I saw this today. They have a lathe for turning ships masts, up to 122 feet
long.

http://www.columbian.com/article/200...huge+ship+mast

This is the shop where this work is done.

http://www.thesparshop.org/

This out to make all you pen turners feel like wimps! G

"Lee Michaels" wrote:

I saw this today. They have a lathe for turning ships masts, up to
122 feet long.


Biggest lathe I ever saw was the one used to make the 16" guns for the
USN Battlewagons.

Union carbide in Cleveland found one in USG mothballs someplace, then
used it to make graphite logs for nuclear reactors.

This was a metal cutting lathe modified to machine graphite..

It was necessary to bore from either end and meet in the middle along
with some very tight specs on runout.

Quite an accomplishment, given the technology.

Compared to the lathe Lee describes, it was a rather small fellow.

Had a customer who sold honing machines to the gov't arsenals top hone
BIG gun bores.

Some of those machines approached 70'-80' long, still not 100+', but
still big enough to require special shipping.

Lew

I think I am going to try and make a run up there Wednesday, public
invited... gotta see this!

Markndawoods

I saw this today. They have a lathe for turning ships masts, up to 122
feet long.

http://www.columbian.com/article/200...huge+ship+mast

This is the shop where this work is done.

http://www.thesparshop.org/

This out to make all you pen turners feel like wimps! G