1958 vintage CNC vid

[Tin Falcon]

Hey guys a blast from the past an old 1958 vintage news reel showing an unarmed A bomb falls into someones yard and a Hughes aircraft automated production machine.
http://www.archive.org/details/1958-03-13_Dead_A-Bomb_Hits_US_Town
Enjoy
Tin

 

[Stan]

In connection to those two newsreels, I met the engineer who was in charge of the machine shop building nuclear warheads. He said the problem of cutting compound curves and maintaining .0001" tolerance was almost impossible. Then came CNC and any machine operator could meet spec.

 

[BobWarfield]

What an amazing CNC machine!

I read the book on the Manhattan Project and was amazed at some of the things they were able to do so long ago when they were inventing the Bomb. I guess the one that surprised me the most was high speed X-ray movies of the way the explosion was causing the bomb to detonate. A big part of making it work was precise control of that explosion to implode the fissionable core or to fire the "gun" version.

Now I have 2 different CNC machines in my garage as a hobby. Imagine the reaction of those guys in 1958 if you'd told them it would be possible. Heh, they'd laugh even harder if I told them I had probably 8 different computers and a whole gaggle of phones that fit in your pocket and could call anywhere in the world and send pictures.

Cheers,

BW

 

[Tin Falcon]

Bob I was amazed at the tool changer on that.
As far as technology when I was in High School in the late 70s I was awed by the computerized type setting machine (paper tape I/O ) and though how great it would be to have something like thatat home. now with home PCs any person with a half way decent home PC and printer has all that capability and more.
Tin

 

[ChooChooMike]

Anyone watching the TV show "Live On Mars" ?? About a cop in 2008 that has a car accident and winds up back in 1973 (35 years earlier in time). Yeah, I know sounds kinda cheesy, but actually is a very well written and intelligent show. Unfortunately it's been canceled and is going off the air in early April. Idiot networks won't give a new show a chance to grow some legs.

Anyway, kinda funny how the main character, Sam, has to remind himself all the time it's 1973 and most of what he's familiar with in 2008, has yet to be invented - CD's, cell phones, computers, DNA analysis, etc.

Fun to watch, cause I was in grade school in 1973, yet remember all of the stuff on that show from the 70's !!

Mike

 

[BobWarfield]

Tin, you and I are the same vintage then.

Sometime in the 60's we had a school field trip to a small local newspaper. I got to see a Linotype machine. That was a wild and crazy machine. Looked positively Victorian. I still have the lead type that spells out my name sitting here on my desk somewhere.

I tried to find some more video of old CNC, but couldn't. I would imagine there was amazing stuff going on in secretive facilities during the 50's and 60's. Real cutting edge manufacturing.

Cheers,

BW