This heavy-duty drilling machine was located in Hydraulic 1, Bay 2, about 3/4 way down and just before the marking off table that can be seen in the background of the first photograph.
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Click on the hyperlink to see Notable Orders from the 1950s.
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Yes Chippy! My father, Ted Pickernell, did operate the larger of the radial arm drills for all my time at F&P, I have great memories of my time there.
Hi John! I worked on this machine in the late 1970’s when there was a shortage of work in the fitting shops. I worked on the night shift and I think on the day shift was Len Hancock. The lathe that you can see in the second picture had gone by then and a smaller radial arm drill machine was put there, on which I seem to recall was operated by Ted Pickernell at one time. I’m sure I’m right in saying that Len Hancock was a good friend of John Mabbett and they used to go to the dances at the Cheltenham Town Hall way back when!
You mention the marking off table and I remember an incident in I think the 1960’s, when an extrusion press main ram was being off loaded from a lorry and as the crane slowly started to move off in the direction of the marking off table, the ram started to swing and the crane driver was unable to counteract the swing and the ram slipped very gracefully out of the ‘slings’ and with a huge THUD ended up standing on end on the floor having taken off the corner of the ‘duck board’ by the table! I think the ram weighed about twenty tons, it was for a 1600 ton package extrusion press.
Once they managed to get the ram back down into a horizontal position it had to be checked over very carefully and I recall someone had to spend some time with an electric scraper rectifying the damage done by the concrete floor! Funny the things you remember!
Chippy Aston
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