Ruby Loftus Screwing a Breech-ring

if my memory is correct this famous painting was exhibited at Newport (south wales) museum about 8 years ago as Ruby Loftus hailed from Llanhilleth not far from me. 11th ordnance factory was in newport. the painting formed the basis for a famous wartime poster 'work for victory'. laura knight spent some time studying and making sketches of ruby in the course of preparing the painting. when exhibited locally some of ruby's wartime colleagues were interviewed by the local press and TV.

ive absolutely no idea what the lathe was - probably american?

cheers,

julian

hi Involute Curve,

LBSC spent part of WW1 (according to his own writings) in charge of a munitions factory near weybridge in surrey.

this is where he explored his ability to accurately make small parts to precision fits etc. later on his own home workshop in Purley was extremely well equipped with precision machines and tooling that were unheard of in those days, even up to 1967 when he died. some years ago a photo of the staff of the factory was printed in ME. all the staff apart from LBSC were 'his girls' as he liked to call them.

the american lathe suggestion comes from a very dear old late friend of mine who worked as a toolmaker at de havillands, hatfield, during WW2. apparently most of the machine tools were american.

cheers,

julian

Perhaps we have the U3A mag to thank for this thread!

Billy.

Billy Mills:

Spot on! Third Age Matters was indeed where I saw the reproduction. It's fair to say that the article was mainly concerned with the artist rather than her subject - two women who were both very good at their jobs.

Comments to the effect that this was a production operation rather than a tricky one-off seem to be on target, too, but the artist is obviously seeing the romance in the subject and, perhaps, making a point about women's capabilities. If this was a purely production process than the firm-joint calipers and swan-neck toolholder have perhaps been introduced for artistic effect. I remember reading somewhere that WWI inspectors (female) could detect a very small taper with their fingers.

I served my apprenticeship at ROF 13 in the sixties and lot of the machines were indeed American most supplied under lend lease that had a plate on them in the form a shield with the American flag and the moto A present to the free world or words to that effect.

A lot of the lathes were south bend and I can remember one shop being full of Acme Gridley Multi spindles, for a fifteen year old lad walking into that shop was like walking into a vision of hell, with the mulities screaming away and the stench of cutting oil which was dripping off everything including the roof, the air was a mist of the stuff, the workers all wore hats and overalls with the sleeves cut off other wise they just became soaked in the oil.

I can remember one bright spark had the idea of trying to run one with soluble oil. it just seized after about 1/2 an hour, the cutting oil was keeping the machine lubricated.

Stew

Stew

Edited By Stewart Hart on 22/02/2014 08:17:52

Interesting reading about WW2 US drones, more in relation to this thread than you think. One woman on the assembly line was Norma Jeane Dougherty, better known to most of us as Marilyn Monroe. Ian S C

I think Women's involvement in the war effort manning machinery etc. is often over looked, perhaps this could form the basis of an interesting article in ME.......... but it would require a women's touch

G'day.

I take care of elderly people for Legacy here in Oz. They like to chat about when they were younger.

One lady used to assemble fuzes at a factory in Wagga Wagga during WW2. She told me that the work was so delicate that none of the girls were permitted to speak during production.

Another elderly lady manned an anti-aircraft gun in London.

* Danny M *

Edited By Danny M2Z on 22/02/2014 10:12:32

An interesting article in ME? Easy tiger!!

while we are at it lets not forget miss Shilling, the lady that invented a one way valve in the carbareta on the early rolls merlin engines, it became known as miss shillings orifice ian c

My Mum was a Radar operator, and later an instructor at Cranwell, Dad also in Radar was the technician.

Ian S C

This whole subject is very intersting. I would love to have the time to properly research and write on this subject. I have read quite a lot about women working the canals in wartime. There is a quite a lot written on that subject, but not, I find, so much about in engineering. That may be becasue more highly skilled technicians were reserved occupations anyway so women were not extensively recruited. Whereas women continued to work in many fields after the war, especially in transport and agriculture etc., they rarely went on to work in engineering. Even now they attract attention due to their being relatively uncommon. The painting in question here was perhaps not very tylpical, I don't know. As I say, I would love to have the time to properly research this.

I also have loved this painting for a long time. I think I first saw it reproduced in the Daily Telegraph some years ago.

Diane

By coincidence I have just seen a news item about the Woolwich Arsenal, seems to have been almost entirely female workers during the wars.

I remember as a child listening to my Grandmother Martha, and her life long friend Dolly, chatting about the war time, often with fondness, it must have been an exiting time for two 19 year old's, they both worked in various locations in Coventry, operating lathes, millers, etc, My grandmother could also gas weld, I have no idea where she picked this skill up, all she said was she was taught during the war, in fact she taught me to bronze weld when I was 13 or so, it was so funny and cool looking back, I was trying to weld the cracked frame on my Montesa, in those days my Granddad had a shed with all sorts of tools inc gas welding equip, she was watching me try, and said your doing it all wrong and laughing, I said how would you know, so she showed me!!!!!, I was gob smacked my Nana with her fury slippers and piny on welding, I still cant weld as neat a she could.............

Diane Carney

I am pleased to have started this interesting hare - or should I say doe?

David Lodge's novel Nice Work (1988) contains a revealing section about male engineers' attitudes to women. The heroine ventures into the machine shop - I will venture a brief quote:

"Wolf-whistles and catcalls, audible in spite of the mechanical din, followed her as she hurried through the factory."

She was no Ruby Loftus, of course, and in truth had no business there. I hope and believe circumstances have changed.

There is the tale of the women who filled shells in Woolwich Arsenal and the explosive they were exposed to turned them yellow and they then had the name, 'The Canaries' It seems later it caused cancer.

Women were also employed putting luminous compound (Radium) into compasses and the like and in later years also succumbed to cancer!

My Aunt worked in a munitions factory in Tyneside and her job was packing steel balls into shells, they had to be layered and stacked precisely or the shell would not fly straight. The steel balls made great marbles I remember.

Clive

So that's where the marbles we called "steelies" came from! For more than 50 years I thought they were ball bearings.

Hello all

My best guess is that the lathe is an American Atlas supplied on lease-lend.

Compare the distinctive tailstock style with pics on Tony Griffiths' site, also seen on the

UK licensed versions by Halifax and Sphere.

JIm

Ah! Ian Cable mentions Miss Shilling! Now she was a REAL engineer! And as a callow youth I met her! And she still holds the ladies speed record for 500cc motorcycles on the Brooklands outer track. Mike Nash