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Manufacture of 8" HE Howitzer Shell, 1917

TimG

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
Tim,

Thanks for finding that, a most enjoyable hour spent watching it. I found it particularly interesting that both nose and base threads were milled; I had thought the nose would be subjected to a 2-in BS Conduit tap, while the base would be cut with a threading tool. Clearly not.



Tom.
 
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One of the things I noticed was that a number of the machines, notably the thread millers were made by Bertams.

The company had been one of Canada’s big engineering concerns.

"John Bertram & Sons, Dundas, Ont., Canada : builders of machinists' tools and wood working machinery for railroad, locomotive and car shops, machine shops, rolling mills, steam forges, ship yards, boiler shops, &c."

One of their early customers was Canadian Pacific Railroad.

In 1905, the John Bertram & Sons Company merged with the Niles Bement Pond Co of New York and Philadelphia. This gave Bertram access to the latter’s technical expertise. It also allowed the latter to build their machine tools in Canada that would have otherwise been subject to punitive import tariffs. The Bertram family bought out of the merger in 1926.

In the Great War they manufactured specialised shell making machinery and ordnance, in WWII they just manufactured the equipment.

Tom,

Alas, it came as no surprise as I was aware that on the other side of the Atlantic they were light years ahead of us in manufacturing equipment. It wasn’t that we weren’t aware of the technology, there’s a 1902 patent by a British company for a thread milling machine, that even mentions machining projectiles!, but I suspect a reluctance to invest.

Attached are excerpts from Operations for 18 Pr HE (1915) and Shrapnel (1917). The former, as can be seen specifies cutting the thread by tap, time allowed for operation 7.5 minutes. The latter specifies tap, chase or screw milling.

TimG
IMG_0592.jpgIMG_0716.jpg
 
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