25 replies to this topic

[Spider]

I was 'thumbing' through some Youtube stuff and came across this gem

 

 

While the clip only runs for 16 odd minutes, it represents probably years of work. Quite incredible how things were one done and also quite sad how they have fallen by the way side too. Thankfully, we do have something on film to remind us of an era (or two!) gine by.

[Fast Ivan]

Brilliant. Love the phrase "you don't put wheels on a locomotive - you put the locomotive on the wheels"

 

On the wall in the CAD room during my apprenticeship there was a large print of a hand drawn assembly drawing of a locomotive, the detail was incredible. It amazed me that it was drawn by hand.

 

In my eyes it was a work of art, still is actually.  

[Spider]

On the wall in the CAD room during my apprenticeship there was a large print of a hand drawn assembly drawing of a locomotive, the detail was incredible. It amazed me that it was drawn by hand.

 

 

You've just reminded me of a CAD drawing I have of a TBM that I was involved with a couple of years back. The printed drawing, while only 28 cm high, is about 3 or maybe 4 metres long! The real machine was 200 and something metres long! It cut an 11 metre dia hole through sandstone! Did a neat job too

 

<Edit: Hu - it's on Wiki these days -   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epping_to_Chatswood_rail_link  >

Edited by Moke Spider, 22 October 2016 - 08:48 AM.

[mab01uk]

And all done without the aid of computers, 3D CAD, electronics or complex software programs!...........however a modern factory 'Health & Safety' Officer would have sleepless nights watching the complete lack of hard hats, eye protection, hi-vis jackets and guards on the heavy machinery, presses and red hot metal.

[A-Cell]

Thanks Moke Spider. You may be interested in the history of the locomotive, 6207 Princess Arthur of Connaught
http://www.railuk.in...hp?row_id=10764
Also the accident report from 1951 is fascinating which has technical details of the engine and the train it was hauling
http://www.railwaysa..._Weedon1951.pdf

[sledgehammer]

fantastic 

 

how many of these skills are lost now ?

[Cooperman]

The entire Concorde was drawn by hand. I worked on the design of the droop-nose mechanism and the retracting visor structure.

The visor had a large centre spine with very complex machining. It was to be milled using the then-new Computer Controlled Machining process, so my manual drawing had to be converted into a machining programme and I spent hours working with a CNC programmer/production engineer to create the programme with minimum modifications to my basic design. All that overtime paid the deposit for my first house   .

I once worked on the installation design for an aircraft called the BAC167 Strikemaster. It had an up-rated and larger engine. Using log tables and a drawing board it took me about 3 weeks at 40+ hours per week to evolve an installation geometry which would fit the airframe profile. I guess a CATIA CAD system would do it in about 2 days now and provide the load calculations in each mounting point. 

[Archived2]

Great find. Shows how capable our engineers were back then.
No computers aiding them. All hard work and brain bending. I highly doubt we have the numbers of people left in England who have the mental capacity to engineer such products on the scale we did.

Computers have made us lazier and "stupider" lol

[Broomer]

I kid you not where I work we still have a drawing board and often carry out changes to hardcopy drawings.

[sonikk4]

I suppose any vehicle whether it was a ship, Aircraft, truck etc before CAD etc all were designed via good old fashioned hand drawing, slide rules and so on. A long lost skill sadly lacking today which may yet come and bite us in the arse. 

[xrocketengineer]

I suppose any vehicle whether it was a ship, Aircraft, truck etc before CAD etc all were designed via good old fashioned hand drawing, slide rules and so on. A long lost skill sadly lacking today which may yet come and bite us in the arse. 

Even the Space Shuttle was done that way. I still remember the full scale main landing gear strut drawing/blueprint, that was folded like origami, and it was longer than a Mini when unfolded.

 

 

[sonikk4]

I love the way that u/c door closed with a solid whack.

[Cooperman]

When tidying up my office at home with my then-18-year-old grandson I found my old Aristo Slide Rule. He had never seen one and was fascinated in the way it worked and how inaccurate it really was compared with electronic multi-function calculators.

I had my first electronic calculator in 1971 and when I used it whilst on business a lot of people had never seen one. I reckon the best job then would have been selling them, just as a good friend made a lot of money when he took an agency in Luton for Fax machines when they were first introduced.

Edited by Cooperman, 22 October 2016 - 09:08 PM.

[sonikk4]

Digital micrometer and vernier. Now how may peeps on here can properly read an old fashioned analogue one. I have one of each flavour at work and give the old fashioned ones to our apprentices and say "read that measurement"

 

The look on their faces is priceless.

[Cooperman]

I still have sets of both metric and Imperial micrometer screw gauges and use them often.

Edited by Cooperman, 23 October 2016 - 07:42 PM.