# WW1 Mobile Workshop



## Rhyolith (6 Mar 2017)

Meant to post this up ages ago after my visit to the Duxford branch of the Imperial war museum. 



RFC Mobile Workshop by Rhyolith, on Flickr

As you can kind of see in the picture, this would be mounted on a lorry and hauled around for plane maintenance. The workshop was a grinder, engineering lathe, drill press, some other press (don't really know what it is), vice, Anvil, Forge, etc... 



RFC Mobile Workshop by Rhyolith, on Flickr


RFC Mobile Workshop - Lathe by Rhyolith, on Flickr

I am particularly envious of the drill press! Must be the biggest manually one I have seem and has that lovely big fly wheel.



RFC Mobile Workshop - Drill Press by Rhyolith, on Flickr


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## dickm (6 Mar 2017)

Lovely stuff. Was the whole thing powered by a generator, or were they all human powered? It looks from the pic as if the lathe at least could have been fitted with a treadle.


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## Rhyolith (6 Mar 2017)

I think it was powered by the truck it was mounted on, but thats something of an assumption.


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## Stanleymonkey (6 Mar 2017)

Great photos. Haven't seen one before or heard mention of one. They can't have many of these still left I guess


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## Rorschach (6 Mar 2017)

I saw that this year, it's very cool. I am pretty sure it's first world war though.


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## Rhyolith (6 Mar 2017)

I could be. Though WW1 planes where made of wood and canvus I think so not much use for a metal working shop.


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## 54Strat (7 Mar 2017)

The RFC became the RAF in 1918, so it's definitely WW1. Although British planes were wooden framed, some had metal skins (RE8 for example). I know Germany had at least one all metal plane, the Junkers J-1l, slow but strong. And there's plenty of engineered metalwork on a plane, e.g. the engine


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## TFrench (8 Mar 2017)

dickm":1y1qshc9 said:


> Lovely stuff. Was the whole thing powered by a generator, or were they all human powered? It looks from the pic as if the lathe at least could have been fitted with a treadle.



Looks like a radiator on the left hand side for a generator, and the ammeter gauges on the back wall above it.


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## DTR (9 Mar 2017)

If it wasn't hand / foot powered, I could have a lot of fun in that workshop!


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