Old Four-Slide Wire Forming Machine

[Ivan]

Picked this up the other day from a spring company in Chicago. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find any tags or a manufactures name on it. It's on a really nice shop made base, with a 1/2 hp variable speed drive. Looks like she's been around for a long time, making small spring clips.

I was wondering if anybody is familiar with four-slides and might have an idea on who built it. Also, any leads to some good books on tool and cam design for them.

Thanks

 

[Superburban]

Boy you have me interested in that. I assume you have done the basic Googling, so I will not post any of those links. It appears to me that four slide is a style of machine, not a brand name. I'm wondering if the machines are custom made for each application, or at least with limited ability to change operations.In other words, yours can only handle wire forming, but can change what it makes by swapping to a different central mandrel, and maybe the dies, but cannot handle any flat steel.

Did the company give you any info?

 

[middle.road]

How cool is that?!
Probably shop built, designed by the tool/mfg engineering dept.
I'd love to see what the drawings looked like.

 

[Ulma Doctor]

that machine is cool
i think about all the brain cells that were knocking together to make it

 

[projectnut]

How cool is that?!
Probably shop built, designed by the tool/mfg engineering dept.
I'd love to see what the drawings looked like.

I would agree that it's probably "shop Built" The company I worked for designed and built about 90% of it's processing and packaging machinery in house. We built things from smaller than a bread box to over 2 stories high, 12 feet wide, and 200 feet long. In order to stay ahead of the competition the machinery had to be more efficient and be able to last longer than any competitive product on the market.

I recall going to a trade show one year to look at competing machinery. When I approached one vendor asking the expected lifespan of a particular machine the sales person proudly explained "if the machine was worked hard (40 hours per week) it would easily last up to 10 years". The machines we designed and built for the same purpose were currently being run 80 to 100 hours per week (depending on product demand) and were approaching the 45 year old mark.

The company I worked for was sold to a new owner about 5 years ago. The new owners decided they would rather buy commercially made equipment rather than continue to design and build their own. They also decided to close the design department, assembly department, machine shops, and discontinue support for the in house built equipment. I'm not sure that was a wise decision. In the last few years their stock price has fallen dramatically and the company is downsizing. I would be surprised if the company continues to exist in anything other than a brand name with in the next 5 to 10 years.

Here's an example of a shop built piece of machinery (originally built by the parent company of the company I worked for) that eventually became a tool for assessing mechanical skills. The original machine was designed to wrap bars of soap. It includes levers, slides, cams, springs, and other mechanical components commonly found in many industrial machines. Problems were introduced to the model and the job applicants mechanical skills were tested as far as diagnosing the correcting them. In the end only about the top 15% of the applicants were able to diagnose and correct the problems within the time limit allowed.

Mechanical Skills Assessments - Scientific Management Techniques, Inc.

Mechanical Skills Assessments using the Standard Timing Model (STM) The Standard Timing Model is our mechanical skills assessment tool used to identify mechanical skills and competencies when hiring Maintenance Professionals, Machine Operators, Electro-Mechanical Personnel, Assemblers and...

www.scientific-management.com

 

[mmcmdl]

We had a mechanical do nothing machine when hiring into Unilever years back . It flipped , rotated , advanced a simulated bar of soap thru multiple mechanisms . The interviewer would mess something up and noted the time it took for you to fix it . I believe I was the last one to have to do this back in 99 , so I guess I broke it beyond repair .

 

[projectnut]

We had a mechanical do nothing machine when hiring into Unilever years back . It flipped , rotated , advanced a simulated bar of soap thru multiple mechanisms . The interviewer would mess something up and noted the time it took for you to fix it . I believe I was the last one to have to do this back in 99 , so I guess I broke it beyond repair .

I would bet it's the same machine. The original was made by one of the engineers at General Foods in the late 50's or early 60's. He patented it, and when he left the company he started Scientific management. They were actively marketing the machine throughout the food, beverage, and machine building industries. If I recall correctly the original title of the machine was "the do nothing machine" During my working career I ordered over half a dozen of the machines at about $2,500.00 per copy to be used in different locations throughout the company. The original designer sold the company about 15 years ago.

 

[brino]

Here's an example of a shop built piece of machinery (originally built by the parent company of the company I worked for) that eventually became a tool for assessing mechanical skills. The original machine was designed to wrap bars of soap. It includes levers, slides, cams, springs, and other mechanical components commonly found in many industrial machines. Problems were introduced to the model and the job applicants mechanical skills were tested as far as diagnosing the correcting them. In the end only about the top 15% of the applicants were able to diagnose and correct the problems within the time limit allowed.

That would be fun to try......if my income did NOT depend on my results!

Too bad THAT is not a reality TV show. It would be something I'd watch. Maybe teams trying to solve mechanical puzzles.
I miss Junk-Yard Wars, Scrap-Heap Challenge, etc.

-brino

 

[Ivan]

Thanks for the replies. Here's a short video of a Nielsen S-1 four-slide.
View attachment Fourslide Nielsen S-1.mp4

 

[eugene13]

Make your idea known to Discovery studios, they're always looking tor new Ideas, that would be a game show I'd be interested in watching.

That would be fun to try......if my income did NOT depend on my results!

Too bad THAT is not a reality TV show. It would be something I'd watch. Maybe teams trying to solve mechanical puzzles.
I miss Junk-Yard Wars, Scrap-Heap Challenge, etc.

-brino