# Great slide show of a huge ship builder's shop



## MikeWi (Sep 15, 2014)

http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/guides/William_Doxford_and_Sons#The_Manufacturing_Process

There is a picture of the most gigantic shaper I've ever seen in here, along with other stuff that I'll admit turns me into a little kid.  

Another pic shows a man flame cutting a plate that looks to be at least a foot thick.  It seems like the oxygen stream would not hold it's shape well enough for accurate cutting at that depth.  I mean, I know they leave material to be removed later but it just boggles my feeble mind that you can cut that much.  Some very cool stuff here.  See?  I told you I get like a little kid. :lmao:


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## John Hasler (Sep 15, 2014)

Reminds me of the Ladish plant I worked at in the sixties.  BTW that's a planer, not a shaper (the biggest I've ever seen).


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## Don B (Sep 15, 2014)

MikeWi said:


> http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/guides/William_Doxford_and_Sons#The_Manufacturing_Process
> 
> There is a picture of the most gigantic shaper I've ever seen in here, along with other stuff that I'll admit turns me into a little kid.
> 
> Another pic shows a man flame cutting a plate that looks to be at least a foot thick.  It seems like the oxygen stream would not hold it's shape well enough for accurate cutting at that depth.  I mean, I know they leave material to be removed later but it just boggles my feeble mind that you can cut that much.  Some very cool stuff here.  See?  I told you I get like a little kid. :lmao:



That's very interesting, thank you for posting that link, I've worked on some large stuff but all would be considered small compared to what I see there, it's amazing that all those people are working without glasses, I wasn't aware that you could cut something that thick with a torch, I think that's a planer your referring to in the picture if where talking about the one.


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## MikeWi (Sep 15, 2014)

John Hasler said:


> BTW that's a planer, not a shaper (the biggest I've ever seen).


The horizontal one or the vertical one?  And how  does the planer work?  I was referring to the horizontal machine that was facing those huge link looking things, and later found a vertical one in there too.  At first I thought it was fly-cutting or using some sort of facing mill and then saw the chip! LOL Speaking of that the chips everywhere are amazing to me when I think of the forces at work.


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## John Hasler (Sep 15, 2014)

MikeWi said:


> The horizontal one or the vertical one?  And how are they different?



The horizontal one.  In a shaper the tool moves.  In a planer the work moves.  For some reason the really big ones always seem to be planers in my limited experience.


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## Bill Gruby (Sep 15, 2014)

John Hasler said:


> The horizontal one.  In a shaper the tool moves.  In a planer the work moves.  For some reason the really big ones always seem to be planers in my limited experience.



 That is almost correct. Buuuuut -- The work is stationary in both the Planer and the Shaper. In a Shaper both the table and tool can move. The work piece is clamped to the table. In a Planner the tool is stationary, the work is clamped to the table and it is the table that moves. Technicality but true. Ain't I a stinker.  :lmao::lmao:

 "Billy G"


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## BenjamanQ (Sep 15, 2014)

Those huge "link looking things" are the crankshaft eccentrics. Thre's an article in Secrets of the Old Time Machinists on how to fit them to the crank. In that book the illustrations are line drawings, it's really cool to see photos. Wow, that's an impressive shop. Look at the size of those shavings! Thanks for posting.

Ben


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## Whyemier (Sep 15, 2014)

John Hasler said:


> Reminds me of the Ladish plant I worked at in the sixties.  BTW that's a planer, not a shaper (the biggest I've ever seen).



My father worked in the Ladish plant in the 60s I believe.  In Cudahy (sp) Wisconsin. My brother worked there for a while as a chip hauler when he was younger.

My father was a machinist and metallurgist.  In fact he got his picture in the laddish fitting book, well the back of his head and body.


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## 12bolts (Sep 15, 2014)

So about 2/3 to 3/4 down the page there is a pic of a conrod being machined.
That lathe has a carriage, with a cross slide on top, then a top slide on that, and then a "what" slide on top of that?

Cheers Phil


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## Whyemier (Sep 15, 2014)

MikeWi said:


> http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/guides/William_Doxford_and_Sons#The_Manufacturing_Process
> 
> There is a picture of the most gigantic shaper I've ever seen in here, along with other stuff that I'll admit turns me into a little kid.
> 
> Another pic shows a man flame cutting a plate that looks to be at least a foot thick.  It seems like the oxygen stream would not hold it's shape well enough for accurate cutting at that depth.  I mean, I know they leave material to be removed later but it just boggles my feeble mind that you can cut that much.  Some very cool stuff here.  See?  I told you I get like a little kid. :lmao:



Kinda reminds me of the Jax shipyard.  We didn't have the volume of machines this slide show depicts but had some big ones to do the shafts, cranks and pistons when needed. Never operated the big 'stuff' that was for the 1st class and master machinists.


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## Don B (Sep 15, 2014)

12bolts said:


> So about 2/3 to 3/4 down the page there is a pic of a conrod being machined.
> That lathe has a carriage, with a cross slide on top, then a top slide on that, and then a "what" slide on top of that?
> 
> Cheers Phil



I'm not sure if they would be considered the compounds, but it looks as though they where fixed position perpendicular to the top slides, I think though the purposes of the top slide and the slide on top of it would be for fine adjustment/positioning of the tool during setup.


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## 12bolts (Sep 15, 2014)

Don B said:


> ...... would be for fine adjustment/positioning of the tool during setup.



When you look at the tool post mounted on the back side of the carriage it also has a similar setup. I'm wondering now if maybe you could wind both tools in to the work and take off more material at once and also eliminate tool push off

Cheers Phil


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## aztoyman (Sep 16, 2014)

That's AWSOME!! And I thought the machine shop at the mine I worked at had huge parts and machinery. This blows that one away.

Thanks for posting. I really enjoyed it.


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## richl (Sep 16, 2014)

The cutting torches are on a pantograph type machine, using what looks like fullsize patterns :thinking:
Did you see the size of the steady rest on the lathe about 2/3 thirds down the page? Wow!
Very cool link!

Rich


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## hvontres (Sep 16, 2014)

Man, I think Abom would just love that shop....


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## caspaincmonster (Sep 16, 2014)

Those are some cool photos. I always love "heavy" work shops. When I was young my dad worked as an engineer for a heavy equipment company (Western Gear) in the Seattle area, we got to visit a few times and the size of everything was just amazing. Now I work for a subsea engineering company and the shop here is very modern with some good size if not quite so large machines.  I do think the CNC lathes probably enclose a similar area as my apartment. The tolerances and finish they can get out of those machines is insane, particularly given that most everything is clad in Inconel. It makes my finish issues at home with mild steel and a 20mm diameter seem a bit trivial


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## MikeWi (Sep 16, 2014)

hvontres said:


> Man, I think Abom would just love that shop....


Every time someone refers to Adam as Abom I have to do a  double take.  That's my online gaming name! LOL


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## mcostello (Sep 16, 2014)

I remember seeing a Welding equipment calender showing an 8' piece of steel being flame cut. Dual regulators both with dual hoses. Awesome.


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