High-quality black-and-white photographs of large old machines and tools

[hemmjo]

In regard to #315 , the shear with all of the wheels for sheet positioning... I am always interested in the evolution of the design of things.

I am imagining one of the shop guys (Alex) going to engineering to ask (Bob) about some obscure detail on a drawing. Alex and his coworkers have just finished wrestling a big plate onto the shear. As Alex asks the question, Bob rolls his desk chair across the floor to the wide shallow file drawers (no computers) to retrieve the drawing with his notes. A light goes on in Alex's mind as he watches the casters on Bob's chair adjust to the direction of travel... Fast forward to the next week... All of the office staff come into the office long after the shops guys have been hard at work. All the chairs are 3" (76.2mm lower than before. Someone has stolen the casters from all the chairs... Bob and his friends just smile as they hear the grumbling from the pencil pushers in the office. (the names have been changed to protect the innocent)

From that simple beginning, as ToolMaker mentioned, things evolved from swivel body casters to plate mounted or ball-transfers.

My imagination does wierd things sometimes... lol