, was displayed in a Shaker exhibit at the Fenimore House in Cooperstown, New York, on loan from the New York State Museum.
Sarah Babbitt is also credited with inventing a process for the manufacture of false teeth and an improved distaff head. She also invented the headless nail.
As Sarah Babbitt belonged to the Shaker community she did not patent her circular saw. Therefore, the reference to her invention only appears in the Shaker tradition and there is controversy as to whether she was the true first inventor of this saw. In fact, for this reason, Sarah Babbitt did not patent any of her other inventions either.
This author can be studied in technology, in the block of materials of technical use: wood in 1st of ESO. In technology in 2nd of ESO, she could be tackled when studying metals.
