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  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Melbourne, Victoria
    Posts
    121

    Default Bendigo Ordnance Factory pictures

    Gentlemen,

    For your perusal. Here are some pictures of the Bendigo Ordnance Factory, featured on the Bendigo Advertiser website.

    Walk again amongst the machines at the Bendigo Ordnance Factory | Bendigo Advertiser

    Perhaps someone from Bendigo can comment on what the site is like now? Did it become ADI?

    Regards,
    Joe

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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Bendigo
    Age
    72
    Posts
    1,986

    Default

    You are right, it became ADI and then Thales (Spanish-owned I believe). They only make the Bushmaster vehicles now If I'm correct. The general machining factory was sold off to a private company who is now manufacturing on the site. We (you and I and the other tax payers) don't own anything there any more....
    But Peter K. may have a lot more detail and may post some of his photos. Peter????
    Cheers,
    Joe
    9"thicknesser/planer, 12" bench saw, 2Hp Dusty, 5/8" Drill press, 10" Makita drop saw, 2Hp Makita outer, the usual power tools and carpentry hand tools...

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Brisbane
    Posts
    356

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by jhovel View Post
    Thales (Spanish-owned I believe).
    Thales is French, partially owned by the French Government.
    Has a long ancestry.
    Manufacturers of high quality civil and defence equipments.

    No association, except for working on some of their "stuff".

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Albury Well Just Outside
    Posts
    13,315

    Default

    An interesting array of photos.

    Due to my recent age it would have been hard for me to determine what I was looking at for most of the photos. Pretty good to get a description along with the photos.

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    moonbi nsw Aus
    Age
    69
    Posts
    2,065

    Default

    What a great collection!!!
    The expertise to use those big machines to build supersized "stuff" back when a slide rule was an "innovation". Would there be such factories still making such "stuff" in Australia today? Or has it mostly gone offshore?
    Just do it!

    Kind regards Rod

  7. #6
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Kimberley, West Australia
    Posts
    139

    Default Engineering today.

    Agreed we are losing/have lost much of our heavy engineering capacity, but follow the money trail to see where it is now. Big mining and offshore oil/gas work is a huge customer for those with real capacity and ability. To find out where the ADI/Thales capacity has gone, look up hofmannengineering.com (not Hoffman) and see a company that knows where it is going. Now operates in Perth, Bendigo, Melbourne, Canada and India and who knows where next?
    Think they are still basically a family controlled firm, who re-invest in good staff and equipment and are not beholden to a board whose main concern is a bunch of hungry shareholders. Seems their German heritage still shares the German investment philosophy that has made that nation a success where much of the world is failing. There is some good news out there if we look.
    Regards,
    Combustor.
    Old iron in the Outback, Kimberley WA.

  8. #7
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Kimberley, West Australia
    Posts
    139

    Default Link, OOPS!

    Should have been a link to www.hofmannengineering.com My mistake,
    Combustor.
    Old iron in the Outback, Kimberley WA.

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Townsville
    Posts
    26

    Default

    Great to see some old Aussie engineering photos. Cheers

  10. #9
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    near Warragul, Victoria
    Posts
    2,500

    Default pics

    The naval turret may be for the old daring class destoyers we had Mike

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