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This beautiful "new" video has been found by somebody else in another forum where I'm part of, I simply thought that it was too interesting not to know it.
CARVING .45 CALIBER AUTOMATICS OUT OF STEEL WWII UNION SWITCH AND SIGNAL MOVIE 44524 - YouTube
Very interesting clip; often the people behind the front line troops get forgotten my mother worked in an ammunition factory over east in WWII whilst my father was at war just like so many other families in Aus and abroad during that conflict.
I wondered about firing the 1911 hand held instead of using a machine rest to eliminate the human effect, they did it with the Lee Enfield rifle placed on a type of machine rest.
That is a great piece of film. manufacturing has chanced so much in the last 72 years that many no longer know what a milling machine is. Investment casting saves material and labor, reduces cost. Ahhh the 'good 'ole days'....
The old milled out guns are still the epitome of production though, that's why we look at them as art now...
Quick impressions:
1) The forging lump on the top of the frame to equalize cutting pressures whilst performing operations to the magazine well.
2) The primary tooling datum locations for the frame. The slide stop cross hole and what looks to be the lower grip screw hole! (And the Blanchard ground frame sides.)
3) Workers (primarily female) immersing their hands in resulfurized cutting oil. Whilst not toxic, it's guaranteed to leave you tres stinky! And tends to turn all the hard to reach areas of the skin rather dark.
I am fascinated by the methods of production of the day.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom in N.J.
Inglis (and subsequently CAL) used pantograph oxy-acetylene flame cutting tables to cut receiver (Bren/High power/ FN FAL) and slide blanks from sheets of plate steel.
Several 100,000 Bren guns per year!
All of those ganged milling cutters and broaches....can be way more efficient for extremely large production runs than is possible with the vaunted "high efficiency" manufacturing methods of today.
I watched the tank production video....drop the transmission forging into the jig, 30 seconds later the ganged mill cutters have finished the internals and they are dropping the next housing in....amazing.
---------- Post added at 10:35 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:32 AM ----------
I looked at that too, it's actually to ensure that the cutters entering the magazine well don't wander by entering the cut at an angle - it is much easier to machine straight into the material.Quote:
Originally Posted by jmoore