Old Engineering Firm

[Jonboy]

I would of loved to of done my apprentiship here, huge machine tools, i did use a Cincinnati mill once or twice


http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/guides/William_Doxford_and_Sons

[Rare Bird]

Wow they are well serious machine shops

[Val33]

What an amazing set of pictures, That assembled engine looks taller than my house!

Val

[Reid Malenfant]

What an amazing set of pictures, That assembled engine looks taller than my house!

Val
Yes, you need to scroll down until you get to the really big stuff ;) I bet it is to, there is a walkway on the engine :stalks::stalks: :D

Fred Dibnah eat you heart out :eyebrows: Amazing stuff on that link :)

[sq225917]

Rule No1. Don't get great at a unique skill and then give it away...

[Rare Bird]

I wish i done my apprentice 'ship' :lol: in Engineering instead of Cabinet making.. :(

[The Grand Wazoo]

Absolutely fantastic Jon, thanks for that.
I assume those photos were taken on the day that the guy responsible for health & safety was off sick with an in-growing toenail?

[MartinT]

Yes, lots of scope for serious accidents. I was wondering what happened when the torch finished cutting that figure-8 piece from a huge chunk of steel. Something's gonna drop!

Fantastic photos and machines, thanks for that.

I've also found info on one of the ships I sailed on in 1971: the Ellinis. Fantastic site for ship fans :)

[sq225917]

I'd take that over a vibrant banking industry any day.

[Tony Moore]

I'd take that over a vibrant banking industry any day.

+1

[Macca]

wonderful pictures - and notice how in the 1950s there was no need for hard hats - a simple flat cloth cap would protect the bonce against all falling objects. If you were a 'white coat' then a trilby performed the same function...

[camtwister]

Those crank journals are massive!

Did they lift the engines off the test bed as an assembled unit?
Or were they re-assembled in the engine room?

[Border Riever]

Blimey I used to work at Pallion when fabricating steel foundations for Kings Cross.
Had to look at the first pic until I realised it was Sunderland then looking at the other pics obviously there is none of the lathes there now but some of the pics of the gantry's and inards of the workshops look familiar.

Thanks very much for posting

[aquapiranha]

I love all this heavy engineering stuff. I used to live in a place called Oxton, next to Birkenhead and not far from the famous Cammell Lairds. Around the area were other companies
with names like Marine Turbo Engineering and Stone Manganese (who had several HUGE ships propellors outside their big workshop). The whole area can trace it's roots back into the nautical
world.

A few years ago I went to take my son to see HMS Broadsword and HMS Onyx (the submarine) which were moored in the docks at Birkenhead near the old Tate & Lyle building.
Afterwards we went for a walk along the docks were there are many industrial units and we came upon an old diving bell. We went for a closer look but the door of the unit it was outside opened and a bloke appeared. I apologised and said we were just interested in having a look when the guy asked if we wanted to see 'the other diving bells' he had! So, we went into the unit and I honeslty
thought we had walked onto the set of 20,000 leagues under the sea! There were at least another two working diving bells and more pipes, guages and diving helmets (yes, the old brass ones!) than I would have ever imagined would be in one place.
The guy told us about the company he runs, for which there is a link below, and all about the services they do which mainly consists of repairing ships propellors WHILE IN SITU under the water. To do this the company developed something that they call the HABITAT which is like a heavy
duty tent that they erect around the propeller and then inflate so that they can work in it on the prop!.

Anyway, he was a really nice bloke and my son had a beaming smile all week and couldnt wait to tell his freinds that he had been inside an actual diving bell and had a go of one of those old diving helmets! What a nice bloke, and what a great insight into that side of ship repair.

Have a look at the site, you can see the HABITAT and al the other things that they do including working on the movie Capt. America in Liverpool docks!

http://www.fjmarineservices.co.uk/underwater-repair-environment/index.php/divingservicesfooter

[Jonboy]

I was wondering what happened when the torch finished cutting that figure-8 piece from a huge chunk of steel. Something's gonna drop!



My thoughts exactly, i bet the ring form it dropping was deafning, did you notice the simple copy machine he is using to form the shape, we used to use something very simular for engraving.

[keiths]

My thoughts exactly, i bet the ring form it dropping was deafning, did you notice the simple copy machine he is using to form the shape, we used to use something very simular for engraving.

Difficult to see in the photo, but isn't the centre bit stood on a big metal cylinder? Surely they wouldn't just let that drop?

[bobbasrah]

Difficult to see in the photo, but isn't the centre bit stood on a big metal cylinder? Surely they wouldn't just let that drop?

If you look carefully, on some photos you can see more clearly it is all supported. Makes sense if cutting that thickness of metal when you think about it...

[Jonboy]

If you look carefully, on some photos you can see more clearly it is all supported. Makes sense if cutting that thickness of metal when you think about it...


Oh yeah, i can see it now:doh:, too many late nights , it must eat gas i have done a bit of gas cutting and you can soon empty the bottles, they do that now with either laser cutters of water jet cutters which are a lot more accurate and have a much finer cut.