Rosie the riveter's lathe?

I don't think it's a lathe of any kind. It looks like a special-purpose bed-type milling machine, built to handle that big rotary table. The drive shaft suggests that it's a production machine, but it looks like she's locating the setup with the handwheels -- for an operation that could have no possible relation to the powered shaft. Here's a sharper version of that photo:

I question whether the photo is of a real operation, or whether it was cooked up for the photo. The reason I say that is that there's a gear fixtured on top, and a toolholder that looks like it could be for a shaping operation. But the toolholder doesn't look like it's holding a shaping tool. And there's no way, in wartime production or any kind of production, that you would cut a gear like that with a single-point cutting tool making straight cuts. Even if you did, one of the handwheels would have a big and obvious index-pin dial on it.

The whole setup is screwy. The lathe chuck on top, on top of all of that fixturing, looks like a kludge. There is no way you'd use a chuck that way for gear work. And if the suggestion is that she's indicating or gaging a gear tooth, there is no apparent way to accomplish the measuring. And that is no freaking measuring machine.

I'd give it four Pinocchios. d8-)

What is this machine?

The Washington Post article from which is comes refers to it as a turret lathe (2/3 the way down the article, and just a "lathe" elsewhere) in this obituary on "Rosie the Rivetter". But it looks more like a milling machine with a rotary table than a turret lathe. Is it a gear broach?

Anybody recognize it?

Dan

=================

There were multiple Rosies, one a local NH woman:

It looks to me like a lash-up to broach an oddball keyway or splines, unless somone just placed the gear atop the jaws for appearance. I suspect it was chosen for the photo to show her face next to something complex and exotic-looking that wasn't in use, covered with oily chips and spewing them toward the camera.

-jsw

First, that Tiny URL I posted above doesn't seem to work. That's the first time that's ever happened for me. Tiny URL seems to have a problem with the full URL. Here's the full one:

It's physically possible that it's set up to cut a keyway, but I still don't believe the setup. It's an awful kludge. And if it's intended to cut splines, how is she indexing it? Finally, if that's figured out, I hope she's not in a hurry -- it's not like there was a war going on or something.

On Mon, 19 Feb 2018 10:49:34 -0500, Ed Huntress spammed: alt.survival,talk.politics.misc,alt.news-media,la.general,alt.politics.clinton from an original thread in just rec.crafts.metalworking

Spam your own group instead of spreading your insanity all over the web. You claim to be the grown-up; prove it. Thank you.

That was just a reply to something that came from whatever group you're posting from. Did you also post this message to the poster who included your group in the list? No? And why not?

Pay attention to the headers. I didn't post the spam.

I think it is a shaper. The tool looks MUCH like a shaper tool, and seems like it might be held in a clapper box, although it looks kind of different from what I'm used to seeing. If the setup is the way it was used, and not just something thrown together for the photo, then she would be cutting a groove in the FACE of the gear.

Jon

How do you pronounce the designation of a wide flange beam, such as a W6x12? I learned from texts and never heard it spoken.

-jsw

Whoooeee! That's a right nice lookin' machinist. Hubba hubba. Naomi, if you were Rosie's inspiration, ya done good, girl. RIP

It looks more like a vertical shaper to me, set up for gear ID slotting. (not that I'd know anything about either, yet. ;)

There were vertical turret lathes:

I bought a transmission-end motorcycle chain drive sprocket for my sawmill and then discovered it has a 13-spline center hole, that I couldn't index to groove the shaft. The final milling setup using a

-jsw

My opinion is that it is a slotter and the machine is set up for making a gear. as there ar no chips around, it does not depict a production situation, maybe a photo op of a nice looking female next to a slotter.

and here it is, a Pratt and Whitney vertical slotter that looks very similar to Rosie's machine.

Look at picture No. 3:

Yeah, that picture sure looks right. There are two different machines in that set of pictures. About half the images are the model that look like Rosie's and the others don't...

I'm no help with that one. I only know it from texts too.

Metal working stuff is my hobby line. I was an electricians apprentice for several years while studying radio electronics. Worked as a two-way radio, printer and terminal tech for most of my career. We probably know a lot of the same jargon in those areas :)

Images 3, 5, and 7 are for a different machine than the rest. These show 3 controls on the front while all the rest have only one. I think you nailed it, though.

Is "slotter" one brand's name for "shaper"?

BTW, when did you start top-posting? I noticed it yesterday.

They're a bit more different than that:

That's it, all right. Now, what was Rosie doing with the handwheels?

She's not indexing it; she isn't even looking at the indexing handwheel. Is she eyeballing the rotary indexing and the X-Y positioning? Unlikely, unless the bore of the gear has been marked out on a surface plate and she's setting it up to cut to the mark.

But if she's doing that, how does she know that she's set up perpendicular to the centerline?

Once again, it looks like a photo op.