The team behind the creation of the Open Access Mechanical Workshop (OAMW) at Sheffield has donated a selection of surplus mechanical engineering tooling from the New Caledonia Workshop to the local Wortley Top Forge in Sheffield, as well as a lathe to the nearby Midland Railway at Butterley’s “Richard Levick” machine shop.
These charitable, volunteer run organisations are key parts of our local heritage and engineering history. Wortley Top Forge is a 17th century Sheffield iron forge which also exhibits an array of static steam engines and has a restoration workshop. The Midland Railway is a preserved steam railway only ~25 miles south of Sheffield with a significant role in the railway preservation scene. Both museums are regularly open to the public.
The tooling donated to Wortley Top Forge included a large collection of horizontal axis milling cutters as the New Caledonia Workshop no longer has a compatible mill. The Wortley Top Forge however does, meaning the cutters can be put to immediate use.
The lathe donated to the Midland Railway had previously been donated to the New Caledonia Workshop by another workshop within the faculty. Rendered surplus by the Open Access Mechanical Workshop’s upgrade to a more modern lathe better suited for student and researcher use, the older lathe, along with a valuable assortment of chucks and accessories collected over its long working life, has been given a welcoming new home.
The Open Access Mechanical Workshop is a new pilot initiative in the Faculty of Engineering, based in the New Caledonia Workshop, aimed at getting researchers and academics into the heart of the design, build, and hands-on iteration process of experimental apparatus.
Dr Richard Hodgkinson, the academic lead for the OAMW, commented “It’s great to give this tooling and equipment a new home and lease of life, and especially with these donations, close the circle between providing a new practical space for our researchers, working at the very cutting edge of science and engineering, to also supporting those engaged in the complimentary and equally important aim of preserving our industrial heritage”. He also added “not everyone I spoke to within the University was aware of these local museums, and it was fantastic to create some new community connections whilst organising these donations too!”
Ted Young, a volunteer at the Wortley Top Forge, said “We were very pleased at Wortley Top Forge to receive the generous donation of tools and equipment from the University for use in our period restoration workshop. The high quality cutting tools are particularly welcome to replace our worn and dated cutters.
“As a small charity our ability to purchase such items is beyond our reach. The workshop is currently busy with the restoration of a Massey Pneumatic Hammer and a water powered organ blowing engine, both of which require new parts to be made to get them working and able to be demonstrated to our visitors. The donated tooling will help.”
Craig Buxton, board vice chairman of the Midland Railway Trust, commented: “The lathe is a great addition to our workshop being a smaller machine than other machines, it will allow handling of smaller components on heritage vehicles.
“This kind of donation is a massive boost to volunteer morale, knowing people think our railway is worth such a generous donation.
“Many of our machines & tools have been acquired in a similar arrangement and allows us to build up our facilities with useful machines to carry out maintenance and overhaul on steam locomotives and other railway vehicles.”