Cool old German planer video

[cjtoombs]

I enjoyed this video (I will admit that I'm a planer and shaper nut), and thought some of you might as well. It would be even better if I could understand German, but you can get the gist of it from the video. Enjoy

 

[Bob Korves]

Now those are some high end machines! Leave it to the Germans... Love the power clappers, never saw that before. It is difficult for me to understand how machines like those could ever pay for themselves, but it is obvious they did. Old school mechanical and hydraulic machinery, not done right, rather done the German way, correct! The operators were obviously fully involved in what they were doing, would not want to be responsible for accidentally cutting the bed on one of those machines, they probably never came back to work after the first one... Where there is a need, there is a solution, and the Germans usually get it right, if perhaps overdone.

Edit: 1950's - early 1960's ???

 

[benmychree]

How do you think large machine beds are machined, especially lathe beds? When I visited Brown & Sharpe's plant in North Kingston R.I. in 1970, I saw a shifting belt planer still in use there. When I worked at Kaiser Steel in Napa we had a reversing D.C. motor drive planer, a Cincinnati 6 ft X 6 ft X 15ft that had tool lifters, but they were shop made and used air over oil hydraulic cylinders to do the job; they are essential if carbide tools are used as was shown on the video. The Germans invented carbide for wire drawing dies, and subsequently discovered that it could be used for cutting tools. they named Widia Metal, pronounced Vee Deea, or "like diamond".
Planeing is used on such jobs as they show in the video, because it is a low stress process so far as perpendicular cutting forces are concerned, as compared to milling.
So far as the time period, I'd guess you are close.

 

[Latinrascalrg1]

Very cool machines, thanks for sharing. Its i incredible to see how you can peel steel like an apple.

 

[benmychree]

Mostly they were peeling semi steel/ cast iron.

 

[Bob Korves]

They could use some of the chips for clock springs.