Posted by Frances IoM on 02/01/2018 15:17:52:
To add to the rather later 9.2" gun there are a couple of illustrations in Hall Caine's rather hack work of 1916 – http://www.manxnotebook.com/fulltext/hcog1916/index.htm

Centering a 9.2" HE shell – not sure exactly what is going on though
Edited By Frances IoM on 02/01/2018 15:42:47
That machine is puzzling. The cluttered background doesn't help, but it's fairly clear that despite the complicated pulley system on top there's nothing between the overhead arm and the shell. No obvious controls except the lady operator seems to be working a lever on top. The shell itself looks like a rough forging – I think I see hammer marks.
I wonder if making them involved whacking a hot steel billet roughly into shape with a steam hammer before machining the outside and innards. Centering might be something to do with finding the axis: the machine might be a relative of those wheel balancing machines they have in garages. Possibly the shell spins on that pillar, the wobble is detected, and the lady marks the shell to show how it should be mounted in a lathe to balance it.
Dave