Sunday, October 30, 2022

Action at the Mesta Gear-Cutting Department, c. 1915 Mesta Machine Company, West Homestead, Pennsylvania

 


Double helical cut tooth gear for an 1800 horse power gear drive


Double helical gear planer


20 foot vertical boring mill

12 comments:

  1. First picture: That is the biggest "dividing head" I've seen yet. Wow. Amazing what was done in those old factories. Beautiful.

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  2. and 25-years later and several generations of Craftsmen we deservedly were known worldwide as the "Arsenal of Democracy". Then there was our grain-houses & stockyards....

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  3. its a shame that all work of this type has been outsourced to china, india nd various other "Friends" of the USA.

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    Replies
    1. Gleason Works is still alive in Rochester NY.

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  4. Last picture is a "Bullard" lathe, not a boring mill. Part mounts vertically on platen and rotates.
    https://www.bourn-koch.com/the-history-of-bullard/
    wildbill

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  5. Yep, ran one at General Dynamics about 1/4 that size.

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  6. Not a CNC machine, not a CAD or CAM system, not a computer or even a hand calculator in sight. I've been in and around machine shops for more than 45 years. I currently run an R&D shop for a large organization. When I think of what those men did in those days with raw skill I feel like a punk ass bitch by comparison

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  7. Pearl Mesta's fortune. I loaded flame-cut steel shapes to be shipped to Mesta Machine (N. Tonawanda, NY?) early 70's.

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  8. They didn't need all the 5S or Six Sigma BS either.

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  9. Interested in seeing what the overhead cranes looked like.

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  10. Line shaft lathes and other tools in the background.

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