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FOMOGO

FOMOGO

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I was over on the big island of Puerto Rico the other day, waiting on a car ferry that had been delayed two hours. This was in Ceiba, which was the site of the Roosevelt Roads Naval facility. Having some time to kill, I went to explore and abandoned building near the ferry dock. What I discovered was very interesting, but also brought a tear to my eye. Having served in the Navy during the Vietnam war I was not shocked, having seen similar disregard for valuable equipment. My guess is this stuff has been sitting since at least 04' when the base closed. Kind of surprised someone hasn't hauled it off by now. The Clausing lathe seems to have been the victim of a misguided fork lift operator, but shows very little wear, and I'm thinking could still be saved after some de-rusting action. The Cincinnati radial drill was in similar condition. The Iron worker is a real monster, but i would be thrilled to have it in my shop. The Wysong metal shear was rated for 1/2" mild steel, 12' long. Anywho, here are some pics I thought you all might enjoy. Cheers, Mike


P1020026.JPGP1020027.JPGP1020028.JPG P1020029.JPGP1020030.JPGP1020031.JPGP1020032.JPGP1020033.JPGP1020034.JPGP1020035.JPGP1020036.jpgP1020037.JPGP1020038.JPGP1020039.jpgP1020040.JPGP1020041.JPGP1020042.JPGP1020043.JPGP1020044.JPG
 
:( Mike . Is that Colchester a 15 or 17" ? Not that it matters , can ya sneak it home in a duffle bag ? I'll make the room for it ! :)

Edit . It looks like a 17" from the nameplate . :encourage:
 
Sad but true we do live in a throw away society ,It's a shame to see machines like that discarded and neglegded by the bean counters
 
What a shame. Nice looking Colchester. I used to work on one like that when I was still working for a boss
 
I had a Bickford drill exactly the same.....ex USN from WW2........the tilting table is there too ,upside down...............incidentally ,the Colchester is a Triumph 2000.....same model is still made ...as well as a Taiwanese copy.......the copy is now around A$20,000 out here.
 
That's a heartbreaker. I too learned to love those Colchesters. We had a 15 and 17 in my shop. The 15 was almost always the first choice if you could get your hands on it. They're great machines and easy to use.
 
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