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Pretty cool experience on way to visiting BR match, especially for machinists

DngBat7

Silver $$ Contributor
On my way to visiting a match in Vermont, stopped at the American Precision museum in what’s known as precision vally in Vermont. Birthplace of machining manufacturing. Learning and working in machining the last few years I thought place was extremely cool. Originally an armory started in the 1840’s. They were the beginining of mass producing rifles with interchangeable parts. Which I did not know until I went in. Below are some pics of a rifle stock inleting machine and a rifle stock profiling lathe type machine. Both worked off a template which I found fascinating technique for 170 years ago. Also for the machinists in the room, also below is a pic of the first Bridgeport milling machine #1
 

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On my way to visiting a match in Vermont, stopped at the American Precision museum in what’s known as precision vally in Vermont. Birthplace of machining manufacturing. Learning and working in machining the last few years I thought place was extremely cool. Originally an armory started in the 1840’s. They were the beginining of mass producing rifles with interchangeable parts. Which I did not know until I went in. Below are some pics of a rifle stock inleting machine and a rifle stock profiling lathe type machine. Both worked off a template which I found fascinating technique for 170 years ago. Also for the machinists in the room, also below is a pic of the first Bridgeport milling machine #1
Love it!
 
You guys will like this as well then. They had a display of items made by a German machinist that came to the US. He made functioning machining miniatures they stand no more than 6” tall. and They actually work. It was crazy. I have video of them running, but can’t upload. There is actually a few photos of a WORKING miniature steam plant. Even the little workbenches had tiny little working vices the guy made in the far left of the steam plant photo
 

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You guys will like this as well then. They had a display of items made by a German machinist that came to the US. Me made functioning machining miniatures they stand no more than 6” tall. and They actually work. It was crazy. I have video of them running, but can’t upload. There is actually a few photos of a WORKING miniature steam plant. Even the little workbenches had tiny little working vices the guy made in the far left of the steam plant photo
Simply amazing work.
 
As a retired Machinist / T&D ; I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the pics . Thank you for that . Even identified a miniature swiss-style screw machine , without the bar-feed attached , and a scaled Radial Drill . Fantastic workmanship from a superior craftsman . Almost glad I live in "Zona" , cause you'd never get me outta that place . Great Post !
 
As a retired Machinist / T&D ; I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the pics . Thank you for that . Even identified a miniature swiss-style screw machine , without the bar-feed attached , and a scaled Radial Drill . Fantastic workmanship from a superior craftsman . Almost glad I live in "Zona" , cause you'd never get me outta that place . Great Post !
If you pm me your email, I try to send the video of them working.
 
As a mechanically challenged person who simply can't figure stuff out, the machines that make "stuff" seem like sorcery. The guys who "thunk them up" are, to me, genius.

I remember when as a new hired PT tech, I got the "tour" of the machinery at Redding. I stood at the screw machines that were overseen by two "older gents" and learned that the doohickeys hanging on the wall (which looked like pizza plates randomly eaten by steel eating moths, much like my favorite Woolrich shirt was while in storage) would be stacked or arranged to make the machine do "different" things. Yeah, right...like that's all the further I got and my brain just went "pop" and I was mesmorized as the tool head kept flipping around and round stock fed in and little knurled discs popped out the other end into a bin, ready to be finished in black so I could lock down my dies..

My hats are off to you guys...you are way smarter than me
 
On my way to visiting a match in Vermont, stopped at the American Precision museum in what’s known as precision vally in Vermont. Birthplace of machining manufacturing. Learning and working in machining the last few years I thought place was extremely cool. Originally an armory started in the 1840’s. They were the beginining of mass producing rifles with interchangeable parts. Which I did not know until I went in. Below are some pics of a rifle stock inleting machine and a rifle stock profiling lathe type machine. Both worked off a template which I found fascinating technique for 170 years ago. Also for the machinists in the room, also below is a pic of the first Bridgeport milling machine #1
I lived in Vermont for 20+ years and never knew about this place. Where is it?
 

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