# Manufacturing an Eight Inch High Explosive Howitzer Shell (1917 ?)



## YYCHM (Jun 23, 2019)

Had no idea there were so many machining operations involved in making these things!  Kind of mind boggling actually.


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## Janger (Jun 23, 2019)

Great Video! If you watch it *please* *watch by clicking on the YouTube logo link *to open a new window - Saves Lots of Bandwidth for the forum.

at 39:00 they are making threads. Is that thread mill mounted on an angle and being slowing advanced ? - I don't understand how that works to cut the thread. 1917 and pretty damn good technology I think.


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## Janger (Jun 23, 2019)

it's amazing to see the very specialized lathes and tool holding for this very specific job.


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## CalgaryPT (Jun 23, 2019)

That was absolutely amazing archival footage. I suspect the date is correct as towards the end of the war you would have expected more women in the factories. The other thing that jumped out at me was the quantity of cutting fluid/coolant used in operations. I seem to recall reading in a book once that shortages of mineral base fluids during the WWI in these factories led to the development of synthetic fluids in the 1930's.

My grandfather, who I never met and died when I was 6 or 7 years old, worked in one of these factories.  It was in a small town in Massachusetts. Didn't have a dime to his name when he died, but left two lamps he made out of shells from the factory for me. I think they were mortar rounds.

No sure if it is still there, but Lethbridge used to have an artillery reserve unit. They used their Howitzer to shell avalanche areas in the Crowsnest Pass. I saw it fire when I was in my teens, and it was a experience I'll never forget.

Thanks for sharing. Every time I see something for like this I'm torn between humility and gratitude. What a time that was.


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