Massive Shaft

[Ed Kennell 38,181]

[SylvanLakeWH 25,577]

Wow! 

 

@Pullstart perhaps this would be an Engine option for your  snow machine…?

 

 

 

[WHX?? 48,821]

Way cool Ed just boggles the mind.... thanks for sharing. 

Let's not give him any ideas shall we Slyvia! 

[ebinmaine 67,534]

6 minutes ago, WHX?? said:

not give him any ideas

Why???

[kpinnc 12,065]

How on earth do they make those giant things?

 

I want to see the machine that does that!

[ebinmaine 67,534]

@Ed Kennell

Awesome!!! 

[Ed Kennell 38,181]

Here's a peek at where I worked for 47 years.https://voith.com/corp-en/about-us/markets-locations/united-states/voith-hydro.html

 

[Pullstart 62,902]

2 hours ago, kpinnc said:

How on earth do they make those giant things?

 

I want to see the machine that does that!

My thoughts exactly!

 

I have often wondered… in the good ole industrial revolution days… who made the machines precise, when there were no precision machines to start?

[roadapples 6,983]

I'm sure they had good tools to get started. Kinda like a water level. Good as a laser  in reasonable areas, just not as fast....

[Ed Kennell 38,181]

3 hours ago, kpinnc said:

How on earth do they make those giant things?

One of our  33' diameter turbines being installed in Grand Coulee power plant.       Each turbine produced 1,000,000  HP. HP

 

 

Edited January 29, 2022 by Ed Kennell

[8ntruck 7,007]

One of the job offers I had right out of engineering school was Boeing in Witchitaw.  On the plant tour, I remember being impressed by a large bridge mill that was machining a wing rib for a 747 out of billet.  The mill operator was walking around on the bed of the mill with an air hose blowing the chips off of the work piece.

 

As far as what did they use to machine the crankshaft, I'll guess that it started as a forging, maybe a casting, then went to a very large lathe, the kind that the operator rides on the compound slide, then to heat treat, then to some sort of monster grinder.

 

There is a cnc mill near Lansing, Michigan that can machine one of those large wind turbine blades - those are what, 80 or 100 feet long? 

[ri702bill 8,326]

Part of the ability to accurately machine and measure fabricated parts can be traced back to the efforts and products provided by what was a local company - Brown & Sharpe. They patented the first gear cutting machine to use the now industry standard involute gear tooth design back in 1865. They did not invent and patent the first Micrometer, rather, they did so with the first accurate screw cutting machine that same year that allowed them to mass produce the parts for Micrometers. Team that up with water wheel power to run those machines and the Industrial Revolution was on. 

[953 nut 55,261]

9 hours ago, Pullstart said:

My thoughts exactly!

 

I have often wondered… in the good ole industrial revolution days… who made the machines precise, when there were no precision machines to start?

That is why babbitt bearings were used on anything that rotated.

12 hours ago, kpinnc said:

How on earth do they make those giant things?

 

I want to see the machine that does that!

To see that type of thing today you will need to go to China. There isn't a foundry in the United States large enough to cast anything approaching that size. 

[Pullstart 62,902]

1 hour ago, 953 nut said:

babbitt bearings

Good read!

 

https://autowise.com/babbitt-bearing/

[pacer 3,173]

My good friend was a MASTER machinist and I had the GREAT GOOD fortune to have him for a mentor for - too short a time.

 

He took his training in the 60's and on first job was an older gentleman that did not, would not use " them fancy tools you young whippersnappers use, you dont need them thangs" Behind his 28-30 foot lathe was a rather large collection of manual calipers and other misc tools that my friend didnt even know what were for. Along with a pile of blackboard chalk sticks! When he started to get close to his desired size he would grab one of the calipers and a piece of chalk and finish the cut -- with calipers and chalk!! and it would be dead on!!

 

My friend tried to get him to talk a bit about his method, but as with a lot of those old craftsmen he was a bit stingy with his knowledge, and my friend had his own work to do .... soooo, in a few months the old fella had a stroke and there went all that knowledge.

 

And, sadly, my friend/mentor passed last year after couple years slowly slipping away from - mostly COPD (cigarettes!!) and kidney failure and on dialiasis. Another great loss of a very talented man, and friend!!!

[adsm08 2,064]

12 hours ago, Pullstart said:

My thoughts exactly!

 

I have often wondered… in the good ole industrial revolution days… who made the machines precise, when there were no precision machines to start?

 

For a long time there wasn't precision machining as we have it today. In the early days of the automobile a minor breakdown was a big deal because parts were not interchangable, they were custom fit. So if you broke a gear a new one had to be made and fit, you couldn't just grab a replacement off a shelf.

[WHX?? 48,821]

16 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

Why???

[Ed Kennell 38,181]

8 minutes ago, WHX?? said:

 

   Kev's daily driver.

[SylvanLakeWH 25,577]

1 hour ago, WHX?? said:

 

51 minutes ago, Ed Kennell said:

 

   Kev's daily driver.

 

Medi-Uber…

Edited January 29, 2022 by SylvanLakeWH

[wh500special 2,184]

14 hours ago, 8ntruck said:

 

There is a cnc mill near Lansing, Michigan that can machine one of those large wind turbine blades - those are what, 80 or 100 feet long? 

Bigger.   We were making carbon fiber stiffeners for some that were 100 meters long. 

[wh500special 2,184]

For such a giant crankshaft it looks to have a very short (proportionally) stroke.  
 

I don’t imagine they rope start that thing.  
 

steve

[ebinmaine 67,534]

1 minute ago, wh500special said:

I don’t imagine they rope start that thing

Wimps.  

[Pullstart 62,902]

Someone call @Pullstart?  💪 

[SylvanLakeWH 25,577]

[ebinmaine 67,534]

Just now, SylvanLakeWH said:

^^^

That's me.