I need to tell you a story. It will go on a bit, but stick with me. My father was born in 1926, left school at age 14 and went into a machine shop. Started as an apprentice and was Works Manager by his early thirties, when I was born. He was treated disgracefully by the company when I was a toddler and my mother had to spend some time in hospital, so he told them where to stuff their job. He gained a teaching qualification, started in the early ‘60s as an Assistant Lecturer at a local Technical College, and worked his way up to Head of Department, in charge of dozens of staff, hundreds of students and five large teaching workshops. With the decline of manufacturing in the UK, it was decided in the late ‘70s / early ‘80s that three of those workshops were to be closed down. He decided that it was time to upgrade his own garage workshop and prepare for early retirement. Milling machines, shapers, grinders, etc. were to be sold by sealed bids, together with around two dozen Colchester Students. He picked out the best lathe, then swapped parts from other machines to build the best gearbox he could. Then he covered this machine with gunk and swarf, painted “SCRAP” on both ends in blue Hammerite, parked it in a corridor and threw a grubby old tarpaulin over it. It was completely overlooked by local businesses and other bidders, and my father bought it for just £15. I should confess that, although I could read a micrometer before I could read a book, and could operate a lathe by age 12 (basic stuff like parallel and taper turning, drilling and tapping), I ended up with a career in the printing trade and a predominantly woodwork hobby shop. He retired around 1984 and died in 2004. When my mother also passed in ‘13 and the house was sold, I moved the lathe and other machinery to my own workshop. Now I have also taken early retirement, with This Old Tony’s help I am getting back to using it.

The engineering , materials and machining expertise in this video is awesome!!! This is what Britain used to be.

I must say. This actually brings tears to my eyes, knowing what this country was like before 1974. Down hill from then on.

It is a sad indictment of the way this country has turned its back on engineering processes and manufacturing that once was the backbone of its wealth, which has been flogged off to the local scrapman or foreign consortiums. The disappearance and decline of school led creative base skills as part of the education carriculum and technical colleges in favour of turning them into academies - where one can now obtain an NVQ in Origami or Social Media Studies - exacerbates the overall situation. We now have a generation that don't know how to bang a nail in to a piece of wood - let alone what a lathe is. Splendid film. Absolute gem. 👍

This brought a tear to my eye - I had a Colchester Triumph which I sold in 1980 - wish I had kept it now - but it reminded me of a time I was driving over the tops to Colne in Lancashire; just leaving Halifax - it was November, just before Guy Fawkes night in the late seventies, I noticed a tractor loading lumps of timber on to a massive bonfire - the lumps of timber were - machine tool patterns - there were scores of them, lined up ready to be burned. Halifax and environs was an important machine tool manufacturing centre for many years, and we just let it go. Lack of investment and shortsightedness gave it all away. Preferring the easy return on juggling money, we have sold or let die all our hard won heritage in manufacturing. It's not just down to Far Eastern costs - Germany and Switzerland have managed to retain and grow a well respected machine tool industry - the city of London has a lot to answer for - financial jiggery pokery and cronyism - bolstered by self serving, corrupt politicians. - I feel much better for that !

I love the lady checking the rollers for surface defects and then piffs them into the container.

When quality and service did mean something 👍👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

My grandfather was a sales executive for this company after the ww2, he travelled to over 50 countries, I still have the old post cards...

My father worked for the company for 10 years .....he absolutely loved his job. This was back in the day when this country used to have manufacturing industry

My first job, foundry / lab technician at Metalclad, Swansea, Wales, UK. Part of the 600 Group of companies they cast all the lathe beds for Colchester Lathes. My job, included furnace and raw material melt control, chemical analysis of the previous days castings, mould sand analysis, in particular water / moisture content. Long time ago, but never forgotten.

My grandfather was a tool maker and shop steward - alway went to work in a tie and waistcoat and his light brown overall- slick of brill creme and a a roll up - still have his mics and tables - a wonderful gentleman who would’ve loved this - probably as much as we loved him - thank you

Fantastic....what a great film, when Made in England meant something.

The very fine tolerances involved require a very crisp accent to describe.

This Old Tony has the warm and fuzzies looking at this...

I learned my trade as Centre-Lathe Turner on a Colchester 2000 on 6 Bay in the North Shop at R.O.F Nottingham from 1971 to 1975 then spent the next 35 years working all kinds of manual Machines. I then got put on one of the new C.N.C Machining Centres which took all the Skill out of the job as all it entailed was loading the metal onto the Machine, press a button and change the throw away carbide turning tips when required. Thats what kids today think is a skilled job. Best little Centre Lathe ever made was the Colchester. Happy Days.

That machine grinding the ways of 3 machines at once- simply beautiful.

What an amazing video and piece of history. I've never seen complete machine tool manufacture such as this. The amount of hard work, literally blood, sweat and tears and precision that went into these machines is incredible. Not a Brit but it brings a tear to my eyes too.

When you're proud of your work and the film crew is coming. everyone has new clothes and had to paint their machines gold.

My dad is a mechanical egineer he's now 69 and i'm about to finish university in about a year. When he was learning to use the lathe in a tecnical school there was a bunch of brand new Colchester lathes, those used to work always keeping the motor runing, and the chuck started to spin when a cluch was engaged. Time later he started his own workshop which thankfully has never stoped for about 35 years and one of his first machines was big colchester lathe with a 15 hp motor , that thing is a beast. I've seen almost 300 kg parts being machined there, and I have that slow starting noise form the cluth engaging always in my brain. I have used it since I was 12 and that sound just feel powerful and humble

Just bought an old Colchester Student and am absolutely stoked with the machine! Aim to restore it over time.

As an Apprentice and a Young Engineer in the Steel Industry I used Colchester Lathes, this takes me back to those days.

Worked at Colchester lathe and did a 4 year apprenticeship in the 70s,Worked on most of the machines from snow grinders to laths.I was there the day they showed a grope of Chinese round the shop and saw the first lathe they made copying ours.Over 400 worked there at one time and we had one of the first cnc machine shops which then you programmed with tape and it cost £1000 for 1 k of bubble memory.Memory’s it was a good place to work and we were all very well paid for the time

@17:30 "However it is in the spindle bearings that precision reaches its peak" . . . @19:00 "machine can measure 4 millionths of an inch, and in each bearing the dimensions do not differ by more than 10 millionths of an inch". That's wicked accuracy / tolerance / variation for the immediate post WWII period (1960's this film?) and I'm so impressed. Such quality of workmanship, such a focus on doing the best possible, not "good enough" - building up to a quality not down to a price. I want one!

The fact that eve the headstock castings were hand filled and wet sanded. Such worksmanship

As an apprentice we had a shop full of these. I still remember "the world turns on Colchester lathes"

The quality comes from the solid gold machines they're made with.

I have a Colchester Student MKII, circa 1972, in my workshop. After watching this film I love and respect her even more now!

These old video's don't do justice. This is absolutely amazing to watch these machines being built!

Oh wow! This is great. I started my apprenticeship in 1976 at a company on the south coast of England where we made saddle gearboxes for Colchester lathes. We also made the top slides and tail stocks. It was an old fashioned indentured apprenticeship, where my father was required to attend the interview as well as me. He had to sign the apprenticeship papers as well as part of his commitment (they don’t do that nowadays). And so began my four year apprenticeship. We made everything, the saddle gearboxes for instance - from the iron castings (having been seasoned of course by storing outside in the open air for at least a year), initially plough ground 8 at a time on a large Snow grinder (same make as the one in the film), then through successive milling, drilling by radial drills (and some of the first NC machines), horizontal boring (including some multi boring heads), to produce the main machined casting. Through to the steel shafts and gears, turned on Wickman single spindle machines or copy lathes and cylindrically ground. Then there was the gear cutting shop where shaping and hobbing machines cut the gears and spline shafts which were in turn induction hardened (I ran the gear cutting, broaching, manual drilling and induction hardening shop at the age of 19 to 20). Then all was assembled and tested before being shipped to Colchester. It was a good apprenticeship, 6 months in every department including inspection. I qualified as a Toolmaker at 20 years of age in 1980, and am still in Engineering now, and currently in the process of setting up a new machine shop. So glad I saw this video, many thanks for uploading😊

True craftsmanship like this will be something the future will lack and then they will strive to figure out how such perfection was achieved.

My Grandpa had a Colchester triumph from 1963 imported to Ga, USA, I got it in 1993 when he passed with all the tooling and will never sell, awesome machine.

Worked at M Tools in Halstead in Essex in 1972, we converted Colchester Lathes into CNC machines. Was great to see this film, reminds me of many happy hours on the Student and later Triumph.

I work around the country on machine tools and I can honestly say that virtually every workshop still has a Colchester Lathe, along with a Bridgeport Miller and Jones & Shipman Grinder!

Colchester lathes were the first mass produced industrial lathes. Unlike most other industrial lathes spare parts could be fitted by the user rather than needing a skilled fitter from the manufacturer.

As a retired Toolmaker the Colchester Triumph 2000 was always my favourite lathe . And if there was a J&S surface grinder along with a Bridgeport milling machine you were in toolmaking heaven !

i knew when i was 6 or 7 i was going to work with metals, my grandfather had a friend that had a hug machine shop. the smell of a machine shop takes me back to being a kid. so of course, i took every class i could. metal class, welding class, lathe classes. I'm 54 and still love the smell of a machine shop, i work in mine every day, it's my therapy

Two and a half minutes in and they already blew my tiny CNC mind.

This was one of the first lathes I ran when I was an apprentice in Canada. I did not know they were from the UK. It was a workhorse, I machined thousands of parts on it.

The sort of jobs people were proud of regardless of how lowly the task each one took pride in what he was doing and got a living wage for doing it. How we threw this away!

Who needs industry when you can have call centres!

We need to get back to making quality machines such as this, made to endure and if needed repaired instead of thrown away and replaced. Better products, better work and skills, better for the environment.

It was marvellous to find this on KZfaq...thanks for posting it.I did my apprenticeship on a Flat Top Colchester Student at the start of the 1980's at British Leyland/Pressed Steel Fisher...Back in the 1990's I bought a Round Top Colchester Master which came out of a College...I still have it and use it almost every day.

Started my apprenticeship at Colchester Lathe mid 80's. The whole factory has long been demolished and now has a Tesco supermarket in it's place. Happy days playing cricket at lunchtimes 😅

I had no idea that in Great Britain they have produced such gems. Amazing. A pleasure to watch.

When designing a Colchester lathe, the last thing the Engineer consideres is to activate Windows 10.

You've got to be kidding me - tolerance / variation of 0.00003" / 0.0007mm back then?? What wonderful quality equipment! Thanks for uploading, that's a pretty good transfer as well from old film stock. Magnificent!

Simply Fantastic....When they made something, they didn't make it good...They made it EXCELLENT...Good Old Days...

Funny job being a nurse. I trained in Colchester and as part of my training I visited Colchester Lathes. They were an example of top quality occupational health. They had done a fantastic job of making a work station accessible for a disabled employee. The town was proud of the factory to.

I’ve had my student around 15 years and still enjoy using it regularly. Would never be without it. Great video of what Great Britain was once capable of producing!

Only a true machinists can appreciate those chips at the begging.

Mr shed man , I now consider myself to be a very lucky person to have a 1918 Colchester master 6" originally belt driven from an overhead line shaft, a three step pully behind the chuck , This lathe I purchased from an advert in a brawed sheet paper 6 tyre kickers had looked at it an walked away from it i went to see it an bought it on the spot the whole machine was brown with rust as it had sat in a garage for many yrs. With the help of a late friend he and i set to made an angle iron frame 50x50 x 5mm 100mm off the floor to hold a very heavy,, large motor. Then out from that frame with more angle mounted a lay shaft and using an old timing belt from my car to drive that shaft, A three step pully on the end of the lay shaft then allowed me to drive the chuck using a 1" ratchet strap running over two fixed rollers an one adjustable roller mounted at bed height to allow me to tension the belt I made to drive the chuck. 6" swing ,, 3' between chuck an tailstock overall length 6' 6" a brut of a machine made when Britain was at the leading edge of industry, look where we are now an idiot at the helm and a Chinese virus pandemic running amock that brought us to near bankruptcy a year a go, and a whole year of listening to politicians LYING through their teeth an more U turns than a sat nav, at the next opportunity turn around , turn around , turn around ,

Spent many happy hours hunched over Colchesters. So tempted to get one.

Brings back memories from approximately 1979 when I started my Apprenticeship as an Electrical Fitter at State Electricity Commission Victoria (Australia). All of the 1st year apprentices had to go through the basic training at the apprentice training workshop for 12 months. Very valuable experience learning the use of basic hand tools, lathe's, milling machines, shaper. Mostly Colchester machines. Excellent, looking back now very valuable training.

Thirty years ago I was working in a power plant that was being refurbished. I found the machine shop and was very impressed by how much the Colchester lathes could hog off at one time. The swarf coming off was almost red hot.

Fascinating you need 500 different Lathes to make a lathe............ this was a Great vid.............thank you for uploading

The days when 'MADE IN GREAT BRITAIN' meant something. No corners cut here, a 100% determination the be the best in the world.

Did my time in a toolroom in mid 70's, Colchester lathes and Bridgeport mills etc. Still the proud owner of a Colchester Master and a Bridgeport. I am now in my 60's and my off spring show no interest, they want to earn their living sitting on their arses.

I did my apprenticeship on Colchester lathes amazing machines now I know why!

I have watched this many times over the last few years and I will watch it many times in the future.

"The World Turns on Colchester Lathes".... What a wonderful strap line. If we were still allowed to be proud of our heritage, then this film would have made me very proud. I took my boys to HMS Belfast recently - she's got several Deane Smith & Grace lathes in her machine shop. Just beautiful bits of kit!

I'm going to be so sad next time I see a rusty old Colchester on ebay after seeing them testing the parts to 5 microns.

And this is why they are still the best lathes ever made! I have two elderly Colchesters in the workshop and they still easily capable of holding their own in a modern(ish) workshop. Quality never goes out of fashion. Can you just imagine this sort of attention to entail being put into new " far eastern" machines? Look past the shine and buy a good quality older machine, you won't regret it!

This old documentary is more interesting than modern day movies

The 60 people who did not like this video don't even know what a lathe is or what its for.. Great video!

When I try to explain how well things were built in this time period most people chuckle or roll their eyes. Expeshally younger people. They have no idea how advanced we were by the end of WW11.

Excellent film, I had a Colchester Student, given to me from a factory that no longer wanted it, after 40+ years in service it was still as tight as a nut and I used it to build a half-size traction engine plus other stuff, beautiful machine, built to take use.

The CHIPMASTER is still my favourite and many hours of using one gave me great pleasure. I own 9 Lathes. Some rescue and in bad shape. 2 Myfords. And 3 Raglans among them. Totally enjoyed this film. David and Lily Reading.

I wish ads were still like this, genuinely informative and interesting, shows the entire range of features and general scope of the product. Fantastic that this makes me nostalgic for an era I never existed in.

Just look at the machining processes! Everything is so clean and looks so well kept!

My version of their motto would be " The world learned to turn on Colchester lathes"

I have a 1930 Colchester Bantam lathe that I restored in 1980 when I emigrated from UK to OZ with it.

I so remember Colchester lathes in machining school in the Canadian Navy. This was great.

Ah - the good old days - when we did a bit of manufacturing. And could speak English properly...

They are great machines, still makes me laugh when I tell people that I learned dimensions in both Imperial and Metric and have to stop myself ordering M10 set screws 2 inches long! The only issue I can see here is that the Ford Thames vans they used were more likely to break down than the lathes ever were. Great video, thank you.

The reminiscences of former Colchester employees and lathe operators is fascinating and informative. Thank you all

I started my apprenticeship in 1983 on a Colchester Student, the company down sized a few years ago and I had the chance to buy it. It's now in my shed at home beside my Myford Super 7

When I think of lathes, I think of how they made our society possible. These machines are amazing, and everyone should have an appreciation for the hard work, design, and care that went into these machines. These machines can last several decades and still function, or even be brought back up to functionality. It's astounding.

Well I don't mind saying, that this brought a tear to my eye to think of what we have had taken away from us

"Currently, the CNC machines we use are serving us thanks to these people. I am a lathe master and after seeing these people, I have a great respect for them and I understand that they are 10 light-years ahead of us. I also understand that to produce these machines, one needs to be successful in art, sports, science, justice, literature, and education. I wish I could be the apprentice of such people. Regards and love."

The days of widespread British engineering are a dim and distant memory, never to be returned. Apprenticeships are 1 year now, mine was 3¹/² years. The skills I learned nearly 50 years ago have kept me in well paid work in many different types of engineering.

I have a couple of Soviet-made lathes at home, over the past 40 years they have not been repaired and are working, although they are no longer accurate. But the machine shown in the film in the basic configuration is probably better than my machines. Turret, two opposing tool posts, taper feed ..... I don't have that. The machine is the envy of 2021. Greetings from Russia.

Just goes to show what we as a country could produce, before we farmed everything out to other countries that use cheap labour and cheap materials, with no quality control. I love all my old equipment and where possible, never buy anything modern. I have also referbished 3 lathes.

.. Excellent stuff, from a sadly long gone era ,..

Dear God, I cut my teeth on these as a schoolboy on these in the very early 60's, we were lucky then to have a brand new school with 2 fully fitted out metalwork shops one with nothing but machine tools from Colchesters lathes, shaping machines, milling machines, to me it was a dream playground for four great years, even though I wanted to be a fitter&turner I accidently ended up becoming an electrical fitter. fraser hardmetal got it spot on with " Lack of investment and shortsightedness gave it all away. Preferring the easy return on juggling money " heartbreaking it was to see it disappear like that.

Still gives me a thrill when you hear the lathe start up. Some of those machines to make parts of the lathes are awesome too.

still the best lathes. I had the joy to learn on these machines, the power and accuracy are realy on a other level.

Amazing. And to think, all these machines were designed with drafting tables and slide rules!

As the saying goes in the UK. Things aren't made like they used to be! I've worked/repaired Colchester lathes and they are incredible peices of engineering 👏

Absolutely brilliant video 👍🏼👍🏼 .... From a very proud owner of a Colchester 😎

Magnificent built machines. When there was pride going into your product.

обалденный уровень оснащения для тех времён. и это всего-лишь частная контора, одна из многих на западе, которая по качеству уделывает всю оборонку СССР разом.

What amazes me are the machines that make the machines. Just wonderful, and look at all the tricks & knowledge they had even way back then. Clever engineers & proud of their good work.

Ahh Colchester. Reminds me of my apprenticeship as a fitter back in the early to mid 90's ('93-'96). Good times. :)

Thanks to upload this video. Proud to be British. Brilliant lathes along with Dean Smith and Grace which I have 2. I also have 2 Denham Turret lathes made in Halifax. 👏🏻👍

Amazing. I've just got myself a roundhead master, still need to get it running. This is when great Britain was truly Great, now, it's just Britain. How far we have fallen is staggering.

I'm simply dizzy. It's a chicken and egg conundrum. Machines making machines. Precision and tolerances that stagger the mind. The lathe parts being finished by huge machines that required lathes to be built. Just amazing to watch.

I used to love running these lathes and especially big ward lathes.... oh those levers and handles and things that slide in and out and positive clunks when turning the turret.

Making something on a lathe is so satisfying. I recommend this as therapy!

Great Video, 👍 I served my apprenticeship at Colchester Lathes from 86 to 91. Ended up in the design office after my apprenticeship, then left in 92 after the site was sold to Tesco & the business was moved up to the Harrisons plant. 😢 Really good memories of my time there. Worked with some great people too. Happy days ❤

We sold the Great from Great Britain, or rather gave it away. It is testament to British manufacturing that a good many of these machine avoided the scrap heap and are worked today albeit in hobby shops.