Old machining pictures - for your pleasure

[deltaenterprizes]

The lady in the first set of pics is too clean and clothes look brand new. There are no tools in the pocket and no work piece in the vise also.
The third lady fits the pic!

[gnm109]

The lady in the first set of pics is too clean and clothes look brand new. There are no tools in the pocket and no work piece in the vise also.
The third lady fits the pic!

That's very observant of you. The reason for that is the photo and many others were made for the war effort in WWII to bolster morale and show how women were contributing.

Regardless of whether they were spontaneous or not, they are great photos.
I don't know whether anyone has mentioned Shorpy yet. Every time some of these photos come up, people point out that the workers are posed.........why, yes, they were.

In any case, the site is a great place to spend some time.

http://www.shorpy.com/world-war-2-photos-wwii?page=1

[loose nut]

Most people don't give women credit for what they did in the wars.

In WW1 the women that worked in the factories that made TNT and melted it to fill the shell where exposed to chemicals that did terrible things to there health some times lethally and always chronically. The results of this is that they where more likely to suffer serious injuries then the men that where fighting in the war.

Women nurses that had to deal with so many injured soldiers daily suffered mental problem equal to soldiers that had combat fatigue, many never recovered.

A lot of soldiers came home missing hands, arms and legs but don't forget all the people working double shifts at least 6 days a week, in a war factory ,getting tired until they get caught up in a piece of machinery and they go home missing a hand, arm or leg.

The guys at the front couldn't do much unless the people at the rear are sweating and bleeding too.

[lazlo]

When that Douglas Aircraft pic was first posted I googled "Heald borematic" out of curiosity to see what they go for today.

No kidding! That Heald was a gorgeous machine -- a rare and expensive capital investment for it's day. They look beat to Hell when you see them now, 66 years later.

Tony's got a section on his Clausing page about how it was a big deal when Clausing bought a Borematic.

[Evan]

Women have contributed in the work force since the beginning of commerce, not just during the wars.

Here is a line shaft shop like no other and equipment just as complex as any in a machine shop.



This is probably the longest SB 9" lathe ever made.



This is probably the rarest.

[The Artful Bodger]

Women have contributed in the work force since the beginning of commerce....

Dont you know Evan they INVENTED commerce!

[Evan]

I thought they invented POLITICS...

[gnm109]

While I'm sure that womn worked at machining jobs in WWI and also in other than military production in between the wars, they certainly made up a major portion of the work force here (and probably in Britain, Canada and Australia) during WWII. All the men were out fighting in the trenches.

My Dad was a sales rep during the war for a company that made decals for aircraft insignia. The production was so great that they didn't have time to paint them. Decals filled the need for fast work.

In the 1970's, I worked for a time at the old North American Aviation plant at LAX when I was with Rockwell B-1 as a technical writer. By June 1942, a bomber was coming out of the doors of that plant every 45 minutes. I'm pretty sure that some of the Shorpy photos were taken there.

Women flight crews (WAF's) were ferrying them to locations from which they were deployed. Women served very honorably in those times.


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[Twmaster]

I just love old photo threads like these. I've seen many of these photos in the thread on PM. Still nice to see.

As mentioned, if you folks want to lose an hour or two go visit the Shorpy site. It's an amazing time warp.

I really like the photo of the gal at the big turret lathe. There's another photo around of a gal holding a big ass micrometer on a big lathe turning something that looks like a barrel for an artillery piece.

I have a bunch of old photos saved I've found on the 'Net saved to a CD-ROM. If I can find them I'll put them up.

[Evan]

Suppose you were poking around in the old South Bend plant and found a room in the warehouse that had been forgotten. Inside was this..



Hendy shapers



Another Rosie the Riveter picture