Thread: Making shells WW2

collet chuck...

Mike Thanks for the photos.
Maybe its my age but I find these manufacturing & factory photos of WW2 very interesting.
Photo no 9 shows a similiar set up & it appears to be a special push out type collet to hold the workpiece. These blokes would have been operating these lathes on a 24 hr 7 day week & the set up I believe would not have changed. That is each lathe would have been dedicated to one speciality job.
The Lithgow Defence factory in NSW employed a lot of women working Turret lathes. I would like to get photos of that era.
regards
Bruce

PHOENIX MUNITION WORKS aka WOMEN WORKERS MAKING SHELLS - British Pathé

Originally Posted by .RC.

PHOENIX MUNITION WORKS aka WOMEN WORKERS MAKING SHELLS - British Pathé

RC
I was just outside hand splitting some firewood, getting ready for winter, & came inside to have a "breather". I regard firewood splitting as fairly hard work.
Until I viewed women working in the Munitions factory in WW1, they could really work.
The pace they could work multiple machines
Gauging with go & no go gauges, & the physical activity involved by everyone.
It just made me reflect what a terrible waste war is.
But what does one do to fix it?
regards
Bruce

I think the photo caption is wrong. It looks to me like he is turning the " boat tail " angle on the projectile.

I havent watched the whole video yet but does anyone know what they are up to at about the one minute mark? Surely they can be doing up a dead center as hard as it looks like they are?

Stuart

Originally Posted by Stustoys

I havent watched the whole video yet but does anyone know what they are up to at about the one minute mark? Surely they can be doing up a dead center as hard as it looks like they are?

Stuart

I noticed the same thing.
It appears that the workpiece is mounted between centres, & perhaps there is some form of spring loaded centre - driving dog in the headstock end, possibly to engage in a slot in the workpiece ? Just a guess.
regards
Bruce

The projectile or shell has a partial fairly blunt Ogive ( pointy end ) on it already. So I think the chuck is nothing more than a cone taper that matches the Ogive shape to lock it up. This would speed up the process of chucking up and removing the job and also allow the whole parrallel section of the shell to be turned in one go .
Extra tailstock pressure would be required to make sure the Ogive is driven well into the cone chuck. The turning job is quick so heat would not become a major issue with the large heat sinking capacity of the jacket material something like gilding metal , 95 % copper and 5% zinc .
The full Ogive shape will be applied with the addition of the fuse cone which threads into the nose of the Ogive.

Thats A good vid to watch, i'd never attempt 2 things at once like that. Its amazing what people can do when there is great need.

Retromilling beat me to it, but i was going to guess that the shells would be a copper alloy so heat and friction with the dead center would not be a problem like it would be with steel. The cone taper chuck is a great example of thinking around a job so it can be produced quickly and with great accuracy. Love it!
The worst thing is to think that all that hard work just got shot out of a gun and turned to shrapnel somewhere. What a waste!

Ewan

I also like looking at the old photo's but the sad thing is where did all the skill go.
David

Originally Posted by dj_pnevans

I also like looking at the old photo's but the sad thing is where did all the skill go.
David

And the really sad thing is that all this effort went into filling the war cemeteries of Europe. On a tour of the Somme battlegrounds some years ago, we were informed that the British lost a man killed for every inch of ground that they gained, (around 5 miles or so) in the third and final battle for Ypres. The headstones are more numerous than those projectiles stacked up in the factory, and there would not be enough room on the walls and ceiling there to write the names of the dead soldiers, whose remains were never recovered for burial. If that weren't bad enough, the German nation lost even more.
I am not having a go at anyone, I too found the film footage very interesting, and agree with those who noted how hard and constant the work was that these women performed. I certainly agree with the sentiments expressed by dj_p concerning lost skills, but I also think we should consider the victims of war, and all the tragic waste.
Rob.

Originally Posted by dj_pnevans

I also like looking at the old photo's but the sad thing is where did all the skill go.
David

It is still out there, but no longer in as much need as other skills...

Originally Posted by .RC.

It is still out there, but no longer in as much need as other skills...

Not where I work .RC...thank goodness

Phil

My Mother was one of these war time workers . During the day a Red Cross nurse , during the night an Air Raid warning controller and on the weekend a factory worker making gas masks. The shear dedication that comes out of the need to defend your country is inspiring . My Father was wounded nearly fatally at Dunkirk serving with the Grenadier Guards Household Brigade . He was crippled for some years and we lost our entire family fortune in the depression that followed the war . Eventually they immigrated .
I sit here today a poor man as a result of WW2 . I went back to the UK to see our estate in Surrey and it would make you cry to see what we lost . It is grander now than it was back then but the land alone would be worth millions.
Never go off to war stay at home and make money because the people that go off to fight if they are lucky enought to survive die in poverty.
The average Vietnam veteran is living in poor quality housing below the standard of even modern housing commission . We honour our war veterans verbally only.