Bridgeport.
Reminds me of the Cincinnati we had at work....it was kind of a pita to operate. Old and cantankerous as could be.
We had wall cranes all over the shop but sometimes it was much quicker to just use the old back. These days picking up 35 lbs will make my back hurt.....
Those blades can be a real pita.
Had that happen when on a Bridgeport milling an angle on hydraulic blocks; glad I wasn’t in its path of flight. Another time pipe-tapping, wicked-large tap, the tap broke sending it on both sides of me and busted through the large window 25-ft behind me. I have a few more stories of avoiding a worse fate; counting my blessings...
Two cranes moving the element.....were they paired together to use one controller?
I've had a few close calls too over the years.....and is one of the reasons that I retired at 55. Figured after 26 years at the refinery was enough (luck about to run out?) not to mention the couple of years or so at 'rat' shops before hiring on at a refinery. Had a few minor injuries and somehow dodged some major ones. A long time friend of mine continued working the rat shops vs working for the bigger conglomerates. He hated the work atmosphere of them but man, the shop he was working in at 74 years old was horrible. It looked like rats had eaten holes in the roof and walls....and hot in the summer and cold in the winter.
Having to do many job-related accident investigations, including a few where the person injured wasn’t around to talk to anymore, your last two sentences would make for an excellent safety ‘talk’.
Was introduced to that big assed stuff early, bad backs, no thanks brother, why I went into the medical trades... pay was better . I'd rather hold 12 parts in my hand than have to put them on 12 pallets.
I ran an large overhead crane at a steel mill for several years and that company had a great safety program for working with cranes (which were in evey mill) but their safety program in everything else sucked! Really learned how to look out for 'traps' in the 5+ years working there.
Ran several large horizontal boring machines and one huge VTL. They were interesting but something that I didn't care to do day in and day out even though most jobs on those machines gave ya lots of butt time. The setup was the hard part mostly. At one point in the refinery I got the job of reclaiming safety valve nozzles and valve seats. The safety valves weren't all that big and used a precision tool room lathe to do them and those things were pretty small.....and very expensive. Didn't fill up pallets but a cart on wheels. Most of my time at a lathe was on a L&S 20" with variable spindle control and man, I'd love to have that machine in my shop. That thing was sweet and on the money.
