Huge Engine Machine Shop

[goose-em]

Follow the link to see an old machine shop circa 1950?

Big, Big Tools.

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

 

[RattyChevy]

Holy cow! Those are some huge engines, wonder what kind if ship they were designed for?

 

[Gregster]

You get a real perspective on size when you see a man standing beside one crankshaft counter weight . And what about the torch machine cutting through what looks like one foot thick plate . Imagine the electric bill at a factory like that , It would be as much as the GNP of most third world countries

 

[pistolpete]

That link pops up everynow and then... what I find truely amazing is the size and accuracy that would be required for making that stuff, with very little automation in the process.

 

[pacrat]

awesome

The one thing they had going for them back then was craftsmanship, there seems to be very little of that around today.

 

[RoddingRon]

Unfortunately Pacrat is right...there seems to be a lot less pride in a job well done, and devotion to the details now a days. Now it's to easy to press the start button and say if it's not right talk to the programmer (although there are those of us who do both programming and running of the machines). I see it to often at work. They hire someone who is supposed to know what they are doing and then find out they only know how to hit the start button....hit a little glitch and they are lost and have no idea how to correct it.


All that having been said....do you think they can turn 7 grand with that motor

 

[26Troadster]

my family had a big machine in houston, my brothers and i have been in machine shops all our lives. they now have a shop in south texas, still manual machines nothing cnc. i moved to alabama and went to ironworking for a living, and ended up back in the shops. some of us still have craftsmanship, but you can't hardly find a machinist that can run the old stuff, they think you just push a button, hell half can't even program one muchless make changes on then. and no we never ran anything that big, but accuracy is still key no matter how big are small.

 

[61 gasser]

Where in south texas? Just curious.

 

[hotwrench4hire]

pretty cool

 

[41Panel]

OH MY GOD, gotta love it, nary a pair of safety glasses in the place........

 

[26Troadster]

Where in south texas? Just curious.

pearsall

 

[Old Dude]

Holy Crankshaft Batman!

 

[liljgoneman]

couple things spring to mind when i see those pics. 1st, i LOVE the sfaety glasses and protective gear! [S and 2nd, where in america do you even see that sort of industrial manufacturing nowadays?! the answer is,... you dont! we don't build anything large or small anymore and it's damn sad. those were men with a purpose and some security and i envy them their place in history.

 

[mad welshman]

where are all those machines now ???

I suspect many of them have been shipped to china or india and are still in use, over here in the uk many pipe fittings are still stamped Sheffield made on the same machine but in a foreign country !!!

 

[gww]

thanks for put n up the link. special times and special people.
my dad was a machinist for Bucyers Erie in the 40s/50s walked up a 1/2 flight of stairs to operate a lathe. huge equipment. turned a turret for one of the largest shovels every built that went to africa.
employees were paid every two weeks and received two checks, the first being there actual take home, the second being a check for the amount of any damaged, ruined, un usable materials and labor spent that they cost the company. you only received it once. imagine trying to do that today..

 

[Jimmy Wallbanger]

where are the illegal immigrants and computers? I`m so confused!
I like the safety glasses comment i didnt even notice! yet they all have thier eyes ?! Luck?

 

[niterunner71]

22 years in the machine shop business myself. I have always ran conventional machines, mostly engine lathes but also mills, and horizontal boring mills. Never ran CNC. Seems the young kids these days are not interested in this kind of stuff. It takes time to develop the skill, patience and there is a level of craftsmanship that goes along with it to reach the levels of accuracy needed ( example electric motor bearing fits + or - .0002"). Most all the young ones today want to do is hit a button like most of you said and if there is a problem blame someone else. I myself love it and would rather do nothing else. I love the machines and love the tools and hope someday to have my own small shop.