Vintage work crew photos

[PJs]

Fergit dem Gerstner's.....Real star of the pic is front row left. Milwaukee Rotary Head Milling Machine, Model D2 [exact same model also show up as Kearney & Trecker]. One lucky curly haired kid is running the single greatest concept in metal working machinery ever. EVER!
That his set-up includes a rotary table say's he's on more than a common milling job. The machine has a rotary spindle arrangement of its own...Of all my iron, she is my one true favorite.
Why you say? Well here is why. This film introduces the machine, as prepared by the builder, not interpretations of a 4th or 9th owner. In the 80's, regular knee mills were ~$5,000 and 2300 pounds. D2's were long out of production, treasured none the less. IF you had a core [rebuildable] the service was $50,000 and they weigh 5500 pounds, within same approximate footprint. I first was assigned one mid-70's, and right to this instant, a machine more entertaining to operate hasn't occurred. I spent/ waited 25 years trying to locate one fit for purchase; a lot of machinery dealers didn't [even more still don't] really know what they are.

PJs 'guy' with his arm up, I think, is stationed at a Cincinnati horizontal with a Bridgeport head attached. Not sure why that approach taken, shop obviously has resources for a dedicated knee mill, maybe not the floorspace. The 'differential' seems a tooling bench of indexers and dividing heads. More perplexing to me are off to right with a transverse motor well above normal machine envelope. Left of the D2 is a small planer, and a band filer.
Too bad perspective ruined by such a low angle shot, a lot more would be clear. If there any lathes, this appears a milling department, certainly one would be a hydraulic tracer, or a Kellering machine, esp Pratt & Whitney.

TM51, I bow to your vast knowledge of these machines. Thanks for the Vintage Video, I watched the whole thing, drop jawed at a few points for the era. That D2 is remarkable and worthy of its own thread, imho...and the operators must be master machinist's with that many ops going on at once. I loved the drafting references to how it operates but the mechanical hardware inside and the attachments set the bar as you say.

I believe you are right about the (sliding) mill head attachment and can see the rotary table now after further review but confused about the larger RB to the right which looks to be one of the bars for the horizontal set up. Quite the crossover set up for Some Tricky machining.

Thanks TM51!

HemmJo: As I said it was the look on his face that was disconcerting to ME. Of all the other workers in the picture, the look on his face is quite different. As for doing his job...it's quite obvious he, had and is doing his job well whether or not he "may be" conversing with a co-worker (which is cut out of your cropped picture) is immaterial to me. There was and is No nefarious intent with my statement...just that his look was Different...Perhaps Disconcerting rings the wrong bell for some.

Websters Dictionary...
Disconcerting:
adjective

1. disturbing to one's composure or self-possession; upsetting, discomfiting.
2. confusing, usually in the face of something totally unexpected; perplexing.

PJ