Max- lol, he knows not what he has done! We must have fresh content on tap with weekly updates; each more powerful and mind expanding than the last! Field trips, expensive props & animation! A Christmas special might be nice....can I get an official Machine Thinking mug? ;)
Back in the 60's Bonney Forge in Oxford, Ne had the privilege of making the swivel engine mounts for the descent stage of the Lunar Excursion Module for Apollo. The reason I know this was I used to go there every 3 months and certify their instrumentation using standards traceable to NBS. Their drop forge hammer would make everyone jump every time it fired. Mr. Charles Lewis who was the manager said that only a very small percentage of the mounts they made for Grumman passed their QC but Grumman never complained because no one else could make even one mount that passed. As you can imagine, they were very proud of their contribution in getting a man to the moon. 24 of their mounts are on the moon today. Because of my age, I wanted to get this historical information on the internet or it would be lost.
c7042 And thank you for posting this. The internet grows better and better as more and more information that could be lost to the world is added. Every bit and byte added gives us reference to the billions of things, events and stories that make us what we are today and not only that, the net possesses the capability to help us link, compare, plan and move forward. Your observation and information will now be preserved forever. The internet never forgets and your contribution may well start or be a part of something decades or millennia from now. This is much appreciated by many many more than myself.
Thanks for sharing. That's amazing and beautiful. So many things like this will be sealed from younger generation s unless they were privileged to the information from close friends and family. Thank you so much for sharing. Happy new year
When I was a young engineer I took an interview, and was offered a job, at that Cleveland plant where that 50,000 ton press operates. Saw it in operation. It was forging the landing gear struts for the 747 in the early 1970s. The metal looked like play dough being squeezed by that press.
Pressing improves the metallurgical properties of any metallurgical product much further and besides it follows a time-tested and time-proven wisdom "IF IT AIN'T BROKE, DON'T FIX IT!" and "JUST BECAUSE IT'S NEW DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN IT IS BETTER".
The Curious Mind Your excitement and enthusiasm for this technology is touching. I hope you get to see this press in action some day. If I had the financial means I would see to it that you could. This country was built on the dreams, and wonder, of people like yourself. I wish you well.
I work for the same company which owns and operates the 50, and I had no idea the amazing history and engineering behind it. Thanks for sharing this, seriously. I am adding a plant tour of that press to the bucket list!
I had the impression that public access to these was extremely rare given the sensitive work they do? At least the one in Cleveland. Please write to me via the contact page on my website if indeed public access is possible! machinethinking.co/contact
@@cockssmithin2688he is asking about touring the plant not job opportunities. The OP is an employee so he may be allowed a tour even when there is a no-tour policy for the public.
As a mechanical engineer, this channel is pure bliss. Also if you could marry my sister that would be great. You don't have to spend much time with her, we could just chill.
As a machinist this is amazing i thought my 100 in table was big. Gotta love big machines and the amazing engineers that developed them before cad, is just awe inspiring!!
What an amazing learning experience! The older I get, I'm 73, the more astounded at the many processes and technologies that make our world today. I had no idea about these presses. And as you say, all this done with slide rules. Thank you!
About 7 years ago, Alcoa in Cleveland, spent $100m to rebuild their Mesta 50 ton press due to cracks. The whole plant's operation hinged on that project.
When I saw that in the video, I wondered what it cost. Also wondered what the aerospace industry did for part while it was under repair. Sourced from the other 50 ton press, I guess, but that must have been overbooked. Bet the military and the aerospace companies were very nervous.
I imagine that work was completed to a super fine schedule. I know at least where i work, the machines i operate must be running all the time to maintain a positive cost ratio. Wonder how much cash they were losing as that press sat dormant
STUPENDOUS JOB TAKING A COMPLEX TOPIC AND KEEPING IT LIGHT, FUN, INFORMATIVE AND QUICK-PACED!!! You are one of the best justifications for UA-cam I've ever seen...
I am from India. Not an interesting place by modern standards. I was fond of two USA magazines-Popular Science and Popular Mechanics (father’s library) from childhood days. They taught me great stuffs. I distinctly remember a hydraulic press back then that you ought to include in your video. First picture-splitting a log (dia about 4…5 feet) LENGTHWISE. Second picture-tapping an egg; the new-born CHICK standing on the ram beside the broken egg shells. I have no idea why all that makes me burst in tears. Maybe I loved machines a little too much.
Amitava Manna, No, you don't love machines too much. You understand and appreciate machinery, the value, the usefulness, the daily benefit we all receive because people had the vision and desire to make something truly useful. Some people get excited over sculpture and paintings and music and that's okay but the watching a lathe, or a power saw, or a crane, or a train engine running . . . that is art too but many people take it for granted and don't see it and understand it in the same way as you and me and the many people who build, repair, and operate machinery.
I’ve ran brakes from 20ton to 750 ton, I could take a piece of oak, 4”x4” put it in flattening dies and explode that piece of oak, wood is no match for a press.
Wow a fantastic storey I havent heard before, almost thrilling for an old engineer. As a young toolmaker in the 1970's we used wooden forms for copy milling, the wood was painted with a hard epoxy coating.
I was fortunate enough to visit Alcoa as one of my school field trips. The whole buildings floor shook everytime the press came down and seeing it in person was truly awe-inspiring
It has been my greatest reward to have been in the metals trades all my adult life. From being a silversmith and goldsmith, to building tunnel boring machines, and many things in between. I feel a kinship with the people of this metals industry when i see videos like this. Thanks.
I work in mining, I'm surrounded by giant machines all day, it's almost forgettable at this point. But the sheer scale and power in that mesta 50 is insane. Really cool video.
The reasons why all these old machines keep on working well after what seems to be a usable lifespan is they were extremely overbuilt and over engineered. Before CAD and digital simulation you you rounded up your calculations by a few factors. There was not this horrible mentality of today for planned obsolescence.
its not over engineered when it refuses to break down that's proper engineering you're just too used to the usual corporate fuckery of under engineering to make sure shit breaks after some time so you'd have to BUY a new one.
Freaking awesome. So amazing to think these 10 machines are still in operation 65 years later and have been kept busy making parts for airplanes, tanks, missiles, space ships and more with up to 100 million pounds of pressure! They seem amazingly adaptable and are now controlled with computers. It was a huge investment, engineering and construction project but I'd say we got out money's worth out of it. I wonder how they even made them in the first place. I'd like to learn more about the die making process.
Germany did not make anything like the B-29 or the atomic bomb. They were lucky they surrendered when they did. Or they'd have got glowed up instead of Japan.
Why should I? A friend of mine's family was close personal friends with the good doctor. So I am well aware of who he was. When you walked into their house they had a picture on the wall of him with the whole brood. They may have even been related? I grew up in a very connected community. Von Braun used technology developed by this guy en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Goddard .
Read a book. The Germans lead the world at that time in chemistry, metallurgy and physics. They had the potential to develop nuclear weapons but Hitler didn’t think it was worth the effort as they were winning.
My father worked at Mesta Machine (West Homestead, PA) . They built the machines that built the steel mills that made Pittsburgh, PA "The Steel City"! Good to see Mesta get it's due!
@@jamesslick4790 We were almost neighbors. My hometown was Clairton, PA or, as one of the actors in "The Deer Hunter" called it, "the armpit of western Pennsylvania". I read it somewhere, don't know if the actor actually said that . . . but I wouldn't argue with the remark. A lot of those towns along the rivers were built on hard work and sweat . . . steel mills, coal mines . . . somebody always has to do the hard physical work. We left for California around 1942 and I was about 4 or 5 yrs. old. My parents did the right thing (besides taking me with them : -) Your father was an important part of history.
@@nemo227 Most definitely almost neighbors! At one time I called McKeesport,PA "home". (amoung a few other Mon Valley towns!) I still live in Pittsburgh (on the North SIde).
@@jamesslick4790 I was born in McKeesport. Really. 1938. It's a little strange that the world is very large with billions of people but paths still cross once in a while. About 30 years ago there were two men in our local Toastmasters club that knew each other when they were kids 40 years previously and they came from the same little town in Kansas or Nebraska, a town of maybe 1500 people. They weren't friends but just knew each other and they end up in the same club at the same time in the same town on the California coast.
I own the Millwright Company contracted to install both Sumitomo/Nest 100K ton presses at General Electric in Pittsfield, Mass in 1995. Standing 60 feet above ground and 45 feet underground, powered by two 5000 hp locomotive engines. The bottom 20x32.5 foot platen bed alone weighs 5k tons. I used custom made air bladders and gantry cranes to move most equipment into place from the ground up in less than ten months. My family has been involved in Industrial Master Millwrighting in the US since the 1850's, contracted in most manufacturing plants installed, relocated, expanded or demolished. I was born into it and has been part of my DNA since the 70's with thousands of installations under my belt... including Tesla in Hayward, California.
The qeustion we all have been asking for: "Is there a hydraulic press than can crush the hydraulic press from the hydraulic press channel?" MESTA: Hold my beer
I feel like I learned a lost art form when I was trained on making paper patterns by hand that would be used to make literally every part made from sheet or plate on an industrial fan. Some of them were monsters too, I mean, we had patterns for inlet stands that once you put them together could block out your average suburban home if it wasn't for the giant hole in the center... and we were still doing that shit in 2015
That was an amazing memory, seeing a hydraulic copy milling machine with a wooden form template. As a young toolmaker I made wooden 'masters' and milled out dies for casting sink taps.
Thank you for the enlightenment. I'm a retired tool & die maker and I've worked on some big projects in my 40 years, but amazingly this is the first time I've heard about these presses. And here I thought I knew everything! '-)
Man. This is like a near perfect documentary. Great visuals, great writing, great narration. No glitzy re-enactments, and no overly-dramatic narration. THANK YOU!!
I follow several machining, educational and historical channels and I'm WOWED. I just binged every single video in this channel. In my opinion it deserves at least 20 to 30 times the number of subscribers and views it has now. Thank you very much and please keep it up!
@@MarcABrown-tt1fp that before the USA had a industrial build up they technological Standart was as backwards as Africa today. But that probably only really holds true for the time when the colonization starter
@@Tankliker The giant press was merely an inspired addition to a presently established American industry. that was until the (inspired innovation) started happening widespread in America... We simply mixed things up when we copied homework after the late 40s in certain companies. America was never really a 3rd world country until recently in some places.
@@MarcABrown-tt1fp read my comment again and then tell me if these presses would have been "just a mere addition" to US industry in the 16-17 hundreds lol
I have lived and worked in Cleveland in the fabricating and welding business including some Defense Department contracts and have worked with forgings from the 50.
This is a fantastic video. I have been studying WW2, Guns, and equipment since the 90’s and I’m a pilot, yet I’ve never truly had a good understanding of how factories are tooled and the differences between drop forging, pressing, and milling. This video is exactly what should be shown in US high schools. These are the machines that give us our world.
Saw your recent screw video. As a gear cutter and generally interested person, I'd love it if you could do a video on gears (I noted the brief image of a lantern gear and pinion in the screw video). The involute tooth form and the ways of generating it and approximating it (hobbing, shaping, form cutters, milling) are both incredibly simple AND incredibly complex. I would even be able to get some video of hobbing, shaping, and form cutting if so wanted. It is also worth noting that although screw lathes are the original way to mass produce screws and worms, hobbing can also be used and will generate proper involute threads in screws and the more commonly hobbed helical gears.
I used to work at a tractor factory (UTB - Brasov) that made the Long tractors for the US, when I saw a small 8000 t press. Man, that pres could be felt 50 m away when it was in action.
The only reason I can think of someone needing a 200,000 ton press is if one is trying to hot forge pure Tungsten or tungsten alloys. Which is the toughest metal to machine. Having a density on par with gold and uranium (making it almost twice as heavy as lead) and a melting point of 6,192 °F (3422 °C) Such a press would be used for forging jet turbine blades and rocket nozzles , massive pressure vessels for nuclear reactors, and such. Applications where weight is no concern in the face of sheer strength at ridiculous temperatures.
Naah - what metal are you going to use for the mold when you try to forge Tungsten at its ridiculously high temperature? There is no metal that could survive that. These presses just need to get bigger when you make bigger things. Like Tesla's Gigapresses - they are just pressure die casting machines, but it is all scaled up much bigger than the previous limiting sizes of that process - so you can make half a car for the first time ever.
Not a lot of people watch TV anymore especially the older generation that being said there's all kind of good shit out here on the internet that's been archived and carefully preserved. In short my friend the younger generation can learn what we learned back in our time. Is all kind of crap out here on the internet not just porno, LOL.
Loved this... Thanks to the highly-detailed, and still understandable narration and diagrams, I learned quite a bit about metalworking history. Thanks!
A very interesting subject, very well written and beautifully narrated. Excellent historic vision of these machines operating. How could anybody not be completely impressed by the workings of these huge Machines! Thank you!
I tuned into this program because I had a long day at the office and I thought this would be the perfect program to help me fall asleep. Boy, was I wrong, excellent narration and content, perfect pace, now I've subscribed, bookmarked so I can show my kids about presses, and I'm onto the next program you have on here. Thanks for a job well done!
A company in Paramount California has installed a 60,000 ton press. So officially it would be the largest press in the United States, unless the government has a secret one somewhere .
||100,000t Mechanical Press||. There's been designed a mechanical (not hydraulic) press machine, at least 100,000t. It's been designed by the elderly inventor all alone. The innovation uses the inventor's know-how, invention and great engineering experience in the field. Do you think they say:"Wow! I want that press machine at any cost!" ?! The cost is quite definite, by the way. Don’t you feel the irony of the moment? We’ve left the stone age, just now, for the age of the regular space flights! The 100,000 press machine is a hallmark of the new era....But they don't seem to burst into tears, in great excitement, and to start promoting the project. If you'd like to support the inventor and his project, please contact me.
This is amazing! I often think I'm alone in geeking out over certain things, but your awe and reverence for these giant machines just makes me giddy! And the way you articulate these details is so easily digestible to me (if that's the right term here) when I often get overwhelmed by too much information. I'm so psyched to go watch more of your videos!🙀
One of the best doc's I have ever seen. The whole channel makes me realize how he got here. I fix things built by others. Cars for a living but all other power sports stuff on the side. If you needed a space craft fixed I could fix that too as it was made by someone. So their for has a way and specs on how it was built. Like this video, the world has become better because of this machine in so many ways...... just amazing.
halfstep67, you could build your own can smasher out of lumber and bolts. You could easily build a smasher to flatten 24 cans at a time with just some 2x4 lumber using leverage principles. Oh, and then post it on youtube.
halfstep67, your logic is without defect but . . . my yard isn't big enough for a 50K ton press. Maybe my neighbor will let me use half of his yard . . .
I think of this now when I see big machines and vehicles in the real world. This type of content is good for the world as in it allows people to appreciate modernity.
I once worked with a guy whose father was an engineer for Dodge. On his last day before he retired, he put his alarm clock in a paper sack and gave it to a drop pressman to demolish.
I'm a M.E. & I have the responsibility for the daily operation of a 4k ton horizontal extrusion press, a 1.8k ton horizontal extrusion press & a 1.5k ton vertical press. My work site also has a 5k ton vertical press. Small potatoes to these presses but interestingly, not much has changed except improved safety & computers controlling the work so fewer operators are required. Great video !
@Cheryl The Russians suffered the most during WW2 and it was felt owed to them to let them be the first to enter Berlin. But we knew we had to hold them back at some point too, which is why things were divided the way they were.
It's from a fellow named Boris Artzybasheff. He had an entire series called "machinalia' in which he presented anthropomorphized industrial machines. I'll put a few links to some of his work below, hope you enjoy! www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/antique-machinery-and-history/machinalia-boris-artzybasheff-272368/ animationresources.org/illustration-artzybasheffs-machinalia/
Thank you so much for the insight! I had no idea how interesting all this could be. With your tone and the amount of information you give is amazing. Keep it up bud!
As a apprentice in the early 1960s in the UK, I witnessed the installation of a vertical press and was amazed that the base of it was 40 feet below the factory floor; It's main use was for forging nickel alloy aircraft engine turbine blades - one at a time! It was an education to see such a vast machine producing what, by was comparison to its size, a microscopic component - so much power was needed to forge even small nickel alloy parts!
This showed up in my YT feed, no idea why. But now I’m going down a rabbit hole! Great stuff. Something about learning what makes our world go round behind the scenes is fascinating, and high quality videos like this bring that to life more than any dry textbook could (though I appreciate those books for the people who need to study them).
As a native Clevelander, all this industrial history, is in my blood. There where countless massive factories, near where I grew up. Was lucky to have worked at a Industrial based Hardware store, that catered to them. Got to go inside quite a few. Also got to tour the Lima Abrams Tank plant, whilst in college. Thanks for sharing 😎👍
This video is leagues better than the crap they put out on shows like "Modern Marvels" and other such programs which feature heavy machinery. There are no annoying cuts to B-Roll footage and corny music, there are no cuts to so-called "experts" sitting in a carefully curated office library, there is no BULLSHIT. Thanks.
With content this good this channel is gonna explode soon.
Boom. Another sub. yer rite awn, Jttv.
I concur, wholeheartedly. Well done!
You're done bud. Hope you're ready for the responsibility of keeping this stuff coming.
Max- lol, he knows not what he has done! We must have fresh content on tap with weekly updates; each more powerful and mind expanding than the last! Field trips, expensive props & animation! A Christmas special might be nice....can I get an official Machine Thinking mug? ;)
I'm sold
The quality of "amateur" documentaries like this easily rivals most stuff on TV these days
Dead right mate!
Indeed. The dialogue is clean, well researched, and no stumbling or 'um' added.
A knowledgeable speaker is so much more engaging than scripted narration
not rival, they are faaar superior
I would suggest that a lot of that is probably because they're not being required to be at least x amount of time
Back in the 60's Bonney Forge in Oxford, Ne had the privilege of making the swivel engine mounts for the descent stage of the Lunar Excursion Module for Apollo. The reason I know this was I used to go there every 3 months and certify their instrumentation using standards traceable to NBS. Their drop forge hammer would make everyone jump every time it fired. Mr. Charles Lewis who was the manager said that only a very small percentage of the mounts they made for Grumman passed their QC but Grumman never complained because no one else could make even one mount that passed. As you can imagine, they were very proud of their contribution in getting a man to the moon. 24 of their mounts are on the moon today. Because of my age, I wanted to get this historical information on the internet or it would be lost.
I found the video and your comment very interesting. Thank you!
@@c7042 you better write it down and stufg
c7042
And thank you for posting this. The internet grows better and better as more and more information that could be lost to the world is added.
Every bit and byte added gives us reference to the billions of things, events and stories that make us what we are today and not only that, the net possesses the capability to help us link, compare, plan and move forward. Your observation and information will now be preserved forever. The internet never forgets and your contribution may well start or be a part of something decades or millennia from now.
This is much appreciated by many many more than myself.
im glad you told us. thanks. ive had the opportunity to hear/feel/witness some large drop forges. they are awesome.
Thanks for sharing. That's amazing and beautiful. So many things like this will be sealed from younger generation s unless they were privileged to the information from close friends and family. Thank you so much for sharing. Happy new year
When I was a young engineer I took an interview, and was offered a job, at that Cleveland plant where that 50,000 ton press operates. Saw it in operation. It was forging the landing gear struts for the 747 in the early 1970s. The metal looked like play dough being squeezed by that press.
what's the benefits of pressing vs some kind of plasma extrusion or laser sintering system? it seems pressing should be outdated by now?
Where in Cleveland is the press?
Chris Hayes , the size of the parts it can handle. Try those other processes on huge stuff and see if you get the same results I would imagine.
Pressing improves the metallurgical properties of any metallurgical product much further and besides it follows a time-tested and time-proven wisdom "IF IT AIN'T BROKE, DON'T FIX IT!" and "JUST BECAUSE IT'S NEW DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN IT IS BETTER".
The Curious Mind Your excitement and enthusiasm for this technology is touching. I hope you get to see this press in action some day. If I had the financial means I would see to it that you could. This country was built on the dreams, and wonder, of people like yourself. I wish you well.
I work for the same company which owns and operates the 50, and I had no idea the amazing history and engineering behind it. Thanks for sharing this, seriously. I am adding a plant tour of that press to the bucket list!
I had the impression that public access to these was extremely rare given the sensitive work they do? At least the one in Cleveland. Please write to me via the contact page on my website if indeed public access is possible! machinethinking.co/contact
@@machinethinkingno as long as you aren't a criminal they hire anyone lol, I work at the Fontana location
@@cockssmithin2688he is asking about touring the plant not job opportunities. The OP is an employee so he may be allowed a tour even when there is a no-tour policy for the public.
12:26 "there wasn't the need" or should I say "It wasn't a pressing matter" ...........and I'm out
I'd be hard pressed to come up with a better pun
All these answers are DEpressing me
They ironed out the details on this and probably found they could squeeze out anything we need.
Just imagine the Pressure they face must have had alot of pressure and man the press on the project
A crushing defeat for those who wanted bigger presses.
As a mechanical engineer, this channel is pure bliss.
Also if you could marry my sister that would be great. You don't have to spend much time with her, we could just chill.
LMAO
Netflix and chill?
The Reaction - No, watching "How it was made" and chill
Haha
What? no need to marry your sister though you can be friends and can talk about machine too.
This is like Modern Marvels, only 1000 times better.
10:12 "55 tons for just the nut!"
I know how that feels
She's a big girl, eh? My sympathies, sir.
Yeah. You sound like a big nut. 😁👍
Gotta slay a few dragons before you get to the princess
@@billparker244 nah bro. She just toight
Adds a whole new dimension to "Bustin a Nut".
As a machinist this is amazing i thought my 100 in table was big. Gotta love big machines and the amazing engineers that developed them before cad, is just awe inspiring!!
What an amazing learning experience! The older I get, I'm 73, the more astounded at the many processes and technologies that make our world today. I had no idea about these presses. And as you say, all this done with slide rules. Thank you!
Eyyyy UA-cam recommendations working out for the better yet again
About 7 years ago, Alcoa in Cleveland, spent $100m to rebuild their Mesta 50 ton press due to cracks. The whole plant's operation hinged on that project.
It was a pressing matter...
@@NossyDrelich well played sir...
When I saw that in the video, I wondered what it cost. Also wondered what the aerospace industry did for part while it was under repair. Sourced from the other 50 ton press, I guess, but that must have been overbooked. Bet the military and the aerospace companies were very nervous.
I imagine that work was completed to a super fine schedule. I know at least where i work, the machines i operate must be running all the time to maintain a positive cost ratio. Wonder how much cash they were losing as that press sat dormant
@@NossyDrelich pressing your luck there pal
STUPENDOUS JOB TAKING A COMPLEX TOPIC AND KEEPING IT LIGHT, FUN, INFORMATIVE AND QUICK-PACED!!!
You are one of the best justifications for UA-cam I've ever seen...
Actually, it was very heavy.
It took 60 years to form stress cracks? WTF, that's damn impressing!
Right! The freaking sidewalk gets stress cracks 30 days after being complete.
@@Mr.DMZ. But take a look at the people walking it, OMG!
Impressing... I see what you did there. Very nice! 👏👏
why are u posing with underwear??. is that any sort of gay thing???. is your dad still alive..🤦😂
@noo dles , public...
When I hear the words Hydraulic and Press together, I now insinctively think of Finland
"Vat da fak?!"
Dániel Monostori Finland (1 n )
Dániel Monostori OK - my parents were born in Finland - all is good!
Pretty good
And here we go!
I am from India. Not an interesting place by modern standards. I was fond of two USA magazines-Popular Science and Popular Mechanics (father’s library) from childhood days. They taught me great stuffs.
I distinctly remember a hydraulic press back then that you ought to include in your video. First picture-splitting a log (dia about 4…5 feet) LENGTHWISE. Second picture-tapping an egg; the new-born CHICK standing on the ram beside the broken egg shells.
I have no idea why all that makes me burst in tears. Maybe I loved machines a little too much.
Amitava Manna, No, you don't love machines too much. You understand and appreciate machinery, the value, the usefulness, the daily benefit we all receive because people had the vision and desire to make something truly useful. Some people get excited over sculpture and paintings and music and that's okay but the watching a lathe, or a power saw, or a crane, or a train engine running . . . that is art too but many people take it for granted and don't see it and understand it in the same way as you and me and the many people who build, repair, and operate machinery.
I’ve ran brakes from 20ton to 750 ton, I could take a piece of oak, 4”x4” put it in flattening dies and explode that piece of oak, wood is no match for a press.
You have understood the true glory of human endeavor and the potential of mans mind.
Amitava Manna You Sir have passion & appreciation for life, technology & machinery.
doughtymqan N°1
Wow! My father worked as a mechanic at Mesta in Homestead Pa for 17 years- he will appreciate this so much!
It's a small world, my Dad has worked at Whemco in West Homestead for 25 years. The Mill beside the waterfront
Wow a fantastic storey I havent heard before, almost thrilling for an old engineer. As a young toolmaker in the 1970's we used wooden forms for copy milling, the wood was painted with a hard epoxy coating.
I wonder how it was possible to get such accuracy from wood. Thanks.
I was fortunate enough to visit Alcoa as one of my school field trips. The whole buildings floor shook everytime the press came down and seeing it in person was truly awe-inspiring
It has been my greatest reward to have been in the metals trades all my adult life. From being a silversmith and goldsmith, to building tunnel boring machines, and many things in between. I feel a kinship with the people of this metals industry when i see videos like this. Thanks.
I work in mining, I'm surrounded by giant machines all day, it's almost forgettable at this point. But the sheer scale and power in that mesta 50 is insane.
Really cool video.
if i am the employee ... i will sneak into the press machine at night to make artificial diamond .. lol
@@pooorman-diy1104good luck they run round the clock 🤣
The reasons why all these old machines keep on working well after what seems to be a usable lifespan is they were extremely overbuilt and over engineered. Before CAD and digital simulation you you rounded up your calculations by a few factors. There was not this horrible mentality of today for planned obsolescence.
Capitalism
its not over engineered when it refuses to break down
that's proper engineering
you're just too used to the usual corporate fuckery of under engineering to make sure shit breaks after some time so you'd have to BUY a new one.
Catnium yes, and I’m sick of it.
This is why my grand father's have all of my respect :-) :-) :-)
not really... industrial standards are different than civilian besides people want cheap stuff...
One of the best things I've seen on UA-cam... absolutely amazing content.
My friend is all kind of good information out there on UA-cam or any other site and it's not just porno LOL
I love how you manage to sound exactly like one of those old 40's 50's infomercial presenters. Your voice fits perfectly
Freaking awesome. So amazing to think these 10 machines are still in operation 65 years later and have been kept busy making parts for airplanes, tanks, missiles, space ships and more with up to 100 million pounds of pressure! They seem amazingly adaptable and are now controlled with computers. It was a huge investment, engineering and construction project but I'd say we got out money's worth out of it. I wonder how they even made them in the first place. I'd like to learn more about the die making process.
Well, the 100 million was actually FORCE, not PRESSURE... but hey, he's just a narrator...
German technology during WW2 was unbelievable!
Germany did not make anything like the B-29 or the atomic bomb. They were lucky they surrendered when they did. Or they'd have got glowed up instead of Japan.
I'm not German, but think of their rocket programes, it helped the US after the war. Please look up Werner von Braun.
Why should I? A friend of mine's family was close personal friends with the good doctor. So I am well aware of who he was. When you walked into their house they had a picture on the wall of him with the whole brood. They may have even been related? I grew up in a very connected community. Von Braun used technology developed by this guy en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Goddard .
The allies were fascinated by German technology regardless of what you say or who you claim to be acquainted with.
Read a book. The Germans lead the world at that time in chemistry, metallurgy and physics.
They had the potential to develop nuclear weapons but Hitler didn’t think it was worth the effort as they were winning.
My father worked at Mesta Machine (West Homestead, PA) . They built the machines that built the steel mills that made Pittsburgh, PA "The Steel City"! Good to see Mesta get it's due!
James Slick -- Pennsylvania and Ohio had many, many steel mills at one time.
@@nemo227 Yep! and Mesta built 'em!
@@jamesslick4790 We were almost neighbors. My hometown was Clairton, PA or, as one of the actors in "The Deer Hunter" called it, "the armpit of western Pennsylvania". I read it somewhere, don't know if the actor actually said that . . . but I wouldn't argue with the remark. A lot of those towns along the rivers were built on hard work and sweat . . . steel mills, coal mines . . . somebody always has to do the hard physical work. We left for California around 1942 and I was about 4 or 5 yrs. old. My parents did the right thing (besides taking me with them : -) Your father was an important part of history.
@@nemo227 Most definitely almost neighbors! At one time I called McKeesport,PA "home". (amoung a few other Mon Valley towns!) I still live in Pittsburgh (on the North SIde).
@@jamesslick4790 I was born in McKeesport. Really. 1938. It's a little strange that the world is very large with billions of people but paths still cross once in a while. About 30 years ago there were two men in our local Toastmasters club that knew each other when they were kids 40 years previously and they came from the same little town in Kansas or Nebraska, a town of maybe 1500 people. They weren't friends but just knew each other and they end up in the same club at the same time in the same town on the California coast.
3:41 Eye protection?? Just look the other way! Hearing protection??.... DID YOU SAY SOMETHING?!
"Engage safety squints!"
- AvE
fate of mens... reward for being strong
orton cap Punishment for progress more like.
It takes a lifetime to realize a new industry can have negative heath effects over a lifetime.
academic teacher here. these videos are pure gold. recommend them all the time in my lectures on manufacturing... and in my books. wonderful stuff!
I own the Millwright Company contracted to install both Sumitomo/Nest 100K ton presses at General Electric in Pittsfield, Mass in 1995. Standing 60 feet above ground and 45 feet underground, powered by two 5000 hp locomotive engines. The bottom 20x32.5 foot platen bed alone weighs 5k tons. I used custom made air bladders and gantry cranes to move most equipment into place from the ground up in less than ten months.
My family has been involved in Industrial Master Millwrighting in the US since the 1850's, contracted in most manufacturing plants installed, relocated, expanded or demolished. I was born into it and has been part of my DNA since the 70's with thousands of installations under my belt... including Tesla in Hayward, California.
Could you get in touch with me via the contact page on machinethinking.co? I'd love to know more!
@davide khalil why even make that comment? Ignorance is bliss
I don't believe what you described at Pittsfield is a press. Could it have been another type of machine?
Great grandpa moved presses into the Hamilton Ontario steel mills using teams of horses.No airbags.Ice blocks.
Human ingenuity gets it done !!
Thanks for a commentator that could be easily understood.... and no loud background music. 👍
The qeustion we all have been asking for:
"Is there a hydraulic press than can crush the hydraulic press from the hydraulic press channel?"
MESTA: Hold my beer
Aaand here ve go.
8:56 using a wooden form to achieve a final precision tolerance.
I feel like I learned a lost art form when I was trained on making paper patterns by hand that would be used to make literally every part made from sheet or plate on an industrial fan. Some of them were monsters too, I mean, we had patterns for inlet stands that once you put them together could block out your average suburban home if it wasn't for the giant hole in the center... and we were still doing that shit in 2015
That was an amazing memory, seeing a hydraulic copy milling machine with a wooden form template. As a young toolmaker I made wooden 'masters' and milled out dies for casting sink taps.
I never even considered how much engineering went into technology I've had my entire like.
Thank you for the enlightenment. I'm a retired tool & die maker and I've worked on some big projects in my 40 years, but amazingly this is the first time I've heard about these presses. And here I thought I knew everything! '-)
"just the N U T"
Das a fat N U T
If there's two.....that's the Bollox !
50 tons of *N U T*
Very well put together info!
3:27 you know that dudes ears are getting blown out
Oh definitely
@red headed stepchild the guys ears are getting blown out from the echoing bang of the large hammer machine they didnt have earplugs back then
red headed stepchild Work in a steel factory without earplugs, you'll leave with ringing ears for the rest of the day.
Umm guys I think red headed stepchild is making a joke about the fact that you would have hearing loss
@@Argonak1 not necessarily
Man. This is like a near perfect documentary. Great visuals, great writing, great narration. No glitzy re-enactments, and no overly-dramatic narration. THANK YOU!!
I’m not an engineer or a mathematician, but the video was awesome and the technology and figures were mind blowing.
Great video!
I follow several machining, educational and historical channels and I'm WOWED. I just binged every single video in this channel. In my opinion it deserves at least 20 to 30 times the number of subscribers and views it has now. Thank you very much and please keep it up!
Real title: 'Germany's Iron Giants'
kinda funny how even back then america was a third world country.
@@lazy1126 What does that even mean?
@@MarcABrown-tt1fp that before the USA had a industrial build up they technological Standart was as backwards as Africa today.
But that probably only really holds true for the time when the colonization starter
@@Tankliker The giant press was merely an inspired addition to a presently established American industry. that was until the (inspired innovation) started happening widespread in America... We simply mixed things up when we copied homework after the late 40s in certain companies. America was never really a 3rd world country until recently in some places.
@@MarcABrown-tt1fp read my comment again and then tell me if these presses would have been "just a mere addition" to US industry in the 16-17 hundreds lol
"Numbers are justified in this case"
No kidding
Jeeez... Now that's a machine.
Hello and welcome to the hydraulic press channel
LMAO
-Edmo- Vat da fawk?!
Herr ve havv ah Mesta 50K tonn press. Ve gonna crush a baseball now!
lmao
😂🤣😃😄😅😆😉😅😄😃🤣😂😁😀
That was very informative and well narrated. Great job.
Two thumbs way way up.
I have lived and worked in Cleveland in the fabricating and welding business including some Defense Department contracts and have worked with forgings from the 50.
This is a fantastic video. I have been studying WW2, Guns, and equipment since the 90’s and I’m a pilot, yet I’ve never truly had a good understanding of how factories are tooled and the differences between drop forging, pressing, and milling. This video is exactly what should be shown in US high schools. These are the machines that give us our world.
Saw your recent screw video. As a gear cutter and generally interested person, I'd love it if you could do a video on gears (I noted the brief image of a lantern gear and pinion in the screw video). The involute tooth form and the ways of generating it and approximating it (hobbing, shaping, form cutters, milling) are both incredibly simple AND incredibly complex. I would even be able to get some video of hobbing, shaping, and form cutting if so wanted.
It is also worth noting that although screw lathes are the original way to mass produce screws and worms, hobbing can also be used and will generate proper involute threads in screws and the more commonly hobbed helical gears.
Yes, please get in touch with me machinethinking.co/contact/
@@machinethinking Did this ever get made into a video? If so, is there a link?
Yes, as a toolmaker I would like to see a good gear hobbing video
@@scottrackley4457 I would recommend a video from a channel called This Old Tony. He has a fantastic video on the process of cutting gears.
I used to work at a tractor factory (UTB - Brasov) that made the Long tractors for the US, when I saw a small 8000 t press. Man, that pres could be felt 50 m away when it was in action.
2:20
What was the mother of invention? necessity?
....this is a great example
The only reason I can think of someone needing a 200,000 ton press is if one is trying to hot forge pure Tungsten or tungsten alloys. Which is the toughest metal to machine. Having a density on par with gold and uranium (making it almost twice as heavy as lead) and a melting point of 6,192 °F (3422 °C) Such a press would be used for forging jet turbine blades and rocket nozzles , massive pressure vessels for nuclear reactors, and such. Applications where weight is no concern in the face of sheer strength at ridiculous temperatures.
Great comment.
Naah - what metal are you going to use for the mold when you try to forge Tungsten at its ridiculously high temperature? There is no metal that could survive that. These presses just need to get bigger when you make bigger things. Like Tesla's Gigapresses - they are just pressure die casting machines, but it is all scaled up much bigger than the previous limiting sizes of that process - so you can make half a car for the first time ever.
As a machinist and someone interested in all aspects of metal working I found this video fascinating. Great stuff!
Not a lot of people watch TV anymore especially the older generation that being said there's all kind of good shit out here on the internet that's been archived and carefully preserved. In short my friend the younger generation can learn what we learned back in our time. Is all kind of crap out here on the internet not just porno, LOL.
America achieved it's greatness with slide rules not computers.
The titel: Americas iron giants
Me: americas "Big Iron"
More honestly Germany's Iron Giants till we killed them ; (
Constitution_89 I mean we stole 3 of them and so did the russians.
Me ..geklaut von die deutschen ..
@@wildtatz“ (..)von den Deutschen.“ ... sry :P
@@Stabacs hey its not my native language. .ich bin Holländer
Loved this... Thanks to the highly-detailed, and still understandable narration and diagrams, I learned quite a bit about metalworking history. Thanks!
well said... totally agree.
A very interesting subject, very well written and beautifully narrated.
Excellent historic vision of these machines operating.
How could anybody not be completely impressed by the workings of these huge
Machines! Thank you!
I tuned into this program because I had a long day at the office and I thought this would be the perfect program to help me fall asleep. Boy, was I wrong, excellent narration and content, perfect pace, now I've subscribed, bookmarked so I can show my kids about presses, and I'm onto the next program you have on here. Thanks for a job well done!
Sincere thanks for highlighting this strategic infrastructural tooling. It's obviously a critical part of our metalworking technogy and civilization.
this was a really well made video. I can see the amount of work that went into researching and organising archive footage, good job!
A company in Paramount California has installed a 60,000 ton press. So officially it would be the largest press in the United States, unless the government has a secret one somewhere .
This is actually one of my favourite videos on all of UA-cam. :)
||100,000t Mechanical Press||.
There's been designed a mechanical (not hydraulic) press machine, at least 100,000t. It's been designed by the elderly inventor all alone. The innovation uses the inventor's know-how, invention and great engineering experience in the field. Do you think they say:"Wow! I want that press machine at any cost!" ?! The cost is quite definite, by the way. Don’t you feel the irony of the moment? We’ve left the stone age, just now, for the age of the regular space flights! The 100,000 press machine is a hallmark of the new era....But they don't seem to burst into tears, in great excitement, and to start promoting the project.
If you'd like to support the inventor and his project, please contact me.
Fascinating. As a machinist for 22 years I enjoyed this video. I really like making stuff.
Alec Steele sent me here. You just got a new subscriber!
Same here
Yep. Holy cow this channel doubled in subs OVERNIGHT. Check out Alec Steel's latest video (10/24/18) for his shout out!
Same
Same here ....
great content ...
That Alec doise bloke does well for the utube community ...
good luck to anyone and everyone involved
What a great mini-documentary. Thanks for sharing this!
Fantastic content, fantastic channel. All very much appreciated.
This is amazing! I often think I'm alone in geeking out over certain things, but your awe and reverence for these giant machines just makes me giddy! And the way you articulate these details is so easily digestible to me (if that's the right term here) when I often get overwhelmed by too much information. I'm so psyched to go watch more of your videos!🙀
One of the best doc's I have ever seen. The whole channel makes me realize how he got here. I fix things built by others. Cars for a living but all other power sports stuff on the side. If you needed a space craft fixed I could fix that too as it was made by someone. So their for has a way and specs on how it was built.
Like this video, the world has become better because of this machine in so many ways...... just amazing.
Seeing the bulkheads for the F-15E post machining is beautiful. I had no idea such a machine made these components for the aircraft I work on.
I would like to have one of those 50K ton presses to smash my soda cans. I could get more cans into a trash bag.
halfstep67, you could build your own can smasher out of lumber and bolts. You could easily build a smasher to flatten 24 cans at a time with just some 2x4 lumber using leverage principles. Oh, and then post it on youtube.
But with a 50K ton press, I could save up all my cans and only have to smash them once a year.
halfstep67 same 😂
halfstep67, your logic is without defect but . . . my yard isn't big enough for a 50K ton press. Maybe my neighbor will let me use half of his yard . . .
If you wear shoes and stand on them endwise carefully they flatten nicely.
What a unique look at history through the lenses of machines. Great job as usual MT.
Cheers.
I'm a lifelong machinist w a love of all heavy industries. Ur content is top notch brother! Keep up the good work
I think of this now when I see big machines and vehicles in the real world. This type of content is good for the world as in it allows people to appreciate modernity.
Just ran across this channel, damn good job.
I once worked with a guy whose father was an engineer for Dodge.
On his last day before he retired, he put his alarm clock in a paper
sack and gave it to a drop pressman to demolish.
I like the cut of his jib!
Excellent.
Stellar content. No frills, just thrilling facts. Absolutely perfect. 👌🏻 subbed
I'm a M.E. & I have the responsibility for the daily operation of a 4k ton horizontal extrusion press, a 1.8k ton horizontal extrusion press & a 1.5k ton vertical press. My work site also has a 5k ton vertical press. Small potatoes to these presses but interestingly, not much has changed except improved safety & computers controlling the work so fewer operators are required. Great video !
This was very well done. I had no idea about the Mesta Company...Thank you. I have been enriched!
One of the Press is broke down, it sent back to Germany to rebuild and put it back in operation. German Company Siempelkamp did the rebuilding.
That's exactly right and after publishing this video I was kicking myself for not tying that back in at the end.
@Cheryl The Russians suffered the most during WW2 and it was felt owed to them to let them be the first to enter Berlin. But we knew we had to hold them back at some point too, which is why things were divided the way they were.
@Cheryl Yeah ok, believe that bullshit if you want. Maybe they were allowed to do that, but it was considered revenge for them.
As a machinist this video rocks. Good job buddy
Can anyone tell me where the image was from at 9:32 on the video, it would be of much help I'm very intrigued as to who made this image.
Me too weird photo
It's from a fellow named Boris Artzybasheff. He had an entire series called "machinalia' in which he presented anthropomorphized industrial machines. I'll put a few links to some of his work below, hope you enjoy!
www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/antique-machinery-and-history/machinalia-boris-artzybasheff-272368/
animationresources.org/illustration-artzybasheffs-machinalia/
@@pieterdiffenderfer5691 many thanks i really like his work
@@lextc anytime mate
Pieter Diffenderfer lol how tf you know that?
This video had been at the top of my recommended for a month now… I hope I won’t be disappointed
I am im-PRESSed. It really is a remarkable machine. Thanks.
That joke was depressing... You're really pushing it
@@admiralmudkip9836 I'm crushed!
I Press this subscribe button with such force, that foundation cracked!
Thank you so much for the insight! I had no idea how interesting all this could be. With your tone and the amount of information you give is amazing. Keep it up bud!
And so began the phrase, "That man's got nuts like the Mesta 50." 10:05
And after all that history they simply removed MESTA logo from it.
I find that a shame as well. They should have kept it.
With mesta having gone out of business Alcoa acquired the blueprints and patents for the press. So it's technically an Alcoa brand press now.
@@Quantum- i guess davinci pantings aren't really davinci they're technically smithsonsian-
@@schlomoshekelstein908 the Smithsonian doesn't even own any Da Vinci creations. Nice try though.
@@Quantum- did you learn that in minecraft
As a apprentice in the early 1960s in the UK, I witnessed the installation of a vertical press and was amazed that the base of it was 40 feet below the factory floor; It's main use was for forging nickel alloy aircraft engine turbine blades - one at a time! It was an education to see such a vast machine producing what, by was comparison to its size, a microscopic component - so much power was needed to forge even small nickel alloy parts!
Proud to be an American and proud of these engineering wonders. Thank you for this video.
Believe me they didn't guess, they knew what they were doing..
I was in a mercedes farcory tour once, they also had large presses, that worked with noteable speed (and noise, so they werent even going at 100%)
that's what I want next christmas
How is the History Channel even a thing when this guy can just come along and single-handedly blow all of their programming out of the water?
This showed up in my YT feed, no idea why. But now I’m going down a rabbit hole! Great stuff. Something about learning what makes our world go round behind the scenes is fascinating, and high quality videos like this bring that to life more than any dry textbook could (though I appreciate those books for the people who need to study them).
Oh yeah that's the stuff. Great video!
As a native Clevelander, all this industrial history, is in my blood. There where countless massive factories, near where I grew up. Was lucky to have worked at a Industrial based Hardware store, that catered to them. Got to go inside quite a few. Also got to tour the Lima Abrams Tank plant, whilst in college.
Thanks for sharing 😎👍
Well done. Most of the manufacturing film clips I have never seen. Amazing..that some these giant presses are still in operation..
its unfathomable how humanity has achieved this is such little time. It really seems magical.
This video is leagues better than the crap they put out on shows like "Modern Marvels" and other such programs which feature heavy machinery. There are no annoying cuts to B-Roll footage and corny music, there are no cuts to so-called "experts" sitting in a carefully curated office library, there is no BULLSHIT. Thanks.