Nov 2020 – To meet customer requirements and assist in securing future projects, the need for a large capacity centre Lathe is vital at the Gladstone branch. A space is made down by the Titan to bring inside a previously obtained John Lang and Sons Lathe which has been in storage for many years.
With its origin of birth being the Highlands in Scotland, it has been identified that, due to the shape of the headstock, the original date of manufacture could go back as far as the 1930’s.
April – July 2021 – Giving the machine a well-deserved birthday. The machine is fully stripped down and assessed, the plan being to bring this old girl back to life as a precision piece of machinery. Replacing all warn out items, reverse engineering parts, gears and upgrading the warm out lead screw with a new precision ground Ball screw, retrofitting a rapid traverse, installing a new digital read out and having custom made guards designed to mention just a few. The need to increase the machines capacity also became a priority when Siemens made an enquiry with BERG to machine Turbine Rotors during an upcoming Shut down planned for July.
The necessary modifications are planned, engineered and given the go ahead to extend the travel of the tailstock and accommodate items as large as 1.8m diameter and 7m long. We go into manufacture of the bed and steady extensions.
The modifications begin and the project begins to take shape as the machine comes together. The finished product below.
