# Big machines and workshop



## Jasonb (May 20, 2009)

I saw this posted on another forum and thought you may find it of interest, just scroll down the page and enjoy .

The flame cutting of the crank blanks is quite impressive as are the shavings comming off them on the vertical shaper.

http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/guides/William_Doxford_and_Sons#The_Manufacturing_Process

Jason


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## Mo deller (May 20, 2009)

Very interesting. Thanks for posting that.

Mo.


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## cobra428 (May 20, 2009)

They copied the shop I have in my basement Rof} Unbelievable a stand up riding cross slide. You don't want to get your shirt sleeve caught in that lathe!
Thanks for the pic's very interesting stuff
Tony


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## jthulin (May 20, 2009)

Incredible! Thanks for sharing.


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## zeeprogrammer (May 20, 2009)

Good grief...the chips are bigger than the parts I make!
That kind of stuff just amazes me.


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## gbritnell (May 20, 2009)

Did you notice that the only ones with some type of eyewear on were probably the people that had prescription glasses. Even the fellow cutting those nice curly chips with his face only feet away from the tool. Sometimes we don't care for the bureaucracy (OHSA) but how many working men lost eyes doing that kind of work.
Excellent pictures of a bygone era.
gbritnell


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## b.lindsey (May 20, 2009)

I am always looking for pictures and videos to integrate into the machine shop practices course I teach and this is definitely one I will use...with appropriate mention of the lack of safety glasses of course. Thanks for sharing Jason.

Bill


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## rake60 (May 20, 2009)

The shop I work for has what they call the, "Heavy Parts Building".
The biggest lathe there has a 75" swing, 396" between centers and
a weight capacity 55,000 pounds when using 2 steady rests.

I happened to be on a shift when the operator of that lathe caught a 
shirt sleeve under an air line. He got a ride around the the chuck several
times before his shirt finally ripped away and he hit was slammed to the
concrete on the back side of the machine. 
He suffered a broken leg, a detached retina in one eye and
many minor cuts and bruises.

I'll stick with my 9 X 20 here! 

Rick


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## two dogs (May 21, 2009)

This is me about 1981 running a Cinncinatti Milacron 5-axis profiler. It had 100' (yes that's feet) of x travel. Y is about 15' and 6' or so of z. The cross section weighed just less than 15,000 lbs. I remember that cuz our overhead crane was rated at 15,000 and it just BARELY was able to lift it.
I'm working on a Bradley Fighting Vehicle hull.


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## PhillyVa (May 21, 2009)

Hey Mark that's *BIG* Thm:

Philly


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## Loose nut (May 22, 2009)

I saw a picture of a lathe turning something, can't remember if it was a battleship gun barrel or a propeller shaft but you get an idea of the size.

 The lathe had a operator chair mounted not on the cross slide but on the _ tool post_, everything was hydraulically controlled from that position. He was reading a paper while it was making chips, one cut could take a whole shift and as long as everything was OK there wasn't much to do but sharpen the tool as needed. Hugh chips.


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## Maryak (May 22, 2009)

The propeller shaft lathe at Garden Island Dockyard in Sydney was much as loose nut described, from memory and with the usual disclaimers, the bed was some 220ft long and the tool post was about 10ft from the floor.

Best Regards
Bob


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## AlanHaisley (May 24, 2009)

gbritnell  said:
			
		

> Did you notice that the only ones with some type of eyewear on were probably the people that had prescription glasses. Even the fellow cutting those nice curly chips with his face only feet away from the tool. Sometimes we don't care for the bureaucracy (OHSA) but how many working men lost eyes doing that kind of work.
> Excellent pictures of a bygone era.
> gbritnell


Not sure safety glasses would help. It looks like if you cought one of those chips it would just crush your skull. Maybe they need hardhats too.

Safety shoes might not help in there either. If you dropped anything it would either be a miss or :fan:

Alan


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