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Saw a huge old lathe at a museum in Pittsburgh and it made me think
I was at the Heinz History Center last weekend and they have this massive, belt-driven lathe from the 1940s on display. It was wild to see all the manual controls and the sheer size of the thing, maybe 15 feet long. It really hit me how much our work has changed with just a few buttons and a screen. What's the oldest machine you've ever seen or worked on?
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the_henry1d agoMost Upvoted
Remember when a typo meant a messed up part, not just hitting undo. That lathe probably had more soul in its grease stains than our whole shop has in its software. Sure, modern stuff is better, but it's also kind of boring. Watching someone run that beast was a show, now I just watch a progress bar.
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That thing is fifteen feet long? That's absolutely insane for a lathe. Can't imagine the skill it took to run something that massive by hand. Makes our modern gear look like toys.
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Disagree completely, evan295. Modern CNC lathes are way more precise and can handle bigger work with less effort. That old skill is impressive, but it's mostly just for show now.
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