almost 100 year old machine shop

[JOB]

Here are some pictures of a 1914 machine shop. I thought I took some pictures of the line shafts in the overhead but I guess not. This shop was powered by a boiler that supplied steam to an engine that powered the line shafts. About twenty years ago they had a steam problem and OSHA or someone shut them down. Today there is an electric motor that powers one line shaft that powers a lathe that you can make a small brass candle stick holder for five dollars.

This is the one lathe where you can make the brass candle stick holder. Here is a highly skilled machinist about to preform the task with the help of the shop foreman.

This may have been the largest lathe in the shop. I was told once how you fasten a part to the face plate but cannot remember.

Here is a nice old band saw. every shop needs one of these.

Here is a big hammer, and to the right of this hammer is where the boiler and engine that ran this shop sits.

I forgot what this machine is maybe a mill or shaper.

I assume this is a larger version of the above picture. If not someone will correct me.

This shop was moved from its previous location and built on Henry Fords Greenfield museum grounds in 1929.

 

[Husker44A]

Very neat photos. I've always enjoyed running a lathe. Made
some neat things out of nothing. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Pooh Bear]

Those last two machines are horizontal milling machines.

Cool pictures.

 

[Hendrik]

Very nice pics!

The lathe in picture 2 is mainly for short, stubby workpieces. The workpiece is attached to the face of the mounting plate by means of stud machinist clamps, mounted in T-slots in the mounting plate. See attached pic showing a two cylinder engine block being bored.
HTH, Hendrik
Engine block on lathe

 

[JOB]

looks like a two cylinder Wisconsin or 1/2 of a V4 Wisconsin. Looks like it would be a time consuming job to center your work piece. I had a job done by a guy that had the piece centered in less than a couple of minutes on a four jaw chuck.

 

[Daryl in PA]

we just celebrated our 150th year

http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/...h-anniversary-20130917,0,3065388.photogallery

 

[dr sportster]

Thanks for posting. That is a nice shop. I see the guards that were probably made after the formation of OSHA. Back then those belts were open,but people knew how ot work around things like that. I drove four hours to the Smithsonian to see a miniature shop like that.There are some jobs that modern CNC shops still have to farm out to those guys like truing up large rollers for wall covering companies and such. The modern CNC is nice but it can't compare to that.I bet they have some big micrometers too. I would love to visit that.I plan vacations around stuff like that shop. lol Nice pics!

 

[AzPeapicker]

Thanks for the posting
Really neat pictures . Just to think that our forefathers were able to produce machined items before we had Electricity / computers /
& calculators .


John in Az.

 

[Spook]

The smaller machine is a #2 or 3 horizontal mill. The larger one is a boring mill, it's big brother.

 

[Spook]

You guys have some pretty old machines! I used to use a Carleton radial drill, on die shoes, 40 years ago.

 

[bison]

(quoted from post at 20:59:53 11/21/13) Very neat photos. I've always enjoyed running a lathe.[b:dcb0e0c880] Made
some neat things out of nothing.[/b:dcb0e0c880] Thanks for sharing.

lease tell us the secret!!!!!!!!!

 

[Brian Schmidt]

Thanks for the pics. I was there a few weeks ago for the first time. It was interesting to see this operation. They can make anything for the entire grounds there. I was amazed by this and the roundhouse where they restore steam engines. I walked under the steam engine and got to look up at the inner workings. Something I will never forget.

 

[JOB]

To engage power to the machine from the line shaft is pretty neat. Should have got a picture of that.
How did they make the first machine without a machine to make parts in the first place.

 

[JOB]

If you go plan on a day in the museum and a full day or more in the Greenfield village part of it. There is a lot of neat things from long ago.

 

[JOB]

I have another picture from the museum of what they say is the first milling machine. Don't know if it is a bridgeport or another brand. I think it was horizontal also.

 

[dr sportster]

The way they showed it in the Smithsonian was they had a skilled guy on a plank with a blade through it and a bunch of other guys winding a wheel pulling him while he "surfed" the blade and plank over the metal that was to be something like a bed of a lathe. The skilled guy must have had a very good feel for how to stand on the plank to keep the cuts even and smooth but thats what I saw in the display at the museum. As the men reeled in the guys plank he was cutting a shaving off the metal part he was machining.The guy on the plank could get an almost perfectly flat surface by doing this.Everything else was files Gears etc. all cut by saw and file. A hacksaw blade was a treasured tool for someone like a blacksmith and they did not abuse sawblades.

 

[T in NE]

Neighbor when I was a kid had a machine shop he inherited from his dad. Everything was run by one motor and a large overhead eccentric. I think he donated it to the historical society once he retired. They were still making parts for GM up til about 02 or 03 I think.

 

[Bret4207]

(quoted from post at 04:27:38 11/23/13)
How did they make the first machine without a machine to make parts in the first place.

They made the first ones from castings after getting the idea using similar wooden machines. They finished the castings with a chisel, files and scrapers. A guy at the home level can still do a lot with chisels, files and scrapers if he has the time.

 

[JOB]

Those guys has a lot of time and patience. Kind of like the men who made body parts for Rolls Royce, A Maple block of wood with the contour of a fender for that year. A piece of sheet metal and a hammer, maybe some other tools. In time there was a fender. Not sure when Rolls started stamping sheet metal, maybe in the fifty's.

 

[JOB]

Men back in that time were definitely craftsman. I
bet there has been a lot of skill lost to the
wayside with modern machines and equipment.

 

[m35a2]

When I was a kid there was a blacksmith shop near by that still used a large Helve hammer just like the one pictured. Had a big electric motor bolted to the floor and a flat belt run to the machine. Was fascinating and terrifying to watch them use it.