50,000 ton press of amazing

Since many of us are interested in metal work and this just appeared on Slashdot, I thought I'd pass it along.

The article talks about the heavy press program established to produce several forging presses in the 1950s and are still in service today.

Full Article

The Atlantic said: The Fifty, as it’s known in company shorthand, broke down three years ago, and there was talk of retiring it for good. Instead, it was overhauled and is scheduled to resume service early this year. One of the great machines of American industry has been reborn. It is this power, combined with amazing precision—its tolerances are measured in thousandths of an inch—that gives the Fifty its far-reaching utility. It has made essential parts for industrial gas turbines, helicopters, and spacecraft. Every manned U.S. military aircraft now flying uses parts forged by the Fifty. So does every commercial aircraft made by Airbus and Boeing.

For some reason I find 1950's engineering utterly fascinating. Something about getting thousands or ten thousands of an inch tolerances with a machine designed by hand on a drafting board and using a slide rule is amazing to me.

yeah. they dont make anything like they used to anymore.

Surprisingly enough, that's a repoast from a while back. Still a good read. Gives a whole new meaning to heavy machine.

We're really damn good at building stuff when there is a world war.

I still believe that if there were Aliens trying to take over the world that we'd form a single nation, a single currency, and build the Enterprise in a couple of years.

In reply to PHeller:

(flounder) Enterprise hell, I'd want a Star Destroyer! More weapons, less science (/flounder)

The0retical wrote: For some reason I find 1950's engineering utterly fascinating. Something about getting thousands or ten thousands of an inch tolerances with a machine designed by hand on a drafting board and using a slide rule is amazing to me.

No difference at all, except its faster when a computer does it. There still has to be a skilled human to create the program to allow the cad program to work.

Streetwiseguy wrote:

The0retical wrote: For some reason I find 1950's engineering utterly fascinating. Something about getting thousands or ten thousands of an inch tolerances with a machine designed by hand on a drafting board and using a slide rule is amazing to me.

No difference at all, except its faster when a computer does it. There still has to be a skilled human to create the program to allow the cad program to work.

Having a bit of experience using CATIA I can appreciate the work that a cad program saves. I also know that modern day manufacturing processes are done to much tighter tolerances and consistency in most modern materials allowing for items which do not need to be as over engineered as a relic from the "golden age" of engineering.

I've also done quite a bit of drafting table work. Honestly for me stepping back from a table and looking at what I've done was much more satisfying than looking at the 3d exploded model I'd created in a computer lab. The fact that back in that period that the engineers were able construct those machines on such a scale, send it to the machinists, and still get the tolerances and quality that was needed and is still needed and used to this day is much more romantic, I suppose would be the correct term.

That said, no, I would not like to return to that since someone is inevitably going to try to troll the previous paragraph. Modern processes allowing for smaller and more efficient machines are very much valued from my standpoint since I'm the impatient make life easier sort.

I thought we were headed here......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDG9XtIuDY0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Pete240Z wrote: I thought we were headed here...... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDG9XtIuDY0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

OSHA would have nine heart attacks, four small children and a dog named Spot if that was a US manufacture. The fines alone would pay the national debt.

Kind of cool, they just need to replace the guy in the white shirt with someone smaller.

I service smaller 500-1000 ton presses. It's hard enough to believe that the hydraulic presses can pump out millions of parts a year at tolerances of a few microns, but when I see the abuse that the mechanical presses from the 50's will put up with and still make good parts, it blows me away. I was inside the bed of a 750T mechanical press yesterday pulling out the stops.

The Pyramids come to mind, also the fact I can take an over engineered electric motor from the 1960's to the shop and have it rebuilt. Newer motors I have to scrap, they ain't worth fixing.

This .pdf on the Mesta 50,000 ton forge press is awesome:

http://files.asme.org/asmeorg/communities/history/landmarks/5488.pdf

It has pictures of the original machining in creating it. Amazing stuff.

Eight of the largest nuts used on the press weigh 55 tons EACH!

The press itself is an engineering marvel, but in the Mesta plant were some other really fantastic machines. For instance, a 110 inch lathe? Damn, that is HUGE.

Boring ('trepanning') the bolts, how long would that take? Days? Weeks?

Curmudgeon wrote: The press itself is an engineering marvel, but in the Mesta plant were some other really fantastic machines. For instance, a 110 inch lathe? Damn, that is HUGE. Boring ('trepanning') the bolts, how long would that take? Days? Weeks?

That's the part that blew my mind. Trepanning a 10" bore, 70 feet long? Insanity!

TRoglodyte wrote: The Pyramids come to mind, also the fact I can take an over engineered electric motor from the 1960's to the shop and have it rebuilt. Newer motors I have to scrap, they ain't worth fixing.

So then the question is: was the 1960's way better? I'm not sure it was. Most of those motors ended up in the scrap heap anyway so all that extra material went to waste.. Maybe engineering it to be "good enough" saves money in the end. Just a thought.

motomoron wrote:

Curmudgeon wrote: The press itself is an engineering marvel, but in the Mesta plant were some other really fantastic machines. For instance, a 110 inch lathe? Damn, that is HUGE. Boring ('trepanning') the bolts, how long would that take? Days? Weeks?

That's the part that blew my mind. Trepanning a 10" bore, 70 feet long? Insanity!

What boggled me: a 70' long boring bar mounted horizontally (which is how they show it being done) would probably begin to bend just due to its own weight as it was extended. How the heck would the thing stay 100% straight and still be able to evacuate the swarf,chips etc? I mean, it's easy to support the stock: just add a roller support every so often. But the boring bar? if it started out going, say, .100 off center 20 feet in and continued that way, it wouldn't be long before the damn tool whipped so bad that it broke. Not to mention ruin what has to be a horrendously expensive piece of stock.

It could benchpress the battlehip Iowa, with 860 tons to spare. If the logistics could be worked out.

Rebuild of the press.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPjVSryWC1A