Found a sight with a picture of a portable machine for turning the wristpin portion of a four bar crosshead. This design has the wristpin forged into the crosshead where it cannot be machined on a lathe. I had always assumed that these wristpins were finished by a very patient machinist with a file. I wish that I had one of these machines a few years ago.

By the way, who among the vintage machinists out there has run the most of the actual machines shown on this site? I mean the brand names and vintages shown. I can claim about three. God I'm old.

Wristpin turning machine

> Found a sight with a picture of a portable
> machine for turning the wristpin portion of
> a four bar crosshead. This design has the
> wristpin forged into the crosshead where it
> cannot be machined on a lathe. I had always
> assumed that these wristpins were finished
> by a very patient machinist with a file. I
> wish that I had one of these machines a few
> years ago.

> By the way, who among the vintage machinists
> out there has run the most of the actual
> machines shown on this site? I mean the
> brand names and vintages shown. I can claim
> about three. God I'm old.
You should be aware that some crossheads had elliptical pins forged in the crosshead. The W&OV #1 which was at Mid-Continent had that style and I found a clever machinist in Al Steiber who mounted the crosshead in a lathe on the correct centers for each side of the pin,and rocked the crosshead back and forth with a wooden handle in the pistion rod hole while he hand fed the tool across the pin surface. I sure wish al were here to help with some other projects.
By the way, the engine is owened by Carl Ulrich and is for sale. It is in need of extensive boiler work though.

fwantz@pressenter.com