HEAVY MACHINERY

Evening Star, Issue 19661, 14 September 1927, Page 16

HEAVY MACHINERY

FOR RAILWAY SHOPS MODERNISING OUTPUT AVhilc 'Jo pur tout, of the first year’s quota of tho machinery for the liow Petone Workshops has arrived, and is already temporarily installed at the old shops, where it has made a wonderful dihere ll co to the output, there arc still arriving, Iroui time to lime, heavy pieces which arouse the curiusilv ul people who woe ilioiu unloaded from the Home vessels. By the Westmoreland recently there 1U " rived two universal hydraulic iiango presses, one of the lilts weighing ii tons Id cwt. Of tho new machinery already on its temporary bed, the ‘Hallway Magazine ’ says;— . “'AH these are motor driven, so limb belting is not so much a icaturo of (he workshops as in flic past. Wo saw a powerful punching ami slotting machine, and a. spindle lathe into which lung lengths of bar metal are put for cutting up to the length and thickness desired; then a surlaco grinding machine with its many revolving emery wheels (lulling a. tine finish on machined, metal attracted attention. An interesting piece of machinery, the ‘nimbler,’ looks like an okl-lashioned churn or a modern washing machine, and is used lor polishing up cast iron articles which tumble about as the machine revolves, losing in the process their roughness by friction. A special gritty material is put in with the articles to assist in sanding them off, and tho result is to put a lino smooth, surface on formerly rough-fared articles. Two new Bullard boring mills arc among the last working machines introduced. Jn a vertical turret lathe were piston rings being cut for locomotives. Then tho new high-speed planer and grinding machines claimed attention- “ An indication ot what ca.n_ he done by improved machinery is furnished by the now London lathe for turning wagon wheels. This is a very powerful machine, boring deeply and quickly, so that whereas tho older pattern ol lathe was considered to bo doing quite well with six pairs turned per day, tins one can, turn sixteen pairs in, tho same time. “ Electrically driven machines lor supplying compressed air to all air-driven machinery in the workshops aie installed "in a special room. Thcso_ require no attention beyond lubrication. They supply compressed air at 1001 b to tho square inch, and have an automatic safety valve. It was fascinating to watch this device cut olf the power as soon as 1001 b was reached, and bung the power in again immediately any reduction took place. “In the hlacksiniiliy department great strides have been made in the establishing of machinery to reduce human labor. A bolt-making machine capable of making 2,000 ordinary bolts per day was introduced some twelve months ago. hour samples of tools which this monsler could make accompanied the machine from the manufacturers, hut at I’etoiio already o\ci a hundred types ol tools have been made from it, ami its amazing adaptability to meet new requirements shows no signs of exhaustion. It and twists, slots and moulds practically anything in tho bolt Hue up to lliu in thickness. Wo saw bond chain screws and shackles, superheater element bolts, wagon hinges, and back plates made bylhis mechanical vulean. Hexagonalheaded bolls, 1 iin x 2ft 2m, of winch a blacksmith and striker could turn out thirty-six in one day, arc produced at the rate of 400 to 500 per day by this machine worked by one operator. Wostingliouso brake pins, of which in one day a blacksmith, striker, and steam hammer attendant could produce fourteen, arc now prepared at the rate of 250 per day by one man on the bolt-making machine. Another labor-aiding device is a 2cwfc electric hammer, which hits hard and with remarkable frequency whatever comes under its beat, and which can be regulated to a hair’s breadth.”