Cutting Multiple Threads

I was just reading this British Intelligence report, from 1946

The modification of the Lorch lathe [20] sounds worthy of our attention.

... Does anyone know of any drawings or photos ?

MichaelG.

another version of the document; but still no pics

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 03/08/2012 09:16:11

Having read the notes I note that `"paul" has been engaged with the ratchet rather than his brother "pawl"

Edited By KWIL on 03/08/2012 09:34:09

Presumably British Intelligence already had a Beta copy of Microsoft's Spell Checker.

MichaelG.

Michael,

I think I'd need to lie down in a darkened room with a cold towel round the head to follow that. I suspect the degree of automation was largely if not entirely for the purpose of quantity production; for our purposes, mostly requiring one-off or very small numbers, there are much easier ways to cut multi-start threads.

David

Edited By David Littlewood on 03/08/2012 12:50:08

David,

Yes, of course there are easier ways now ... but I consider this to be an important piece of history, and "worthy of our attention".

When a firm like Leitz does an adaptation like this; there is usually something of interest.

The text presumably meant something to those that were there ... but it's all rather obscure now !!

MichaelG.

"quantity production" ... ??? ... These focusers were clearly being made as individually matched male & female pairs.

Hi,

What an amazing document !

I declare an interest as an ex Ilford employee but I think this has given us yet another reason why they lost the war.

I noted the 13 day trip for just 3 days in the factory. You don't get jollies like that nowadays. And that nearly 90% of the 1946 output of cameras was syphoned off to our Yankie buddies (could be swapped for Rolliflex from the Brits though) but when it came to microfilming the Leica drawings the Yanks made a mess of it according to the Intelligence report.

I would love to have seen the shutter setting process as described in the report

"In the assembly of the shutter fast- range escapement one component after another was tried till one was found that worked in a fairly satisfactory manner and then various minor alterations were made to it by filing, and in some cases, a light tap with a small watch-makers hammer. The skill of the operators was undoubtedly the chief asset in theefficient assembling of this shutter"

Mike, are there any more gems where that came from ?

Bob D

Bob,

Good to hear from you

Yes ... it's an amazing document ... I only hope there are some pictures out there somewhere.

As for similar gems; I will let you know if I find anything.

MichaelG.

P.S.

On the subject of your ex-employer: I have always fancied the little KI Monobar that they marketed with Kennedy Instruments ... do you know anything about this one?

another link

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 03/08/2012 18:40:52

Mike,

I can't help directly with the Kennedy Monobar but, skewing the topic a bit, I have a copy of Ilford's history, "Silver by the ton". Kennedy gets a reference there.

They were known as Kennedy Engineering until 1948 and it mentions Kennedy Instruments making a simple 35mm camera called the Advocate, presumably marketed under the Ilford label. It quotes a special edition being made for £340.10s and presented to Princess (now Queen) Elizabeth by the Borough of Ilford. It was stolen but later recovered after being returned to Ilford for repair.

They had numpties even in those days!

Bob D

Bob,

£340.10s must have been a very special Advocate!

Perhaps the bodyshell was Ivory  

and ... You have a personal message.

MichaelG.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 03/08/2012 22:01:04

I have just found a list of the American Intelligence reports

No idea which ones are accessible, but at least we know what they were.

MichaelG.

... and here is the British list for the Chemical Industry

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 03/08/2012 22:59:13

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 03/08/2012 23:20:44

Facinating

Grandfather was a fellow of the Royal Photographic Society and owned Snaps in Bridlington. Still have many of his photographs and I am sure had amoungst his professional equipment a Leitz.
My wife's father was an aircraft photographer in WW2 and the plane did not carry any guns. Hairy

Thank you all for these facinating insights.

Bob

Bob,

I don't know if you are aware, but there is an interesting page about Snaps, here

I have the greatest admiration for your wife's father and his fellows, and the quality of their work continues to amaze me.

MichaelG.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 04/08/2012 07:09:19

Is that where the term snaps/ photos comes from? Seem to remember thats what mum called photos. Ian S C

Michael,

The Kennedy monorail certainly looks a desirable collector's item. Like the writer of the first site you quoted, I suspect it could be quite tricky to operate; having spent many hours back in the 90s taking photos on a 5x4" sheet film technical camera, I remember how critical it is to get the focus spot on, and how tricky it is on the ground glass screen. I hate to think how much more challenging it would be with a 35mm image (36 x 24 mm max). Also, the design would seem to require use of lenses designed for larger format cameras (to fit the leaf shutters in the lens board. The generally have a markedly lower resolution than those designed for 35mm film - they don't need it.

Still, wouldn't get rid of it if I had one! Thanks for sharing.

David

David,

Very fair comments ... I have a couple of 5x4 cameras myself ; a Crown Graphic which is like a Speed Graphic but without the focal-plane shutter, and an MPP monorail which is a heavy beast.

What you say about lens resolution was certainly true a few years ago, but some of the recent "digital" lenses by Schnieder have amazing specifications.

Of course the KI Monobar would be too flexible to do them justice ... it is really just a delightful little dinosaur. ... This Linhof is much more suitable, but way out of my price range

MichaelG.

Ian,

I'm not sure when the term "Snaps" came into use, but yes; many Brits talk of Holiday Snaps, and many professionals refer to themselves as Snappers [witty false modesty I presume]

MichaelG.

Michael,

A great topic, and a wonderful journey into E.Leitz.

In about ‘59, soon after buying my secondhand Leica IIIf along with a couple of lenses and a few other accessories, I topped this off with a spanking new Leitz Focomat Ic enlarger with automatic focussing. Needless to say, I was very much under the spell of 35mm photography.

However, I hadn’t realised how much I must have been showing my exuberance for my new -found hobby, until some of the guys in the toolroom began asking as a leg pull (I hope) -

"Taken any good SNAPS lately?"

Sam

Ian S C

I found this, which gives the OED explanation of the origins of Snap Shot

... seems reasonable to me.

MichaelG.