We’ve showed some pretty amazing videos from “The Mechanic” channel on YouTube before but this one may take the cake. Why? You are about to enter a factory where raw cast cranks are finish machined and actually completed to the manufacturer specifications. There’s not a computer, there’s no CNC, there’s barely electricity powering these ancient lathes which are spinning the cranks. Watching these guys do all this stuff by hand is amazing. We have no idea when the last time crankshafts were finished (in some volume) without the aid of computers in this country. We have to guess it has been at least 50 years in a production environment.
From a few solid hammer whacks to the quick checks with a measuring caliper, there’s an amazing amount of knowledge in this little room. These guys have clearly been at it a while. It does seem that the cranks being done here are for small inline engines. We picked up a three cylinder application may be the final stop for these guys. Now, are they going into newly built engines? Are these replacement cranks? We know none of that.
We do know that watching these guys work is fascinating.
