Big Machine Tools

This is a posting I plan to add to as I come across additional pictures of big machine tools.

John Abbott posted
Craven 42
Brian Thomas Look at the motors behind it! Wow.
[Steam engines in the late 1800s became quite large with big flywheels. I assume this is the type of machine that made those flywheels. I remember the Ford Museum had some engines with really big flywheels when I visited it decades ago. The biggest I have seen since I bought a digital camera after I retired in May 2014 is a 1920 Vilter 250 HP Tandem Compound and a 1917 Allis-Chalmers 350 HP Engine.]

Joean Ngew posted
Big Machine Tools

Edward Wuestman: Now that’s a big milling machine or lathe or something

Shaun Carter: Edward Wuestman vertical borer

Steve OConnor shared

 

Guy Edge commented on Joean's post

Ours is not quite that large.

6M vertical will turn 20’

The Marine Buff posted two photos with the comment:

The world’s biggest lathes fashion the world’s largest shafts to spin the world’s largest propellers on the world’s largest ships. And if you’re in need of a lathe, the world’s largest lathe just happens to be for sale.

As we have noted, the world’s ships are getting larger and larger. Take the “Emma Maersk” cargo ship built by the Danish Odense Steel Shipyard: it is 1,302 ft (397 m) long, 183 ft (56 m) wide, 98 feet (30 m) in depth, has a gross tonnage of 1,70,794 tons and moves at a speed of 26 kn. As you can imagine, the engine and propeller needed to move the ship are huge; but what about the lathe needed to fashion the propeller shaft?

How Big Can a Lathe Get

The theoretical limit of a lathe is only limited by the Earth’s curve; a flat line of about 3.1 miles (5 km), after which point the lathe would be unable to do its job: making symmetrical changes to a rotating object.

All lathes are the same in that they rotate a workpiece made of wood, metal, glass or other material on its axis of rotation for the purpose of cutting, sanding, knurling, facing, deforming or turning it.

There are three types of lathes: engine, turret and special purpose. It is the special purpose category we are after and specifically rotary lathes. For example, one of the longest horizontal waves in the world is used for machining direct driven propeller shafts for very large ships. The lathe is 118 ft (36m) long, making it the second largest of its kind in the world.

It’s been reported Waldrich Siegen of South Africa built the largest lathe in 1973 at 126 feet (38m), weighing 485.6 tons, the same weight as a jumbo jet aircraft, and capable of handling a workpiece up to 330 tons. Some specs:

swing over bed – 16 ft (4.87m)

max turning diameter – 3000 mm

boring diameter range – 350-1800 mm

max workpiece length – 13,000 to 10,000 mm

spindle speed 60 to 2400 rpm

speed adjustment range : 60 ~ 2400 rpm

faceplate speed (1st.step / 2nd. Step) : 1~41 / 4.2~169 rpm

nominal speed (1st.step / 2nd. Step) : 10.3 / 42.2 rpm

torque at the faceplate : 130000 N

Geoffrey Greenhalgh: That thing will never do 2400 rpm. 60 rpm stated lowest speed? Bull sh1t.

Jerry L. Nowlin: The weight of the Emma Maersk is 170,000 tons, not 1,070,000 tons. While under construction, Emma Maersk suffered a fire caused by welding. The fire affected the accommodation section and bridge, adding 6-7 weeks to her build time. The ship weighs in at 170,974t with a length of 397m, 56m beam, and 15.5m draught.

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Comments on Geoffrey's comment

Cagin Collinson commented "That lathe is in Sydney Australia. Saw it a few months back. And lots of of other huge tools." and provided three photos.

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Dennis Sayles posted

World's Largest Radial Drilling Machine, Built in Kaukauna, Wisconsin, 1959

34" column Brickford radial with 10' arm, driving a 5' twist drill.

Sean Brady posted
Machinists at the control panel of large Schiess horizontal boring machine at Combustion Engineering in Chattanooga, TN. 1967.
Kent Carter: The round thing is part of an experimental 'breeder' reactor. Probably Clinch River.
Kent Carter: correction... Hanford!
Jerry McFadden: I think that they might be turning the lid, for a large pressure vessle. POSSIBLY the vessel head, for a nuclear reactor. CE was a was one of the big players then.
Now I see they are boring holes in thar Reactor Vessel head. Wow, that is some great machining!!
Kevin Carey: All of the Combustion Engineering plants and equipment were sold to South Korea in the 1990's.

 

Peter Forth commented on Sean's post
here is a modern version with CNC from the company TOSS , but the principles and operation are the same

 

Sasa Zupunski commented on Sean's post
https://whatisnuclear.com/reactor_history.html

Comments on Sean's post

Robert Eddleman posted
180" BETTS
Robert Eddleman I machined a set of those gears for a press 4 years ago, this pic popped up on my timeline this morning, so I thought I would share:-)
Robert Eddleman That is a SCHEISS gear hobber behind me.
Lots of interesting comments and pictures, two of which I include below. And a video of the South Side Machine Works in St Louis.

Bill Bauer commented on the above posting
This was our Farrel VTL , machining an approx 30 ft dia turbine , for the Sanxia 3 gorges dam in China.

Bill Bauer commented on the above posting
this was the finished product , i'm infront on the left ,holding the actual prototype( that we also made ) turbine , with the finished big boy behind us

nmih (172 photos)
Citation: Bethlehem Steel Corporation, “No.2 Machine Shop Niles Vertical Boring Mill, Bethlehem Plant,” Bethlehem Steel Corporation Photo Collection, accessed October 2, 2022, https://nmihbethlehemsteel.omeka.net/items/show/172.

Chris Morre posted three photos with the comment: "King Vertical Lathe still making me money almost every day! 72" four jaw chuck."

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Jeff Antinori commented on the above posting
I run this mammoth. I named it one armed Willy. We also have another this old, same size as the one you posted.
I've roughed out some parts taking .300 a side. Very impressive and satisfying.
Jeff Antinori This table is 16'...... Plus, the whole machine can be moved back, making more clearance for table. I haven't used them yet but there are extenders for the table. Could probably fit something 25' wide on there. I am in no hurry to try it.

Chris Moore comment on his above posting
Not really sure of it's age. It's pre WW2. Last time the 50 hp motor was rebuilt was 1953. Here's what it ate Thursday morning.
Chris Moore I think you're right. Early 40's would be my best guess. King is no longer around but Bourn & Koch still sells parts. They might know based on serial number? Might have to check that out....

Chris Moore comment on his above posting
I can easily take .500" depth of cut on forged steel. Stay around .300" on forged stainless. You are usually limited by your tool size. We now run carbide inserts on it 600 series SNMG. We can run bigger but it's cost vs tool life. We hit a hard spot on the forging crust and the insert will just explode. Last weeks graveyard.

Jason Baker added four comments on the above posting:

1   Chips off my KING VTL, 9' table

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Chris Moore It has a side arm like a Bullard. I don't have that option on mine...Jason Baker There was 17,000 lbs of material to come off each one of those partsJason Baker You have 2 rams making it a vertical boring mill, mine has a ram, Pentagon turret and side jack making it a VTL.

Derek C.Bryant Look at all those chips get the shop vac. And a big barrel or ten.

Chris Moore Too hot for a shopvac. They melt to the hose. We use shovels straight into a dump bin usually and then to the big bin. I only barrel the special alloys I don't want to mix up with regular steel. I typically run three machines at once so shovelling becomes half the work! I wish chip conveyors were feasible for me to put in.

Derek C.Bryant Oh ok. That sounds like a idea to prototype a stainless lined shop vac hose. To make that a easier job. Because there is a shop vac suction head for A 55 gallon drum.

Daniel P. Zink HOW DO YOU RUN THE MACHINE WITHOUT CHIP GUARDS

Chris Moore Heavy apron. Ha ha. We do have chip guards on the Bullards cause they turn a faster rpm and spit chips at you. Typically the King just piles them up neatly on the left of table. I will jog the King fast to clear the table to load a new part.

Mike White I miss running stuff that big. Love big parts making big chips.

Robert Eddleman commented on the above posting
 Love the Vertical's, my favorite machine to run!

Troy Davis can't run vtl's ,gives me vertigo.tried many times to no avail.

Spencer James added three comments on the above posting.

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3   That was a10 ft Cincinnati 1.000 cut on both head..
Jason Baker 1" D.O.C. ????? I can see .500" D.O.C per head but 1" I don't by that. You would run out of horsepower and you need heavy duty turning tools for heavy roughing like that.

Joean Ngew posted
Wow😲

Trev Wade: Good old twin vertical borers

Scott Herbert: Isn’t that the Falk plant in Milwaukee? My friends father worked there back in the day. He was one of the reasons I became a T&D maker.

Steve Mollner: Scott Herbert Ayep. That was a premium job. I worked on a large machining center there from a few months after the explosion until The Great Recession.

["Three Falk employees died when propane gas exploded at the Falk plant near 30th and Canal streets in Milwaukee's Menomonee Valley (It was Falk.) on Dec. 8." [wisn]

Actually, the explosion was on Dec 6. [ReliablePlant and others] (This is another website that doesn't bother to specify the year. But somewhere I came across the year 2006.)]

Steve Mollner: At a former job I stood on the table of a turning center that could hob a 50' diameter gear.

Tom Winkle: Steve Mollner, was that machine at Falk in Milwaukee by any chance?

I saw that on a plant tour through EMD in Lagrange, IL.

Steve Mollner: Tom Winkle it was. Shop 4. Also known as the navy shop as it was built for the war effort. (WW2) The guy that trained me said it was the largest turning center in the free world, we don't know what the Russians have. I worked there from just after the explosion until the Great Recession.

Ranger Marsh: We had a VTL 13 feet in diameter for turning large stainless steel disks for use in a paper mill digester. Lots of machines in a machine shop can hurt you but if your casting flys out of one of these things it will probably kill you. I remember hitting the big Red Stop button one time and running for my life. Couldn't stop shaking and I went home for the day.

Tim Blaeske: I used to work in Shop 2, Big Bay, on the big MC60. That gasher in Shop 4 was a monster!

Steve Mollner: Tim Blaeske I ran one of those G&L's on graveyard shift in shop 3.

Steve OConnor shared

 

Richard Chioccola commented on Joean's post

Richard Chioccola commented on Joean's post

Willem Ritter commented on Joean's post
About 59' dia. machining a tub of an 8200 Marion dragline with 2 milling machines 0n rails. The 2 finishing cuts get done at nighttime. Every night the rails have to be adjusted with a N-3 working of 4 datums. The finishing product has to be within .002" per 3' and within .015" across the dia. See the 3 photos. (Field machining). Also, when we build a dragline, we have to do the line boring. We use for them 4" and 5" dia. boring bars, some of the bores you can standup in.

Riff L Lloyd commented on Joean's post

Dan Adamchick posted
Unknown big old lathe.

John Abbott posted
VIEW OF LATHES ON WEST END OF MACHINE SHOP No. 2 ADDITION. LATHE ON LEFT IS 120' (CHUCK) X 7 '. LATHE ON RIGHT IS 124' (CHUCK) X 21

Bob Gaston posted
Armstrong-Whitworth lathe

John Abbott posted

Jerry Fleischman This is called a pit lathe, used primary for fly wheels and the like.

Chance O'Neil Had a couple of these at the navy shipyard. The pits were all that were left when I worked there.

Sean McKnight + -.0003

Graham Harris Very cool. It looks like the edge is being turned. The ratchet wrench on the feed is interesting, maybe big cuts due to a very slow turning speed? there'd be auto feed surely. I wonder how long to do a face cut?

Alan Lestikow Guess that would be how they machined the flywheel assembly on this too then. . . https://youtu.be/9ZR8JUBOUSw

Bob Gaston posted
40" dia x 76' with a through hole
[It is a public group so I recommend following the link because there are a lot of interesting comments.]

I've seen a picture of a lathe in a Caterpillar plant that was so long and big that the operator rode in a cab on the tool holder. I wish I could have copied, or at least referenced, that picture.

About an hour after I wrote the above sentence, I came across the following picture of a long lathe.

John Abbott posted
This is Not an Old Lathe ... They just Needed a Telephoto Lens to reach the Other End of the Machine...wow

John Abbott posted
Are you sure that Truck is Long Enough?
Perry Locke I have seen these expandable wheel base fork trucks in action by riggers. Super heavy machinesRobert Hagar That hi load lifts about 24000 lbs. Max.

YA TIYA posted

I have to admit I've never heard of a hoist shaft but this is badd ass:

Turning 44’ long, 80,000 lbs Hoist shaft on 60” engine lathe at Nordberg Plant Milwaukee, 1930s. Pond lathe is from the 1800s.

Mark Sommerfeld: Anyone noticed that the tailstock is off the end of the ways halfway and a mill jack supporting the back side?

John Tetlow: Mark Sommerfeld Sorry I have just seen your comment! Can you imagine what went through the guys mind when asked to set this job up!

Mark Sommerfeld: John Tetlow I can swing just under 37" by 176" long. I've had a 36.625" electric motor armature, 150" long weighing 7200 lbs. Fun work. I work for a machine shop that has been in business 150 years, I love it.

Andy King: I grew up in Huntsville, AL. NASA had lathes for rockets that were way over 50 feet long and would swing like 25 feet. The operator had a little chair to ride on.

Jerry Berens: Nordberg made mine hoists & diesel engines.

 

Brian Milne commented on YA TIYA's post
Hoist shaft for a mine.

John Abbott posted
Lou Tucci That might have been his whole week right there.
Jason Baker I have cut long sections of threads like this. Rough in using a follower rest, then finish half the length at each holding half the length of screw with steady rest and using follower rest at tool post. We had to grind our own tools to finish each side of the thread acme or buttress, once we started finishing the the thread had to run rpm dead slow and peel out thread flanks with hand ground high speed steel tools running coolant and I would get a polished finish. 

John Abbott posted
Gauging Diameter Tail Shaft

Just like woodworking --- measure twice, cut once. A link to another machinist measuring the diameter of another large shaft.

Hesham Eladawi posted
The biggest lathe in the world, supposedly, in 1931. Built in Westphalia Germany. It has a length of 10 m and is powered by a 100 HP motor. Workers surround and admire the giant machine.

Jason Clarke posted

Take a look at the tail stock

Edit; look at the bottle jack holding the tail stock up

Mark Jaeger: That is not a bottle jack. That is a screw Jack. It's a solid stock with the box thread on a solid shaft. No Hydraulics involved in this is not a bottle.

Jon Wolfe shared

R Jim Echlin: Not a roll. A shaft of some sort. Quite impressive.

[I thought that was to long for a roll in a steel mill.]

James LaParr: That is a railroad/foundation jack. Bottle jacks are hydraulic.

John Abbott posted
James Miller I have setup and ran Wernier lathes that were 80 ft between ctrs and had 4 compound slides to turn spin-cast tubes that weighed 25,000 lbs that would in turn be cut down into lock rings for pipe unions; sand would destroy the inserts!
Chance O'Neil I think they are Betts-Bridgeford lathes. Hard to say for sure but they are very similar

John Abbott posted

John Abbott posted
machining-betts-lathe
Anthony Garner Looks like that roll got strip tooled .The steady rest isnt for rigidity of setup as much as for sag . Hard to measure when your part goes banana on you.

John Abbott posted
Bill Sparling Is that the micrometer hanging up in the air there ? way coolAllen Butler I'm not sure if it's a mike, but it does look like a gage

John Abbott posted
fairly large machine
[It took me a while before I spotted the two guys standing in the background. There were a few comments about the open gears and OSHA.]

John Abbott posted
Can you say Boring Bar.... Holey ... wow...

John Abbott posted
Early Boring Mill...
Kenneth Rose ha, the operators are probably the one standing in the back. The man in the suit is probably the boss, and probably doesn't even know what lever or wheel to turn. But I could be wrong. I know how I like to wear a suit to work. LOLRay Cook No chips,'prolly right.

Steven Palmer posted
Slooow Ride!!
John Abbott I love big long cuts ... needs a carrier seat with a back rest...
Carl Steensma ...and a coffee cup holder.
Steven Palmer Its a biggy 84" swing 34' bed
Robert Chave Bath Iron Works had one like this, but longer. You could turn the propeller shafts for a quite substantial ship on it.
Tanner Remillard My old German teacher told me back in the 60's he did a job on the lathe where his 8 hour shift was 2 roughing passes.
Randall Nick Wegman Heard a similar story about GE turbine blades in New Castle, DE. Whole shift was just watching it cut.Ron Spokovich Some in our Roll Shop were that size, and did have seats on them when you're roughing and had lots of time. If you had a double insert tool in, you could take 6" off in one pass. I think they were 200HP to 250HP!
Ron Spokovich Robert Chave Yes, 6" on the diameter. The tool had two inserts each, one slightly ahead of the other and down from it and both were on a slight angle. The inserts were about the size of a domino, and about 3/8" to 1/2" thick. The lead tip cut first, then the second after a few revolutions, resulting in a 6" cut off of the diameter, as each tool cut 1 1/2", making 3" to-the-side, and 6" off the diameter. Those chips were capable of damage!
Ian Wilson My old instructor told me that as an apprentice during WWII he would finish a parting off cut on large diametre turbine shafts by straddling the groove and driving hardened steel wedges with a sledge hammer down the parting cut untill the shaft was detached, for this he got an extra shilling in his pay.
Anthony Garner Its not bad in the Lathe . The slow ride comes when it goes to grinder . 12 hours a pass .
Rex Whinery I had to turn .220" off of a 15.25" x 29 ft piston rod and had terrible problems with taper. That forging sagged 1/4" when supported on the ends.
John Abbott sometimes the heat from the cut tends to swell up the shaft length ... causing a bow effect cutting leads to a tapering effect mostly in the middle .....long shafts can be a real pain... that is where your skill comes into play ...
Rex Whinery I had indicators set up showing how it was sagging and cutting tool was pushing it away. I ended up marking the difference on the ways and adjusted the depth of cut as it was going. Luckily I had a .020 tolerance as it was being ground after that.

Ryan Darragh commented on the above posting

John Abbot posted
somua_turning_lathe
Chad Fisher When a ladder is needed you know it's freaking hugeJohn Abbott At least they put the Start and Stop buttons on the Ground Floor ....Peter Bartell Must take one hell of a chuck keyDavid Stapleton If your cutting at max diameter, bet you could go take a piss before it made a full rotation.

John Abbott posted
Big Planer... Sorry GIGANTIC !!! Planer says: ...Built in 1908 by the Niles - Bement - Pond Company of Philadelphia Pennsylvania this was likely, at the time the Largest and Heaviest Metal Working Planer ever made... The huge machine weighted at 845,000 lbs. and had motors totaling 207 HP for driving table, slotter bar, lift and so forth...

John Abbott posted
Planer Mill ....this is going to take all day...
Paul Baygents That is the largest piece of stock I've ever seen.
Grant Alexander Smith Hammer base

John Abbott posted
Planing Joint Flange Bed plate

John Abbott posted
Ingersoll
Loyd Boydigan Did an apprenticeship at Wean-United in Youngstown, Ohio. Had to learn these mills as part of it. We had 7 of them, from 5' to 14' between the columns. Very high seniority job, paid the most and a lot of prestige. These guys that ran them had a lot of respect. Still keep a picture of myself running the 14 ft in my toolbox. My diemaker buddies at my current job just shake their heads.

John Abbott posted
Craven Planer
[Note the guy standing next to the tool holder.]

John Abbott posted
Lots of Parts waiting for this Bad Boy to fire up !!!
Jason Baker At the old Wean United plant here in Youngstown, Ohio they use to like 6 of those big Ingersoll planers. That place was huge.Loyd Boydigan Actually, the Wean plant I'm Austintown had 7 at one time. 5',6',7',8',10',13',and 14' between the columns. I ran the 7,10,13,14 ft at one time another. The United plant downtown had even bigger ones, gantry style. Only paid about $15 an hr to run these things. We all had to learn them in the apprenticeship.

John Abbott posted
Put out the Safety chains and watch your head...
A Ship rudder Casting...They weld plates to the sides after turning it.
[Unfortunately, I don't know enough about machine tools to understand some of the comments. And I can't figure out what and how is being tooled. The tips of the rudder frame?]

John Abbott posted
Hey go grab me that micrometer over there >>>>
[When you are machining big parts, you need to be able to make big measurements!]
Robert Hagar As thin as the frame is it seems that the heat of your hands would throw it off by .010".

Mark Beam A breeze blowing through the shop will do wonders too , and keep an eye on your parts temp. too . Best advice place them beside the standard you are using , check to standard , use them , then check to standard again . Keep in mind that the standard and part temperatures must be as close to each other as possible .

Chance O'Neil They are very heat sensitive. Can't hold them for more than a few minutes. Gravity also makes a difference. When checking them with standard, you check them in the same manner you will take the measurement. If you will measure with the mic laying horizontal, then you check the standard while horizontal. If measuring vertically like measuring a shaft od while it's in the lathe, then check it on standard vertically. You have to really developed your feel to use these big ones accurately.

John Abbott posted

...A look at the Future of Machining...3 Jobs ...at once ...???   Gantry-Milling-Machine-BQ2-B2-

[It wasn't did not appreciate the size of the tool and the work until a comment pointed out the "tool operator cage."]

John Abbott posted
Taneleer Tivan We had one of those even 2 times bigger at Votih-germany. Hard to imagine and even harder to belive but it's true.Tyler Sienkiewicz Now that's a VTL
[I have concluded that VTL means Vertical Turning Lathe.]

John Abbott posted

John Abbott posted
Niles VBM operator platform

John Abbott posted
Jason Beaver That's a huge widow maker. Lol.

John Abbott posted
Ray Smith Would have loved to run this one. Looks like a pivoting axis mill.

John Abbott posted
Chuck Larkin Similar to the huge vertical boring mill at Mare Island
[The comments decided it was a Niles after some specullation on Bullard and Cincinnati.]

Obviously a big lathe was needed to turn this after big machines forged it.

Paul Fisher posted
I'm new to this group. I like every one else here learned a long time ago in shops with over head drive belts from a pony motor. I collect ww2 antiques on the side and am exposed to tons of pictures from the era. I don't know if the picture was ever shown here. If so disregard.
Brad Piatt Rough turned steam turbine rotor maybe.Donald Towne Think you hit the nail on the head,Brad. Worked on a lot of these at G.E. Think this may be a GE or Westinghouse Shop. Schenectady,NY maybe?Carl Steensma Honestly, it looks like ALCO Schenectady. They did a lot of war work.Brad Piatt Yes it does look like ALCOCarl Steensma I was last in the ALCO shop in Schenectady in about 1988. A lot of it was occupied by GE. We made a special Stator Core alignment fixture that was used in that building. At least that's what it looked like in there when we delivered it and showed the guys how to use it.

John Abbott posted
John Abbott If you will Notice this... me being a welder ...the Lifting Lugs Welded to the Plate end ...to lift it out of the roll with a overhead crane ...when finished ...
[That is a thick plate that is getting bent!]

John Abbott posted
Plate-Bending-Machine--
Robert Phillips AHhhhhh, somebody knows how to roll a cone:):):):)John Abbott You need that extra roller on the plate edge nice machineMichael Pahl It's a pretty good-sized one
[It must be a good-sized one for cone rolling. The boiler shops for steam locomotives would have to have really long rollers. I'm still looking for a picture of one of those.]

Dan Rasure shared
Buy American, buy Bertsch. American made since 1879. www.megafab.com
Look at this huge old Bertsch Roll. They started making machine tools in 1879 in Cambridge,IN
Dan Rasure They made some rolls so big for nuclear plants they had to be assembled on site.

Chuck Larkin posted
The plate roller at American Bridge, US Steel in South San Francisco. Worked in the machine shop until 1971. Sorry I didn't take pictures. Very interesting work.
Chuck Larkin That machine would easily roll 2' thick plate into pipe up to 20' diameter. Wish I had some pictures of the other equipment. There was a plate beveling machine that would cut a bevel on the edge of 40' long 2" thick steel plate. The operator would ride in a carriage with a series of tool bits, each set a bit deeper at 45 degrees drenched in a bath of cutting oil. It would take about 15 seconds to complete the beveling operation.
There were several huge plate positioning machines. These would hold and rotate curved, pie shaped segments of plate, allowing the welders to easily weld all of the segments together to form the end cap for the 20' diameter pipe.
The machine shop had Lathes, Mills, Radial Drills, Vertical Boring Mills, and many others. 
Both Bethlehem Steel, and U.S. Steel closed in 1971. Had they not, I would have retired from there. Great job with great people.

John Abbott posted
[Note the blade at the bottom of the member that moves vertically between the side rails. This machine obviously shears metal plate to length.]

John Abbott posted

John Abbott posted
Guillotine Shear Steel Car Shop... Capacity 10 ft. x 7/8" in. Plate
Aug Blanchat Bet that made quite a thump when it sheared 7/8 thick steel plate...customarily the concrete slabs beneath those shears in the old steel plants were 6 and 8 feet in depth - lots to contend with...

John Abbott posted
[I assume that is an engine block that is being machined. Notice it has tool holders from the side as well as from the top.]

John Abbott posted
4.5M FAIRBANKS MORSE BLOCK

John Abbott posted
Counter Boring

Philip Zalewski commented on the above posting
It's a larger bore at the top.

Doug Kennedy posted
Van Norman 477 crankshaft grinder. I'm grinding a D8 cat crank.

John Abbott posted

I was wondering about the scale of this bandsaw. Fortunately this comment answered my question.

Daniel Warner commented on the above posting
Here's from when I was there back in 2008. My old college bud, Kevin, and I are both 6 foot tall. The band mill is a Sumner Iron Works. It's a double cut band, meaning it can cut when the carriage (missing) is traveling in either direction.

If anyone is ever in the Portland, OR area I would highly suggest that they take the 1 hour road trip West to Camp 18 and get some breakfast. The restaruant and the whole yard around it is full of this kind of eye candy.

Ben Stalvey posted
Hard at work on the 4100W. Blast from the past. Someone has to preserve all that unique Manitowoc Crane history and that's me
[This would be machining the base for a crawler crane housing.]

Steven Palmer posted
Bob Gaston The reactor vessel head for the Energy Research and Development Administration's Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) at Hanford, Washington. c. 1974.Jason Stolszek This machine was probably built for this one job and then scrapped. I'm not entirely sure what they do with these.

John Abbott posted

Ross Ibold commented on a posting
Horsburgh and Scott here in Cleveland makes gears that big.

John Abbott posted
Dish-Spinning-Machine-Large
A Video

John Abbott posted
Hydraulic-Press-Machine-for-Dishing-Large
Marcus Samson Bottoms of tanks

John Abbott posted
I need too do a little grinding.
Seth Marsh Now that's a blanchardChance O'Neil Wow! I've ran some really big grinders in my time, but that thing makes them all look like childs toys! That is awesome!!

Spencer James posted three pictures with the comment: "Hahn and clay, Houston Texas."

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John Abbott posted
Craven Bros Electrically driven B size circular saw for iron or steel c1911.

John Abbott posted

hydraulic-riveting

Bill Porter Finally get to see the entire device, lotta partial views, hate to get a finger in that thing.

By Moonlight0551 from Australia (Cockatoo Island Giant Lathe HDR) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
[The world's largest lathe is for sale.]

Randall James Marquis posted
Craven Vertical Mill
Kevin Clark General Electric in Lynn
Gerald Hounchell How do they maintain rigidity in the tooling arms? Must be a problemCraig A. Hornbeck Sheer mass !

Donald Dunn shared
Robert Henry: I used to run an accupress that was 42 foot long 1500 ton. Definitely some scary stuff!!!

Steve OConner posted four photos with the comment: "Did you ever wonder who in the U.S. had a vertical boring mill big enough to machine the 32.8 foot diameter Saturn V rocket sections? NASA at their Michoud Assembly Facility, part of the Marshal Space Flight Center in New Orleans, Louisiana had a 1914 vintage, 27 foot diameter Niles VBM which they added a 42 foot table extension, making it the largest VBM known in the world."

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Sean Brady posted
Polishing radio telescope bearing. This 17.5-foot hemispherical bearing is being machined to form the structural heart of the 140-foot (43-meter) telescope at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Green Bank, West Virginia, USA. When complete, it will support the full rotating weight of 2700 tons on a .005-inch thick oil film between it and the main hydrostatic pad supports. Cast by General Steel Industries it was then finished and polished by Westinghouse. Nearly 17 tons of metal were ground off during this process of getting the surface smooth with no bump more than .003 inches. The bearing still weighs in excess of 150 tons, and is one of the largest steel castings ever poured. Construction of the 140-foot telescope at Green Bank was completed in 1965.

I wonder how many times it has been upgraded.

Kim Arbaugh posted
Some of my very earliest memories was a cub scout field trip of about 65 miles to see the radio telescopes at Green Bank West Virginia. I was only about 5 years of age. My two elder brothers were Scouts. Some 40 years later, after a telecommunications career in the Coast Guard, I was an official visitor from 9-1-1 center Rockbridge County Virginia. Rockbridge County lies within the NARO Green Bank “Quiet Zone” and the FCC heavily regulates the output power of our Police, Fire and Rescue radios. I was privileged to go upon the 485 foot telescope structure and into the small receiver room above the middle of the 300 foot diameter dish. My 16 year old son was with me. Awesome experience.

 

Sean Brady posted
Machining a gear at the Mesta Machine Co, WestHomestead,c.1910. The size and scale of steelmaking technology at the turn of the century fueled the almost overnight industrialization and urbanization of many parts of the country. Today, that same technology presents a new set of challenges for those who hope to preserve it.
[The comments discuss why it was cast with two halves.]

Niles Bement Pond did not make machines as big as some of the others, but I include this link because I want to record the name.

Other big machines in the blogs:

• "Cannon Lathe" in Rome, GA
• 1912 90" Wheel Lathe
• 1960 King 66" VTL
• Mesta Machine Company