Interesting machines you've worked on or had close connection with

Stuff at work..

Manufacturing cell that machines and builds, complete, the Bentley Arnage v8 crankcase. The blocks are also cast by the same company at a different site. I’m not heavily involved with that though.

Stuff I’m involved with regularly, with regards programming and running a machining centre.

Mercedes F1 GP gearbox casings.
Williams F1 GP gearbox casings
Various bits for Cosworth v8 race engines. Dry sumps, rocker covers etc.
Bugatti Veyron w16 engine blocks. Datum and Balancing the block so the customer can machine the whole thing complete and get the best possible results.
Ducati v4 race engines.
Loads of other stuff.

…you need the machines I use, you’re in a wee bit of trouble….

JW, weve still got one of those knocking about, upgraded now, but for some reason they wont just chuck it out.

S7000 thats a toy in comparison to this 😀 joking aside for anyone thats interested, this is bigger than the 7000 and has a larger lifting capacity, 14200t against the 7000’s 14000t, although the 7000 holds the world record single lift at 12150t of a deck section on the Sabratha platform offshore Libya.

Back in the early days of CERN (The Large Hadron Collider thingummy) we used to ‘hot swap’ accommodation between various nationality teams.
Can you imagine the chaos of milkman orders, what day to put the bins out, Swiss laws about hanging washing out and cutting lawns?
I got cornered in a party one day, by a guy who reckoned computers could solve all this by speaking to each other. All the information would be there, magically, (if some sad sod could be @rsed to enter it.)
‘I can’t see any money to be had from that, Tim,’ said I, ‘best stick to post-it notes!’

OTIS 10UCL Lift control system, served my time on these things, superb 1960’s technology

I made this…

…and the one this lady is watching…

Too right. I always call it the EF2000. You are involved with the project you say?

Work in machine shop at bae systems on a 5 axis makino

<whoosh> 😉

(EF2000 became a bit of a pejorative term when it got delayed!)

Tootall – nice.

coffeeking – one of the cleverest things I’ve seen in years. I don’t work for them but my company has funded some of their development and I’ve helped with aspects of that. I’d invest in them myself if I had any money!

I get to build transmissions and components for these machines. BK117. Also do stuff for AS350/355.

Here’s one of mine on the stand in the shop. Build time is c.650hrs.

Probably also worth mentioning, I built engines at Prodrive for 3 yrs.

Still cool cars.

’07 WRC engine on my stand.

Years ago I was involved in development of a very high power plasma torch. It was done on a shoestring – no-one knew what would happen and they were too excited to make a remote start trigger, so as I was the “kid” I had to stand next to it and press the lever to ignite it. It broke the graphite anode block in two and gave me a permanent suntan.

I also got to “drive” the big electric arc furnace at British Steel in Sheffield once. Allegedly used more power than Doncaster (I never actually calculated that though….). Absolutely ace. Oh yes, and they let me drive the machine that used to lift the skips full of scrap late at night. I managed to knock over a stack of skips.

Too right. I always call it the EF2000. You are involved with the project you say?

Work in machine shop at bae systems on a 5 axis makino

We’re no better here, still commonly referred to as EFA – European Fighter Aircraft. Think that even pre-dates EF2000?

Not exactly a Euro fighter or Nuclear sub but interesting
Very odd things to drive, only driven one once
you sit sideways to the direction on travel in the cab 40ft up in the cap in top corner.
and due to local history ours steer back to front (Left=Right, Right=Left)

oh and these too, we’ve got 2 more in the process of being built at the moment
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Waiting for the new crane[/url] by Southdinista[/url], on Flickr

When I was on my degree’s industrial placement I was involved at the development of this, though at a couple of steps removed (simulating the test equipment):

In fact I think I remember that very picture being hung up in the building that I was working in. Nobody seemed to realise that it shared its name with the ninja from GI Joe.

More recently I helped develop the software for this:

Not as impressive but you’ll be less upset if one of them ends up in your home than if a Storm Shadow did!

Paper machine.

A big one has 8 x more steel than the Eiffel Tower

In no particular order;
Phantom
Buccaneer
Hawk
T45 Goshawk
Jetstream 31, 41
Nimrod
Boeing 777
Bits for;
Typhoon
AC130U
HC130
M777
L118
Tornado

This is a view from my occasional office:

Had a hand in building these:

Currently getting this tested for use in-service:

You’re all bastards.

I’m a software engineer. So I’ve got just as much specialized skill and knowledge as a real engineer but it always ends up being pissed up the wall by brainless management (of all levels), cretinous customers and at least half of my fellow developers because no-one can actaully see, understand or appreciate the details of what we do and the issues involved.

I can’t build anything 😐

But my Grandpa helped the team that were working on cellular radio communication during the war. Same technology got used for mobiles once it was declassified (so goes the family legend anyway)

Molgrips: Not pictured are the myriad small projects and deliverables that span the 12 year gap between those two pictures, plenty of which include deliving through mind-numbing detail and processes that almost everyone is unaware of and have little value-added worth.

no-one can actaully see, understand or appreciate the details of what we I do and the issues involved.

Fixed that for you! 😮

has 8 x more steel than the Eiffel Tower

😯

I had a hand in the development work of these.

Molgrips: Not pictured are the myriad small projects and deliverables that span the 12 year gap between those two pictures, plenty of which include deliving through mind-numbing detail and processes that almost everyone is unaware of and have little value-added worth

Yeah, but when you show your end product everyone goes ‘Wow! How amazing!’

When we show ours everyone goes ‘well this is sh*t, it doesn’t do x y or z’. Then they use it badly and complain about it some more.

Hmmm pretty dull really, but built the filtration plant that takes out crypto out of the manchester water supply from the Thirlmere Aqueduct.

Also put in the bases and buildings for the Airwave Network in the Peak District.

You go past a few of mine on Snake.

If you send a form to Companies House, you go via the system I worked on. If you make a mistake and it gets sent back to you, you go through my code specifically. If you get a fine slapped on you, that also goes through my code.

I’ve been fined by my own code a couple of times.

I’m feeling very insignificant and am currently wishing I hadn’t carried out my last few mouse clicks 😥

last job…
molegrips, not software, cant say too much
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497px-Trident_II_missile_image[/url] by unique24816[/url], on Flickr

Current job…
molegrips, software all the way, woohoo!
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DSC_3908_th[/url] by unique24816[/url], on Flickr
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PB110020_th[/url] by unique24816[/url], on Flickr
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PB110013_th[/url] by unique24816[/url], on Flickr

UH – how complex is the program on those things? (the fruit machines not the ICBM)

Molegrips, looking at some of the staff we’ve had here, easy. Having said that, I’ve also seen some astoundingly good ones too.

I wouldn’t recommend moving into the sector though, what with one thing and another its a dinosaur about to take its last gasp. I’d be looking for an out (all the sensible ones are) if I didn’t love it so much!

If you send a form to Companies House, you go via the system I worked on. If you make a mistake and it gets sent back to you, you go through my code specifically. If you get a fine slapped on you, that also goes through my code.

I’ve been fined by my own code a couple of times.

I see a basic flaw in your initial design 🙂

I worked on these for 2 weeks as part of my work experience while at school.

I was even allowed to be on the brake pedals (cockpit) when we had to move them about from hanger to hanger!

molgrips – you just do the wrong sort of software – I’m also a software engineer mostly, and whilst what I did on the aircraft pictured at the start wasn’t really software engineering, what I did on this certainly was:

as was what I did on something used as part of the installations for

I’ve been fined by my own code a couple of times.

Forget the Easter Egg?