Prison Camp Lathe

7/28/2019 Prison Camp Lathe

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easily ncluded and the characterwas carefully noted. It was copiedonto a pieceof wood, and henext changingof the guardawaited. After the last round of the guards, he sign "Workshop" washung up in the officers' hut, and the tools neatly arrangedso that the new guard found a smalljoiner's shop unctioning andtook it for $anted.After the return to Changi, he author wasengagedn camproutineduties andmanaged o occupyhis time lecturingsmallgroupson engineering ubjects, avigationand astronomy.Severatargepartieshad been sentout into Thailand,and more wereexpected o have o go to work upon theBurma-Thailandrailway scheme,but when the detailsarrivedfor the dispatchof more labour theauthorhad the good fortune to be ordered o remain n the camp to instruct a JapaneseGeneral nastronomy. The GeneralspokeEnglishvery well, and t waspossible o turn the conversationoput in complaintsor requestsas nsffuctedpreviouslyby the British Staff. This usefulcontactwitha seniorJapanese fficer lasted or severalmonths.Meanwhile,a smallrepair workshopwhich hadbeenequippedwith a few tools found in the areawhen it becamea prisonerof war camp, was moved nto the camp hospitalarea,and the authorwas put in chargeof it to make artificial limbs and surgical nstruments. During an astronomylesson he Generalwas informed of these activities,and of the difficulties occasionedby theshortageof tools andmaterials,with theresult thathe visited the shophimself, and a week or twolater sent n a few hacksawblades, iles, twist drills, a quantityof aluminumrivets, and somelight-alloy sheeting emoved rom crashedaircraft. The workshop was equippedwith a 3-U2"backgeared crewcutting athewith a7" 4-jawchuck, a smallhandbench-drill; a portable orge;and a few vises and hand ools. Unfortunately, herewereno change-wheelsor the lathes. Theworkshopwas staffedby 12R.O.A.C. tradesmen.An endlessstreamof jobs poured nto the workshop. They varied from repairs o cooking utensilsto making sewingmachineneedles, rom repairs o microscopeso making specialsplints,andatthe same ime experimentswerebeingca:riedout with an artificial leg designedby the author. Thepatientwas able o walk with the new limb, which had a link-motioninsteadof a hinge n the knee,and jigs and templateswere prepared n order to facilitate production. Everyone learnt toimprovise,and to salvageanything_hatcould be of any conceivable se. Much usefulscrapwashanded n to the workshop. On" officer broughtalongsomegearwheelswhich werepart oi a setof change-rvheels nd werefound to fit the 3-U2" lathe,while anotherdug up andgavb he authorsomeartillery instruments known as "transceivers")which had beenpart-of the coast-defenceguns; rom them someprecisiongea"rsnd stainless-steelhaftswereobtained.Only six artificial limbs had beenmade,however,whenorderswere received o move the hospital,and severalweekseJqpged efore he workshopwas established gain,but it was recognisbdaspart of thecampestablishment nd called he "Artificial Limb Factory". Both latheswerefnstalled,and also a simple_ rindingspindle, and through he Japanese enerala drill presswas obtainedfrom anotherworkshop gnAelhis control. The workshbpwas extremelybusy'and he numberofsurgical nstrumentswhich had to be made ncreasedweek by week, n addition to heavier obssuch as turning 4"q rolls for rice-crushingmachines,manufacturingparts fo r an ingeniousmachinewhich madenails out of barbedwire, and making componentsor many other labour-savingdevices.The authorhad giy-enmuch thought o making the best useof the small precisiongears,and hedecided hat a small andreasonablyaccurate crewcutting athe,with a largerangeof accessories,would fill a growing needand would in any caseallow much essentialwork to be continued f atany time the Japanese ere to takeaway the largermachines.It was mportant, herefore, hat theproposedmachineshouldnot be seenby theJapanese,hat t shouldbe-smallenough o hide andtransport n a canvaspack, hat t shouldbe capableof fairly heavywork on largediameters, ndthat the essential artsshouldbe madequickly while somemachineswereavailable.A sturdy bed was the first requirement. Enquiries evealed hat therewas some3" x 3" steel nstock n the Japanese orkshops,andpermissionwas obtained or a smallpieceto be brought nto

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ctmp lor the useof the Artificial Limb Factory. The author had a word with the officer in chargeqf th9 British personnel n the Japanese orkshop,andhe hadthe piececut to the required ength.Th9 fapanesewould havebeen suspicious f an exact ength had beenspecified,and f a largepiecehad beenrequested,some weary prisoner would have had the taskof carrying it.The work was marked out from a dimensionedsketch,and the author drilled and chippedawaywith a cold chisel, all the surplusmetal. The bed was thenboltedto the saddleof the 6't lathe,andcleaned up with a fly cutter - an operation carried out on a Sunday when the workshop wasallowed to be closed. Thus, n two weeksspile time thepieceof steelwas reduced n weighi fromabout33 lb. to 8 lb. The only available ool suitable or use asa surfaceplatewas the ground aceof a pieceof heavy6-ft. straightedge, nd with its aid the top of the bed was scraped lat to receivethe slides. These were made from a piece of good quality steel strip removed from an oldR.A.M.C. stretcher, ut to lengthand thenfiled and scrapedrue beforebeingput aside or a weekor two while more drill and cold-chisel work was ca:ried out on a piece of plate which was to formthe athesaddle.

The threadswere turned off a phosphor-bronzescrew to leavea piece of stock out of which themain bearingshad to be made,and ts sizegoverned he diameterof the mandrel. The mandrel wasmachined rom a pieceof a ffuck axle, andalthough t hadbeenannealed t was a difficult job forthe only high-speedsteel athetool the workshoppossessed.The leadscrewand a brassnut weremade on a Sunday,and, with a rack and pinion from a damaged ypewriter, were hidden untilrequired.The slideswere now checked again and found to havewarped slightly, but after correction theywere marked out and drilled for fixing screwsand used as templates or drilling the holes n thebed,which were tappedNo.0 B.A. (This would be aboutU4x25 tpi. GBL.) The fitted screwsweremadewith slottedheads o facilitate their insertionand possible uture withdrawal, in caseatany time it should becomenecessaryo jettison the comparativelyheavybed and to preserve heaccurateslides and the componentsmade to fit them. When the fitted screws and somedowelswere driven in and filed and scraped lush, the top surfacewas very nearly flat and required ittlecolTection. The rear edgewas selectedas the "master" edgeandchecked or straightness. Splitbrass bearings or the leadssrewwere made by hand,ffid when the headstock ixing studs werefitted the lathebed was considered inishedand work was resumedon the saddle. It was built upso that the.dovetail or the crossslide could be adjusteddead square,without scraping,when the

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99pper od. A simplecollet chuckand somecollet blanksweremadeon the machine tself.Thereafter,he supplyof rivets. ept.pacewith thedemand, ut it *ir not long U.}oi" rhenewmachinewasoverloadedwi.th ogdlli".t hadhad o be refuiedp;"io"sly. Tffi rolution was roprovide he 4-tool turretwith an ndexingplungerand o makea +-stationailstock urret. Thebuttonwhichreleaseshe turret or *anual indexing s ust below heunderside f the tailstockturret' Therewasa substantialncreasen thequaniity na q""riqvoi *otfrhop froiurtions, ascomponents hichhadonlv been iled wherenecessaryould ro* U" -achined i'n nil-V2,, lathe,and herewasno waitingf9r sm.al-lafisto be made. hr numberof rp*iur toolsandaccessoriesfor the new athe ncreasedge\by week,and "uirut rp*r, suchasnuts or the eadscrew ndfeedscrews' eremachined;he.be-aringsele scrapedrir, felt wiperswere ittedto itresaddle,andmuch houghtwasgiven o theproblemof pto"ihingitt" n.* machinewith anefficientchuck.Permissionwasgiven or a pieceof metal o F supplied y theJapanese orkshop,and as heresultof a quiet alk with a coueaguehemetalarriieotoughmactri'n-eo,apped5/g,,whitworth,andwith 2 diametral lots3/8"widecutat lglrl afsles.-on" evening fter oll-callparade, caststeel -slot cutterwas "shuP"d"on the 3-Vi" lath"e; "*1 morningT[" .utter was hardened ndtempered nd ha.t vening heT-slotswerecut in the chuckbodt: rtre-ctruct:aws*"r" milledwith u fly cutter n the srnatl-tathe,henclamped ase o Uur"on ttre aceptateand he eft handsquarehreads ut n them. Screws ndhornbtoctsweremade o suit. d;j";;;;;; madeofannealedigh-speedteel,andallhough,n anycas.elheycouldnot be harden6on trrewortshop,theywereconsidered ardenoughas heywereand hec'huckwasassembled.Any temporary andles nd everson the machinewerenowreplaced y newonesmadeon it fromstainless teelwhich had beenobtained rom ttre siiarti"g^-ii{;il mechanism, nd a bigimprovement aseffected y removilg the umbler eveir. uf;d "piuZing t with aconsrant-meshreversing eq, with :ti$ing.ogs,.91 rt'" eadscrew.Th;6asisof this gear s a smaliaiirrr"nrial,and he shift levervisible n tfie lustrationsopgratesn a gatewith "tert-tancf niu,ral,, andright-hand"positions.The half-nut ockingdevic"*ui *oiineo, and he-u.t inrfionounceocomplete,some efinementsntended ronf, he beginningor trti'pi.J"rt traving "'"-"0 to beunnecessary. nceagain,however,heauthorwaswrong,Indnto* aciessoriesad o be made.Allied bomberswerenow in evidence, nd theJapaneseeactedo the threatof invasionbyimposingmore estrictions n thecamp. Rations "i" sui rurther edu""a, andnearlyeverymanwhowasnot actually n hospitalor crippledwas akentowork usu nirouyon military defensivepoints. Thereweremtny -rumours f^whatwas n store ; ;h;;;tJn"rr, andoneof the leastgruesomewas hat,at thefirst t^t8Rf Allied activity, heywoulcibe herdedwithin the wallsofchangi ail. Any bombarding.o{Singaporeouldpi.;b1bfy-!averi"Ga in thepowersupply othecampb"..g cut off, andwlth it thJcirefully o.gfiiriaiiaio n"*r-r"*ice, whichat suchatimemighthavebeen hemeans f receiving-ponrnt instructionsrom theAllied forces.$ ba.ttery etwas herefore es.ignedy qhe9xleft1and arrangementseremade or thematerialsfor the Plmary cells to be takEn.intohe aii with ro*" -Eairar "quif-"nt. The authorwasconsulted n themechanical etailsof the et, whichhad o be ttous6anitt in rh;i;;;f a smalltable,andwhenmachininghecomponentsn thesmall uttt", ir U"tti.ylo*", supplyenabled imto work silentlywhen heworkshopappeared.eserted, ithoutevenhiiclosert tiibriassuspectingthathehadan! connectionwith trterbii"t *irir".* t';d:. one or trre rioa"nAC-powered adiosetswasoperated-byu screwdriver-pushedhrougha kno-tholen a hollowLam, but'in the newserthe authorwasable o reduce he trblediameteiso hat t couldbe mistakenor a wonn hole. Atoolpost grinderhad to be made,but it was a simple ob as a I-UZ; Oia.abrasivewheel wasavailable,and alsosomesmallball racessalvag{ f-il an instru*ni Wlil-;oLft"t"d, thespindle-wasrivenat.8,000pm from ul-gJ wo6den ulleyon a fan motor ixedto a beam6 ft.above he athe,and hebelt wasa lengthoTgut .arr,ittyidmovea from anold tennis acquet.A!n". taperreamerof about3^deg. ap-er?s made ttrt fi; Gi;;^;rnupra; il--;nd afterhardening'wasground rue. pome.piecesf steelwireaboutVl6"AialniOoneendhardenedndground o the same aper. The spindles f the maincondensrr O t i-r"ers (whichcompleteoccupieda space f only 4" x ?"'* 2") werebored.axially nd reamereOittt ih" $;;ial taperreamer, othat, o tune heset, hewirelessoperator adm6rely o GnOoneof thewiris to a right

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angle,poke the pointedend through he "wormhole",engage he taperand turn thewire.While this work was going on in secret, he new lathe was used to great advantage n theworkshop and many "toolroom" jobs were done. The workshop tapsand dies were in y"-ry!t4condition, and on the little lathequite serviceableeplacementswere madeof U4-20 and 346-24sizes. At the same ime, one of the workshopstaffmade excellentsmall files by hand,and alsomany short wist drills, the spiral lutes of which he filed out with speciallymade iles.When the Japanese ventuallycapitulated, he lathe was equippedwith a large rangeof tools,hollow mills, drills, boring tools,and stainless-steelox-keysand spannerswrenches).A specialturer for the boring toolswas ncluded,also a simple ndexingdevice(not illustrated),which fittedon the threadedextensionof the mandrel. A member of the workshop staff made he drip tray nstainless teel,andanothermade hevery necessary luminumpulley and belt guardsand he swarfcover for the eadscrew.About 600 hours were spentby the author n building the machine and tsaccessories,ut it was time well spent n view of themanyhundreds f hoursof work carriedouton it in thetwo years t was n use.

FOOTNOTE: If you've ever thought of building a small lathe, perhaps he foregoingwlllhave provided some inspiration. f you should be inclined t9 R-urryehe matter, you_mightlike to know abouta sef of drawings catalog# WE l28) available rom PowerModel SupplyCo. for a small lathe of about 2-518" enterheight.One would need he use of a larger athein order to make it . but it appearso be a practicaldesign. t was fully describedn ModelEnginee Magazine tart ingat page 537 in Vol. 150 (Jan/June, 983).

If you're interested in learningHOW TO GAS WELD ALI.JMfNLM...Master sheet metal man Kent White has been doing old time "aircraft" style welding ofaluminum for about 25 years, and he's very good at it. On this excellent I-314 hour video(VHS only) he explainswhat he's doing in a relaxed, aid-backmanner,and you.get to see tbeing done; then after a while he does he same hing again,.soyou get to qeg l more thanoncel without having o rewind the tape.Also clearlyshown s how to repairpinholesyou ryayblow in the ob while welding it , and larger holes rom other causes, ncluding a mishandledwelding orch.Mosr of the actualwelding was shot througha specialgreen ens (see as t paragraph elow),which givesyou an extremely learview of what is happening n the metal.TORCH AND ARC WELDING OF CAST IRON is alsonow available.Also by Kent White;2 hours of clear, practical nstructionon the use of traditionalmaterialsand equip.ment, lussimple,proven methods hat can be applied o the repaq of crackedor broken cast ron partsexhaustmanifolds,pump housings,valve bodies,machineryparts, and in some cases,evenengine locks.An uncommon, aluable, ndsaleablekil l .You canbuy these ideos hroughus, andsave 0% over buying themdirect.Kenr White hasdevelopedwhat is currently considered o be THE BEST welding goggle ensfor gasweldingaluminum, n termsof eyeprotection there't_ryorange lare), and n terms fwhal it allows you to seewhile you are actuallywelding. It's also goo-d or.small cast ronwelding obs, ahd fo r steelwelding. This 2" x 4-112" ec-tangularreen ens fits the excellent"Unigoggle" light-weight welding goggleheadgear,which is alsoavailable hroughus .See he very lastpageof this book for ordering nfo.

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Prison Camp Lathe

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