THE GLORY DAYS OF HEAVY ENGINEERING

[Bigbjorn]

One for the fitter-machinists amongst you.

A glimpse of the glory days of heavy engineering on the Tyne and surrounds.

William Doxford & Sons, Sunderland, shipbuilders and marine engine makers.

http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/William

[blitz]

faulty URL?

[Bigbjorn]

faulty URL?

It worked when sent to me that way.

Doesn't seem to like the tail piece of William Doxford and Sons. Try just the Ships Nostalgia (http://www.shipsnostalgia.com) and search the site for William Doxford and Sons

[drifter]

This may be it:
William Doxford and Sons - SN Guides (http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/guides/William_Doxford_and_Sons)

[It'sNotWorthComplaining!]

They could do that these days without wearing safety glasses. Lots of milling and using lathes without eye protection.

[Bigbjorn]

They could do that these days without wearing safety glasses. Lots of milling and using lathes without eye protection.

No ear or eye protection whatsoever. Note the English class distinction in the dress styles. Workers in boiler suits, supervisors and inspectors in white dust coats and snap brim felt hats. Note no CNC or NC machines. One man using a copying lathe otherwise all machines pictured are manual control relying on the operators skills.

I remember being shown through the "Engine Erecting Hall" at Mirlees, Bickerton and Day, Stockport, Lancs in the 60's and noting the class system of dress. Labourers wore a sort of heavy cheap woollen coat and trousers, shirt, neck cloth and cloth cap. Tradesmen wore a brown dust coat and cheese cutter cap and their TA's wore boiler suits and cloth caps. Leading hands/section foremen wore white coats or white boiler suits, shirt and tie, headwear of choice. Division foremen and the Works Foreman wore three piece suits, shirt and tie, bowler hat.

[uninformed]

amazing stuff on an amazing scale!...hows the rows of Cincinatti machines :eek:

whats the big Nobel machine that looks like its decking the bottom end or somethinh:confused:

[chazza]

Top post Brian!

I love the profile cutter - wish I still had access to one!

How do they glue the crankshaft journals to the counter-weights? Press fit?

Cheers Charlie

[Hall]

whats the big Nobel machine that looks like its decking the bottom end or somethinh:confused:
If you mean the one I attached, that is a planer. I`m showing my age a bit here as I operated a bit smaller one. The one I used was a Toss planer with a 6 mtr x2.5 mtr table. Was around 1990 that I was at that place. Was one of the last planers being used.
Cheers Hall

[mick88]

Wow, awesome sized planer!

Cheers, Mick

[RichardK]

That is a most interesting thread, my late father was a fitter and turner in the UK prior to coming to Oz in 1949.

The accuracy of machining some of those pieces is extraordinary and as has been suggested earlier is a tribute to the skills of the machinist during the days of no CNC type machinery.

The handling and machining of the crankshafts is awesome.

Thanks Brian for an insight to a piece of history

[blackbuttdisco]

I sailed on 2 ships with Doxford engines. They could run on just about any grade of liquid fuel. An awesome sight when running, slowest speed I saw was 18RPM.

[Tank]

One for the fitter-machinists amongst you.

A glimpse of the glory days of heavy engineering on the Tyne and surrounds.

William Doxford & Sons, Sunderland, shipbuilders and marine engine makers.

http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/William
Brian, reminds me of Cockatoo Island in Sydney they had some huge, amazing machinery there. I worked in the Boiler shop and then the Turbine shop (night shift) as a Rigger for a number of years.
Cockatoo was unique (in Australia) in that everything to build a ship before during and after the wars was built on the Island. From casting propellers to complete engines and all ancillary equipment, including spotter aircraft for the larger warships.
They had the largest vertical rollers in the Southern hemisphere, had their own Forging plant, some of the biggest lathes in the world. All the design/drawing full size jigs were also done on the Island. They even had there own Power Station, so were completely independent of the shore. A great pity that most of the Turbine/boiler/machine shop equipment was sold for scrap. A lot of the machinery was built on the island, if it was not avaialable elsewhere, makes me sick when I see what the Island has degenerated into today, there are some good books on Cockatoo Island from the convict days to 1991 when it was closed, the General Manger ( R.G. Parker) wrote and illustrated a very good book "Cockatoo Island'. Also same name by John Jeremy, thanks for your post, Regards Frank.

[Davehoos]

No ear or eye protection whatsoever. Note the English class distinction in the dress styles. I,,, Division foremen and the Works Foreman wore three piece suits, shirt and tie, bowler hat.

Land rover moorbank wasnt that bad in the 80's-but a clear class distinction between departments was obvious.
I was asked by a office boss what countries I been to when I imigrated from newcastle--I was stunned for a second a said that I came over the hawksbury on the F3.I was from newcastle on hunter not on tyne.
.
I had plenty of family work for shipping and shipyard as engineers and trademenIts not fair to say that the current generation doesnt do the same job--just that there is much less doing more and at a minimum quality.

I trained in a large car dealership with 740 employees--it just wasnt so that an aprentise talked to a manager and they often walked past you to ring and pass a message when i became a senior tradesman i talked to middle managers---note this company no longer is in opperation..

[Bigbjorn]

How do they glue the crankshaft journals to the counter-weights? Press fit?

Cheers Charlie

If you hold your cursor on the photographs of the crankshafts being held vertical, then the word shrink appears. So, I assume the pins are shrink fited to the webs, whether by heat or cold is unclear.

[UncleHo]

G'day Davehoos :)

Aah! Leyland Milperra :) I remember that place well,my work gear was a 3 piece suit and a dust coat :D went to Enfield (PMC) so it was just an ordinary suit with dust coat, but Ausfields in Australia St was best,trousers shirt & tie (loosened) and a good atmosphere in the phone room but a little hectic at times 21 phone staff 2 phones to a desk :D

Eer, could you check stock on those last 8 items!!!!, I'll hold, :(


cheers

[POD]

I bet you knew you had achieved something when one of those engines rolled out of the shed. I love the total lack of any safety gear whatsoever.
With regard to the class distinction in the employees' clobber; my wife's late father was an engineer with the old SECV (State Electricity Commision Vic), building the old Yallourn E power station. The SECV built 3 towns for the workers in the Latrobe Valley; Yallourn (which was demolished in the 1970s for an open-cut coalmine) housed the professionals; Newborough housed the tradesmen, and Moe was home to the labourers.

[uninformed]

the talk of safety gear and lack there of is funny to me, I bet 9.9 days out of 10 those guys were more professional and had better attitudes than people the same age today.

Im in construction, and I think the same type go into industry....most are more worried about their latest tattoo or updating the Facebook etc and talking up how good they are that they are bound to have an accident....plus the fact that no matter what it is always someone elses fault or responsibilty for their accident!

the human race is in a sad state, and will have to get worse before it gets better

[superquag]

In my trade, we used 95+% NITRIC acid, decanted by compressed air from 200 litre drums into 25 litre tipping containers, then to 1 litre jugs. The floor of the etching room was damp with acid, water, detergents, metho and lighter fluid at various times... We also had an open gas ring for drying. Later we used 1.1.1. Trichloroethane (spelling?) as a plate developer...
In another room we used Hydrochloric, Sulphuric and phosphoric acids, all in 5 llitre glass or 20 litre nylon drums, hydroflouric acid as a correction medium, metho, solvents that were FAN-Tas-Tic engine degreasers...:p as well as sharp objects, scalpels, open single and 3-phase arc lamps (adjusted and maintained by us 'workers') glass vacuum frames, soduim cyanide of Gas-Chamber fame,,,, and numerous other poisonous brews. - Did I mention the molten 'lead' everywhere?


Everyone smoked, me with a pipe, as we worked in /around/doused with the above.

There were also lots of naughty pictures on the walls of our darkrooms....

No one died or was injured enough to be taken off work. No eye injuries as far as I know, despite the numerous late-shift water/metho/flaming cotton-wool battles waged. Not many of the Gorrillas fed themselves through the printing presses downstairs, well, not that anyone noticed.


Can't speak for the moral damage (?) of the dark-room operators....:eek:

Can only assume that Occ Health & Safety had'nt been invented, to distract us form the known dangers....:p

[3toes]

The old class distinction is still alive and sell here in the UK just not as clear as it once was.

Not so long ago I was working for one of the oil majors here in the UK. Could not speak to someone more than 3 grades higher than me. Needed to find someone closer to their grade who could speak to them on my behalf !!!!!

There was also all the politics around how much floor space your office had. A window if so how many windows. A chair for a visitor - all regulated by how senior you were.

Those who had worked there since leaving school thought it was normal and could not understand why I thought it all funny. Laugh or cry there was no other choice.