as oskar suggested, the common denominator of all these examples of historical manufactoring facilities, is steam as the power source. in my construction career i had a small exposure to boilermakers union folks, a trade that has downsized almost out of existence. there was a time when any factory was built around a boiler system. i oversaw several buildings that had dormant boiler systems in place, but to my knowledge none of them had been under pressure since the 1960's. in 1967, i drove an industrial supply delivery truck that occasionally delivered to the Kelly Plow Company in longview, tx. it was half a block long, dating back to civil war days, but only a small portion was still being used by then....everything that was still in production was driven by belts off a central overhead shaft (in my part of the world, called a "mule"). another example of the amazing amount of change that some of us "experienced" folks have witnessed...
best regards, tom
"it's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards." lewis carroll, Alice in Wonderland
Early on, the power for the Hunter Arms factory machinery was primarily from the race underneath the building, as was, I believe, the Ithaca Gun Co. factory. This drawing from 1924 shows 50% of the power from steam; 50% from water
In 1896 the factory also had a "300-light dynamo, which lights the factory in the evening when the men are working overtime."
Here's an old French postcard sent in 1916 of gunmaking at Manufrance. Apparently it is as photogenic as sausage making...
That is an AMAZING picture of a real gun factory, producing guns. That is empirical evidence that MF made their own guns. It’s too bad none of E.M. Reilly’s hundreds of employees didn’t bother to snap at least one pic of their gun making factory & machines.
Dustin... didn't you see all of those old pics of machinery and hundreds of busy E. M. Reilly workers, building both Reilly guns and other guns under license. in the epic Reilly thread?
Me either! But I am confident we shall see empirical evidence of that very soon.
A true sign of mental illness is any gun owner who would vote for an Anti-Gunner like Joe Biden.
How much of America’s old gun making and machine enterprises relied on Lufkin, Brown & Sharpe, Scherr Tumico and Starrett to measure and get on spec/tolerances? Anyone use and collect measuring tools?
So bringing bit of modern to the mix, think of all the metrological equipment needed to at least initially tool-up setup validate and confirm. Starrett been around since 1880 and this tour is pretty neat, despite almost no workers due to holiday. Love the view of the buildings outside at the end, like a postcard. Delightful one hr vid.
Drew, the fellow in the center front looks like a boy. Regarding my postcard photo, the reverse side appears to be a MF order confirmation to a farmer in central France regarding a shipment of January 3, 1916. This was a year and a few months after French entry into WWI. From a French book on the Robust manufacture, it appears none were made between 1914 and 1919. The postcard must have been made prior to WWI and stockpiled for use by MF for confirming orders. Gil
And no one in there wearing any eye protection, a sign of the times also. My Grandfather was an Engineer on the Soo Line and had lost an eye to a cinder on the road, and had a glass eye. That always reminded me to wear mine.
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