Vintage work crew photos

[Toolmaker51]

Fergit dem Gerstner's.....Real star of the pic is front row left. Milwaukee Rotary Head Milling Machine...I first was assigned one mid-70's, and right to this instant, a machine more entertaining to operate hasn't occurred.

esp for PJs; and others viewing the video about the mill. That first day, walking into that shop, interviewed and hired, then led to the milling department. A pair of D2 sat front row center. A big Norwegian man was deeply engaged running one, so I was already watching, Uhh-oh-ing silently.
The supervisor; "You're gonna run this one"
Me "I've never even seen one of these"!
Super "That's OK, nobody has. We're going to teach you"
Me, relieved and heaving a low "Whew"
By lunchtime, I was hooked.

With that scene in mind, this is what I still see, watching the Norwegian, even 43 years later. Of 45 seconds, those spanning :13 to :22 most of all.

[suther51]

Tm51 saw some of the video on the d2,,, wow looking forward to watching all of it. That is some mill. The sv4 steinel came it to my bosses business yesterday and I got a look at it to day. Got me a learnin curve head of me! Too many things that are not as intuitive as I would have expected. The table feed gear change looks to be a real puzzle, top lever seems to be pined with no obvious way to change setting, bit like a horse shoe puzzle. There may be an answer under the paint slobber. This is one source of frustration I am looking forward to. Thanks for the posts.
Eric

[Toolmaker51]

Tm51 saw some of the video on the d2,,, wow looking forward to watching all of it. That is some mill. The sv4 steinel came it to my bosses business yesterday and I got a look at it to day...
Eric

Your SV4 is not familiar; I've been around a few mills and machine brands. We'll insist [politely] postings on her virtues and faults.
Aware nothing is perfect, lots of machines have features ranging from great to WTF. Fact is, reactions vary with different users.

[suther51]

Your SV4 is not familiar; I've been around a few mills and machine brands. We'll insist [politely] postings on her virtues and faults.
Aware nothing is perfect, lots of machines have features ranging from great to WTF. Fact is, reactions vary with different users.

What I "know" so far,
Knee mill
Head tilts 45 in the x axis both ways, taper pin for 90 deg indexing
Called a 5x25 w 4 inch quill stroke
About 6 foot tall, will be putting on blocks, hate hunching over to work
3mt collets for quill
1.5 or 2 hp not shure which yet
Built in power feed x axis
Built in coolant
About 1300 lbs
Reputation for rigidity and accuracy
Made in w Germany perhaps in the 50's
Came with old brown n sharp vice, 1/2" collet with chuck
Belt drive up the back side for speed changes
Reputation for not enough room under the quill

Eric

[suther51]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/milling-mac...-/283318353120

Is this a d2 equivalent? Quite the mill.
Eric

[Toolmaker51]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/milling-mac...-/283318353120

Is this a d2 equivalent? Quite the mill.
Eric

Yes it is. But 2 grand isn't much of a deal; lacking toolholders and 'fun' accessories that make it sing. Before everyone tries snapping one up, these are precision machines, not for hogging rough work. But that said, in the hands of a competent operator, he might one-off a complicated part quicker than a programmer, set-up guy, and less than invested operator can via CNC. Literally a few minutes reviewing a drawing, clamp material and go to work.
And if it sits weeks without work, you don't have large payments for a serious capital machine. I use 2-axis knee mills on occasion, other than 100 IPM rapids and a lever operated quill, they can't do anything beyond the D2.

[suther51]

Just found it interesting as it came up with a gogle image search. Im waiting for tbe arival of a steinel sv4. About the biggest machine i can fit in my shop with a greased shoehorn after i cramed in the chineesium 12x32 lathe. It's a woodworking shop but always longed for some metalworking in addition to forge n anvil. There are so many interesting machines out there. Got to put on the blinders now n use what I have more fully. Thanks
Eric

[suther51]

floor of that big shop is spotless except for some kind of fluid behind the sweeper.

Interesting, have heard of older shops using something called sweeping compound to keep dust down, just my 2 cents also.
Eric

[Jon]

Manufacturing M3 tanks at a Chrysler plant near Detroit, Michigan. 1942.

Fullsize image: https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net...w_fullsize.jpg

[PJs]

This picture is one of the reasons why I love Jon's Vintage Work Crew thread so much. Not only does it show 25 skilled professional at their tasks but vintage equipment of extraordinary quality in use. I sometimes clean these up for my personal amusement and creative relief, by using non-destructive methods. This one really struck many chords with me, especially with TM51's additional info on the KT/Milwaukee D2 and vintage film, some of the other comments, and the further I got into the depths of it during cleanup really made it worthwhile for me, in time and as a tool & shop-aholic.

I won't go into all the details but hopefully the clean up and the pictures tell some more of the story for others. There are 13 pics from the primary: One Cleaned up and another with a Number Key, and the rest are the numbers cropped from the original. There we a lot of machines I couldn't identify and cropped them out as individual pics. I was particularly struck with the Tool Room Guy & Gal in No. 11 & 12 and led me to gestimate the size of the shop based on the bench sizes and the typical head size of ~6" diameter, which puts the shop at ~44' x 40' with a wad of machines and people operating them in ~1800sq.ft. and no overhead wiring nor air lines or coolant supplies...all neat and orderly!

Note: Some of the cropped pics are not as clear because of web resolution and cropping. The original clean up to 24 bit grayscale was 91mb.

First two: clean up and Number Key:



11 in Numerical order:













It's the stories we garner and share, starting with Jon finding these fabulous pics to TM51's D2 story and everyone seeing the Gerstner's and what we draw from our imaginations from the people in them and our past's that bring meaning and substance to what we do, have done, or going to do for ourselves and others.

Thank You Jon!