Vintage work crew photos

[Nick79]

Why so many wood lathes? Was turning a hard skill to teach? I recall our school's woodshed, we had 3 lathes, a thickness planer, table saw, 2 bandsaws, a mortising machine, 2 drill presses, 1 scroll saw and a grinder. 6 5'x5' work stations with 4 vises each and a bunch of hand tools.

[hemmjo]

It is not so hard to learn wood turning, it just takes more time to complete a task on a lathe. Considerably longer that the other tools you mention in your list. There are 14 students in that photo. During the time 6 students may be using the lathes, the other 8 would easily have time to use 1 bandsaw, as typically those cuts are quickly made and you move on to something different.

[marksbug]

Im excellent at making sawdust.

[Toolmaker51]

Is that a 4 FOOT bandsaw back there? Wow . . .

Appears a 36". That pattern before and sometime past was typical of many brands, possibly re-branded from a single machine builder. I've a Moak, probably had identical guarding when it was young. Top of upper wheel well over 8 feet high, direct 5hp drive ~850 RPM; serious FPM with 36" wheels. A similar machine is named Crescent, and more common.
I've never seen a left-hand vertical bandsaw...the blade guides say right hand. Despite big throat, it's too close to corner of wall for large re-sawing, in thickness or width. When I get back to Mid West, mine gets a low slung carriage; either 4 swivel casters or a forklift pallet.

[Jon]

John Morrow Company factory interior.

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More: Progress is fine, but it's gone on for too long.: We used to make things in this country. #31 : John Morrow Screw and Nut Company, Ingersoll, Ontario

[IntheGroove]

You can smell the cutting oil...

[jackhoying]

Since they are a screw company, the screw machines are staggered that way in order to feed long stock into each one. Probably the job of younger workers was to keep each machine supplied with material.
Hard to imagine what it was like to work in those conditions. (no or little lighting, lack of ventilation, loud machines, etc)

[Frank S]

When setting up an operation such as the screw machine shop in post 1815 Had they installed the main overhead drive shaft at a few degrees angle then the machines could have been canted at an angle as well this would have allowed all of them to have been set up on an imaginary centerline they would have still had an offset relative to the next machine for bar feeding and loading but the isle ways would have been the same width from one end to the other of the workshop material flow both incoming and out going would have had a much smoother pathway

[Jon]

Workers adjust the nozzles of shells in the National Shell Factory at Parkgate Street, Dublin, during the First World War. 1914.

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[Jon]

B-29 Superfortresses being assembled at the Boeing plant in Renton, Washington.

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