Touched a piece of American history today.

[CA-35]

A lifelong buddy of mine is a manufacturer of metal products, most of his machines are CNC however he does have a few very old Acme-Gridley multi-spindle screw machines manufactured by the National Acme company. My guess is the machines were made in the early 1900's. Anyway, he calls me today and says one of them has an electrical problem ( I have an electrical backround and I specialize in industrial motor control). So I go over and check it out. The problem was simple; a motor starter's coil had lost it's voltage (from the control power transformer which stepped down the system voltage of 440 to 120v for all control wiring) so I installed a new transformer and BAM the machine was back on line. While I was working on it I noticed this placard.

This behemoth (it's about 10 feet long) apparently made shell casings for the US Navy my buddy tells me. It is an amazing piece of equipment. It holds 6 pieces of the material and rotates it like the magazine of a revolver to complete diifferent tasks until the piece is complete. It spits out a completed piece every 12 seconds in this application.

I continue to be amazed.

 

[killdeer43]

Totally over my head, Scott, but more power to you (get that little pun?), and thanks for sharing your passion with us. :wink:

Joe

 

[davismanLV]

Wow!! :shock: Is that duct tape in that one spot? Couldn't be.......

 

[killdeer43]

Wow!! :shock: Is that duct tape in that one spot? Couldn't be.......

WWII duct tape, no less! :wink:

Joe

 

[john_kidder]

Did this wonderful and beautifully maintained ancient achine actually drill/screw out the interior of a shell casing? I never thought about how they were made, but the WWII casings I remember were tapered in at the top, and had interior threads for (what I presume was) the piercing cap?

 

[Bill Ashton]

Edit: Sorry, removed, didn't think before posting, could become political...

CA-35, that is great machinery at work there!

 

[CA-35]

Did this wonderful and beautifully maintained ancient achine actually drill/screw out the interior of a shell casing? I never thought about how they were made, but the WWII casings I remember were tapered in at the top, and had interior threads for (what I presume was) the piercing cap?

I'm not sure exactly how shell casings are made however this machine can be set up to thread internally or externally after reaming or drilling or milling (sorry I'm not a machinist). The part my buddy makes is a knurled nut that is threaded on the inside. The machine holds an array of tools but the tools do not spin, only the material spins and the tools are hydraulically pushed and pulled into position to meet the material. The only tool that spins (in both directions ) is the threading tool, once it threads the material it actually speeds up and spins faster than the material in order to back out. All the while this is happening there is cutting oil that spits out on each piece of material (to cool it), the oil reservoir (that the machine actually sits in like a bath tub) holds 1300 gallons of cutting oil!! It is fascinating to say the least. :shock: :shock:

 

[adorshki]

...machines manufactured by the National Acme company...

The very same Acme that Wile E. Coyote was such a loyal customer to. :lol:
Sorry, couldn't resist.
In apology I was going to ask if anybody was aware that Oldsmobile was a major aerial gun/cannon producer and Hamilton Standard was a major propeller blade maker in WWII?
While searching for interesting photos on that subject I stumbled across this set of Kodachromes, link posted on an Oldsmobile forum, VERY high quality and interesting subjects, no joke.
Although they appear to be on a russian blogger's page the captions for them are in english. Not sure what's up with that but neither my browser nor McAfee gave me any security flags. Just mentioning for those who might want to know before they click on a link:
http://pavel-kosenko.livejournal.com/30 ... d=22669914
:wink:

 

[CA-35]

Al- Fantastic pics!!!!!!!!!!! :shock: :shock: 8) 8) 8) 8) Great find

 

[adorshki]

Al- Fantastic pics!!!!!!!!!!! :shock: :shock: 8) 8) 8) 8) Great find

MY pleasure, glad you caught up to 'em! :wink:

 

[CA-35]

...machines manufactured by the National Acme company...

The very same Acme that Wile E. Coyote was such a loyal customer to. :lol:
Sorry, couldn't resist.

It's possible! :lol: :lol:

The machine actually had two names on it; The National Acme Company and then on the machine base it says "Acme-Gridley Co." The company, according to my buddy Stuart , is still in business and this machine is still manufactured, although slightly upgraded with pneumatic and electrical control rather than the old hydraulic and compressed air systems. When new they are 1 million dollar machines. Stuart bought 5 of them back in the late 80's for $120,000 total, put $70,000 in to each to refurbish, then sold 3 of them for $140,000 each. Over a period of 5 years the 2 he retained cost him only $50,000. Smart SOB. He did all the mechanical and pneumatic himself. He does everything they need except the electrical. They run 8 hours a day, six days a week. He calls them Multi-Spindle Screw machines. If there are any machinists out there you guys or gals certainly know what these things are capable of. I can handle the electric portion but to take a raw piece of metal and re-tool these machines is quite a process, and they retain a tolerance of 1-2 thousands of an inch. You have to be nothing short of a mechanical genius to set one of these bad boys up. :shock:

He says it cost him money when they are not running, regardless of the repair bill. In his hay-day (the 90's) he was running them 24/7, that's when Penn was a big customer, now they (Penn Fishing Reels in Pa.) have 90% of their crap made in China.

 

[adorshki]

When new they are 1 million dollar machines. Stuart bought 5 of them back in the late 80's for $120,000 total, put $70,000 in to each to refurbish, then sold 3 of them for $140,000 each. Over a period of 5 years the 2 he retained cost him only $50,000. They run 8 hours a day, six days a week.

It really is kind of awesome when you think about it, that's just originally 5 machines, and just one guy/company, running 2 of 'em 48 hours a week. Really brings home why Yamamoto didn't want to wake the "sleeping giant" of American production capability.

He says it cost him money when they are not running, regardless of the repair bill. In his hay-day (the 90's) he was running them 24/7, that's when Penn was a big customer, now they (Penn Fishing Reels in Pa.) have 90% of their crap made in China.

Well, we've looked at that problem elsewhere on the forum, and I'm still pretty sure the pendulum's gonna swing back this way, for a combination of reasons, "soon enough".
I just hope we're ready, as in, he's still in business. :wink:

 

[kyguild]

Facinating, high quality photos....you can almost feel yourself in each of the situations with those folks. My Dad was working in the shipyards in Norfolk, VA at the age of 16 in 1942, same time most of those photos were taken...

ky

 

[CA-35]

Facinating, high quality photos....you can almost feel yourself in each of the situations with those folks. My Dad was working in the shipyards in Norfolk, VA at the age of 16 in 1942, same time most of those photos were taken...
ky

Spot on! Al's photo's were like HD quality.

 

[CA-35]

When new they are 1 million dollar machines. Stuart bought 5 of them back in the late 80's for $120,000 total, put $70,000 in to each to refurbish, then sold 3 of them for $140,000 each. Over a period of 5 years the 2 he retained cost him only $50,000. They run 8 hours a day, six days a week.

It really is kind of awesome when you think about it, that's just originally 5 machines, and just one guy/company, running 2 of 'em 48 hours a week. Really brings home why Yamamoto didn't want to wake the "sleeping giant" of American production capability.

[quote="CA-35":q0mn8ue1] He says it cost him money when they are not running, regardless of the repair bill. In his hay-day (the 90's) he was running them 24/7, that's when Penn was a big customer, now they (Penn Fishing Reels in Pa.) have 90% of their crap made in China.

Well, we've looked at that problem elsewhere on the forum, and I'm still pretty sure the pendulum's gonna swing back this way, for a combination of reasons, "soon enough".
I just hope we're ready, as in, he's still in business. :wink:[/quote:q0mn8ue1]

Spot on Al. Yamamoto said "I believe all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant" And he was right. Within 6 months of Pearl we kicked their butts at Midway and all but 3 of the vessels sunk or damaged at Pearl were sea-worthy.

As far as business returning; Stuart's business is increasing, unfortunately it is from the manufacturers in China!! :x
I do see an increase in construction down here, for a while it was all governmental (city or county work) that was fueled by the stimulus money, now it seems that more private construction projects are starting to break loose.

 

[adorshki]

As far as business returning; Stuart's business is increasing, unfortunately it is from the manufacturers in China!! :x

Actually I see that as a kind of poetic justice!!
Time to recover some of that lost business and those lost jobs and income. 8)
For every action there's a reaction and it's happening now, meaning some of things they did had their own unforesen consequences, and now, lo and behold, they need us.
One of the reasons I'm in favor of free trade is that this way, the business can come back with a minimum of roadblocks 8)
But not trying to start another thread on world economics. :lol: :wink: