As I was rooting around the back of some of the buildings at Brooklands on Friday, as you do, I noticed that in the ‘Bellman transportable hanger that was delivered to Vickers-Armstrong in 1940’, it says in the guide, that some of the windows had been replaced by what looked like sheets of metal with scratch marks on them. On closer inspection they appear to be templates, but I do stand to be corrected. Any one identify an aeroplane or aeroplanes?.
There were also some concrete formers lying around that were used to panel beat bits of metal into parts for aeroplanes.
Brian
By: Pen Pusher - 29th April 2006 at 22:04
Brian, the metal templates were used as part of a process which allowed accurate reproduction of a pattern for cutting / forming of many identical metal components, it involved a form of photo etching and lithography. This was in the days before CNC machines and water jet / laser jet cutters.
The concrete formers were used in sheet metal stretch presses which both pulled and stamped the metal at the same time, mainly used for skins etc. reinforced concrete was used as a ‘lowcost’ method of producing tooling for limited runs of parts, sometimes just one offs. The process is still used today in low volume & prototype applications, although now the media used can even be a reinforced plastic rather than concrete.
Thanks for that Jagx204 explains a lot.
Brian
By: Jagx204 - 29th April 2006 at 21:41
Brian, the metal templates were used as part of a process which allowed accurate reproduction of a pattern for cutting / forming of many identical metal components, it involved a form of photo etching and lithography. This was in the days before CNC machines and water jet / laser jet cutters.
The concrete formers were used in sheet metal stretch presses which both pulled and stamped the metal at the same time, mainly used for skins etc. reinforced concrete was used as a ‘lowcost’ method of producing tooling for limited runs of parts, sometimes just one offs. The process is still used today in low volume & prototype applications, although now the media used can even be a reinforced plastic rather than concrete.
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April 29, 2006 at 7:34 pm