Colchester Lathe Video worth a watch

[JAZZCNC]

I thought I'd post this I found on YT as I found it interesting to see how things where done. Good watch while stuck at home but Damn who ever picked those machine colours must have been colour blind...

[MartinS]

Brilliant, I could almost smell the oil and suds.......notice, we never saw the first aid room!

[m_c]

I love seeing the big machines working.
I wonder if there is anything like the big bed grinder left in the UK :(

[Neale]

Two things struck me - the most significant piece of PPE that anyone was wearing seemed to be a flat cap (although the guy pouring iron in the foundry did put on a pair of safety glasses just before pouring), and no-one had a roll-up dangling out of the side of their mouth. Must have been on best behaviour for the camera!

[JAZZCNC]

and no-one had a roll-up dangling out of the side of their mouth. Must have been on best behaviour for the camera!

It did say actually that no eating or smoking was allowed on the shop floor which surprised me, and it sounded like it was a serious offense with the loss of pay.!!

It was the old measuring devices and tools that struck me most.!! . . .Amazing

[Neale]

It was the old measuring devices and tools that struck me most.!! . . .Amazing

I particularly liked the shot of one of the girls sorting bearing rollers - having put it in the "fully electronic" measuring machine, a little torch bulb lit up over the correct bin to put it in! Just a series of bare bulbs that looked as if they were soldered to wires taped to the back of the bins.

My own lathe is a Smart and Brown that probably dates from about the same era. I've had a couple of covers off bits of it for adjustments and the complexity of the mechanical bits internally is horrendous. The knob on the saddle that switches between surfacing and sliding movement drives the internal clutches via a couple of pairs of bevel gears and a rack and pinion. I'm sure that they could have designed something a bit simpler to do the same job - but I must say that it is a real delight to use even if it is around 50 years old.