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It seems this and other similar large machinery were built in the 1950s as part of https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_Press_Program https://en.m.wikipedia.or
by throwawaysea 6y ago
It seems this and other similar large machinery were built in the 1950s as part of https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_Press_Program https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_Press_Program. This article notes they’ve since been surpassed by larger presses internationally, but presumably remain the largest in the US.
While there is some manufacturing innovation coming out of Tesla, with their planned creation of the world’s largest casting machine (https://mobile.twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1293923058109960192 https://mobile.twitter.com/elonmusk/status/12939230581099601...), it is disappointing to think that America’s best manufacturing days might be behind it. I wonder how hard it would be to remake the entire supply chain to be able to build big things again.
- jbay808 6y agoI don't know whether such things can or can't be made anymore, but it sure is fascinating to see how certain giant machines are almost strategic national assets, and compare when they were built. NIST deadweight machine seems like another thing in this class: https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2016/06/million-pound-deadweight-machine-officially-open-business https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2016/06/million-pound-...
- IshKebab 6y ago> I wonder how hard it would be to remake the entire supply chain to be able to build big things again. 8 out of the 10 heavy presses they built are still operational.