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Aviation History
1915
1915 - 0520.PDF
THE WADKIN STRUT-COPYING LATHE. JULY 16, 1915. I \ times like the present, when the demand heard everywhere is for "tpeeding up" the production of war munitions in all their various forms, and when, moreover, the demand for skilled labour far exceeds the supply available, any new invention of labour- saving devicei or machines helping towards an increase in production is entitled to most careful consideralion by manufacturers. That this applies to aeroplane construction quite as much as, if not more than, to any other branch of munition manufacture, is beyond doubt. The percentage of component parts of an aeroplane that require skilled lalxnir in their manufacture is very high indeed, in view of the great accuracy demanded. Although in the past orders were not always forthcoming in sufficient numbers to justify aircraft One quite new and highly important feature is that an abrasive belt of high lineal speed follows immediately after the cutter and provides a very high finish, thus ensuring that the work is dead accurate at all points as it leaves the machine. The cutter head is fitted with eight cutters, and will turn with equal success either hard or soft wood. The spindle is mounted on ball bearings running in dust-proof housings, and the thrust is taken by a special double ball thrust washer. It is mounted upon a sliding frame which reciprocates on ball bearings in a path to correspond with the shape of the original piece to be copied. The grinding headstock also reciprocates on ball bearings on the opposite side of the work, and each headstock is provided with a guide roller having View'of the Wadkin strut- copying lathe. manufacturers in laying down expensive plants for the production of aircraft on a commercial scale, the number cf orders now on hand at any rate is such that an initial outlay of a few hundred pounds for the purpose of machinery that will save its cost in probably a few months' time should be considered an excellent investment. As an example of this class of machinery, and one which should be of the greatest interest to aircraft constructors, may be mentioned the combined copying and finishing lathe recently produced and patented by Messrs. Wadkin and Co., of North Evington, Leicester, the well-known specialists in wood-working machine tools. While having been specially designed for the exact copying and finishing a fine thread screw adjustment to allow the depth of cut to be varied. The headstock rollers are kept in contact with the original by means of springs, and provision has been made for adjusting and equalising the pressure. The feeding mechanism which controls the cutter and grinding headstock carriage, is arranged to feed from right to left. It has two changes of feed, j inch and | inch,, to each revolution of the work being turned, and the change from one to the other can, if desired, be made whilst the machine is running. The driving mandrels are mounted on ball-bearings running in dust-proof housings, and are driven by steel spur gearing entirely cased in and with special provision for taking up any slack- Another view of the Wadkin strut-copying lathe. of aeroplane struts and fairings, this lathe is equally successful on other classes of work. It will deal accurately with the most delicate siies up to 8 ins. in diameter and 8 ft. in length, and will produce an exact facsimile of any model. One of the difficulties in manu facturing long aeroplane struts is that springing and vibration of the timber must be entirely eliminated. This has been overcome after a considerable amount of experimental work by adopting a specially designed " steady" which supports the timber quite close to the cutter. A further advantage of this " steady " is that it enables delicate work of short length to be operated in long lengths and cut oil afterwards, instead of placing them into the machine one at a 520 ness of the teeth. The speed of the mandrels may be varied by means of a lever operated from the front of the machine, to suit the diameter of the work, and this is so arranged that a constant rate of movement of the timber past the cutters is obtained, irrespective of the perimeter of the section at any point The reputation of the makers of this lathe is sufficient guarantee that ,t combines the best materials and workmanship throughout. It is built for hard continuous wear, and is provided with Imple means for lubricating the various parts. avifn he?r^ily(wel.come this fresh indication of the influence which the aviation industry is exercising m various other industrial directions.
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