...Video...Turret Lathe earning it's keep in Pakistan...

Lathefan:

Thanks for posting this youtube. Seeing the turret lathe with an identifying number still painted on the back of the headstock leads me to thing that the turret lathe in this youtube came from somewhere like the USA, UK, or Europe. It is interesting how countries like Pakistan are evolving in their industries. The turret lathe, largely obsolete here in the USA though it may be, is quite a step up for many Pakistani shops.

I've watched youtubes of Pakistani firearms makers who work squatting on the shop floor with very few tools and maybe a beatup lathe and drill press. Another series of youtubes I've been watching is "The Pakistani Truck Channel". This is a series of youtubes taken in Pakistani heavy truck repair shops. The mechanics there work with next to nothing in the way of tools, and the repairs and condition of the heavy trucks they turn out of their shops is such that we'd never allow them on US roads.
A typical Pakistani heavy truck repair will include busting rivets on the truck frame to either lengthen it or to add a reinforcing section due to frame cracks. The Pakistani method of rivet busting is to take what looks like an old axle shaft and grind one end to a blunt chisel. One mechanic holds this against the rivet while his buddy swings a heavy home-made sledge to drive it. No safety glasses, baggy clothing, working in light slippers. No air impact wrenches, no air chipping guns, just crude tools and muscle.

Another series of youtubes shows how those same mechanics rebuild and repair truck drive shafts. A beatup lathe, one of the 'modern' Pakistani lathe with a belt drive headstock is used. The driveshaft is trued in a 4 jaw chuck with just a pointer made from bent wire, and the yoke is welded into the driveshaft in the lathe, no protection of the bedways, work clamp (ground) nowhere in sight so probably passing the welding current thru the working parts of the lathe. These guys do not show signs of past on-the-job-injuries (OJI's), and the guy running the turret lathe in his loose clothing is typical of Pakistani mechanics.

The turret lathe in this particular youtube is seemingly light years advanced from what goes on in the Pakistani heavy truck repair shops. The owners and drivers of the trucks that roll out of those shops seem more concerned with the artwork decorating the trucks than the actual condition of the vehicle. Truck cabs and bodies and heavily adorned and ornamented, and something like a steam locomotive cow catcher with waving wands and dangling decorations is usually mounted, sticking out 2-3 feet in front of the cab. The cabs get fitted with carved wooden doors, and the bodies of the trucks often have moorish design cutouts in the metalwork, topped with 'truck art'- painting done by 'truck artists' using brushes and paints, no airbrush being used. Never mind the extended frame, patched and worn tires, and the fact these trucks seem to run overloaded and are driven by drivers with no limit on how many hours they can be driving. So long as the truck looks better than the next guy's and has a loud musical horn, what could go wrong ?

Pakistani industry is quite interesting, as they seem to adapt or work at a level that matches the local conditions and development. Many Pakistani youtubes feature single cylinder slow-speed diesel engines which are 'side shaft' engines looking like possibly Hornsby-Ruston designs. Apparently, these engines were being produced in Pakistan. Producing a side-shaft diesel engine requires a good bit of engineering as well as foundry and machine work. There seem to have been a number of clones of these engine produced in Pakistan, and some have the maker's name cast into the engine bases. A shop with a turret lathe in use would seem to be in line with shops building Hornsby-Ruston type diesel engines.

Anyone ID the machine?

Personally, I'm surprised they have what appears to be proper soluble-oil coolant. You'd think they'd just have old engine oil, or used goat milk or something.

Doc.

DocsMachine said:

Anyone ID the machine?

Personally, I'm surprised they have what appears to be proper soluble-oil coolant. You'd think they'd just have old engine oil, or used goat milk or something.

Doc.

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It looks like an old " Ward " No2 or No3. The rugby ball shaped end caps on the side of the headstock are typical of the smaller " Ward " capstan lathes. Plus the Fast/Slow and Forward/Reverse levers mounted on top of the headstock.

It was on a lathe just like this one that I had my first and only semi serious lathe accident. When I was a young apprentice I was making some fittings with 5/8" Whit tapped blind holes in the end. Just as the lathe was coming to a stop I attempted to flick a loose turning out of the tapped hole with my finger. My left index finger was screwed into the hole pretty quickly ! Before I knew what I was doing I'd thrown the lever into reverse and unscrewed my finger. The last joint was pretty messed up and I've never regained full use of it.

I learnt my lesson with machinery very early in life.

Regards Tyrone.

Actually I think the operator of the lathe also learned that lesson. It sure looks like he's missing the last knuckle from his middle finger on his right hand.

HHM

Tyrone Shoelaces said:

It looks like an old " Ward " No2 or No3. The rugby ball shaped end caps on the side of the headstock are typical of the smaller " Ward " capstan lathes. Plus the Fast/Slow and Forward/Reverse levers mounted on top of the headstock.


Regards Tyrone.

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Yup I'm going with a No 2, the smaller holes in the hex turret (from memory the No3's are 1.5'' - Nos2's 1'') it is also fitted with the Ward collet chuck which does not use a draw tube so leaves the full spindle bore available.

Spindle bores - No2 1.25 std, & 1.5 big bore, No3 1.5 std, & 2'' big bore

On the Ward the reversing and speed changes was all done with clutches, ...........whereas most (if not all??) Herberts were at least part electrical.

Limy Sami said:

Yup I'm going with a No 2, the smaller holes in the hex turret (from memory the No3's are 1.5'' - Nos2's 1'') it is also fitted with the Ward collet chuck which does not use a draw tube so leaves the full spindle bore available.

Spindle bores - No2 1.25 std, & 1.5 big bore, No3 1.5 std, & 2'' big bore

On the Ward the reversing and speed changes was all done with clutches, ...........whereas most (if not all??) Herberts were at least part electrical.

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I worked at a place that had shop full of " Wards ", there must have been about 30 machines, 2's, 3's, 7's etc. Day shift and night shift, they were nearly working 24 hours a day most of the time. Changing the clutch plates was one of the jobs I use to do. The clutch lines are on the other side of those rugby ball shaped endcaps. I had a lot of dealings with the collet chucks as well. It was our job to take them on and off. They also did a similar compressed air powered collet chuck.

During the power cuts in the early 1970's I'd been in repairing one of the lathes. I'd disconnected the air lines to the chuck but because the compressor was switched off I'd forgotten to isolate the air lines. When I got in work the next morning there was a smell of coolant in the air and the shop looked a bit misty, I could also hear the sound of compressed air blowing.

The machine shop foreman was waiting for me, he said " Get over to that fucking lathe and turn off the compressed air lines, just look at the state of the shop, you dozy bastard ! "

The air lines were pointing directly into the tray and they were blowing the contents of tray all over the place, turnings, coolant, it was everywhere. I had to get a Balaclava and googles and fight my way through all the shit to reach the isolator.

The watchman had come in at 7-30am and just turned the compressor on as usual.

Regards Tyrone.

..."Another series of youtubes I've been watching is "The Pakistani Truck Channel". This is a series of youtubes taken in Pakistani heavy truck repair shops.

...Joe...I've been watching the Pakistani Truck Repair channel too...fascinating...

lathefan said:

..."Another series of youtubes I've been watching is "The Pakistani Truck Channel". This is a series of youtubes taken in Pakistani heavy truck repair shops.

...Joe...I've been watching the Pakistani Truck Repair channel too...fascinating...

Click to expand...

And scary

You mean completely disassembling and reconditioning lead acid batteries barefooted makes you nervous?

If it were only that, basically only one life is at risk, it's things like welding up chassis and axles - etc etc that put many many other lives at risk.

BOTOH - in a country where life is considered so cheap as to hardly register - what does it matter that the trucks that haul Walmart 5 for a $ tee shirts from the factories to the docks are death traps.

Tyrone Shoelaces said:

It looks like an old " Ward " No2 or No3. The rugby ball shaped end caps on the side of the headstock are typical of the smaller " Ward " capstan lathes. Plus the Fast/Slow and Forward/Reverse levers mounted on top of the headstock.

It was on a lathe just like this one that I had my first and only semi serious lathe accident. When I was a young apprentice I was making some fittings with 5/8" Whit tapped blind holes in the end. Just as the lathe was coming to a stop I attempted to flick a loose turning out of the tapped hole with my finger. My left index finger was screwed into the hole pretty quickly ! Before I knew what I was doing I'd thrown the lever into reverse and unscrewed my finger. The last joint was pretty messed up and I've never regained full use of it.

I learnt my lesson with machinery very early in life.

Regards Tyrone.

Click to expand...

I saw a guy pulling a lug nut out of the socket on a impact wrench with his finger, he managed to pull the trigger and ran that nut about half way up his finger. He reversed it off as well!

Looks like the operator is making a simple drilled bushing.

I don't see any chamfering going on, just drill and part off.