hi guys


just curious here , what is the worlds larges lathe you know of ?

also what is the worlds smallest lathe you know of ?

do u have pictures or links to a site just post them in here

huge machinery always has facinated me , didn't know where to post this thread so i chose in this section

here is the worlds smallest NC lathe i found (Numerical Control Micro-Lathe )

http://unit.aist.go.jp/amri/group/finemfg/English/research/microLathe1e.htm

here is the worlds biggest lathe i have found - a huge Niles lathe in pieces there are more pics if u go to the main page www.georgewamachinery.com

the chuck and headstock of the Niles lathe

www.georgewamachinery.com/Niles%20102%20x%2049'%20Lathe1.gif


sorry guys this is of the topic

cheers

Not sure about lathe but I think the world's biggest mill is in Delta (south of Vancouver) used for milling aircraft wing spars for heavy aircraft.

The Largest Lathe That I've Seen Was At The Old Foreriver Shipyard In Quincy, Ma. Swing 120" Over Cairrage Center To Center 80 Feet
The Largest Mill That I've Read About Was At Tha Phill. Shipyard In The 1940 It Was A Moster Over Six Stories High Or Some Crazy # Like That I Think It Was A Gidding And Lewis

this ones for sale from a Toronto dealer, one of the bigger that i've seen. wife'd kill me if i felt sorry for it and brought it home. when they're really big, they are usually either very long between centres or very big swings (40' with th face plate going into a pit), and nothing between centres. this is one of the largest conventional formats i've seen.

http://uen.hsix.com/q/webinv/002015=iform,4646,0L3000,,list,,,20059840,,

Jesus look at the size of the chuck on that thang..

I am not sure if you would accually call it a lathe in the normal sence, but I saw a show on TLC or History Channel about building a huge ship. In it they installed a multi-part drive shaft into the ship and then turned the ends to match each other. If I remember correctly, the shaft was like 36" round and 1/3 the length of the ship. Using that as scale, it looked like the chips it was cutting were better than 2" wide from a splined end. From the video you could hear the metalic "PLINK" as each came off and hit the deck. I wish I could remember what it was about and find a link.
Like I said, not exactly a conventional lathe, but it was huge and I found it very impressive!

Small tools:

http://www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com/Jordan.htm
http://www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com/images/Jordan12.JPG
http://www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com/images/Jordan13.JPG

All though they are models, you can see one being used to make parts for another one. Again I am very impressed.

wow. that stuff is so impressive..

i wonder what they used in that tiny cnc machine.... it really seemed to be having an easy time with that ketal...

Biggest lathes will almost certainly have been for shipbuilding, most likely during WWII. (IIRC) Even modern container ships don't have the same HP-per-shaft as the big battleships of WWII. Maybe the current nuclear aircraft carriers exceed that, but by how much?

Also, the lathes to turn the gun barrels for battleships were pretty big. Even the modern ones for tank/artillery barrels are huge by most standards. And extremly accurate to boot.

I saw a discovery/history/whatever chanel show on the moving gates they have across one of the gates into the north sea in holland. Each gate pivots around one 5m (or similar) spherical bearing. The only place they could get to make the bearings was an old cold-war era machine shop in poland or some place. The machine had a horizontal table that rotated (like a lazy susan) with a fixed overhead gantry that had x-y travel, so the tool approached the work piece from above. As I recall it was originaly built to machine turret rings for battleships (it's those battleships again damnit! I was born in the wrong century to play with all the good toys).

As for how small is small?

I've seen the logo for IBM spelt out in atoms with a scanning electron microscope. Not with my unassisted eye, obviously.

Just saw it on the history channel last night. Was turning prop shafts over 100 feet long for nuclear destroyers. Had a 150 h.p. motor on it. They tightened the cutters down with an impact wrench. Very impressive.

Some months ago I posted a picture of a gantry that I came across. It had platforms you could walk on high up on the "rails". And not far away from it on the ground was a (8-jaw if I remember correctly) chuck that you could park a car on. Maybe 4m in diameter. I believe it was actually the 4th axis for the gantry as there was a similarly-sized hole in the ground underneath the gantry.

The servos on that thing were roughly the size of your household washing machine.

hi

here is another huge sucker of a lathe

http://www.manufacturingcenter.com/man/articles/1204/1204monster_lathe.asp

yes where i buy some of my second machines a guy down here in Melbourne Victoria has one of those lathes they assemble in the hull of a ship and do there boring hole for the prop setup , its a long sucker again over 40ft long

cheers

Jesus look at the size of the chuck on that thang..


Nice chuck, but how many men does it take to hold the micrometer to measure something in that chuck!
Yikes!

Sure wish I had one of those 1/5 scale Bridgeport Mills!
That is so kool!
Eric

Hi
ITs not as big as some that has been listed but I worked on a large lathe that was 60ft between centers the chuck was about 14ft dia we machined steam turbines on it You sat up on the tool post.

The largest lathe I have ever seen was a Crawford Swift LT4700 that would take a 90ton load betwwen centres, I think origanally it was used in the power industry to produce turbine shafts on(like the guy above) link to a picture of it is below
www.electromotion.co.uk(look for centre lathes it's on the 3rd page).

http://www.ratechmachine.com/gray4.jpg
http://www.ratechmachine.com/gray3.jpg
X 240 in, Y 168 In, Z 60 in, Spindle 4000RPM , 120 in Rotary Axis

See a lot of nice machines in this post, keep'em comming guys.
TLC, Discovery, The History CH had a special a few years back and now wish I recorded it.

Nice pics guys

tobyaxis :banana:

larges part(casting not a weldment) I ever made was a 5 blade 23' dia. propeller for an aircaft carrie started out 75,000LBS end up about 62,000LBS on a Walrich-corbun

Check this site out http://www.sheffieldforgemasters.com. they have the capability of casting, forging and machining some of the biggest parts in the world. Sheffield forgemasters is one of the most famous heavy engineering companies in the world and they are huge.

So tell me, how large of a center hole do you need to support a 100 ton workpiece? Do they have trouble with the tailstock wanting to slide away from the load?

So tell me, how large of a center hole do you need to support a 100 ton workpiece? Do they have trouble with the tailstock wanting to slide away from the load?

I don't know about centre hole but at a guess, maybe 15" or more. As for the tail stock I think there would be a rack and pinion system to control the tail stock position for moving and for locking in place, a simple clamping system would be too risky on such a big job.

My understanding is that the tailstocks are hydraulic and that there is a constant positive pressure kept on the work piece, they also used very big traveling steadies that support the work piece, but saying all that thet must still use one hell of a revolving centre with a massive bearing to support 100ton loads

If you look at the www.sheffieldforgemasters.com you will also see that they quite often double chuck the parts with one chuck at the spindle and one at the tailstock, which is a fairly common practice when you need to throw krarly old forgings

I make also small machine , everthing is made by hand
an some parts I must buy.I want to send some foto's how I do
this .

damn i wonder what you'll feel like when your boss comes into the workshop and asks you too rescrape some of this lathe's beds cause of wear

:) slitting your wrists at a guess!

The largest I ever saw and I believe they claimed it to be the world's largest was a vertical lathe that Falk used to make gears down in Milwaukee, WI. I think the face plate was 50 ft. The faceplate was about level with the floor with probably at least 20 feet below ground. It was huge and the chips that came off it were huge too, looked like they could kill a man if he wasn't paying attention.

JP

You actually have to fracture fit a roller bearing into a workpiece like that to machine it.

Largest lathe ever

http://medusa.as.arizona.edu/lbto/april99/lm990426a_small.jpg

Largest lathe ever

http://medusa.as.arizona.edu/lbto/april99/lm990426a_small.jpg


that is huge :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

do u have a link to the site where the pic is ??

cheers

I make also small machine , everthing is made by hand
an some parts I must buy.I want to send some foto's how I do
this .

Scroll down the page where you reply and click the button that says "Manage Attachments". Use the browse button to pick the images and then click upload, when the files have uploaded the file names will appear further down the page, then just click Submit Reply.

Take a look at my photo gallery on here. Drum..
http://www.cnczone.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=33394

larges part(casting not a weldment) I ever made was a 5 blade 23' dia. propeller for an aircaft carrie started out 75,000LBS end up about 62,000LBS on a Walrich-corbun

Forrest Addy, who's an accomplished author in machining arena, gives an account of changing 23' dia propellers on aircraft carriers. because the hull is in the way of the shipyard cranes, its done manually using chain hoists anchored to to the hull with temp welded anchors. amazing stuff.

http://www.homeshopmachinist.net/bbs/showthread.php?t=19486&page=2

I wish I had a copy of the picture of the lathe that did the turning of the NUCLEAR CONTAINMENT PRESSURE VESSELS at BABCOCK & WILCOX. As I remember, the containment vessel weighed almost a million pounds, and was mounted on a Vertical lathe that only turned at a mazimum speed of 3 RPM, considering that the diameter of the containment pressure vessel was over 30 feet in Diameter and almost 90 feet tall.

The machine as I remember took almost a day to come up to speed for turning, and the time necessary to finish the vessel was over a year. The chips weighed over 8 tons and the accuracy required was +/-0.005" and the surface finish was 63 rms.

This machine was located on the OHIO River as the containment vessels were barged to the construction sight which was on the shore of Lake Erie.

Capteod,

That sounds like a nice Lathe. Wish I could have been there to see that. I take it the Tools were 12" Shank maybe?

have a look at this nice crankshaft being machined on a lathe

the bloody lathe is huge

cheers

A friend of mine worked for a company that owned munuitions plants and told me about a lathe with a 150 ft. center to center distance. I think he may have also said something about another with a 300ft capacity.

I wish I had a copy of the picture of the lathe that did the turning of the NUCLEAR CONTAINMENT PRESSURE VESSELS at BABCOCK & WILCOX. As I remember, the containment vessel weighed almost a million pounds, and was mounted on a Vertical lathe that only turned at a mazimum speed of 3 RPM, considering that the diameter of the containment pressure vessel was over 30 feet in Diameter and almost 90 feet tall.

The machine as I remember took almost a day to come up to speed for turning, and the time necessary to finish the vessel was over a year. The chips weighed over 8 tons and the accuracy required was +/-0.005" and the surface finish was 63 rms.

This machine was located on the OHIO River as the containment vessels were barged to the construction sight which was on the shore of Lake Erie.


Did you work at B&W??

wooooooooooooo have a look at this crankshaft

http://www.k4viz.com/pdf/14cyl_for_RTA96C.pdf

now this is what you call horsepower , imagine machining this crankshaft , cylinder head and engine block , have a look at the size of this monster

The 12-cylinder engine exceeded 100,000 horsepower during overspeed testing (all of 101.5 RPM!) while under test at Japan's Diesel Union works (who built the first engines and from whmo these pictures are taken). Fuel consumption at maximum power is 0.278 lbs/HP/hour (BSFC). Fuel consumption at maximum economy is 0.260 lbs/HP/hour. At maximum economy the Sulzer engine exceeds 50% thermal efficiency: i.e. more than 50% of the fuel going into the engine is converted to power. For comparison, consider that automotive and small aircraft spark-ignition engines have British Standard Fuel Consumption figures in the 0.40-0.60 lbs/HP/hour range and 25-30% thermal efficiency. Even at its most efficient power setting, the Sulzer 12 cylinder consumes nearly 1,660 gallons of heavy fuel oil an hour.


http://www.k4viz.com/12-Cylinder.html

have a look at this gantry mill 40 foot long sucker

http://www.ireworldwide.com/planer.jpg

cheers

wow

Barberton right?

Hey drummond,

I saw that your from Canada and your name reminds me a city in Quebec, are you working for Marmen? I know that company because a couples of friends have ever work there and they told me they have many big...Big...BIG machine out there.

Here is a photo taken from their website :
2607526076
They can turned a 65' max with this machine!!!

http://www.marmen.qc.ca/en/

Pretty nice Rohm chuck at the end of this pdf. (http://www.roehm-spannzeuge.com/86.html?&L=1&user_products_pi1[showUid]=254&cHash=c6232108df)

The Worlds Largest Centre Lathe Is A Waldrich Siegen It Is Installed At The Electricty Supply Commision Of South Africa At Rosherville (e.s.c.o.m). The Machine Weighs 458 Tons And Was Installed In 1973 (can Be Verified In The Guiness Book Of Records). It Is Used For Turbine Work And Huge Gold Mining Equipment. The Operator Works Out Of A Control Box On The Workshop Ceiling.
I Am A South African Machinist Who Immigated To The United States, My Friend Dave Cotteril Who Worked For E.s.c.o.m Once Operated This Monster. I Am Fortunate Enough To Have Seen This Machine In Action

The Worlds Largest Centre Lathe Is A Waldrich Siegen It Is Installed At The Electricty Supply Commision Of South Africa At Rosherville (e.s.c.o.m). The Machine Weighs 458 Tons And Was Installed In 1973 (can Be Verified In The Guiness Book Of Records). It Is Used For Turbine Work And Huge Gold Mining Equipment. The Operator Works Out Of A Control Box On The Workshop Ceiling.
I Am A South African Machinist Who Immigated To The United States, My Friend Dave Cotteril Who Worked For E.s.c.o.m Once Operated This Monster. I Am Fortunate Enough To Have Seen This Machine In Action

Hi David

what are the chances that your friend has pictures of the lathe in operation ?

if your friend has pics , what chance have we of you scanning them and posting some in here

would love to see this monster of a lathe

i did a search on yahoo and google on The Worlds Largest Centre Lathe Is A Waldrich Siegen and this is what i come up with , another forum which i'm a member.

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=021788;p=0 will try and find some pictures of the Waldrich Siegen.

will post this in there website also.

cheers

more

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi/topic/1/11523.html?

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi/topic/1/11529.html?

I view one of these machines yesterday

huge MEGA BORE CNC lathe just down the road from my work place

specs
"MEGABORE - OIL COUNTRY LATHES - CNC
Productive - Precise - Reliable - Heavy duty


FLAT BED HEAVY DUTY SERIES

Hollow spindles up to 21"
Center distances to 40 ft ( 12000 mm )"

In was down in Boston for a few days and took a trip out to MIT where I found the picture on a wall.

It is a lathe at a shipyard near Boston (a long time ago), a vertical lathe, and it is big. The caption said it was milling (?) the turntable for a gun which probably means the turntable is maybe 30 feet in diameter. Other pictures taken around the same time, notice the July 1912 date, showed a ship that was identified as the USS Dakota under construction. I did some Googling and found that the USS North Dakota was built 1907, the USS Dakota was in service during WW2 and the USS South Dakota was built ???

I guess it could be the USS Dakota. And I will bet that at least one person out of the 60 or 70 thousand members on this forum had a Grandfather or Great Grandfather that served on the USS Dakota.


EDIT

I Googled some more and found this:

USS North Dakota (BB-29), a Delaware-class battleship, was the first ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the U.S. state of North Dakota. Her keel was laid down 16 December 1907 by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company of Quincy, Massachusetts. She was launched on 10 November 1908 sponsored by Miss Mary Benton, and commissioned at Boston, Massachusetts, on 11 April 1910 with Commander Charles P. Plunkett in command.

If the keel was laid in December 1907 working on the upper deck level armament in July 1912 is possible so maybe it is the USS North Dakota.

I just love those small miniature mill and lathe. Any more pics of those?

that little palm lathe is cool
Got to have one

In was down in Boston for a few days and took a trip out to MIT where I found the picture on a wall.

It is a lathe at a shipyard near Boston (a long time ago), a vertical lathe, and it is big. The caption said it was milling (?) the turntable for a gun which probably means the turntable is maybe 30 feet in diameter. Other pictures taken around the same time, notice the July 1912 date, showed a ship that was identified as the USS Dakota under construction. I did some Googling and found that the USS North Dakota was built 1907, the USS Dakota was in service during WW2 and the USS South Dakota was built ???

I guess it could be the USS Dakota. And I will bet that at least one person out of the 60 or 70 thousand members on this forum had a Grandfather or Great Grandfather that served on the USS Dakota.


EDIT

I Googled some more and found this:

USS North Dakota (BB-29), a Delaware-class battleship, was the first ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the U.S. state of North Dakota. Her keel was laid down 16 December 1907 by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company of Quincy, Massachusetts. She was launched on 10 November 1908 sponsored by Miss Mary Benton, and commissioned at Boston, Massachusetts, on 11 April 1910 with Commander Charles P. Plunkett in command.

If the keel was laid in December 1907 working on the upper deck level armament in July 1912 is possible so maybe it is the USS North Dakota.

Geof,

Have you found any new information on this lathe?

Geof,

Have you found any new information on this lathe?

No. I didn't know where to look. It was a series of pictures about shipyards in the Boston area around the turn of the previous century. I was intrigued because if you look at the picture it looks almost as if the lathe was built in position. The turntable being machined is certainly much bigger than the thing was designed for.

There where a few other pictures showing the shipyards but over all I was a bit disappointed, this was MIT and they describe a lathe as 'milling'.

One thing it reminded me of was the "Bull Of The Wood" books. Have you seen them? Well worth getting here are a couple of links.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&cat=1,46096,46100&p=46711

http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?show=Trade+Paper:Short+Discount:1894572610:6.50

There where a few other pictures showing the shipyards but over all I was a bit disappointed, this was MIT and they describe a lathe as 'milling'.

One thing it reminded me of was the "Bull Of The Wood" books. Have you seen them? Well worth getting here are a couple of links.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&cat=1,46096,46100&p=46711

http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?show=Trade+Paper:Short+Discount:1894572610:6.50

Thanks for these Links, I'm sure to buy a few of these to read through for laughs.

As for the MIT Blunder. I once got into an arguement with an engineer about the Proper Application of a CNC Mill and not using it for a Lathe Application. In that situation the risk of someone getting hurt was very high so I had to use the trump card. I won't in good conscience do something that could possibly injure an employee or myself. If that is what you want done, you do it on your own.

Some of these guys are real winners LOL. As a side note he ended up with a few stitches that day and I told you so;)

Education isn't everything:D

Thanks Geof!!!:)