One of the many things that impressed me during my time in the British aircraft industry was the amazingly realistic items made by skilled (yes, very skilled) tradesmen called Pattern Makers.
All kinds of aircraft parts were made out of wood (I think lignum vitae) and were so beautifully-made you couldn’t tell them from the real machined parts. Also mock-up aircraft and, yes, even what looked like complete piston and jet engines! Only by tapping the ‘engines’ could you tell they were not real.
I gather the trade originated in the ship-building era, but sadly may have come to an end with the introduction of CAD/CAM. Any members of this forum belong to that select band?
I wonder if any of these items exist outside museums? And could they be collectors items?
So let’s hear it for the pattern makers!
Bri 🙂
By: QldSpitty - 25th November 2008 at 07:30
very nice work, who will be making the “beast” to fit on that?
I am……trying too…:rolleyes:
By: J Boyle - 24th November 2008 at 21:05
When I was young, the local library had a book on helicopters.
The book, old even then, showed how the Sikorsky factory made S-55/H-19/Whirlwind-type machines.
What I recall I recall is they showed the factory making a wooden mock-up of the helicopter during the prototype stage (which would have been in the late 40s.
I was astounded at the quality of the piece, even down to the tread on the tires.
By: Flightpath - 24th November 2008 at 20:47
Hi,
My best friend back in Oz was a pattern maker, he’s now a woodwork teacher at a grammar school. (I first met Greig in kindergarten in 1961, we are both 52 now!).
I remember some of the things he and his company made from wood back then… fantastic skills involved!
Here’s a little bit I found………..
http://www.laborandindustrymuseum.org/sample18.shtml
http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/411/
cheers,
-John
By: Cees Broere - 24th November 2008 at 18:36
very nice work, who will be making the “beast” to fit on that?
Cheers
Cees
By: QldSpitty - 23rd November 2008 at 13:00
Hammertime…
How to build a Spitfire…
One frame at a time…
before…. http://spitfireprojecta58-27.blogspot.com/
and after
😀
By: QldSpitty - 18th November 2008 at 12:36
Skills??
For the enlightenment of our non-industry readers, perhaps you could pass on something about your job. Maybe some might like to join you and keep the skills alive – or even use yours!
I thought hitting sheets of Ally with a big hammer and a lump of wood be classified as fun…
😀
Will do a write up of the skills involved soon as it,s getting way past bed time for me…Now where is my teddy…:dev2:
By: Bruce - 18th November 2008 at 10:28
Yes, very likely.
We have some of the Leavesden collection. The rest is down in Bristol.
Bruce
By: bri - 18th November 2008 at 09:54
We have a wooden Gyron Junior!
Bruce
Could that be one of the beautiful jobs I saw in the DH engine museum at Leavesden many years ago? I was on a Gnome course.
If so, what happened to the entire collection? From my rapidly greying grey cells, I seem to remember they had one of each engine – and each projected engine – that DH made.
Bri :confused:
PS: Yes, two posts!
By: bri - 18th November 2008 at 09:48
I,m a tin basher,does that count??A lot of the old skills are on there way out and just a select few keeping them alive.
Why not – I’m sure you have many skills.
For the enlightenment of our non-industry readers, perhaps you could pass on something about your job. Maybe some might like to join you and keep the skills alive – or even use yours!
Bri 🙂
By: QldSpitty - 17th November 2008 at 12:45
I,m a tin basher,does that count??A lot of the old skills are on there way out and just a select few keeping them alive.
By: Bruce - 17th November 2008 at 11:59
We have a wooden Gyron Junior!
We have a number of other parts including the casting tooling for the Gipsy Major.
Bruce
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November 17, 2008 at 10:43 am