old French boring machine

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oklahoma red
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old French boring machine

Post by oklahoma red »

Now and then the subject of high production pipe machines will pop up here. I personally find the subject fascinating and I really enjoy studying these old machines and attempting to figure out what they did and how they went about it. Trever Talbert and I have been discussing this one which belongs to him and he kindly sent me the two following pics and gave his permission to share them with the Forum. This machine if fully functional and he occasionally uses it in his shop. He brought it with him when he moved back to the US from France. He estimates this machine to have been made in the 1920s. It was originally powered by an overhead shaft running thru the factory. These shafts were originally powered by steam engines or water wheels. Leather belts would connect the overhead shafts to the various machines. What makes this machine tick is the various cutter heads and the highly adjustable tailstock. A lever off on the right end (like one would see on a turret lathe) moves the tailstock slide left and right, and carries the stummel to the spinning cutter head. Looking at the two cutter heads that have blades in them it would be safe to say that they are intended for cutting shanks and drilling the mortises. The tailstock is adjustable in all axes including rotary. Various wooden jaws with dovetail bases are used to clamp the stummel. Trever said that in addition to shank work he will sometimes use it to bore bowls.
There are a lot of these and similar machines still in everyday use in pipe factories all over Europe. A great testimony as to how well they were thought out and built.
The really wild ones have hairy looking cutter wheels that shape the curved portions of the bowl. OSHA would cream their jeans. Considering how many millions of pipes these factories produced over many decades it is easy to understand the need for these machines. One has to admire the inventiveness of their creators.

Chas.

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scotties22
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Re: old French boring machine

Post by scotties22 »

Very cool...I love old machines like that
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DeflictedPipes
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Re: old French boring machine

Post by DeflictedPipes »

That thing's pretty cool. Thanks for posting it.
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W.Pastuch
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Re: old French boring machine

Post by W.Pastuch »

Yup, that's exactly the "machine a floquer" I mentioned in George's thread about tenon cutting :)
DrewEstateSam
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Re: old French boring machine

Post by DrewEstateSam »

I got the chance to check out 2 fraising sp? Machines at Paul's pipe shop in Flint MI, one do thirst is hydraulic the other electric and they could be 2 of the coolest looking machines I've ever seen
caskwith
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Re: old French boring machine

Post by caskwith »

One day I will get around to building one of these.
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oklahoma red
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Re: old French boring machine

Post by oklahoma red »

DrewEstateSam wrote:I got the chance to check out 2 fraising sp? Machines at Paul's pipe shop in Flint MI, one do thirst is hydraulic the other electric and they could be 2 of the coolest looking machines I've ever seen
I'm curious as to whether he built them or were they brought over from across the big pond?
Chas.
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oklahoma red
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Re: old French boring machine

Post by oklahoma red »

W.Pastuch wrote:Yup, that's exactly the "machine a floquer" I mentioned in George's thread about tenon cutting :)
Well I'll be floqued! Small world.
Chas.
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oklahoma red
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Re: old French boring machine

Post by oklahoma red »

caskwith wrote:One day I will get around to building one of these.
I'm with you bro. I'd do it just for shits and giggles. Thinking about it, 3/4 of the battle could be won right off the bat by starting with an old turret lathe. Ready made bed, headstock and tailstock slide. All that would be needed (still somewhat of a daunting task. A milling machine would definitely be a requirement) would be to make the adjustable platform to mount where the old turret was. Speaking of turret lathes, in digging thru old photos from these pipe factories one will often see them being used.
Also in looking back, a lot of identical machines can be seen in different factories so way back when there was obviously a company that specialized in making this stuff. Most have heavy castings and that is not normally in the realm of custom fabrication in the pipe factory's shop.
Chas.
caskwith
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Re: old French boring machine

Post by caskwith »

Yeah my plan was to start with either a turret lathe or just an old heavy lathe with a decent carriage. Tailstock is not needed and if you look you will see that the machine above really just has a version of a lathe carriage. Add a self centring milling chuck with custom jaws and you are away.
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Alden
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Re: old French boring machine

Post by Alden »

Tim West makes his pipes with one of these machines.
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oklahoma red
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Re: old French boring machine

Post by oklahoma red »

Alden wrote:Tim West makes his pipes with one of these machines.
Interesting. Hopefully he will be at the KC show again this year and I'll see if I can pin him down and talk about it.
Chas.
E.L.Cooley
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Re: old French boring machine

Post by E.L.Cooley »

I wish I could read French, well maybe I'd use a translator app if I wasn't so tired. Here is a link for a French site with lots of pics of similar machines. These guys really made some cool machines.


http://www.culture.gouv.fr/public/mistr ... X3=50&REQ=((Mongreville)%20%3AAUTP%20)&DOM=Tous&USRNAME=nobody&USRPWD=4%24%2534P



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Alden
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Re: old French boring machine

Post by Alden »

I talked to Tim today and mentioned this post. He said just call him and he'd love to talk to you about it.
He has several huge old french machines in his basement. The other two I remember are fraising machines but I don't think he ever uses them.
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