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Large Vertical Lathe
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L Vanice
Diamond
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2006
- Location
- Fort Wayne, IN
Reminds me that the place I worked had a big room used mostly as an auditorium. There was a turntable built into the floor large enough for a 6x4 semi tractor to park on it, but no T-slots.
Larry
Larry
Joe Michaels
Diamond
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2004
- Location
- Shandaken, NY, USA
Years ago, we sent some hydroelectric turbine work up to a machine shop in Port Colborne, Ontario. The shop was named "Hymac". One of the deciding factors for our awarding the work to Hymac was that they had a vertical boring mill of sufficient capacity to handle the various parts of the turbines needing machine work.
Hymac had purchased a used Farrell (? on the manufacturer as my memory is a little hazy, call it a 'senior moment') boring mill, ex US Naval Shipyard, and had just gotten it up and running when they took on our work. The boring mill was located in a cavernous steel building which still had a crushed stone floor. The boring mill had been set on a new reinforced concrete foundation, levelled up and was ready to work. Our job went onto that boring mill with drop-lights strung up for lighting, and a temporary power feeder run to the drive. The drive on that boring mill, was, as I recall, a DC motor with a motor generator set. I got up to Hymac a few times to inspect and discuss various portions of our hydro turbine work. When they were machining certain portions of the work on the VBM, we asked them to loosen the hold-down studs and put a dial indicator on the work. I wanted to be sure things were not going to spring out of flatness or round when the clamping dogs were slacked off. To check the dial indicators, I got on the table of the VBM and they had it running at a very slow speed. I was literally walking backwards, facing the indicators which were mounted off the cross rail, watching the indicators as the table (with the job on it) turned under my feet.
Hymac also had another vertical boring mill that they were getting ready for use. This was made by King, and had come from General Electric of Canada. This VBM was capable of handling work as much as 60 feet in diameter. This 60 foot diameter figure was a bit deceptive, since the table was not 60 feet in diameter. The table was somewhat smaller, on the order of 30 + feet in diameter. Set in the foundations were sole plates with tapped holes. The upright side frames and cross rail could be moved to different positions relative to the center of the table. For larger diameter work, the side frames and cross rail made a very short chord across the 30 foot radius circle, though the table itself was not 60 feet in diameter. Larger diameter work would overhang the table. Hymac said they had work for this VBM that would require using it at nearly its full capacity, cutting some large radius's for movable span bridge parts. Hymac also said this particular boring mill had machined turbine parts for some of the largest hydroelectric turbines on the North American Continent. I never saw this particular boring mill running, and it hulked in the semi-darkness of that steel building, which had no permanent lighting at the time.
Years ago as well, we were shopping for a planer mill. Our search took us to a machine shop in Philadelphia, PA. This shop had moved its operations to a newer facility on the outskirts of Philadelphia. The shop's original name was Bissinger & Stein. They had gotten away from really heavy machine work and were concentrating on seals for gas turbines and jet engines, so had modernized the name to "Steinseal" as I recall. We bought a Cincinnati Hypro openside planer with two Yancey milling spindles from their old shop. In that same shop there was a really large vertical boring mill. It had to have had a table about 20 feet in diameter. This boring mill was made by Betts, if I recall correctly. It was so old that it had a 'peck type' drive for the various feeds (eccentrics working linkage to arms with pawls that advanced the feed by moving ratchet wheels). This VBM was covered in dust, dirt and pigeon droppings. It was operational, though had not been used in years. The word was Steinseal was going to sell the building, and the VBM was available, or was going to be scrapped where it sat. Seemed a shame, but it was a machine tool way too big to be moved unless the buyer was prepared to bring in riggers. We did run the planer mill for some test cuts, and they had to temporarily reconnect the power to it, as well as having the bridge crane available and running to dismantle and load the planer mill. It was an old brick shop building, had not seen work in a few years, and was mostly empty. The neighborhood was described by the Steinseal people as 'the crack belt'. When we arrived at the building, they opened the overhead door and we parked inside the building, having been advised not to park on the street or walk out there. I have no idea whatever happened to that VBM, probably long gone to the razor blades and the building either razed or converted to some other use.
Hymac had purchased a used Farrell (? on the manufacturer as my memory is a little hazy, call it a 'senior moment') boring mill, ex US Naval Shipyard, and had just gotten it up and running when they took on our work. The boring mill was located in a cavernous steel building which still had a crushed stone floor. The boring mill had been set on a new reinforced concrete foundation, levelled up and was ready to work. Our job went onto that boring mill with drop-lights strung up for lighting, and a temporary power feeder run to the drive. The drive on that boring mill, was, as I recall, a DC motor with a motor generator set. I got up to Hymac a few times to inspect and discuss various portions of our hydro turbine work. When they were machining certain portions of the work on the VBM, we asked them to loosen the hold-down studs and put a dial indicator on the work. I wanted to be sure things were not going to spring out of flatness or round when the clamping dogs were slacked off. To check the dial indicators, I got on the table of the VBM and they had it running at a very slow speed. I was literally walking backwards, facing the indicators which were mounted off the cross rail, watching the indicators as the table (with the job on it) turned under my feet.
Hymac also had another vertical boring mill that they were getting ready for use. This was made by King, and had come from General Electric of Canada. This VBM was capable of handling work as much as 60 feet in diameter. This 60 foot diameter figure was a bit deceptive, since the table was not 60 feet in diameter. The table was somewhat smaller, on the order of 30 + feet in diameter. Set in the foundations were sole plates with tapped holes. The upright side frames and cross rail could be moved to different positions relative to the center of the table. For larger diameter work, the side frames and cross rail made a very short chord across the 30 foot radius circle, though the table itself was not 60 feet in diameter. Larger diameter work would overhang the table. Hymac said they had work for this VBM that would require using it at nearly its full capacity, cutting some large radius's for movable span bridge parts. Hymac also said this particular boring mill had machined turbine parts for some of the largest hydroelectric turbines on the North American Continent. I never saw this particular boring mill running, and it hulked in the semi-darkness of that steel building, which had no permanent lighting at the time.
Years ago as well, we were shopping for a planer mill. Our search took us to a machine shop in Philadelphia, PA. This shop had moved its operations to a newer facility on the outskirts of Philadelphia. The shop's original name was Bissinger & Stein. They had gotten away from really heavy machine work and were concentrating on seals for gas turbines and jet engines, so had modernized the name to "Steinseal" as I recall. We bought a Cincinnati Hypro openside planer with two Yancey milling spindles from their old shop. In that same shop there was a really large vertical boring mill. It had to have had a table about 20 feet in diameter. This boring mill was made by Betts, if I recall correctly. It was so old that it had a 'peck type' drive for the various feeds (eccentrics working linkage to arms with pawls that advanced the feed by moving ratchet wheels). This VBM was covered in dust, dirt and pigeon droppings. It was operational, though had not been used in years. The word was Steinseal was going to sell the building, and the VBM was available, or was going to be scrapped where it sat. Seemed a shame, but it was a machine tool way too big to be moved unless the buyer was prepared to bring in riggers. We did run the planer mill for some test cuts, and they had to temporarily reconnect the power to it, as well as having the bridge crane available and running to dismantle and load the planer mill. It was an old brick shop building, had not seen work in a few years, and was mostly empty. The neighborhood was described by the Steinseal people as 'the crack belt'. When we arrived at the building, they opened the overhead door and we parked inside the building, having been advised not to park on the street or walk out there. I have no idea whatever happened to that VBM, probably long gone to the razor blades and the building either razed or converted to some other use.
jim rozen
Diamond
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2004
- Location
- peekskill, NY
Interesting name on the machine...
=)
=)
L Vanice
Diamond
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2006
- Location
- Fort Wayne, IN
The order in which i and e are placed in German words is very critical to pronunciation and meaning. Schiess (shoot) is probably not even close to Scheisse in the mind of a German speaker.
Larry
M.B. Naegle
Diamond
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2011
- Location
- Conroe, TX USA
I wonder when this was? Germany sounds right. On the wall looks like "Halle-IV" which would be Hall-4
Wonder if there was a follow-up picture with American GI's in jeeps on the table.
Wonder if there was a follow-up picture with American GI's in jeeps on the table.
John Garner
Titanium
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2004
- Location
- south SF Bay area, California
Any idea if the outer "ring" table and the inner"disc" table can rotate independently, or does one drive the other?
Peter S
Diamond
- Joined
- May 6, 2002
- Location
- Auckland, New Zealand
I am not sure what make the car is, but it appears to have Sankey Artillery wheels, popular in Britain, especially on Morris vehicles.
The vehicle number plates (registration numbers) begin 'IY' and a Google search indicates 'I' could be Ireland and 'Y' Louth...which seems an unlikely spot to find big machinery.
I also found the same photo on the Schiess website, all it says is 1929, no location. It does say that most of their machinery was exported (80%?) in that era.
Having said all that - maybe the Germans or others used similar number plates and artillery wheels. I guess the Germans would like artillery wheels...
The vehicle number plates (registration numbers) begin 'IY' and a Google search indicates 'I' could be Ireland and 'Y' Louth...which seems an unlikely spot to find big machinery.
I also found the same photo on the Schiess website, all it says is 1929, no location. It does say that most of their machinery was exported (80%?) in that era.
Having said all that - maybe the Germans or others used similar number plates and artillery wheels. I guess the Germans would like artillery wheels...
Tyrone Shoelaces
Diamond
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2006
- Location
- Manchester, England
I can’t confirm that the “ Schiess “ machine had that facility but other makers definitely did. I see no reason why that machine couldn’t work in that manner.
Regards Tyrone
Joe Michaels
Diamond
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2004
- Location
- Shandaken, NY, USA
My guess is this boring mill table had a 'dual drive'. I.E., the outer portion of the table may have had a ring gear with internal teeth cast into its rim. This would be driven by a pinion to give very slow speeds. The inner table was likely coupled directly to the machine's spindle drive, and could turn at a higher rate of speed for smaller jobs.
To use the entire table at the lowest speed drive, the pinion shaft would be slid up to engage the ring gear teeth in the rim of the table. The spindle drive would be disengaged. For use of the inner table/higher speed drive, the pinion shaft would be slid down to disengage the ring gear at the rim of the table, and the spindle drive to the center section of the table thrown into engagement.
I have seen a similar drive system used on the headstocks of very large heavy duty engine lathes, with the sliding pinion/ring gear teeth in back of the faceplate.
On the boring mill in this photo, I would guess that the inner table could be run at the higher speed ranges while the outer portion (annular ring) remained stationary.
When the low speed drive to the rim of the table was engaged the entire table turned as a single unit.
This arrangement would allow a wider range of jobs to be handled on this boring mill. Given the vintage of the vehicles on the boring mill table, I'd guess the photo was taken in the 1930's. Given the political situation in Germany at that time, it is probable that this boring mill was used to machine turntable rings for battleship guns. A more normal job for a boring mill of this size would be parts for large hydroelectric turbines, things like the runners ('water wheels'), and stay rings or large slow-speed generator stator frames for hydro units. There is no mention as to where the boring mill was located, and given the events that unfolded from the 30's onward, it is possible the boring mill was destroyed during Allied bombings, could have wound up in East Germany, or was taken as a war prize by the Soviets and removed to the USSR. Even by today's standards, this was a very large vertical boring mill. For its time, it appears to be a very advanced, if not relatively new machine tool. Ot's the kind of publicity photo heavy machine tool builders loved to make for advertising. I recall a German planer manufacturer had a similar photo with a truck or car on the platen, and another photo of a big planer with a smaller (and it was also a good sized machine) double-housing planer sitting on its platen. As I look at this photo, I find myself wondering: what were the machine tools used to build that boring mill like ? Probably in that same size range, huge planers to machine the ways on the side frames and cross rail. Maybe the boring mill was partially erected i n Schiess's shops, and 'machined itself'. With the cross rail and tool slides in place, maybe a motor-driven milling and boring head was mounted on it to establish the bore for the center journals of the spindle and for the vertical gear shafts. Once the spindle drive was in place, maybe a fixture with an arm and tool slide was used to face off the pads for the table thrust shoes. The obvious is that the tables were machined in place on the machine itself. Imagine the hand scraping effort to finish the surfaces on those large and long ways on the cross rail and side housings. I'm sure with a machine of this size, optics were used to check alignment, perpendicularity and similar. At the hydroelectric plant I retired from, the biggest job we had for a VBM was the 120 inch diameter thrust runner in each unit. Periodically, this had to be taken out for refacing and relapping. We used to scratch hard to find shops with a VBM that could do the work. In one instance, we gave the job to Kingsbury Bearing. They subbed the work out to a shop which had a Bullard VT: which could handle the job. It was the biggest Bullard I ever saw. Thje trust runner was faced and a Kingsbury lapping head was then mounted on the tool slide of that Bullard to finish the thrust runner. Flatness had to be within a couple of 'tenths' in about 1 foot, so we used a 'Planecator' and optics. Heavy machine shop work requiring accuracy on that order is quite a specialty and I am glad I had some exposure to it. The Schiess VBM is quite a machine in anyone's book. Thanks for posting the photo.
To use the entire table at the lowest speed drive, the pinion shaft would be slid up to engage the ring gear teeth in the rim of the table. The spindle drive would be disengaged. For use of the inner table/higher speed drive, the pinion shaft would be slid down to disengage the ring gear at the rim of the table, and the spindle drive to the center section of the table thrown into engagement.
I have seen a similar drive system used on the headstocks of very large heavy duty engine lathes, with the sliding pinion/ring gear teeth in back of the faceplate.
On the boring mill in this photo, I would guess that the inner table could be run at the higher speed ranges while the outer portion (annular ring) remained stationary.
When the low speed drive to the rim of the table was engaged the entire table turned as a single unit.
This arrangement would allow a wider range of jobs to be handled on this boring mill. Given the vintage of the vehicles on the boring mill table, I'd guess the photo was taken in the 1930's. Given the political situation in Germany at that time, it is probable that this boring mill was used to machine turntable rings for battleship guns. A more normal job for a boring mill of this size would be parts for large hydroelectric turbines, things like the runners ('water wheels'), and stay rings or large slow-speed generator stator frames for hydro units. There is no mention as to where the boring mill was located, and given the events that unfolded from the 30's onward, it is possible the boring mill was destroyed during Allied bombings, could have wound up in East Germany, or was taken as a war prize by the Soviets and removed to the USSR. Even by today's standards, this was a very large vertical boring mill. For its time, it appears to be a very advanced, if not relatively new machine tool. Ot's the kind of publicity photo heavy machine tool builders loved to make for advertising. I recall a German planer manufacturer had a similar photo with a truck or car on the platen, and another photo of a big planer with a smaller (and it was also a good sized machine) double-housing planer sitting on its platen. As I look at this photo, I find myself wondering: what were the machine tools used to build that boring mill like ? Probably in that same size range, huge planers to machine the ways on the side frames and cross rail. Maybe the boring mill was partially erected i n Schiess's shops, and 'machined itself'. With the cross rail and tool slides in place, maybe a motor-driven milling and boring head was mounted on it to establish the bore for the center journals of the spindle and for the vertical gear shafts. Once the spindle drive was in place, maybe a fixture with an arm and tool slide was used to face off the pads for the table thrust shoes. The obvious is that the tables were machined in place on the machine itself. Imagine the hand scraping effort to finish the surfaces on those large and long ways on the cross rail and side housings. I'm sure with a machine of this size, optics were used to check alignment, perpendicularity and similar. At the hydroelectric plant I retired from, the biggest job we had for a VBM was the 120 inch diameter thrust runner in each unit. Periodically, this had to be taken out for refacing and relapping. We used to scratch hard to find shops with a VBM that could do the work. In one instance, we gave the job to Kingsbury Bearing. They subbed the work out to a shop which had a Bullard VT: which could handle the job. It was the biggest Bullard I ever saw. Thje trust runner was faced and a Kingsbury lapping head was then mounted on the tool slide of that Bullard to finish the thrust runner. Flatness had to be within a couple of 'tenths' in about 1 foot, so we used a 'Planecator' and optics. Heavy machine shop work requiring accuracy on that order is quite a specialty and I am glad I had some exposure to it. The Schiess VBM is quite a machine in anyone's book. Thanks for posting the photo.
It looks like the turntable is two seperate turntables , a inner & a outer one ? It also looks like there may be some tracks in the floor that go to this machine . I don't see any crane or a ramp , but there must have been one or the other to get those 3 rigs up there unless its in the back , but it don't look like there's a ton of room back there . Either way it's still a pretty darn bitchin machine .
animal
animal
Tyrone Shoelaces
Diamond
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2006
- Location
- Manchester, England
It appears to be the sort of machine were the columns can move in and out on slideways to increase the capacity of the machine.
Regards Tyrone
Regards Tyrone
jim rozen
Diamond
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2004
- Location
- peekskill, NY
They probably just put a large eyebolt in one of the toolholders on that lathe, put a couple of slings under the cars' undercarriages, rapid up, rapid over, and then let 'em down gently.
Jim Christie
Titanium
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2007
- Location
- L'Orignal, Ontario Canada
Perhaps it was fairly common to show automobiles posed for scale on large projects
I posted this link in an older thread .
Also Dominion Engineering became a Division of GE Canada and later Mesto .
They had a large boring mill that at one time was said to have been the largest in Canada.
The link to the 2015 auction when Mesto closed or downsized is still on line
www.corpassets.com
I'm not sure if this is the same boring mill or a newer one by Farrel.
"FARREL (MAJOR $1,000,000+ FACTORY REBUILT BY MACHINE TOOL RESEARCH (OEM) IN 2014) CNC 5 AXIS vertical boring/live milling center with 519” swing, 215” under the rail, 500 ton table"
It may be one that was referred to by Joe Michaels in an earlier post.
It has a smaller table but the columns are moveable to admit larger work pieces .
I copied and saved the pictures from the link incase the link is broken later on .
Jim
I posted this link in an older thread .
Gallery: Historic Photos of Montréal > Dominion Engineering Works > c06425.jpg - Urban Exploration Resource
Urban Exploration Resource: Featuring Urban Exploration stories and a huge database of locations and pictures from a variety of abandoned buildings and other unique places.
www.uer.ca
They had a large boring mill that at one time was said to have been the largest in Canada.
The link to the 2015 auction when Mesto closed or downsized is still on line
Metso - Lachine | Corporate Assets Inc.
Tuesday, November 17, 2015Lachine, Quebec, Canada
www.corpassets.com
"FARREL (MAJOR $1,000,000+ FACTORY REBUILT BY MACHINE TOOL RESEARCH (OEM) IN 2014) CNC 5 AXIS vertical boring/live milling center with 519” swing, 215” under the rail, 500 ton table"
It may be one that was referred to by Joe Michaels in an earlier post.
It has a smaller table but the columns are moveable to admit larger work pieces .
I copied and saved the pictures from the link incase the link is broken later on .
Jim
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Yvon
Plastic
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2010
- Location
- France Fontainebleau
Hello everyone!
I think this is my first question on the forum (reading and registered for many years...2010
!)
And my question is :
I am quite sure than vertical lathe plates are made from several part (may be not pizza pie...)
I think I've seen a photo some where on the web (may be here...)
Since I did bet that with some friend, I need to find a proof...
Thanks in advance.
I think this is my first question on the forum (reading and registered for many years...2010
!) And my question is :
I am quite sure than vertical lathe plates are made from several part (may be not pizza pie...)
I think I've seen a photo some where on the web (may be here...)
Since I did bet that with some friend, I need to find a proof...
Thanks in advance.
Peter S
Diamond
- Joined
- May 6, 2002
- Location
- Auckland, New Zealand
Yvon,
Good to hear from a member in France.
Have a look at this thread with excellent photos c.1913-14 showing manufacture of a Niles VBM with 36 ft table, cast in three sections:
The Schiess may have been done differently, considering it had the inner and outer tables.
Good to hear from a member in France.
Have a look at this thread with excellent photos c.1913-14 showing manufacture of a Niles VBM with 36 ft table, cast in three sections:
Niles 36ft Vertical Boring Mill photos
Here are some photos of what I believe to be a 36 ft diameter Vertical Boring Mill manufactured by Niles Tools Works in 1913 and 1914. I will follow up with photos of the castings and some of the machining in process. I wonder if these pictures were taken as evidence of progress for their...
www.practicalmachinist.com
The Schiess may have been done differently, considering it had the inner and outer tables.
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Peter S
Diamond
- Joined
- May 6, 2002
- Location
- Auckland, New Zealand
Regarding the location of the Schiess machine, I notice the car on the left seems to have a steering wheel (and driver) on the RH side. FWIW, the vehicle looks a bit like a cab/taxi, see the spotlight on the LH side of the (horizontally split) windscreen.
Someone asked how the vehicles were put on the table - a timber ramp would have been another option. I guess cars were commonly slung on and off ferries and ships in that era, however the chassis were flexible and the bodies were fragile.
Someone asked how the vehicles were put on the table - a timber ramp would have been another option. I guess cars were commonly slung on and off ferries and ships in that era, however the chassis were flexible and the bodies were fragile.
John Garner
Titanium
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2004
- Location
- south SF Bay area, California
Yvon --
The French DCNS (if I remember right) shipyard in Cherbourg recently upgraded their big vertical boring mill, and made some photos of the modifications public.
I'm not finding a link right now, but I'm pretty sure I've seen a photo showing a substantial section of the new table hanging from a crane.
The DCNS photo is a century newer than the Niles photos that Peter S linked.
The French DCNS (if I remember right) shipyard in Cherbourg recently upgraded their big vertical boring mill, and made some photos of the modifications public.
I'm not finding a link right now, but I'm pretty sure I've seen a photo showing a substantial section of the new table hanging from a crane.
The DCNS photo is a century newer than the Niles photos that Peter S linked.
Joe Michaels
Diamond
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2004
- Location
- Shandaken, NY, USA
Speaking from my own experience with the 120 inch diameter thrust runner discs at the hydroelectric plant, I see a similarity in how the table of that Schiess Vertical Boring Mill (VBM) might have been made. The thrust runner discs were cast alloy steel, about 10-12" thick. The thrust runner discs rode on babbitted thrust shoes. The discs and thrust shoes were submerged in lubricating oil. Cored holes ran radially thru the disc to act as a bi-directional pump impeller. The discs had a flatness that had to be within a few ten-thousandths of an inch in a foot. The surface finish on the running surface of those discs was a fine lapped finish.
It would have been extremely difficult to transport those discs if they were in one piece, and to assemble them onto the generator shafts, they had to be made in halves ("Horseshoes"). The discs fit around the 50" diameter generator shaft and were pulled against a thrust collar which was forged integrally with the generator shaft.
2 1/2" diameter steel studs in blind tappings were used to pull the thrust disc hard against the face of the thrust collar. The disc halves were rigged into location and positioned so they girdled the shaft. The disc halves joined by a vertical split joint. A series of pockets were machined into the top surface of the disc (which seated against the thrust collar). 2 1/2" diameter steel studbolts were tapped into one vertical face of the disc's split joint, and extended thru a clearance hole into the pocket on the mating half. Nuts were made up to pull the halves together. The pockets and tapped holes alternated, presumably to equalize the force across the split joint.
To insure the halves were properly assembled at the split joint, there were two large radial dowel pins which went into the "rim' of the thrust disc. The holes for these dowels straddled the split joint line. It was simple: if the halves were not made up properly, the dowels would not enter the holes. With the disc assembled, it was then raised so the vertical studs (tapped into its top surface) stick thru the thrust collar on the shaft. Nuts were then made up on these studs in a sequence. In those days, we did not use hydraulic wrench systems. We went by 'stretch' of the studs, using dial indicators. We made the nuts up using slugging wrenches and 16 or 25 lb hammers. In tight places, making up the nuts took three (3) mechanics. One person was inside the thrust bearing tub hanging onto a rope tied thru a hole in the handle of the slug wrench. This took the bounce out of the wrench. The second mechanic held a 'cue stick', a piece of 2 or 2 1/2" schedule 80 steel pipe with a fork and a chunk of steel bar stock welded to one end. This fit onto the slugging portion of the wrench. The pipe was long enough to project out an access hole to where the third mechanic could hit the end of it with a 16 or 25 lb beater. The end of the pipe hit with the hammer had a chunk of steel bar stock welded onto it.
When all the nuts on the vertical studs were slugged up, we did feeler gauge checks of the split joint on the thrust disc. If we could not get a long 0.002" feeler in to the split joint, we moved to flatness checks across the joint. We did those with a long cast iron straightedge and feelers. We had quite a job to assemble a thrust runner disc down inside the generator thrust bearing, working underneath the generator rotor. When we sent the thrust runners out for resurfacing, we shipped them in halves, along with the studbolts and dowels. The machine shops doing the resurfacing would place the thrust runner halves running face down on the table of a VBM or Vertical Turret Lathe (VTL). They would then make up the studbolts across the split joint and get the radial dowels in place. Once that was done, there were tappings in the rim of the thrust disc for rigging. The assembled disc would be raised by overhead crane and flipped so the running surface was facing up. It was setup on the VBM or VTL for resurfacing the running surface and relapping. Making up the two halves was always a challenge as we were dealing with some very heavy steel half-sections and lots of studbolts had to line up at the split joint.
The VBM in this thread likely had its table made in sections with vertical split joints. It would be impossible to transport a table that big over the railroads or roads.
There is an interesting possibility that the table was made in two assemblies: an inner table (which might well have been a one-piece casting), and the outer table, which formed an annular ring around the inner table. The outer table was made in sections. The vertical split joints were planed and drilled for studbolts to join the sections. Each split joint had to have some positive means of preventing any relative motion across the split joint. This could have been done by machining a male key on one joint face, and a mating female keyway on the section it made up to. Keyways would run horizontally. Dowels might have been used, but for the loads that VBM would be handling, I would imagine keys and keyways were used. I do not think dowel pins would be up to the job, and knowing a bit about German engineers and machinists, I think they would have gone for the keys and keyways at the split joint. A fracture joint (made by breaking a casting at a thinned section designed to be broken after machining is done) would not be practical on a disc the size of that boring mill table. It would be a very large casting and difficult to get a good casting as a result.
It would have been extremely difficult to transport those discs if they were in one piece, and to assemble them onto the generator shafts, they had to be made in halves ("Horseshoes"). The discs fit around the 50" diameter generator shaft and were pulled against a thrust collar which was forged integrally with the generator shaft.
2 1/2" diameter steel studs in blind tappings were used to pull the thrust disc hard against the face of the thrust collar. The disc halves were rigged into location and positioned so they girdled the shaft. The disc halves joined by a vertical split joint. A series of pockets were machined into the top surface of the disc (which seated against the thrust collar). 2 1/2" diameter steel studbolts were tapped into one vertical face of the disc's split joint, and extended thru a clearance hole into the pocket on the mating half. Nuts were made up to pull the halves together. The pockets and tapped holes alternated, presumably to equalize the force across the split joint.
To insure the halves were properly assembled at the split joint, there were two large radial dowel pins which went into the "rim' of the thrust disc. The holes for these dowels straddled the split joint line. It was simple: if the halves were not made up properly, the dowels would not enter the holes. With the disc assembled, it was then raised so the vertical studs (tapped into its top surface) stick thru the thrust collar on the shaft. Nuts were then made up on these studs in a sequence. In those days, we did not use hydraulic wrench systems. We went by 'stretch' of the studs, using dial indicators. We made the nuts up using slugging wrenches and 16 or 25 lb hammers. In tight places, making up the nuts took three (3) mechanics. One person was inside the thrust bearing tub hanging onto a rope tied thru a hole in the handle of the slug wrench. This took the bounce out of the wrench. The second mechanic held a 'cue stick', a piece of 2 or 2 1/2" schedule 80 steel pipe with a fork and a chunk of steel bar stock welded to one end. This fit onto the slugging portion of the wrench. The pipe was long enough to project out an access hole to where the third mechanic could hit the end of it with a 16 or 25 lb beater. The end of the pipe hit with the hammer had a chunk of steel bar stock welded onto it.
When all the nuts on the vertical studs were slugged up, we did feeler gauge checks of the split joint on the thrust disc. If we could not get a long 0.002" feeler in to the split joint, we moved to flatness checks across the joint. We did those with a long cast iron straightedge and feelers. We had quite a job to assemble a thrust runner disc down inside the generator thrust bearing, working underneath the generator rotor. When we sent the thrust runners out for resurfacing, we shipped them in halves, along with the studbolts and dowels. The machine shops doing the resurfacing would place the thrust runner halves running face down on the table of a VBM or Vertical Turret Lathe (VTL). They would then make up the studbolts across the split joint and get the radial dowels in place. Once that was done, there were tappings in the rim of the thrust disc for rigging. The assembled disc would be raised by overhead crane and flipped so the running surface was facing up. It was setup on the VBM or VTL for resurfacing the running surface and relapping. Making up the two halves was always a challenge as we were dealing with some very heavy steel half-sections and lots of studbolts had to line up at the split joint.
The VBM in this thread likely had its table made in sections with vertical split joints. It would be impossible to transport a table that big over the railroads or roads.
There is an interesting possibility that the table was made in two assemblies: an inner table (which might well have been a one-piece casting), and the outer table, which formed an annular ring around the inner table. The outer table was made in sections. The vertical split joints were planed and drilled for studbolts to join the sections. Each split joint had to have some positive means of preventing any relative motion across the split joint. This could have been done by machining a male key on one joint face, and a mating female keyway on the section it made up to. Keyways would run horizontally. Dowels might have been used, but for the loads that VBM would be handling, I would imagine keys and keyways were used. I do not think dowel pins would be up to the job, and knowing a bit about German engineers and machinists, I think they would have gone for the keys and keyways at the split joint. A fracture joint (made by breaking a casting at a thinned section designed to be broken after machining is done) would not be practical on a disc the size of that boring mill table. It would be a very large casting and difficult to get a good casting as a result.