[ARC5] Black radios

[swkb4dmf at windstream.net]

---- gordon white <gewhite at crosslink.net> wrote: 
> small parts:
>    The first time I saw an automatic screw machine was at A.R.C. in 
> Boonton in the 1960s. Amazing how a rather pedestrian lathe with  some 
> attachments  can turn out these tiny things. Did not see an automatic 
> milling machine, but I am sure they did not make those little posts 
> manually. During WW II the setup process took time. Of course today they 
> just dial  in  the specs on a CNC machine
> 

I didn't mean to imply that they made those parts on a manual lathe like I've done in the past. I was sure they at least had turret lathes but wasn't sure if they had screw machines yet. I was speaking more about the fact that even after you had made 1000 of them they still wouldn't cover the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket.

We actually have a couple of screw machines at work and they were built in the 50's- amazing machines. Your right about todays machines of course, being CNC controlled. Set up was a large part of it and in a lot of cases, deticated special machines that had to be designed for a specific part in a high volume application. Where a whole machine may have to be special made. Then there's the tooling, the dies for the stampings, the wiring harness jigs, and on and on.

And that's just one radio, we also built planes and guns and tanks and jeeps and aircraft carriers.......and all that took machines and people and resourses too. 

There just seems to be a very high level of unique components in these radios that you don't see used anywhere else, at least not that I've seen.  They must of had one heck of die shop too. It seems every part of these radios invlove some sort of stamping or deep drawing operation. Which is of couse how they managed to make the volume they did. Once the tooling was right you could stamp out a million of them.

Steve
KB4DMF