Colchester lathe production

Worth a watch and shows why theses and others made machines that last

**LINK**

Fantastic! Thanks! Wish my student of the same vintage looked and worked as well, but I’m satisfied with it

interesting how much of the work esp in inspection would now be automatically and very rapid cnc controlled

I learnt to drive in a Thames 15cwt 3 speed column change van!
wel worth the 25 mins to watch,

Fascinating to watch and a glimpse back in time, both in engineering and in British culture. From a public health perspective it is interesting to note that none of the employees depicted were obese. Would be very different in a British factory now.

Why were so many of the production machines painted that odd gold colour !? Not a colour I would associate with a factory.

Edited By lfoggy on 02/02/2022 17:15:28

"Why were so many of the production machines painted that odd gold colour !? Not a colour I would associate with a factory.Why were so many of the production machines painted that odd gold colour !? Not a colour I would associate with a factory."

Our attention has been drawn to this film before and the same question was posed, if I recall correctly. The conjecture was that the machines had been painted especially for the making of this film, but it was never confirmed. Perhaps someone who is still around who once worked at the factory could inform us if this was actually the case.

Interesting to note the screwcutting demonstration was with an angled top slide

I've seen this before & well worth a watch. What is also worth looking at are some of the comments on YouTube, they mirror a lot of my thoughts, enough said.

Tony

Thanks for that JohnF, a most enjoyable 1/2 hour!

regards Mike

Black and white film, poorly digitally colourised? Early instances used relatively few colours, and did not know the actual colours of the original objects. I'm thinking of those reworked WW2 films, rendered with brown or green army uniforms, bright blue skies, etc. It is said that younger folk can't/won't watch B&W recordings.

Bill

I don't think so because the film announces it's in Technicolor, and it has that characteristic look. (Which I find garishly attractive.)

My guess is the 'not Colchester' equipment was tarted up for the film and someone decided to paint it all the same colour, one that suited the camera rather than being realistic.

One of the comments on the video reinforced my nervousness about buying second-hand:

Milling machines, shapers, grinders, etc. were to be sold by sealed bids, together with around two dozen Colchester Students. He picked out the best lathe, then swapped parts from other machines to build the best gearbox he could. Then he covered this machine with gunk and swarf, painted “SCRAP” on both ends in blue Hammerite, parked it in a corridor and threw a grubby old tarpaulin over it. It was completely overlooked by local businesses and other bidders, and my father bought it for just £15.

So, of twenty Students available, it was worth improving the best of them by cannibalising the others. This chap's dad got a really good one, but the other buyers paid good money for machines containing worn parts that may not have been re-assembled properly... Bargain!!!

Dave