Industrial photos
 

I'm interested in seeing some industrial photos - both for the artistic aspect and for the educational value. There are many processes about which I'm fairly ignorant, and I imagine that a lot of others are, also. So, please post!

I'll start. Here are some pictures from a plywood/veneer plant which I visited last week for a work project.

The first picture shows the logs going in to the lathe. They are first measured (automatically) for shape and size, then they are spun on the big lathe, which reduces the diameter of the raw log to about four inches in just a few seconds. This turns the round wood into a long, continuous sheet, as shown in the second picture.

The remaining core is sold to a post and pole manufacturer.

The long sheet is cut into small sheets, which are then stacked and glued to form plywood. The first picture shows the cut sheets flying by on an overhead conveyor.

The second picture shows the grader. A machine flips through the sheets, but the grading is done by a person, who looks at both sides and assigns a grade. You can see the grader in the center of the picture.

Cool , I will try and get some pics of processes , though most customers wouldn't let me take pics .

As with most lumber mills, the "waste" wood is reused. This refers to the sawdust, chips, bark, and other process residues. In this case, this waste is used to fuel a boiler. The boiler produces steam, which is used in the kiln and in a steam turbine, which produces electricity.

The first picture shows a small part of the boiler, which is several stories tall. This boiler was not running; the doors are for ash clean-out.

The second picture shows the steam turbine and generator set.

I'd be very interested in seeing that. But don't get yourself in trouble.

Ever seen the inside of a steel mill ??

No. Do you have pictures?

I'll see about getting some

Nothing educational about these, but it's all I've got. Anyone who'se traveled south from NYC will recognize them:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/13/18...91897a938b.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/14/18...0a44a68257.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/13/18...1ee7ba8efb.jpg

As some of you know I am an Industrial scale tech ,
This was a weird scale I had to install not to long ago ,
Here is the container sitting on the scale ,
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/151/4...a6a13f2c0d.jpg
Here is the container in the upright position , weird but the scale wouldn't weigh worth a CRAP unless the container was fully upright ,
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/161/4...97b88a267c.jpg
Here is the container being put in place by a Taylor
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/180/4...d36e4f7ffb.jpg
Here are the loadcells and checking system ,
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/149/4...5aa6f49453.jpg
And here is the insrumentation,
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/130/4...13e65ab8f8.jpg

HLJ, Photos post #1 in the south, before GP sold out, the cores from plywood mills went to 2x4" or landshape timbers.

More, please. This is great. I've got nuthin', but I'm likin' this.

Cool stuff, guys...I may have to go down to the riverfront near the pizza shop and snap some pics.

Now I have to know. I won't be able to sleep until I find this out ...

What determines whether a log ends up as veneer or plywood?

Zippyt - so that scale is used to measure shipping containers? Why is it made to weigh in the vertical position?

Wolf, I hope you haven't been sitting up waiting. The person who showed us around worked in the power plant, but that question did come up. He thought it depended mostly on market demand and price, and perhaps on wood quality.

There are exceptions, but most veneer is hardwood and most plywood is not. The major exception is plywood with a surface of something like Birch, or Maple, veneer, on one or two sides for cabinets.

Must be kinda hard on the contents.
Better pack'em good!

I posted pix of an old cotton bailer somewhere.
I could dig them out if you like.

I'd like to see those, especially if you have an explanation to go with them.

Zippyt - so that scale is used to measure shipping containers? Why is it made to weigh in the vertical position?

They were filling the containers with char coal , to be made into brickettes at another factory .

In the pic of the instrumentation you can see the device net transmitter that talks to the PLC that has to do with shutting off the feed gate,

Any guesses?

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL162.../153689109.jpg

That appears to be a well.

nope

sewer?

popgun?

"Have You Seen theMachine?"
 

My friend asked me this as I was helping him store some stuff at an old warehouse/train depot where he rented some space.
These are pix of a cotton bailing machine, and they don't really convey how massive this thing is.
The 2nd pic shows some railroad tracks still there at the bottom of it where a flatbed cart was rolled under it and the cotton compressed onto the cart. The carts weren't regular gauge, but it was still impressive. I'm guessing a single cart would have carried close to a ton of cotton.
From what we could figger it was run by steam.
I took these pix a few years later, after my friend had moved out, and had to sneak onto the property to get them.
There is a plaque toward the top that says it was made in Birmingham, Alabama.
In the last pic I put a brick on top of part of it for scale. There are also a couple of handles to work the thing so maybe you can get a feel for how massive it is/was.
The place was/is being torn down, and theMachine may be scrap now.

hmmm, where's the pix? It said they uploaded.
Look for this thread, Have you seen theMachine?

and the pics ??

Chimney?

silo

LemmeTryAgain
 

What am I doing wrong?
When I try to upload it says they are already loaded.

Well, I tried again, but it still gives me the error saying the pix are already loaded.

The original thread is titled "Have you seen TheMachine?" if you want to see.

It's an iron blast furnace, circa 1771.

The pic was taken thru the grate in the little brick area. This is where the materials (ore, limestone, charcoal) were loaded into the furnace.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL162.../153689179.jpg


This is the bottom of the furnace, where the molten iron comes out.
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL162.../153684329.jpg

Here's the exterior
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL162.../153684241.jpg

The water wheel pressurized air in the big barel looking things on each side/top of the wheel, creating the blast air for the furnace.
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL162.../163120370.jpg

...and they've apparently got a chapel, complete with belfry, so you can pray that you don't get burned by molten iron.

Cool !!

No chapel, that whole building is the furnace and workspace. The unpainted wood "shed" section in the exterior pic is the building in the first pic with the load hole. The lower corrugated looking roof is the brick area, and the last little sticky-up part is the brick wall the pretty window in it.

Here's a good illustration of the whole works.

re-name them. I think it's probably that you uploaded them to the cellar previously and in the name of bandwith you should link to the existing photos except you can't find them.

jinx - good pictures and good text. Thanks.

No joy.
Can someone link them for me?
I'm just not that swuft.

I remember seeing the photos, But can't find. If in DO-Dads gone????

CottonBailer
 

I re-did the pix.
Had to leave one out, reached a limit.
Note the brick (left side, by the handle) in the 2nd pic for scale.

AinGot...
 

...NoLimits!
ha

There's a star at the bottom of that tube...

I think that's just a trick of the viewing angle.
I don't recall seeing that before.
The plaque said something about being made in Alabama.
The original post is still up. Click my handle and view all my posts.

Gussets to strengthen the the junction of the small cylinder to the plate over the end of the large cylinder.

Dude You could make that into like a Destroy-o-Bot !!
A STEAM powered Destroy-o-Bot !!!!!!

These pix don't really convey how massive this thing is. The nuts in the last pic are almost as big as your head.
(Oooh, I can see where *that* is going.)
We stood around it for almost an hour just looking at it and going *wow.*
There are railroad tracks that run into the bottom of it where the cart was rolled in before the cotton was squashed onto it and strapped down, we figger.
It really needs to be in a museum somewhere.

Ambition is a dream with a V8 engine. Elvis Presley

Ambition is a dream with a STEAM engine. Zippyt

Surveyors find the coolest stuff! Thanks for posting that again.

Thanks, Griff, but I must say...
#1 I'm not a RPLS, just a Rod Man.
(UhOh, here it comes.)
#2 I didn't find theMachine, a friend showed it to me.

#3 We weren't surveying at the time.

But my crew chief did find a body once, which is not all that uncommon. The guy was just sitting there on the side of a hill looking like he was sleeping. He was a homeless person who died of natural causes, pretty sad.
Not too long ago, some surveyors ran into a booby trap outside a dog-fighting ring that was subsequently busted. As I recall the guy took a shotgun shell to the leg, not cool.
I have found some neat old bottles and a nearly pristine tail-light lens from an early '50s Ford, not to mention some outstanding scenery and vistas.

Regardless, I'm glad you enjoyed the pix.
It really is a stupendous machine.

Actually, I've spent many days on the back sight myself.:)

Pressing a cotton bale takes 800,000 pounds of force, ie, hefty machine.