High-quality black-and-white photographs of large old machines and tools

[12bolts]

Beer o'clock. **** always happens at beer o'clock

[neilbourjaily]

Long before OSHA made tools "safe" for idiots. Tools, especially rotating tools, are dangerous and should be viewed that way.

[marksbug]

I wonder just when osha will start cutting off fingers so the morons wont poke their own eye out..... like labels on car batterys.do not drink... hears a good one, my new gm roadster(AKA 2 seater) says to put baby in the rear .......ok so I locked my babys in the trunk....it has a safety pull if they need out.... again you can not fix stupid. hears a reall good one, pontaic solstice, saturn sky,daewoo x2 and opal speedster had recall child seat airbag sensors... the fix that the NHTSA told gm they could do was a short strip of duct tape and try to tape the sensor togeather....witch lasted 20 times being used, then the owner is on the hook for over $1000 us. it seems the NHTSA got a pay off from GM to do this patchwork. if it cant be made to work with dict tape then and only then they will put the new upgraded tottaly different sensor in the vehicle...it's made in china not mexico. the ductape is supposed to hold togeather the oh so thin copper strip ribbon...that cant be fixed. again you cant fix stupid or scammers or payoff schemes.

[Jon]

Machining a steel wheel. Wheel and Axle division of Homestead Steel Works. April, 1962.

Fullsize image: https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net...g_fullsize.jpg

[Jon]

44-inch blooming mill engine room. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation. Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. January, 1952.

Fullsize image: https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net...m_fullsize.jpg

[bruce.desertrat]

The scale of these things just always amazes me...those nuts in the foreground are are bigger than those workers' heads...

[jimfols]

The scale of these things just always amazes me...those nuts in the foreground are are bigger than those workers' heads...

I was thinking the same thing when I saw these wrenches.

[Toolmaker51]

The scale of these things just always amazes me...those nuts in the foreground are are bigger than those workers' heads...

And then impossible not imagining the machine that threaded them. Or the mill rolling the initial hexagonal bar.

[IntheGroove]

Jon, find us the big nut maker...

[Frank S]

Making large diameter threads is not much of a task. I've made both internal and external 18" diameter threads 4 TPI on a 16" gap bed lathe using a homemade 20 inch diameter face plate instead of a chuck to take advantage of more of the gap Obviously not hex stock. One of the strangest threads for me at least was when I made a 3 start 8 TPI thread full length on a 4inch diameter bar and the nuts to go with it.
For those who don't know doing a 3 start *TPI thread you only make the cuts as deep as if you were doing a 24TPI but you must be precisely 120° between starts