In the Westinghouse East Pittsburgh, PA works, we had a 180 inch by about 20 foot, strictly for DC rotors already assembled on the shaft. Shipped it to Round Rock, Texas, don't think they ever got to use it, before they closed that plant.
We had Betts, Bridgeford, Niles, others, in the 120 inch swing, 100 inch, 72 inch, 60 inch, to about 60 foot between centers.
Cut rotors up to 67 inch diameter, about 60 foot overall length, 200 plus ton forgings.
Also had vertical boring mills up to 40 foot, 30 foot table, but 40 between the columns. That was a Niles, too. Biger than 40 foot bore, set the part, a stator section, on the floor plates, use an outrigger to reach it. Higher part to machine, raise the columns with parrallels. Fantastic machines, never ran them, just fixed them.
Ones I did run, when I was an operator, not a "machinist", 16 foot VBMs, forged tool, speed of 1 RPM or so. Start a cut, sit and read for 8 hours, or follow up the afternoon turn by doing the same, just watch the machine for 8 hours.
Mebbe 1/8 feed, 1/2 inch depth of cut, chips like huge elbow macaroni, my grind, straw colored, my buddy's grind, midnight blue, the piece so hot you had to let it set a shift with air on it to take another cut. All OK forged tool inserts, goosenecks for finish cut.
That was kinda fun. Paid pretty well, too. 'Course the company's gone, 18 years ago. Shoulda retired from there 3 years ago. Now I gotta wait till next week , after a year and a half of disability with a f**ked up back from the shoemaker shop of a steel mill I finished up at.
Fantastic machines we had there. A rotor slotter 120 feet long, took 2 years to install, get running, one of my last jobs was to tear it out to ship to SC, took 2 weeks flat, over Christmas season, laid off Dec 30, plus all the other machinery in the whole mill. 6 months of 12 hour days, I think 2 days off, holidays I refused to work.
Most money I ever made in a year, 2 years after the big Centennial celebration they held in '86. '88 they shut the doors, layoff was 30 Dec, afraid someone would set a fire, if we worked the 31st, and work over till '89, be entitled to another years vacation pay and such.
Rambling, I know, but the Company will always figure to the dime, nay, the penny.
Place I work now, well used to, a steel mill, get it within half an inch, that's good enough. Machine shop buys used machine tools, Millwrights, and that is what I was there, as opposed to Machinery Repairman at the Circle W, are used to setting big assed rolling mill stuff, not precision machine tool setup. Within a couple thou on a turn, they feel it's close enough. And, I guess it is, with all the bridle adjusters they have.
Ah, well,
Enough about this. Started to be about size of lathes. Wound up a rant.
Sorry about that.
Cheers,
George