Camel(fish)back straight edge

[Shox Dr]

No he can only go to 50kg
Best quote so far for wheeling machine is £3000+vat from place up north
Its mad, within the last forty years 20ton castings could be done in silly Essex now im struggling for a ton nation wide

Not that I know anything about casting, but that seems alot, presuming you supply the buck?

Or is it more they dont want the job

 

[pressbrake1]

I believe pig iron cost is around £1000

Then two 500kg furnace running, making the mould etc

I think £2000 would be fair

 

[Brad93]

I’ve seen a few guys in America build wheels from box section and plate.

 

[pressbrake1]

I’ve seen a few guys in America build wheels from box section and plate.

Yuk.
Its works but sometimes a natural frequency can set up with steel ones and cause chatter.
Plate ones work well.

My pal is a professional coach builder and just being seen with a fabricated box wheel could cause damage to reputation.

A bit like having a welder turn up to weld a pressure vessel with a Aldi welder

 

[Spark plug]

No he can only go to 50kg
Best quote so far for wheeling machine is £3000+vat from place up north
Its mad, within the last forty years 20ton castings could be done in silly Essex now im struggling for a ton nation wide

It’s crazy, for a country that was built from casting iron and steel to not be able get get something cast is a crying shame.

Even within 20 mile of me the lost industry that would have relied on big castings is such a shame, places like Coles cranes, Doxford engines and Pearson machine tool Co. to name but a few

 

[pressbrake1]

Pearson made proper pressbrake and guillotines

 

[Spark plug]

Pearson made proper pressbrake and guillotines

I do like a Pearson pressbrake, if I could have any pressbrake going it would be a 500ton Pearson, non of this fancy stuff just brute force, ignorance and built to last forever.

 

[minimutly]

Well @Spark plug , you're in Durham, but the reallity was that even my nearest small town had 2 foundries, you can still come across stuff they made now, holding chapel upstairs up (is there a name for them?), on antique ploughs etc
So the loss is huge, but reallistically all down to globalisation and cheap imports (and we caused both).

 

[Brad93]

If you can’t get a casting here it’s no surprise no one makes any machine tools here any more.

 

[Brad93]

Even machinery onsite. Pump housing, impeller housings, old valves etc. Most needs to come in from Germany or further afield in Europe. Or Asia.

 

[pressbrake1]

I do like a Pearson pressbrake, if I could have any pressbrake going it would be a 500ton Pearson, non of this fancy stuff just brute force, ignorance and built to last forever.

My father had a monster pearson
As a kid I found it a intimidating monster.
The surviving director/partners so cut it up for scrap when he was a bit skint.
Broke my old pops heart
Ive had other makes but ive always wanted a pearson

Side note even Billericay had a foundry a century ago

 

[pressbrake1]

Well @Spark plug , you're in Durham, but the reallity was that even my nearest small town had 2 foundries, you can still come across stuff they made now, holding chapel upstairs up (is there a name for them?), on antique ploughs etc
So the loss is huge, but reallistically all down to globalisation and cheap imports (and we caused both).

Unfortunately industry is considered unpleasant and not talked about.
That snobbery could be overcome but with the advent of political correctness and industry not being politically correct we’ve had it as pc is not to be questioned

Funny how globalisation is pc despite involving industry being performed with no care for the environment nor welfare of workers

 

[WorkshopChris]

Most foundries went when stricter EPA rules came into force a while back. Just wasn't economical to retrofit various filters.
Meanwhile, the casting is still done yet in a less controlled manner with much dirtier processes, just on a different spot on the map, that the environmentalist don't control so that ok.

 

[ronan]

My father had a monster pearson
As a kid I found it a intimidating monster.
The surviving director/partners so cut it up for scrap when he was a bit skint.
Broke my old pops heart
Ive had other makes but ive always wanted a pearson

Side note even Billericay had a foundry a century ago

Whitechapel in London had the bell foundry that cast Big Ben up until a few years ago. It will be turned into a bicycle repair shop/breakfast bar for trustifarian wallys with beards and national health spec's .

 

[ronan]

Most foundries went when stricter EPA rules came into force a while back. Just wasn't economical to retrofit various filters.
Meanwhile, the casting is still done yet in a less controlled manner with much dirtier processes, just on a different spot on the map, that the environmentalist don't control so that ok.

Yes, exactly, which is hypocrasy of these big businesses claiming to be green and having their dirty work done in China, India or Korea, or i believe more recently, Africa.

 

[ronan]

Unfortunately industry is considered unpleasant and not talked about.
That snobbery could be overcome but with the advent of political correctness and industry not being politically correct we’ve had it as pc is not to be questioned

Funny how globalisation is pc despite involving industry being performed with no care for the environment nor welfare of workers

I like workshops. Oil, grease, swarf and the smells that accompany them, Hot machine tools, noise etc. This modern ideal of sterile offices with plate glass and stainless steel everywhere, computers everywhere is my version of hell.

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

globalisation

Is man's downfall.

 

[ronan]

Is man's downfall.

Well its certainly the wests downfall. What can we do in europe that cannot be done cheaper in Asia ? On top of that we are automating every thing, causing losses of jobs. I see it all the time now, shops and supermarkets with automated tills etc.

 

[minimutly]

Unfortunately industry is considered unpleasant and not talked about.
That snobbery could be overcome but with the advent of political correctness and industry not being politically correct we’ve had it as pc is not to be questioned

Funny how globalisation is pc despite involving industry being performed with no care for the environment nor welfare of workers

As long as it's somewhere else that's fine?

 

[pressbrake1]

As long as it's somewhere else that's fine?

Isn’t that how it works?