Working for Smith in the "stone age"

[stringpicker]

I've been a toolmaker for almost 28 years. I was taught by a bunch of old German guys in the Dayton, OH area, and was taught on manual machines. I've eschewed the computer machining in favor of machining as an art form. Being able to hold tolerances, fit and finish, etc., without the aid of a computer separates the men from the boys. Anyone can come in, load a program, and hit the start button...

I still have my small drafting table, T-square, and all of my other drafting equipment. I designed most of what I made from the early 1990's on. I can use AutoCAD, but prefer the pencil and square method.

The old way was truly an art form, and is lost in today's world of profit margins, increased production and unwillingness to pay the higher wages commensurate with experience.

Luckily, my experience has moved me from Ohio to Utah and now PA. There are some places that still want the old school way, and are willing to pay what it takes to get it. Because of that, I was able to refuse a job in GA last summer with Daniel Defense. They offered to pay for the move, but no aid with selling my home here...so I stayed. (Good thing, too since my health has deteriorated to a point that I am unable to drive, much less work).

The world has changed, but the old way will always be held in high regards...especially if there's a catastrophic attack on our computer networks nationwide.

I'd like to see some of these new "toolmakers" calculate a stack-up of gage blocks for a sine bar without a calculator!! LOL

 

[Printer]

Hi A-37,
Funny you mentioned Westover. I lived outside the main gate. I went in the Marine Corps from 69-72 then I was in the reserves there from 1972-1996 and retired. My father was a bartender at the NCO club there. Bob St.George (1ea.)

 

[Printer]

Stringpicker,
Your right its a dieing art being a tool maker and doing things the old way. We could have used you at Smith&Wesson. You would have been among some of the best toolmakers and nicest guys I ever met. Sorry to hear about your health.
Bob St.George

 

[stringpicker]

Stringpicker,
Your right its a dieing art being a tool maker and doing things the old way. We could have used you at Smith&Wesson. You would have been among some of the best toolmakers and nicest guys I ever met. Sorry to hear about your health.
Bob St.George

I'm sure they had some of the best there...I was taught by their brethren in the trade. I got my start working for my dad in his shop...at the age of 13. Everyday after school, every weekend, holidays, etc., I was in his shop. He had about 20 German guys working for him, that were on the verge of retirement, or should have retired 10 years prior...they were all a father figure to me in many ways.

As for my health...I'm not too concerned. It's given me a pause in my life to spend with my kids when they need me the most...in their teenage years. I was smarter than most, and wisely invested my savings, putting all bonuses and such into proper accounts, and pay for my house with cash. Having a fixed income sucks, but I have a pretty decent buffer between me and poverty...another trick I learned from many of the old guys I worked with. They were damned smart guys!

 

[A-37]

Westover AFB

Printer Bob,

SAC had KC-97s at Westover in the '50s and '60s. We'd fly our KC-97Gs from Lincoln AFB NE to Westover for new props, spend the night at Westover (always a good deal with per diem, good clubs, etc.) then fly a finished tanker back to Lincoln the next day.

I'll bet you loved seeing the F-102s blasting around the pattern back in those days.

Ed (30 years AF)

 

[Hansli]

Every boy in 7th grade took a semester of drafting. It didn't matter if you were a going to dig clams of cure cancer for your future living. We were issued HB pencils, a T square, scale and drawing board. We were taught architectural lettering, how to use a scale and were required to do 6 3 aspect drawings of various blocks with holes through them.

When you finished your six, we went on to a semester of metal shop. The drawing taught us how to lay out simple tool boxes etc which we made from sheet metal. You had to submit a drawing with hems, fold etc to get the right amount of material. I am still grateful for this education.

That being said, I own but seldom use hand planes, most nails are driven with guns and hand saws come out only seldom. The production increase has been tremendous. if I didn't have a computer, I would never have had the chance to own some of the revolvers I had or be able to benefit from what I have learned on this forum. The computer is the ham radio of the 21st century. Progress is, to me, always a double edge sword.

 

[GaryS]

We had to take drafting in junior high school too. I liked it, but I wasn't very good at it. I still have the little metal box I had to layout, cut, and assemble.

The soldering irons we had were heated by a gas jet, so it took forever to solder anything.

As much as I like old stuff, the truth is the newer stuff is affordable to a large extent because of AutoCAD, CNC machines, and other modern conveniences. A friend of mine works in the electronic manufacturing business. For about half his career, everything was done by hand. When I got my first computer in 1988, he had no interest in them at all. A few years later he went to work for a company that makes devices that are driven by software. As a result he had to learn all about them and he taught me a lot too. He and I built a lot of computers that we sold to people who thought we were magicians.

It's like cell phones. There are a lot of pain in the neck aspects to them, but I wouldn't be without one now for anything.

It's progress and even we cranky old farts benefit from it.

 

[Printer]

Hi Ed,
I remember,I think, in the 60's Westover had B-52's. They used to rattle the pictures off the walls. Then they went to 123's and 130's left over from the Viet Nam war. Then, believe it or not, shut down Pease AFB in N.H. which was a SAC base also using F-111's and gave Westover C-5's and made us AMC instead of a SAC base. Unfortunately the hangers wouldn't fit the C-5s so they started building then at about 75 million a piece.
Bob St.George USAFR (ret.) 1.ea.

 

[S&W5906]

Printer Bob,

SAC had KC-97s at Westover in the '50s and '60s. We'd fly our KC-97Gs from Lincoln AFB NE to Westover for new props, spend the night at Westover (always a good deal with per diem, good clubs, etc.) then fly a finished tanker back to Lincoln the next day.

I'll bet you loved seeing the F-102s blasting around the pattern back in those days.

Ed (30 years AF)

Now you are starting to tell your age. Very few people remember the C-97/KC-97/Stratocruisers. It was one of the planes at Pima that I had to get a look at when we were out there in the 80s. Our first leg of our gov't paid trip to Cyprus was in a TWA Stratocruiser. The trip also included flights on classics such as a 707, Comet 4, and a DC-3. When they all were still fairly new.