Craftsman

By 803056

Date 10-02-2014 01:56

Impressive!

Al

By Milton Gravitt (***)

Date 10-02-2014 21:48

Cool.

M.G.

By lo-hi

Date 10-02-2014 22:48

Machine shops used to be a big deal in the northeast, employing thousands of people like that talented gentleman. At the Windsor, VT tech museum is a working diorama of almost every machine tool ever used. Lathes, grinders, vertical mills and bridgeports all in miniature and running on belt drive. Its really amazing what these guys can do.

By ssbn727 (*****)

Date 10-03-2014 01:49 Edited 10-03-2014 01:51

Connecticut has deep ties to gun makers...

A whole lot of gun manufacturers in Connecticut designed and made some of the most iconic guns in the history of the United States... People like Eli Whitney, Samuel Colt for example... The state's early history is replete with the names of legendary gun makers, including John Marlin, Christian Sharps, Richard Gatling, Oliver Winchester, E. Savage and Daniel Wesson...

Fast-moving rivers, iron ore and canny Yankee ingenuity enabled the state to forge a world-renowned firearms industry that began on the benches of artisans in the 1700s and continues today in state-of-the-art factories... Early gunsmiths such as Eli Whitney transformed a decentralized industry into an economic powerhouse with water-driven production of interchangeable parts and assembly line output that served as cornerstones of the American industrial revolution...

Samuel Colt's masterful marketing of his revolvers to the Texas Rangers in the 1840s helped put the Hartford-based gunsmith on the map with handguns that helped settle the West - and countless "scores..." Connecticut entrepreneurs capitalized on the state's water power to perfect an American system of manufacturing... Gun production laid the foundation for a state economy that still depends heavily on defense manufacturing...

Connecticut gained an early edge in 1798 when Whitney, inventor of the cotton gin, assembled 10 muskets from 10 piles of interchangeable parts for the secretary of war, to win a lucrative federal firearms contract for up to 15,000 muskets... The contract helped launch Connecticut onto a path that eventually led to the coveted designation as "the arsenal of the nation," according to Pete Kuhlhoff, author of "Connecticut: Birthplace and World Center of the Sporting Firearms Industry..."

Eliphalet Remington Jr. who made his first rifle in Ilion, N.Y. in 1816, later opened a munitions factory in Bridgeport, where inventor John Browning contributed to the success of Remington Arms Co. before the firm began moving operations out of state in the 1970s... The onset of the Civil War in 1861 offered additional opportunities for Connecticut gun makers credited for helping the Union win the war... Dr. Richard Gatling patented the hand-cranked Gatling gun at the outset of the war, a breathtaking weapon at the time that could fire 200 rounds a minute from the six-barreled gun... The weapon was manufactured at the Colt plant in Hartford...

Oliver Winchester, the New Haven-based gunsmith who engineered the repeating rifle in 1854, mass produced the lever-action weapon after the Civil War that enabled soldiers to seize and hold Indian territory and become known as the "Gun that won the West..." In World War I, Bridgeport became a hub for U.S. Army ordnance, with production running at such a high rate that the operation recruited women with pamphlets declaring that "making munitions is a woman's job," according to a 1920 Army Ordnance history of the Bridgeport Division... The Bridgeport Division also produced cartridges and shells, grenade fuses, firing pins, gun sights and carriages...

By World War II, the talented workforce of 2,500 machinists and other employees at Savage Arms and the Auto-Ordnance Corp. were cranking out 500,000 of the nation's 1.7 million Thompson submachine guns, according to William Menosky, a history buff who generated a paper filed the Bridgeport History Center... The "Tommy Gun" may have been associated with gangster Al Capone, who orchestrated the St. Valentine's Day Massacre in Chicago in 1929... But the devastating weapon was widely sold to Allied countries, earning Bridgeport the designation "arsenal of democracy," Menosky said...

Innovations continued in Connecticut, with Alexander Sturm and William Ruger, located in Southport, developing the first auto-loading .22-caliber pistol... In 1964, Douglas McClennahan founded Charter Arms in Shelton to begin production of the .38-caliber Special, a five-shot revolving lightweight pistol... The handgun became popular with law enforcement, but it was also used in the killing of ex-Beatle John Lennon in 1980...

Connecticut's economic reliance on defense contracts and the gun industry remains strong amid anti-firearms sentiment arising in the wake of the school shooting in Newtown...
Connecticut's gun manufacturing industry directly employs 2,899 workers, earning $224 million a year and producing $967 million in weapons and ammunition, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, an organization based in Newtown that represents gun manufacturers... Nationwide, the organization estimates gun manufacturers employ almost 99,000 workers earning $4 billion a year in wages and producing $13.6 billion in guns and ammunition... A whole lot of machining and other metal working processes were first developed in Connecticut... And that's only one state from the East! Go figure? :wink:

Respectfully,
Henry

By 522029

Date 10-03-2014 12:43

And many of these manufacturers are now going south and west.

Griff

By SCOTTN

Date 10-03-2014 15:09

The industry definitely produces a lot of revenue, but I still think the world would be a better place if there were no guns. We should ban them and start focusing on the really important things, like how to kill a man with one punch. Then I guess it could really be said that people kill people. Though, that phrase still doesn’t make much sense to me because if we really believe that guns kill people, then we also have to believe that spoons make people fat. Not only that, if we believe that guns kill people, then we also have to believe that toasters don’t toast toast, toast toasts toast. The bottom line is that guns don't kill people. The firing pin striking the percussion cap ignites the propellant which burns rapidly. This produces hot gas that expands and pushes the projectile out of the barrel which in turn makes the projectile the actual cause of death. And people always ask me why I never became a rapper. Peace out.

By ssbn727 (*****)

Date 10-03-2014 15:31 Edited 10-03-2014 15:41

"But who pulled the trigger, who pulled the trigger, who pulled the trigger??? It's the person with the gun or rifle or shotgun too - that's who!!! It's the person with the gun or rifle or shotgun too - that's who!!! It's the person with the gun or rifle or shotgun too - that's who... Now if the person with the weapon knows how to use them and has been trained then ain't nothin wrong with that flow - ho -Yo - ho - who? Yo - ho!" How do you like that rap flow Scotty? I'm out.

The main reason why they're relocating is because the tax incentives offered to move there... Heck, some states go as far as to give them land for "nada" & tax free for the first 5 or 10 years, or give them both for "nada" to reel them in... I even heard of one state that will custom build them what they need to operate for "nada & throw more bones at that dog if they have to" with tax incentives also.

Respectfully,
Henry

By 357max

Date 10-03-2014 17:07

If the Americans were all peaceful God fearing "Angels" there would be no need for guns, laws about right and wrong or authority.

By SCOTTN

Date 10-03-2014 19:21

Hey yo. Henry, or should I call you H Flash?

I’ m not a big fan of rap music. I personally think that it promotes violence. For instance, I was at a stop light the other day and a guy pulled up behind me with his speakers blasting. All I wanted to do was jump out of my car and stab myself in the ears repeatedly. Let’s face it. “Rap” is to “music”, what “Etch-A-Sketch” is to “fine art.” I did try rapping once. After a few drinks, I ended up having a rap battle one night with some guy in a bar. The loser had to buy the next two rounds. I got beat, but in my defense, if the guy hadn’t had Tourette’s Syndrome he never would have won.

By ssbn727 (*****)

Date 10-03-2014 23:22

I can't stand it myself these days because it's no longer representative of what rap was originally developed as a unique musical genre... it's nothing more than berating women, promoting violence,encouraging terrible fashion choices... Here's what I'm talking about...

Respectfully,
Henry

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By SCOTTN

Date 10-06-2014 13:46

Henry,

Thanks for the pictures. I laughed MA off. I didn’t know that the saggy pants thing originated in jail and eventually became a fashion statement. No wonder our jails are so overcrowded. How in the hell can you run from the cops if your pants are around your hips and your shoes are untied? I know I’ll never wear my pants like that because that would make it impossible for me to hide the skid marks in my underwear, and make it harder for me to pick up chicks. I guess I could probably wear them and still be able to pick up chicks, because it really doesn't matter what I'm wearing. It's my opening line that gets 'em every time.... "Hey, does this rag smell like chloroform or is it just me?"

Saggy pants..... Helping fat cops cops catch criminals since 1996.

By Tommyjoking (****)

Date 10-06-2014 19:33

Back to the op....

Very impressive...from what little machining skills I have I can tell you that man is very very skilled...much less his skills with creativity and mental discipline. He kept mentioning it and unfortunately it rings very true....a long time ago a true mechanic could remake-repair the parts that failed... With mass manufacturing now those skills are "not needed" and its simply a matter of parts swapping instead of resurrection of the old of broken. There are many old engine designs that far outperform todays throw away blocks, in longevity, durability and output. Anyway not to get into a socio-political-economic rant.....I appreciate the post, very cool.

By ssbn727 (*****)

Date 10-07-2014 02:23

You're right Tommy... Nowadays everything is about being so precise and working to such tiny tolerances that there's practically no room for error, and no room for repairs as a result... Not too many moons ago manufacturing was still about producing a quality product with superior craftsmanship being the primary objective and there was a strong sense of pride knowing that their work was a symbolic representation of all the talents & knowledge they learned from their mentors...

That is not always the case today although if you look closer, you'll notice that the companies that consistently succeed with maintaining such high quality & craftsmanship of their products always seem to be ranked within the top 3 producers of whatever it is that they make... The main reason why manufacturing is making a comeback is simple... The people who buy products are sick and tired of paying for shoddy workmanship and are willing to pay more for a quality product that truly expresses the craftsmanship & dedication involved in producing that product...

The market is surely there to facilitate such a renaissance, and in the long run it's better for the close to extinct middle class of this country than to outsource just about everything that was once made in the USA... It's an interesting and historical series of events that is growing in this country that needs to be increased so that the majority of people in this country will be able to once again claim that there still is a strong middle class in America... Resulting in more people working and making a decent wage, lessen the dependency of government welfare to survive, increasing tax revenue also and the obviously increased economic output and quality of life as it was before we stopped progressing ourselves in the name of helping other economies around the world catch up with us!

Respectfully,
Henry

By Tommyjoking (****)

Date 10-18-2014 02:47

TRue Hank,

I am just ftw on the idiots driving the train anymore....but seeing videos like this give me a metal smith boner so to speak. I have always had a habit/hobby of seeing old...old...old stuff with weeds growing out of it in some backyard or some farmers junk field and I just cannot stop myself from going and trying to buy it and trailer it home. My biggest vice is old motorcycles that were "special" when they were new....fix em up ride em a while then sell for profit if possible (some are so far gone and obscure profit is a negative). It is cathartic, my retirement package will include a well equipped machine shop just for such purposes after I am done making money with it of course. I love breathing life back into some of those old motors...and occasionally taking on old design and a little cutting welding/parts swapping etc and making something different out of it. I am sure if I was playing with larger budgets I would screw with cars and tractors and such as well. Anyway thats way more fun to me then pasture pool or even fishing which I love.