Machine-tool Exhibits at Olympia.
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In Continuation from our last issue of the Notices of Suitable Repair-shop Equipment and Factory Plant Displayed at the Engineering Exhibition.
William Asquith, Ltd., Halifax.
Stand No. 114 is situated well in the middle of the floor space at Olympia, and is occupied by two very fine examples of the well-known Asquith radial drills, machine tools which always make an appeal to the mechanical engineer on account of their boldness of design and freedom from more or less fragile details. These well-known drills have, we know, been supplied in large numbers to the principal makers of industrial vehicles, and we may perhaps mention, in this eon nection, that nine have gone to the Albion Co., six to Halley's, six, including machines on order, to Fodens, four to Leyland Motors, six to Brazil, Straker and Co., six to the Daimler Co., whilst the Glasgow Motor and Lorry Co., the Adams Manufacturing Co., W. and G. du Cros, Ltd., and many other well-known users have Asquith drills amongst their machine plant.
The two fine machines shown at Olympia are what .ate known as the 5 ft. high-speed radial and the 4 ft. 6 in. machine, respectively. Both of these are .driven by electric motor, and the smaller one is an improved type which the company has marketed for high-speed drilling, and for work under conditions where the larger machine has been found to be not .quite suitable.
Other examples of this company's manufacture are to be seen on the Vickers stand, in operation on the metal products of this Sheffield concern. It is claimed for Asquith radials, the type of machine tool in which this company has specialized, that in all cases they give more output with lower wages cost. They embody many labour-saving features, and particular -care has been taken in the design to ensure that the whole of the control for the various motions is placed in the most _convenient position for the operator, in itself a provision which ensures efficient performance.
John Holroyd and Co., Ltd., Milnrow, near Rochdale. Stands Nos. 185-212.
Some few of the exhibitors at Olympia labour under the disadvantage that the machine tools which they have displayed are more or less of standardized and well-known types, and arc, therefore, not calculated very readily to attract and retain the attention of interested visitors. Holroyd's stand, however, does not rest under this disability. The company specializes in the manufacture of what we might call unusual machines. These are, however, only unusual in that they are as a rule novel. In particular, there is a range of types of gear-milling machines shown on Stand No. 185 which is bound to be of interest to all those who are responsible for the production of modern high-grade cut gearing.
We have not the space, were it advisable, to attempt on this occasion to catalogue in full the many interesting machines of this class which are made at Perseverance Works, Milnrow. This class of machine bids fair very largely to supersede the more expensive method of screw cutting on the ordinary lathe i where quantity production s in question. It is
possible to secure by it the production of accurate and interchangeable work. Moreover, the machine is automatic, and, therefore, does not claim the full attention of a mechanic. The various types are designed for the milling of worms, spirals, and all other kinds of tooth gears.
We were interested, during a recent visit to the L.G.O.C. works at Walthamstow, to notice in particular two of the latest examples of this company's manufacture. One was a large worm-grinding machine with an ingenious belt drive to the angularadjusted head, and the other was a small worm hobber, of which the L.G.O. engineers speak highly.
Another special machine of which an example is exhibited at Olympia, and which has been evolved as the result of L.G.O. practice at Walthamstow, is a twin-spindle, high-capacity boring machine, with a rotary table upon which may be mounted four pairs of cylinders for one setting. This machine is capable of finishing to a half-thousandth, and cylinders finished on it are not ground before using—excellent testimony to the accuracy and regularity of operation.
One of the latest machines to be put on the market by this maker is a new type of cam-grinding machine, in which a shaft carrying large former cams is located in the bottom part of the machine. A heavy vertical rocking arm transmits the motion derived from this bottom master camshaft to the head which carries the emery wheel in proximity to the camshaft which is under operation. We are informed that a machine of this type needs, as a. rule, only one setting for one maker's requirements, as it is seldom that the cam peripheries vary, although their lateral positions on the shafts may be different. Adjustment for this latter variation may easily be effected on the Holtoyd grinder.
There are, of course, many other interesting examples of machine-tool construction shown on this stand, and we may perhaps draw special attention to a 14-m. test-piece lathe, which is, of course, specially designed for the easy turning out of test pieces, a two-spindle driller of taking design, and a 12-spindle multiple driller.
James Archdale and Co., Ltd., Leadsam Street, Birmingham. (Stand 149.)
This maker has long specialized in drilling machines, and the display which is shown on Stand 119 gives an excellent idea of this type. of machine-tool, as well as of lathes and milling machines, which are turned out at the Birmingham Works. One of the most interesting machines is the ball-bearing sensitive and radial drilling machine, a tool which is capable of a very large range of miscellaneous work, and therefore makes a particular appeal to the repairer and garage manager. It has a self-acting feed motion, in addition to a sensitive hand-lever feed, and it is claimed that this is quite a new feature in respect of a hall-bearing radial. Owing to the fact that ball-bearings are fitted all over this model, it. is capable of being very economically driven, as the transmission efficiency is, of course, very high. The column on which the radial arm swings is supported at the top, at the centre, and at the base by means of a substantial, cast-iron vertical bracket, which is bolted to the base plate itself. The machine is made in two sizes, of both 4 ft. and 6 ft. radius. We have not space to catalogue the large range of this maker's drills, but can confidently recommend users and prospective users to consider James Archdale and Co., Ltd., in the light of specialists in this particular branch of machine-tool production.
B. and S. Massey, Ltd., Openshaw, Manchester.
The well-known Massey power hammers are exhibited on Stand No. 153, on which is also staged a 10-cwt friction drop stamp, so that there is little difficulty for visitors to discover the whereabouts of the less-bulky hammers. This maker specializes in steam, pneumatic, and compressed-air hammers, all of which have the special Massey arrangement with regard to the regulation of the blow. Only the actual pressure required at each instant is produced on hammers constructed on the Massey system. It will be remem bered that hammers worked from an independent compressed-air supply are dependent on the maintenance of full pressure all the time, but in the Massey hammers the air is merely used as a spring or cushion between the pump piston and the hammer piston. Its expansion takes place after the pressure is complete, and it gives out almost the full power that is put into it in compression. The tup is both raised and thrown down by pressure applied alternately below and above the hammer piston, pressure on the one side beginning directly that on the other side ceases, and acting during the whole of the upward and downward strokes respectively, just as in the case of an ordinary steam hammer. The hammers on this principle are made in sizes ranging from cwt. upwards, and there is little doubt that this exhibit will interest manufacturers and large users of industrial vehicles. We know of quite a number of cases where they are installed in factories which are producing commercial-motor vehicles and where excellent results ensue in service.