Lathe that uses only lathed parts?
- Thread starter ac220v
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Oh, sure, but is it possible to build a copy of one using nothing but another lathe? I can see why Stirling have chosen this particular type, but there are still quite a few parts that don't look like they can be re-designed to be readily producible on a lathe.
(ADD: Yes, Leaton wasn't actually under such a constraint in the books, he had a milling machine, drill, and friendly welders and blacksmiths, but he said it was possible even with lathe alone.)
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MacCaulay
Banned
The lathe is the only machine which can make itself. Verticals and horizontals can't do it.
Not to sound like a know-it-all, but I've been a machinist for years, and I was a setup guy on a lathe for a fair number of those. It's an amazingly versatile machine. The only kind that's more capable is the Bridgeport vertical, which should probably go down in history along with the Dakota and the Sherman as one of the reasons we won the Second World War.
What is this pertaining to?
Thanks. As to why am I asking, well, it's one of those "I can't believe it's for real" feats of engineering and metalworking, things like most parts of a carriage just don't look like your typical lathed parts...
But after googling a bit more I'm convinced, although I still haven't found anyone who did exactly that and described it in any detail. Closest thing I've found so far is this: http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/lathe1.html but it uses cast aluminum bed and carriage, and, ironically, no second lathe.
The problem with manufacturing a lathe with. a lathe is that you will need do a certain amount of milling and boring work on the various components and if you are going to be constrained by the swing of the machine over the bed. How large of a workpiece you can mount on the cross slide and a number of other factors. In all likely hood the machine you wind up with will be smaller than the one you used. As for the Bridgeport. While its a very versatile machine in no way can it do all of the potential operations a lathe can do. Plus seeing as it was only first produced in 1938 I rather doubt that many were in service by the '40s. Most of the mills used in WWII production in the US were horizontals by Kearny & Trekker, Cincinnati, Van Norman and a couple of others. Been doing tool work for 35 years.
http://www.lathes.co.uk/bridgeport/
I think you're hung up on the phrase "only lathed parts". It's not meant to be taken literally, that is not all of the parts in question are made on a lathe. Rather, only the truly critical parts are made on a lathe and even something like the bed can be hand scraped.
Excellent. You finding that link saves me a world of explanation.
The fellow who put together that page several years ago, and sadly seems to have abandoned it, is following the (in)famous series of "Build Your Own Machine Shop" booklets written by Dave Gingery and published by Lindsay's Technical Books for a few decades now.
Gingery's books begin by building a charcoal furnace which can melt aluminum and move into pouring castings. Those castings, along with other parts either produced by other means or purchased, are then used to produce a "almost" lathe. You then pour more castings and use this "almost" lathe to first improve itself and eventually produce other shop tools. That self improvement process is evident on the site's pages. The fellow writes about pouring and machining better pulleys when the lathe is able and actually shows pictures of using the partially built lathe to bore it's own headstock along with turning patterns for faceplate castings and the like.
What he's showing on that site is basically what Stirling tossed off in the ISOT series: He's using a lathe to build a lathe. In fact he's going even one better because he's using a lathe to build and improve itself.
I doubt Stirling has ever been within shouting distance of a lathe, let alone operated one, so he was most likely just repeating without understanding something real machinists like Kevin Renner and MacCauley know professionally and intuitively.
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MacCaulay
Banned
There's one sitting in the Rock Island Arsenal museum that they pulled off the floor, the plaque reads that it was running during the Second World War. I think my wife expected me to be looking at the guns and whatnot, but I spent more time staring at this ancient thing in the corner.
What do you do, exactly? It's always interesting to meet another machinist on the board.
+1. It's the only MACHINE TOOL you would need to make another lathe. You can use hand tools for the other stuff like casting/forging, welding, cutting, filing....etc.