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  1. #1
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    Default Line shaft machine shop

    The Mrs wanted to go for a drive so we headed off to visit a friend in a nursing home in Deniliquin then up to Hay the following morning for breaky then over to Mildura then to Swan Hill and then back home, that should keep her off my back for a little while .

    Soooo.... at Swan Hill I got in about an hour for a sticky beak at the Pioneer Settlement and took some photo's of the machine shop for you all.

    I was talking to one of the blokes that worked there and it seems that they are eager to get someone with a bit of machining knowledge to make parts that they need and also get this lineshaft machine shop operating again.

    Yup.... I also had a sticky beak in their workshop, pretty much a mechanical repair workshop but they did have a Demco lathe and Colchester Student, problem is no one there knows how to use them and they (at the moment) can't even make a bronze bush or a bolt.

    1st job on the list would be to get up on the roof of the machine shop after everyone has gone home and squirt about a gallon of silicone into the holes in the roof sheets

    So if someone here likes that old stuff and old tractors and old engines and can sharpen a chunk of HSS..... they need you

    cheers and good luck, shed
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  2. #2
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    Hi Shed, Thanks for the trip down mamory lane.
    That machine you call a thing, is actually a cropper. I used one at the first place I worked at after leaving school, it runs continously, you put the metal in and hope that it's in the right place. Can be used for cutting flat bar and for trimming sheets of steel.
    We built grain bins on truck chassis, the grain was then bagged, hand sewn and put into heaps ready for loading onto trucks to take to the grain stacks. This was pre bulk grain days.
    Kryn
    To grow old is mandatory, growing up is optional.

  3. #3
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    That actually looks like a pretty well equipped workshop, lots of interesting old gear. A hobby machinist who lived nearby could make that their hobby workshop and let the tourists watch them do their own thing. I could almost tolerate working in fancy dress to get my projects funded by donation.

    There's an old German bloke in my church who did his apprenticeship in a line-shaft driven machine shop over there after the war. He was telling me the shop was powered from a water wheel in a stream at the other end of the village, the driveshaft went over the main road and through the village.

  4. #4
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    Makes you wonder if it would even be possible to get a place like this operating again with all the OH & S stuff we have to put up with these days.

  5. #5
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    That's why a lot of machinery is sold as "for parts only", because trying to get a machine to conform with OH&S rules is almost impossible.
    As you say "Makes you wonder if it would even be possible to get a place like this operating again with all the OH & S stuff we have to put up with these days".
    Perhaps Steamwhisperer could chime in with how Sovereign Hill get around it.

    Kryn
    To grow old is mandatory, growing up is optional.

  6. #6
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    I'm ashamed to say that almost a year ago I offered to get it all working again but have misplaced all the paperwork I need to fill out (council run operation).
    Everything works but they just literally have nobody with a steam ticket to get it all going (and keep it going)
    Would love to have a crack at the ploughing engine, Black Bess which is all part of it.
    First job as shed says is that roof, what a mess then a good clean up and fire the boiler and have some fun.
    Where is that paperwork...

    Phil
    ps Anybody want to give me a hand.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steamwhisperer View Post
    ps Anybody want to give me a hand.
    Too far from salt water else I'd be tempted next autumn. I already know how to operate the slotter; I have one the same.

    Sadly I think the OH&S requirements will mean this stays as a static display. IIRC there's something similar over in Zeehan, a relic of the mining days. Must wander by again & take another look - there was a quite nice Butler planer which vanished between my first & second visits.

    PDW

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by PDW View Post
    Sadly I think the OH&S requirements will mean this stays as a static display.
    Yes Pete, I reckon OH&S would have a field day. Normally all the equipment just slowly ticks over with a guy out the front answering questions.
    Surely I could do that.

    Phil

  9. #9
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    Yes, Phil go for it.
    Bruce

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steamwhisperer View Post
    ps Anybody want to give me a hand.
    Phil I don't mind giving you a hand, I could also bring petrol newspaper and a box of matches

    I think that the boffins that run the show would need to find accommodation and tucker for anyone that
    goes up there and puts in. For me its a 9 hr round trip (plus maybe a 2hr nanny nap when I get there).
    For you it's over 6hrs round trip from home.

    bloody OH&S ??? I guess that we won't get to watch Kryn cutting his toe nails with the cropper then.....

    Some tractor photo's
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  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by shedhappens View Post
    Phil I don't mind giving you a hand, I could also bring petrol newspaper and a box of matches

    I think that the boffins that run the show would need to find accommodation and tucker for anyone that
    goes up there and puts in. For me its a 9 hr round trip (plus maybe a 2hr nanny nap when I get there).
    For you it's over 6hrs round trip from home.
    yes shed quite the trek for you. The guy in charge up there was excellent and have an area outback for me to park the camper trailer and stay for free. That helps.
    I found the paperwork...I didn't fill out that many forms for paid employment let alone voluntary.

    Phil

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by shedhappens View Post
    bloody OH&S ??? I guess that we won't get to watch Kryn cutting his toe nails with the cropper then....
    You won't catch me anywhere near that thing, it was scary enough as a kid!!!!!
    Kryn
    To grow old is mandatory, growing up is optional.

  13. #13
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    Yep remember the time waaaaanksafe clipboard waver came through the shop. The way things are going, will probably need a guard soon for that too!!!

    Guards were on my saws, so the only things he could get exited about was a bit of clutter around the walkways.

    Maybe they could run line shaft to an electric motor??? That way could at least eliminate the "bomb" …. err boiler from the equation. As much as we all like seeing the real deal in operation, that running in itself would give the paperwork jocks a heart attack. All the crap having it tested and someone with the right ticket/s etc...
    Frisky wife, happy life. ​Then I woke up. Oh well it was fun while it lasted.
    From an early age my father taught me to wear welding gloves . "Its not to protect your hands son, its to put out the fire when u set yourself alight".

  14. #14
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    Several years ago now, my wife and I were at Swan Hill, at the caravan park a couple hundred meters away from the Pioneer Village Museum. We had 2 day tickets for the Museum, with a trip on the paddle steamer for her, and the night train ride around the village for me. Unfortunately my wife got sick after the first day, and I went to the staff at the Museum and explained the situation, and asked if my wife could have a rain check when she recovered. They were great, and said "of course" but you can go in today as well, and come back with your wife when she recovers too. I was able to enjoy three days, my wife got to go on the paddle steamer, and we were both happy. I actually met a great bloke by the name of Newton Williams, who has since retired, but at the time he was IIRC, Head Conservator, and he took me on a personalised tour of the whole complex. He and one other had restored to operating condition, a tractor which had been rotting away for many years. From memory it had been head-less, had one or more pistons missing, as was the injection system, and many other parts. Even the mud guards had mostly rusted away, with only remnants remaining. I'm not too sure the brand, but Benz Sendling or something similar rings a bell. The restored tractor was guest of honour at that years Lake Goldsmith rally, and was on show at Swan Hill, complete with a well documented history of the restoration which was done very quickly, again 16 weeks I think, which is absolutely amazing when you consider the work involved. Newton introduced me to a new team member, who went by the name of Peg. He was the village Carpenter, and had made an old fashioned looking barrow/trolley, complete with wooden spoked wheels, so as to look the part in a historical museum setting. It was a great privilege meeting those two terrific blokes, and my wife's misfortune was my good fortune, thanks Shed for rekindling the memories of that very pleasant (for me) occasion.
    One further thing, they had a substantial round marking out table, cast iron and about 5 feet in diameter in the machine shop. Apparently it fell off the truck while in transit to the museum. At least it appeared to be still in one piece, even if it had some not too precision gouges in it.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by jatt View Post
    Maybe they could run line shaft to an electric motor??? That way could at least eliminate the "bomb" …. err boiler from the equation. As much as we all like seeing the real deal in operation, that running in itself would give the paperwork jocks a heart attack. All the crap having it tested and someone with the right ticket/s etc...
    Hi Jatt
    Kind of agree but don't. They could change their fire tube boiler for a water tube boiler then it will go pop and not bang, perhaps a full xray or at least a mag particle test to assess the true condition. Worst case would be a new welded boiler lookalike style. Agreed, skilled operators are thinning out but there are some still out there.
    Worksafe are pretty good in this situation as these places aren't normally flooded with operators yet what are there have to be appropriately licensed (and skilled).
    To be skilled you have to go back to the days when common sense was a 'thing' and it is surprising how much you rely on it.
    Like most machinery if they are left to sit they actually deteriorate rather than stagnate plus Swan Hill is about history and telling the tale. Alternative is pamphlets and pictures.
    Steam engines don't work like they used to so the exploding flywheel type danger isn't there anymore and the operator normally knows about preservation rather than production.
    The general public get a better understanding of the old days by visual and verbal means way more than google could ever supply.
    This particular machine shop is outstanding and draws quite a crowd and to see it running off steam rather than a hidden electric motor adds to the charm and draws lots of questions.

    An Incredibly biased
    Phil

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