How to rebuilding older machines using the hand scraping method ?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.ย. 2015
- Scraping is a lost art that is used for extremely high precision resurfacing. Watch how older and even newer machines are rebuilt to better than new specifications using the scraping technique. We take this field trip to Plason Scraping to show you the dedication that goes into this lost art of rebuilding machines. This was a fascinating journey and it is hard to believe without seeing what an old machine can be transformed into with the right talent doing the work.
I'm a retired toolmaker and was for 46 years. At the company I worked for there were 12 of us in the tool room and of necessity and in addition to our normal work producing jigs and fixtures for the main machine shops we worked closely with the adjoining maintenance department replacing and refurbishing production machine parts. The maintenance department consisted of a further 10 mechanical and electrical staff. But then one day it got an additional team member,and a very special one at that. He was in his early 40s and was skilled at bed scraping. To the company this guy was like gold,and was treated accordingly. He was given his own corner of the department replete with special benches of his own design. I got to know him pretty well over the years and had nothing but admiration for his skills and painstaking albeit lengthy methods. His tools were all hand made by himself and the results of his efforts were something to see.He could bring a machine back to good as new condition and as such saved the company hundreds of thousands of pounds in new plant. Toolmakers rarely bow down to anyone,but watching this guy work I knew I was out classed. I couldn't have done it. But where are they all now?
The only way to stop commercial trend of producing single use products is to support companies like this
Sadly mate that would put even more pressure on companies to make their products not possible to repair.
The manufacturer Schaublin told me 5 years ago that even pretty good milling machines and lathes are becoming consumer goods: if after 4 to 5 years the precision is not good anymore , the machines are replaced by a new one.
Whereas the Schaublin's and Hardinge's simply last 4 to 5 times longer..... But a lot of companies do not care , as investing each year a bit reduces taxes for example etc ....is a bit cheaper...
I could not believe.....as I own a 1961 Schaublin which is still pretty good...
I was into machine tool reconditioning in Bangalore for almost 20 years, mostly refurbishing Cylindrical Grinders. I was myselves a specialist Hand scraper, trained from HMT Watch factory. Watch machines required 0.002 mm in geometry and upto 25 highpoints per square inch area.
The technique we used was to push the scraping tool with your waist.
Now I am the R&D head of a German MNC in Bangalore
My father in-law who just passed spent the last twenty years of his working life as a machinist scraping in a machine repair shop in Montreal. A machinist who apprenticed at Pratt and Whitney who under some of the best aero machinists (Germans) who emigrated after the war did exactly what’s shown above. Myself a diesel mechanic was lucky enough enjoy a trip with him to the shop to see and understand this process thinking the only way to true up a surface was to ré machine it. I remember the engine in his car about fifteen years ago blew a cylinder head gasket and he pulled the head and put the high spot dye to it and hand scrapped it flat and reassembled the engine soling the issue . Miss you Viateur, --KTMCandog!
I love how Jim brought us closer into seeing how older machines are rebuilt using the hand scraping method
Thank you for watching
We had an old scraper hand who was under five feet tall and less than 100 lbs. And as you know, scraping can require a lot of physical strength. He had his own custom made scraper that would go against his hip and he used his entire body. It was quite funny to watch but his results were amazing. When he was finished you could move a five ton slide with very little effort. It just glided on the oil film and would last decades. He was a virtuoso for sure.
That's dedication! It's amazing what some can pull off when they're truly committed to a trade/art/profession. Thanks for sharing, and thanks again for watching.
whole-body movement is key in so many things.
@Chris Russell hahaha.. been there, done it too.
of course , you have to be real man to lay carpet .
Like I said, those guys are a dying breed that all began during our golden machine age.
This is one facet of our trade I hope never dies. At the age of 61, I am finally trying to teach myself how to scrape. I've been a toolmaker all my adult life, but never have I been exposed to this. I love this video, Don! Thank you!
Thank you for all your hard honest work over the years. And I also love Pluff Mudd! Are you from around Charleston?
I am from the Lowcountry. I know very well how pluff mud feels between the toes!
Glad to see you people give credit to experience, workmanship and dedication.
I had never heard of precision 'scrapping' before or any of this hardware & stuffs… Men & their machines have built the world we all take for granted!
Great video. It's good to know someone is still doing machine work the good old-fashioned way. Back in the '70's I worked as a machine erector at the G. A. Gray Co. in Cincinnati. It was almost like stepping a century into the past. We built giant machine tools with castings sometimes surpassing 60 tons that were planed into shape, scraped to fit together precisely, and then further scraped to allow for displacement of the ways due to the weight of the travelling heads, etc. I was amazed that such machines could be assembled with such tolerances, but I soon learned to do such work myself. Indeed, that job shaped my future career in so many ways, in instilling in me the love of attention to detail that I still follow today. Sadly, during the time I worked there Gray was dragged into the 20th century, as planed and scraped gray iron castings were replaced by milled steel weldments, laser guided feedback replaced precision ways and feed drives, and the need for skilled machinists was replaced by CNC controls. Within ten years Gray was no more. A company called Dynamic Industries owns Gray's building now, and they still have the biggest machines that were installed there, including a planer mill I worked on, big enough to machine a bus. You can see this wonderful machine at the bottom left on the following page: www.dynamicindustries.com/profile_article.htm
Seeing the mirror image of the shop wall reflect on the surface grinder table with optical stability as the table traversed back and forth really shows the quality of their work.
That scraping takes me back to my apprentice days at Ferranti engineering when I had to make my own surface plate, it took a lot of scraping from the rough cast to final finish and a lot of blue dye. The plate is on my workbench here in front of me despite being nearly half a century since I made it. As are most of the tools I made in those days as well come to think of it, C clamps, G clamps, Scribers, Inside and Outside calipers and my old toolbox covered in its original silver hammerite paint as well that we had to make to hold every thing in.
Hi john i went thru the same type of apprenticeship at AEI trafford park in the early sixties my dad worked at Ferranti at the same time so when i watch these videos it takes you back
There are very few in this seemingly mystical field. It's something I've always loved. Thanks for a rare peek into the art of machine rebuilding.
Those dedicated people, amazing vintage technique, high quality result and high durability..
What a living legend..
I use to work for Bridgeport Machines Bridgeport C. USA from 86 to 92 while I was going to school for Electro Mechanical engineering, I use to scrape the heads for the cnc machines to make the pots sit as close to concentric as possible, 3 ten thousandth's. Now I'm a computer engineer. I love this stuff.
Slightly disappointed your camera operator didn't get closer shots. I wanted to see more detail in the scraping -- the shots were almost there but with reflections and the lack of sharpness in the zoom it just didn't get there. Interesting video no less! I love seeing the human touch.
Eric Jones he asked him to get in close like 5 times. he has more patience than me, I'd be lucky to make it past 3
mcnameva "no, I don't have to move. I can get it"... Hopefully cameraman Jim learns from that
Stefan Gotteswinter did a fascinating video on scraping.
I agree but imagine the comments if Jim moved the tripod.
Thanks Don for putting this video together. I have been through most of Connelly's book and it is nice to see it all in action. Could be Academy Award material!
This was a very enjoyable thank you. I love old tools and old machinery and its really great to see people still appreciate them and breath new life into them. Restoring an old piece of machinery is something I would really like to do.
My 3rd job out of high school was at Sundstrand Machine Tool Division in Belvidere, Ill.,, back in 1967. We made our own line of BIG Numerical-Controlled (that's N/C - NOT "C/N/C) machining centers.
Speaking as a skilled machinist for 25 years or better, the best reason I can give for this manual method of finishing machined surfaces is, no matter what one does during a grinding operation the grinding wheel will ALWAYS wear down during the process - no matter how small the ares is. The worst part about this wearing process is that the wheel wears down primarily on the leading edge, putting a slight taper on what is the "cutting" edge of the wheel. The longer the operator grinds the surface without touching up (or "dressing") the grinding wheel, the more taper the wheel will develop, and then it wears faster!
Some surface grinders DO have wheel dressers that (sort of!) keep up with this wearing process but the end result is VERY hard to keep track of. So even by using a surface grinder it's STILL necessary to hand-scrape the ways if you want the surface precise and dead-flat.
With hand scraping, the wearing of the 'tool' is totally eliminated, because the craftsman (scraper) constantly monitors the finished surface by using the dyes and a Master block to see the high and low spots on the surface.
In addition to accuracy, the second and equally-important reason for scraping the surface is the retention of lubricating oil. On a lathe or milling machine, if you use a grinder to make the ways flat, they won't hold any oil on them and will eventually develop slight ridges in them because you don't use the full-length, or width of the machine's ways all the time. IE: If a lathe bed will 'travel 48 inches you don't use the machine to cut 48 inch metal on it, all the time, so it's only going to experience wear wherever it is most-often used - usually within 1 foot or so from the chuck..
With scraping you can put some oil on the surface and the machine's seals won't wipe-away the oil!
THAT is why you see cheap foreign mills and lathes with rusty ways, but a hand-scraped machine is nice and shiny!!!
With today's computer vision systems, there is the possibility of automating the hand scraping technique, using the same two die process, but using a micro scraper and high magnification. would be interesting to prototype.
40 years ago a was a scraper in "construction de Clichy" we made cilindrical grinding machines. i scraped machines up to 8m in length. after the geometry was scraped to within the standart tollerance, the bed off the machine(the frame) was prepared for oil "pockets" we had a 40mm wide scraper and it had a elonggated handle, that rested on ones sholder, the bed was painted in Prushian blue and the blade was positoned on the bed, one hand puled on the tool firm to the sholder and with te other hand we tapped hard on the shaft of the scapers side, making a "moon" shaped indentation ,that was repeated thousend off times to finish a bed. those oil retainers were aproximatly 0.02mm deep. hard work.
I agree this is amazing stuff. But can machines today are slowly eliminating the need. The machine doesn't have to be physically perfect anymore because the computer can compensate by changing the position of the part touching detail. That's what offsets do.
An alternative to"flaking" is dimples formed by an automatic centre punch on the fixed (stationary,non moving slideway),the moving slideway is left to its final scrapped surface(felt wipers in good condition) I have found this method is better where there is a lot of cast iron dust in the air, particularly on heavy horizontal slides where atmospheric pressure adds to the load on the supporting surface(if the air can not get between the surfaces, then 14.7 p.s.i. is applied)Also you can leave the apprentice to do the dimples, but make sure he understands that a polished hemispherical "point" on the punch is critical.Rocol anti scuffing paste on the nose of the punch. Legend has it that ball peign hammers have been used.
@@theupscriber65 that is a recipe for disaster. The competitive waste from mis adopting conventions in a real wartime scenario is sheer folly. You need people trained and ready to go. It's that simple.
Thanks Don for the video. Thank you Jim for your time spent with Don to show us how the MASTERS do it! Love that old iron, CJ
Superb demo of the process - indeed, way more involved than many folks would imagine
Class A video, Class A company. I love the explanation of using 3 points and scraping. It's cool to see him push hand scrape the Moore way, 1/2 moon scraping. Thanks Don for showing everyone this "Art". Richard King
+Richard King High praise from a well regarded scraper himself!
+Richard King Thanks for the reply Richard , We understand you are quite the guru when it comes to scraping.
Those guys are some amazing craftsman. I love to see the “old ways” still being used.
There's a lot of real love here. Which I feel myself for old and really well made machines. Brilliant video
My brain almost exploded from the wow. My rocks get happy from machinery, tools, and equipment of all kinds but especially the old school machining equipment. I must admit I've always wondered how scraping could be more precise than some of the cutting mills and cnc equipment of today. To see a completely refurbished machine run as quiet and as smooth as a Swiss watch was beautiful! I'm starting to wish I had become a machinist instead of a mechanic!
This trade still blows my mind, I wish I knew this art! Thanks for watching.
I am so young, yet my apprenticeship was in an old school naval refurbish shop for many types of ships. A private company with navy ties and clients with those ties. The boss, Ian Watson is ex-navy and secures work from various places near the workplace in Naval Base (34 Hope Valley Road). One of the main places the work is at is BAE Systems shipyard and dry dock, as well as Garden Island and the Marine complex next to BAE. Very very nice apprenticeship to complete in Fitting/Machining. Excellent training and good people to work with. So sad they didn't keep me on, I cried when I found out about my termination, it absolutely broke my heart. I made sure I schooled as much as I was allowed to and got extra subjects completed to gain their trust and make sure they have knowledge of my competency and loyalty. The passion in my work was so obvious and apparent. It is a shame the apprentice before me was not anything like what I was, he was a disappointment and a joke to the boss and he set me up. The boss didn't want another young idiot like him. I feel so cheated, coz he never dedicated himself to extra training, as did I. This is just my thoughts, maybe the boss just couldn't and he actually regretted my termination, who knows...
To watch and listen to those old all-mechanical machines hum along is a thing of beauty.
@@thomasknight-wagener6630 Maybe God needed you somewhere else just sayin.
@@thomasknight-wagener6630 dont give up bro!
They are doing a good job! And you are doing great job passing that knowledge Doug! Thank you!
Two words that describe the old machines!!... "ROCK SOLID!!"......
As a young man I worked Dean, Smith & Grace machine tools - one of the finest lathe beds ever to be hand-scraped.
Must have been ancient, dsg had way grinders in the thirties
These old buggers have such wisdom that is slowly being lost throughout the generations. Truly fascinating.
Manny Calavera I'm pretty glad and proud to be going through a machinist course in college. all of my instructors are old-timers with amazing stories under their belts
I just started an Adult Machinist apprenticeship. It's great to learn from the old timers.
No
Its not as much being lost as it is being replaced by machines. In the past, a machine was no match for the precision of a skilled worker but every day machines are getting closer and closer to a level of perfection that even the most experienced person couldn't dream of achieving. Anyone who says machines can't/won't replace people in these kinds of trades is naive if not flat out delusional.
I respect the people going into the machinist trade (I did similar things) but I would strongly suggest having at least one fallback. A lot of the older generation are finding out the hard way that they can and will be replaced unfortunately.
I am wondering if you know that material science is improving "throughout generation", not deteriorating.
Grateful for this video, I have been doing this for 35 years,yes very few people want to do this.And yes there is no comparison to the throw away machines with hardened ways.A Grand Rapids grinder is three times the cost of a Asian grinder,but will outlast it by many many years.And proper lubrication is what keeps them that way.Most failures are caused by not maintaining it.A oiler in the shop is worth his weight in gold.
I was a machinist most all my working life. I was an “old school” Bridgeport man. I sure miss that machine. I loved, LOVED being a machinist! I always went to work with great enthusiasm, and passion for my craft. If you aren’t passionate about what you do, find something else to do!!
I apprenticed as a scraper/ mt fitter thirty years ago. The popularity of a job that drove me nuts makes me smile
You're right Don, I really do love these videos. I look forward to them each week.
Just. Wow. Never realized how much there is to having older machine tools and what it takes to keep them reliable!
They're trusty if you maintain them! Truly an art.
In a world of throwaways , great to see quality still survives.
I have an old 1946 Reid surface grinder and you're correct. .....wow, what a massive set of castings! Loved seeing the scrapping. Nearly a lost art. I had to fit a large bushing recently by scrapping. The guys I work with looked at me like I was an alien when I told them we would fit it bt scrapping. Hahaha! They had never seen, let alone actually done anything remotely close to that.
Sir, This is one of the most enjoyable video's I have seen. Fantastic how the quality of the rebuilds show through. You are a true blessing to our industry.
I've seen the end result and heard about the folks that do it, but I've never seen precision scraping actually being done. Thanks for this video and for the peek into the world of breathing new life into these grand machines of old. As a country how quick we were to cast them aside not knowing what treasures we were sending to the scrap bin.
Some Beautiful work being done, I LOVE these old Mattison, Blanchard & Hanchett Grinders
Thank you for the video. I grew up next to a machinee shop in the early 70s. Old metal has a different tone and resonance. The video brings back the smell of machining oil and fluids. Awesome thanx. I need to go find an old machine museum. Thank you again
Thank you for watching.
Thanks for sharing this info. My dad was a machinist for sixty years. I always wanted to learn from him because I admired his skills, but we never had the opportunity to work together. I finally got a three way mill, drillpress, lathe machine and installed it in my garage, but he passed away a short time later. I inherited his tools, and am just getting an inkling of what to do with them. Videos like yours answer important questions for knowledge seekers. I intend to watch them all. :)
As someone who works in the machine refurbishment business, I'm glad you guys did this shout out! What we and companies like us do is an art.
The people at Plason Scraping are absolutely the best. We have used them many times and it's always a pleasure doing business with them. Great quality and value!
Nice to see somebody still scrapes bed in etc in. I learned the art of scraping back in the 60's. No carbide scrapers just old flat files or for internal large outer races of bearings split and straightened out slight curve at the end with bearing track down then ground to suit. . scraping tolerance of 24 spots to the inch diameter minimum. then finish with the Seagulls for oil pockets. Hate to think how many hours i've spent scraping Bed's, Slides and Bronze/ White metal bearings etc on various pieces of machinery.
Seems like you've perfected the craft by this point! Thanks for sharing your experience.
Brilliant video. It's great to see how older well made machine tools are kept in service.
When i worked in Japan we had a sister company that did extreme precision machining of prototypes. They had a building inside a building, an isolated foundation as far away from subways as they could find in Tokyo. The netire building was controlled to +- 1 C, and the measurement room was controlled to +_ 0.1C (0.18 F) All the operators were over 75 years old, and so were all the machines. They wanted old machines in which the castings were entirely stress relieved. Old castings, new drives. It was amazing.
Japan is another great precision engineering country that makes first class machines.
Just incredible. Thank you Don & Co. for the spectacular videos.
I spent over 40 years in machine rebuilding. Scraping is a talent learned. It’s hard and tiring, but there is nothing as satisfying as seeing a well done scrape job.
A very admirable and impressive tour, after all, these machines are the root and basis of how we as mankind can progress and manufacture the necessities we all need to survive. Thanks to Suburban for taking us on the tour, and thanks to all the people making this all happen, this has been a great insight into what it takes to rebuild these machines that so many take for granted.
I´m sure there are still some " NEW ..OLD guys" like me who are getting to see the beauty of scraping .
That it will pass on !
The simplicity ...mastercraftship and insaine precision makes it a True mechanical art.
Grtzz from the Netherlands Johny geerts
I've spent many years on all those machines , great job on the rebuild !
Your camera man Withuis be better off throwing away the tripod. He lost so many opportunities to come in code and show is the amazing machinery.
It still boggles my mind how can a person reach such a level of precision on such large surfaces just using his hands and eyes.
Truly mindboggling....
imagine that the most complicated machine parts were made on these old "analog" machines. So no computer programming, but a skilled worker who had to
do all the thinking himself.
I started watching the video thinking I was going to quit in few minutes... I ended up watching until the end. Love thise material.
Thank you for watching.
Hi mate.Thanks for showing me/us around.Marcel.
Great video and tour. Thanks!
Very cool. Thanks for taking the time to document and share the work that these folks do!
When I was working for MCE (Austrian company, offshoot of the VÖEST) we had a chap come in and scrape the Y-axis slideways of the Scharmann SA20 CNC machining centre (workpieces up to 40tons on a 3x2.5m table that had a 5meter range of movement itself) I was working on and holy shit was that a satisfying procedure to watch and help (I helped with setting up all the indicators in an easy to see and read off way and drove the machine for the scrapehand where he needed it) .
Boy oh boy, that Y-axis was flat after that man was done with it .
At the start we had highs of 0.04mm (0.001575 inches) and lows of 0.02mm (0.000787 inches) .
After finishing the indications over the Y-axis´ 3 meter travel we were flat at about 0.005mm (0.000197 inches) .
Took 2 days of 14hours of straight labour (after my 8hour shift was done, my shiftcolleague would be there to help the scrapehand) and not only seeing the finished surface but also having the improvement of minimised movement noise, way improved oil retention due to flaking and highly improved ease of movement on this axis alone made the machine very pleasurable to work with again .
I really loved that .
This type of manual labour is thousand times worth the investment in time and money my foreman (he worked on the same machine when it was brand-new and thought that 30 years later it was still working as pristine as it had done when he was driving it despite breathtakingly low maintenance over all those years... I looked up the service book and asked my colleagues in the maintenance department if the service book was right, and lo and behold it was … 2 yearly maintenances had been done in 31 years) had denied so long saying that the machine was running as perfect as when it was setup until I showed him the reality with a dial gauge and 10 minutes of time .
2 days after that my foreman came and told me "Next week you have early shift. On Monday at 6 in the morning an experienced re-fitter will be there and you 2 will just stop whatever you were machining (gas turbine (30+ tons) for GE^^) and immediately start to work on fixing it ."
And fixed it got, thanks to the brutally specialist hand labour delivered by a master refitter schooled in the dark arts of scraping .
Thank you for making this video.
Awesome to see Americans at work doing high-quality craftsmanship.
Always brings a smile to my face.
doesnt happen much anymore unfortunately, same with German and English craftsmen.... all done in China now
Japanese and Taiwanese do some fantastic work. I have to assume the Russians do, too.
JimmY yea but it's crapy work !
AMAZING WORK!!!!!!!. A LOT OF RESPECT FOR THE MEN THAT STILL DO THIS KIND OF WORK
Amazing , when we lose that talent it's gone forever .
How impressive ... this is a lesson in what can be accomplished when you have passion and pride in what you do.
Having done some of this, but not to the extent theses guys do (the difference in doing day to day and only when the need arose) I can tell you this is truely an art form. These aint no "Rustoleum Rebuilds"
As to getting a new generation of skilled workers to do this, there used to be a system in this country called apprenticeships. Sadly they have largely gone the way of the dodo. Killed by the tech schools and management that sees growing your own talent as a waste of money
In England the scraping process for finish scraping a cast bed to retain oil is called curling,same method and a highly skilled job,I was fortunate enough to work for a company that built and restored duplex grinders ( F E ROWLAND ) and was trained by old school fitters to do this job,also using a bull nosed chisel to cut the oil grooves in the beds a dying skill now,brilliant to see engineers working by hand to micron tolerances .
" the scraping process for finish scraping a cast bed to retain oil " . You are the only person who mentions this . i knew it, but I won't comment on too many of these machine tool videos . I see this guy turn his head away from a running surface grinder with his hand on the chuck , or run his hand under the wheel less than an inch away I'm going to puke .
We did the oil retaining of the machine bed as last operation , when all geometry was done (bed, sliding table, and pivot table) got the machine bed its oil retaining treatment, we had a 40mm wide scraper with an extension to reach the shoulder the tungsten blade was grinned in a radius of +/- 45mm a 50mm. The scraper was supported on the shoulder and the blade was puled to the edge (corner) and then tapped with the fist, this created a moon shaped dent.
Hi, would you know where someone can learn/get certified in this art around the London area. Thanks.
Beautiful work. Very much enjoyed this video. Thanks!
This was AWESOME to watch.
That Matt guy is cool. His composure looks like he repairs machines at day and fights villains at night. Cool guy. 10/10 would watch again.
Thanks Jim your talent should never be lost
I've had the opportunity to work with a company that does this kind of work. The skill and knowledge base involved is incredible.
Wow that's cool Don, thank you for another great video. I'm an novice / teaching myself how to be a machinist, and with so many of you TH-camr's out here my skills have improved greatly. So thanks again for another educational video.
Awesome visit, thank you guys !
You're welcome, thank you for watching!
This is such a beautiful art. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks. Wonderful documentary. Dave
Excellent video, thanks to Jim for showing us his operation. True craftsmanship :-)
It truly is an amazing process. Thanks for watching!
We had some of the largest Grinders, Lathes & Mills built in the 30's, 40's & 50's.. When these machines needed to be brought back into tolerance we used some of "The Pagan" bikers awesome craftsmanship & also "Aerocom Corp." out of Massachusetts. Aerocom repaired machinery on the side, they contracted with major jet companies to manufacture the turbine engines, men standing on 12' ladders scrapping 16' diameter & a width of 6'... This massive area was scraped to with-in .003 total...
Thanks Don for showing us a great talent . I would love to walk through his shop for a peak myself.
Excellent tour of the rebuild shop. Thanks for your videos.
Awesome old world craftsmanship!
Great videos. I had no idea this kind of work existed! Amazing. Thank you
It is nice to see good craftmanship kept alive, I've done a little scraping when building replacement lubrication oil pumps for some of the older engine types that were produced where I work, but that was very small parts compared to this, this is quite amazing to say the least:)
Great video, brings back memories when I did my apprenticeship doing mechanical fitting 12 years ago.
Ive since moved into the office but I still miss being on the tools
I absolutely understand. There's a lot to miss when moving to the office. Thanks again for watching!
awesome video,,, this for sure is one very educational video you made,, my grandpa used to scrape,, havent seen it done since then,,, i been around machine work for 35yrs but i always learn something from your videos,,, keep'em coming !!!!
I have a model maker's lathe and mill combo. When a boy, in the 1970's, I persuaded a family friend to cut me a four-station toolpost blank. When it came back, it had clearly been scraped. Foreigners were always given special treatment, this went to the toolroom! It was not necessary. But it was beautiful, I have mislaid it now, but, for many years I kept it as an ornament.
I'm speechless at how quiet and smooth that machine was.The cost isnt cheap but you get what you pay for and then some in this case.The quality of the rebuild along with the old iron truly gives you a machine that is better than new.
Thanks for making and sharing this video,I enjoyed this one more then most as it's something I've wanted to see for a long time.Also thanks for the guys at Plason,the boss doesnt seem like a man of many words but it was nice to see him acknowledge his employees for their talent.It may not seem like much but it goes a long ways and its something you rarely see these days. I've got 2 machines I want to redo and I think my list of companies to look into has just got really short thanks to this video.
Thanks for the field trip.....enjoyed
I enjoyed the video. The t&d shop I served my apprenticship in back in the sixties had a scrapping crew come in for a couple weeks each year. The boss let me work with. them during their time in the shop. Not enough time to become proficient, but I had hands on time to learn basics. Great experience! Thanks.
Beautiful old machines, good old hands and eyes.
Thank you.
great video showing real hand skills from Australia
I served an 'old-school' 4-year apprenticeship in electrical engineering (for which I am extremely grateful). Nevertheless, we all had to also learn and be tested on some mechanical engineering skills - hand-filing, bending, threading, turning, grinding, milling, shaping, forging, gas, arc and spot welding - and - scraping a surface plate! It was quite a revelation to discover just how effective and accurate the use of lowly hand tools can be, given the right techniques and care. I confess that I feel sorry for today's youngsters, who will most likely grow up unable to experience the personal satisfaction of knowing that they have the skills to make/fix almost anything. After more than 40 years, I still have and use the multi-meter I built - and the sheet metal toolbox it lives in! With the handmade piano hinges...
Good to see craftsmanship like this.
woww ... short of words .... i am not a machinist, i am just a guy about to retire , that is starting to play with a milling machine , and this is a work of art ... just amazing craftsman. We need more of this. It should a Gvmnt priority keep alive and promote these business. This is more art than technique.
Thank you for watching!
This is a beautiful art.
I am so glad to see this kind of work still being done in the US. I hope you find some young apprentices to carry it on. If I had the money I'd send you a truckload of projects. I'd start with my old Bridgeport, built in 1963 if I remember correctly. It has had some abuse in its lifetime and I'd love to see it made like new.
Great video Don! Love the finished surface grinder, looks and sounds like new.
This is really an amazing process to see.
At 78 wish I could work there as all my talents and experience would be geared to those operations.
GREAT JOB ◇◇◇
Thank you for watching!
What a great video! I have seen many scraping demonstrations on TH-cam, but only by hobbyists. It's very interesting to get this glimpse of a commercial operation.
I am particularly impressed with the body filler step. My mid century Covel universal grinder has a very rough surface everywhere that isn't a way, gear, or shaft. Part of that is the failed original coating but most of it is the actual casting. It makes it very difficult to keep it clean. I have thought about trying to refinish that (no scraping needed at this point because it's in great mechanical condition) but it would be SO MUCH work to grind or fill it. I imagine that is not a negligible part of the price of their services, and if I were using a machine like that for production it would be well worth the investment.
Thank you for sharing. And yes, it is hard to find good people who have the skills.
There is something tremendously satisfying about working a machine you father and perhaps his father may have used. You just can not get that in this throw away world today, bravo for preserving our past to enrich our future!
These machines were made to last a lifetime, and with a little work, they will!
These machines were made to last a lifetime, and with a little work, they will!