OK back to (historical) metalworking!

"Ed Huntress" snipped-for-privacy@optonline.net

I don't think the table revolves under power. I think it's a duplex drill. The chain is weighted, and it lowers/raises the two tool heads in tandem. Frank Morrison

Yes of course you are correct. The perspective in the photo had me confusing the front and rear of the headstock. There *is* one of those with the back gears in front. If they are triple geared, does that mean they have one in front, and one in back as well? I'll have to go back and find that one, I think it has a battered tin gear guard for the change gears.

Jim

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I know it's a Niles vertical boring machine. I would guess it's has a 40" swing. I seen one like it in Gresham Oregon about 15 years ago. I don't know where it's at now, I think the place sold out that had it. Cascade General has one that's an 80" swing on Swain Island in Portland. I think they still use it. I heard they got a "Richards VTL" beside it. I haven't worked there for years now.

Richard W.

It sure looks like a shaper head with a clapper box on it to me. With a vise and set up on the table. It looks as you say like a big chunk of cast iron with 2 shaper knees attached. You see the surface with the oil can setting on it. It looks to me like the ram head is on a slide that can be feed across that surface with the oil can. If you look on the left end it looks like the feed set up that you would find on either an old planer or shaper. Could the handle that looks like the ships wheel be for moving the ram left or right on the flat surface. It a machine I would like to see up close for sure.

Richard W.

No, it has 2 heads for holding lathe tools. You can bore and turn an OD at the same time. Or make 2 face cuts at once. The chain is for counter weights. Actually there is a large bearing and gear setup under the floor.

Richard W.

I believe that's a vertical lathe -- a VBM, actually. Note that the toolhead on the left holds a boring tool, and there is no spindle. The chains are for counterbalancing the tool holders.

The table drives on those things comes from a shaft that enters the base casting from the side you can't see.

Ed Huntress

"Richard W." snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com

Ah. FM

Ah, the side one *can* almost see:

The actuall belts are missing, but the wire cage in back was used to guard the belts and pulleys, obviously. Right above the rear of the machine are the sheaves on the lineshaft that drove it. They sure as heck weren't driving the wash-up sink!

Jim

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Yeah, there were different kinds of table drives over the years. I forgot about the chain drives. Most of the VBMs/VTLs I've seen in recent years were from Europe, and the last one I photographed had a right-angle shaft and bevel gears.

One of them had a table that was 19 feet in diameter.

Ed Huntress

There are a lot more photo's than I first thought. Looks like insurance photos. How much of this is in MI.? Is there a list of all the machines in there? Even sprinkler systems. I noticed in one picture that the belts lean toward the operator side , bad planning or is there a reason for that?

Not insurance photos, these were taken to document an historical site. If you go up in the directory you will find that they have also document other historical sites as well.

I think *none* of it is in michigan, that was menlo park that was moved. I believe this is in west orange, NJ. The sprinkler systems have been all disconnected from the water mains, and re-connected to several large tanks of Halon, this is seen in one photo, and commented about in one of the data file gifs.

I think the idea was to prevent fire, but also to not allow water damage to destroy the value of the machines as artifacts.

Jim

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jim rozen jim snipped-for-privacy@newsguy.com

wrt large lathe headstock configurations

The triple-gearing types go way, way back. There's usually three spindles, the one with the driven step pulley may not be the one directly on center to the tailstock. The faceplate (usually talking one of five to nine feet diameter) is also itself a driven ring gear, or (real old) spur gear. Frank Morrison

"Richard W." snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com

wrt 17

Yes. I see it now. It's a shaper with two tables, one a box table, and one a knee. FM

I guess I'm having a tough time seeing it. If that part that has the flat table is really part of the shaper with the clapper box visible, that would mean that the box and the flat table would be bolted to the same cross slide - which would be a *huge* cross slide!

So big that if the flat table were cranked over to be under the shaper's ram, the box and vise would wind up well under the fire hose on the far right.

Jim

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No Jim it appears that the ram moves over the tables. Not the tables moving under the ram.

Richard W.

The AC folks have their revenge though. Look at picture 112610pv.jpg at the bottom of the column nearest the camera where you'll see an AC outlet. In Edison's shop. That's funny, to me anyway.

Martin