Look what showed up in my shop!

[tjb]

Great score for 350 bucks.

You think 350 bucks is a great score - so far I only have $11.34 invested. THAT's a great score!

 

[extropic]

Interesting. Any idea what hospitals do with metal shapers?

I hope the answer isn't too gruesome.

Can you determine the year of manufacture of the machine?
All sorts of things happened to facilitate WW II production.

 

[tjb]

I hope the answer isn't too gruesome.

Can you determine the year of manufacture of the machine?
All sorts of things happened to facilitate WW II production.

That's a good question. So far, I haven't found a serial number but, admittedly, I have yet to look too hard. I doubt if it's WWII vintage. Wild guess is it's '60's vintage.

 

[Bi11Hudson]

Sorry, I got interrupted while expounding on hospitals and shapers.

In the (not so) long ago before the administratior was a doctor with an MBA, a doctor would often build his own special tooling. When my pop was an admin(early '50s), his chief of surgury would build most any thing he needed. It might go into general usage or maybe just for himself. I specifically remember Dr Daniels when I was very small, before I started school(1956), was left handed. I'm sure, now, that he had whipped up stuff that he could handle better left handed. Ask most any southpaw about scissors or just try to use "standard" ones with a left hand. It ain't easy . . .

In those days, when MDs still made house calls, they were more like engineers or todays technicians. The only difference was when they worked on something, it usually was still running. That was before the bean counters and lawyers took over everything. Pop was a professional manager, not an accountant. Many larger hospitals had their own R&D shops, with machine tools available to all employees. Smaller, backwoods hospitals, like Pop's, worked with local machinists to make ideas into reality.

.

 

[tjb]

Sorry, I got interrupted while expounding on hospitals and shapers.

In the (not so) long ago before the administratior was a doctor with an MBA, a doctor would often build his own special tooling. When my pop was an admin(early '50s), his chief of surgury would build most any thing he needed. It might go into general usage or maybe just for himself. I specifically remember Dr Daniels when I was very small, before I started school(1956), was left handed. I'm sure, now, that he had whipped up stuff that he could handle better left handed. Ask most any southpaw about scissors or just try to use "standard" ones with a left hand. It ain't easy . . .

In those days, when MDs still made house calls, they were more like engineers or todays technicians. The only difference was when they worked on something, it usually was still running. That was before the bean counters and lawyers took over everything. Pop was a professional manager, not an accountant. Many larger hospitals had their own R&D shops, with machine tools available to all employees. Smaller, backwoods hospitals, like Pop's, worked with local machinists to make ideas into reality.

.

Interesting. Never knew that. So I'm guessing if this machine was used in that capacity, it's likely a mid- to late-50's or early- to mid-60's. After that, I doubt MD's would be engineering their own tools.

Thanks for the education.

Regards,
Terry

 

[matthewsx]

My grandfather was a doctor and if they'd let him have admitting privileges he might have been one to build specialized equipment. As it was he worked out of the office at his house where I'm sure he was fixing whatever mechanical thing needed to be worked on. It's easy to forget that just a generation or two back regular people made things on a pretty regular basis. Not so much as a "hobby" but because if they wanted/needed it that was often the best and cheapest way to get it.

My daughter is about to graduate with her biomedical engineering degree and when she came home from her internship last summer you won't believe how proud she was to tell me about using the bandsaw and drill-press to do her work there.

So, not such a surprise there. You might even find 3D printers in the workshop at a modern hospital. I know my daughters roommate that's in the same program makes orthopedic practice pieces from cat scans for the surgeons at U of M.

john

 

[Mini Cooper S]

Sorry, I got interrupted while expounding on hospitals and shapers.

In the (not so) long ago before the administratior was a doctor with an MBA, a doctor would often build his own special tooling. When my pop was an admin(early '50s), his chief of surgury would build most any thing he needed. It might go into general usage or maybe just for himself. I specifically remember Dr Daniels when I was very small, before I started school(1956), was left handed. I'm sure, now, that he had whipped up stuff that he could handle better left handed. Ask most any southpaw about scissors or just try to use "standard" ones with a left hand. It ain't easy . . .

In those days, when MDs still made house calls, they were more like engineers or todays technicians. The only difference was when they worked on something, it usually was still running. That was before the bean counters and lawyers took over everything. Pop was a professional manager, not an accountant. Many larger hospitals had their own R&D shops, with machine tools available to all employees. Smaller, backwoods hospitals, like Pop's, worked with local machinists to make ideas into reality.

.

Thanks for that explanation, makes perfect sense. Kind of make one wonder what other hospital machinery is available.

 

[twraska]

Thanks, John.

We've been friends for 25 years and have done a few handshake deals before. But that's irrelevant because I'm not giving it back to him anyway )). Seriously, though, I'm about ten or fifteen years older than him, so chances are he'll be getting it back in maybe, oh 30 years or so when I turn a hundred-and-one and just don't feel like messing with tools anymore.

My wife and children will all know it's his, and I plan on drawing up a statement that I will laminate and put in one of the drawers on the shaper reminding everyone, this machine goes back to Alan before they raid the shop and then sell everything else off for about a nickel on the dollar.

Regards,
Terry

Just a thought, use a paint pen to ID his ownership by the S/N plate in addition to a card in the machine. That way anyone looking at the machine will see it.

 

[tjb]

My grandfather was a doctor and if they'd let him have admitting privileges he might have been one to build specialized equipment. As it was he worked out of the office at his house where I'm sure he was fixing whatever mechanical thing needed to be worked on. It's easy to forget that just a generation or two back regular people made things on a pretty regular basis. Not so much as a "hobby" but because if they wanted/needed it that was often the best and cheapest way to get it.

My daughter is about to graduate with her biomedical engineering degree and when she came home from her internship last summer you won't believe how proud she was to tell me about using the bandsaw and drill-press to do her work there.

So, not such a surprise there. You might even find 3D printers in the workshop at a modern hospital. I know my daughters roommate that's in the same program makes orthopedic practice pieces from cat scans for the surgeons at U of M.

john

Interesting. My daughter is a brilliant doctor, but she doesn't know a screwdriver from a drill press. My, how times have changed.

Regards

 

[tjb]

Just a thought, use a paint pen to ID his ownership by the S/N plate in addition to a card in the machine. That way anyone looking at the machine will see it.

Great idea. Thanks.