ABOM sized lathe

All discussion about lathes including but not limited to: South Bend, Hardinge, Logan, Monarch, Clausing and other HSM lathes, including imports

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Steggy
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Re: ABOM sized lathe

Post by Steggy »

Harold_V wrote: Thu Apr 05, 2018 3:28 pmWhile it's large, it's not really noteworthy. You want to see large? Take a look at this one:
I saw a lathe like that when I was in the Boston Naval Shipyard in the 1960s. It was used for working on the gun barrels of heavy cruisers (8 inch bore) and battleships (16 inch bore). It would have been fascinating to watch the millwrights when they installed the machine. The thing was gigantic.
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Patio
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Re: ABOM sized lathe

Post by Patio »

This is what I got from the writing on the picture, of the lathe, Harold showed.

"Niles Gun Boring and Turning Lathe delivered to a U.S. Government Arsenal in 1941. The lathe will turn and bore a gun 73" in diameter and 60 feet long. It has a bed 172 ft. long. There are three carriages, arranged so as to pass in front of the gun supports, enabling the gun to be turned and bored at the same time. Overall length of the machine is 240 ft. Weight 950,000 pounds"

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SteveHGraham
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Re: ABOM sized lathe

Post by SteveHGraham »

A friend of mine produced a photo of a man sitting inside a giant lathe, scraping the ways. He was a long way from the camera. It was impossible to get enough of the machine in the picture to get an idea what it looked like. I have no idea what it was used for.
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Steggy
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Re: ABOM sized lathe

Post by Steggy »

Patio wrote: Fri Apr 06, 2018 12:34 amThe lathe will turn and bore a gun 73" in diameter and 60 feet long.
Those are battleship dimensions! :evil:

USS Iowa firing full broadside with 16" guns
USS Iowa firing full broadside with 16" guns
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SteveM
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Re: ABOM sized lathe

Post by SteveM »

Remember, if you need to bore a barrel 60' long, you need more than 120' of way!

My dad discovered that after turning a cannon barrel longer than 12" on his 9x24 South Bend.

He had to wait about 10 years until he got his 12x36 Clausing 5914 to finally finish it.

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Richard_W
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Re: ABOM sized lathe

Post by Richard_W »

The shipyard in Portland had a Niles lathe that is a 120 feet centers with a 54" swing. The compound had a motor and feed on it to cut tapers.
pete
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Re: ABOM sized lathe

Post by pete »

If the carriage doesn't have a catwalk, table and chair on that for the machinist there small ones. :-) Mesta Machine Company has some good history scattered around the net of some very large equipment. I believe they made some of the largest forgeing presses ever built. There was a great book about the company with some amazing pictures somewhere on the net but I've since lost the link. But today I don't think there's any place left in North America that could turn around and build those 16" guns and turrets like the big battle ships had. We have a few large enough lathes but it takes a whole lot more than that.
WJH
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Re: ABOM sized lathe

Post by WJH »

So, would you use a DXA sized QCTP on that lathe?


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John Hasler
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Re: ABOM sized lathe

Post by John Hasler »

WJH wrote: Tue Apr 10, 2018 12:41 pm So, would you use a DXA sized QCTP on that lathe?


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And you'd use the overhead crane to change the tool.
WJH
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Re: ABOM sized lathe

Post by WJH »

I thought the battleship guns were made in a vertical lathe that was mostly beneath ground level, to avoid the problems with extreme lengths and gravity


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SteveHGraham
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Re: ABOM sized lathe

Post by SteveHGraham »

The comments here made me wonder how the big guns are made. I found some interesting Youtubes. First one was made during WWI. It shows the manufacture of relatively small guns. One surprise: it shows what appears to be a round barrel being carved by a shaper.

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SteveHGraham
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Re: ABOM sized lathe

Post by SteveHGraham »

Also found a link to a book page featuring a horizontal lathe 200 feet long, for naval guns.

https://books.google.com/books?id=iD5IA ... &q&f=false
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