Asquith
Diamond
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2005
- Location
- Somerset, UK
The topic of Gnome radial aircraft engines comes up occasionally, and Franco has posted some information about machining the cylinders. These were turned from a solid steel billet, to leave a wall thickness of just 1.2 mm (0.047”).
I came across this photo of a cylinder undergoing the final stages of machining the O.D. in a French factory in 1910. This shows a multi-gang tool in a Herbert No. 16 turret lathe. The tools could be rotated to present a new cutting edge, and they could be replaced individually. They worked upside down, with the lathe running in reverse.
Two of the threads referring to Gnome engines are linked below, but dial-up users beware – quite a few photos.
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php/topic/11/2199.html#000011
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php/topic/11/1242.html#000005