The Sheet Metal Worker (1942)

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Its so sad, I work in a aircraft facility, that used to be an old sheet metal aircraft facility.
There are several old timers still working there but all the old machinery is ripped out when floor space is needed.
I dont know how many brakes, presses, stripped machines they have scraped, that were still functioning and working.
They will sell them for around .05 cents on a dollar to scrap price for employees, but the old machines are heavy and require crew of movers to even think about buying any of them.
The last machine they scrapped was still running, and making parts, a NC router and stamping machine, old school but it worked, they replaced it with a .75 million dollar router, that the company could not get to work.
We hired a brilliant, guy just to get the machine to work, he is good. And he is going to set up a robot line to trim parts. The company scrapped the electronics out of the old machine, to a guy in VA that had the same machine in his shop, and the metal parts went to scrap.
 
Its so sad, I work in a aircraft facility, that used to be an old sheet metal aircraft facility.
There are several old timers still working there but all the old machinery is ripped out when floor space is needed.
I dont know how many brakes, presses, stripped machines they have scraped, that were still functioning and working.
They will sell them for around .05 cents on a dollar to scrap price for employees, but the old machines are heavy and require crew of movers to even think about buying any of them.
The last machine they scrapped was still running, and making parts, a NC router and stamping machine, old school but it worked, they replaced it with a .75 million dollar router, that the company could not get to work.
We hired a brilliant, guy just to get the machine to work, he is good. And he is going to set up a robot line to trim parts. The company scrapped the electronics out of the old machine, to a guy in VA that had the same machine in his shop, and the metal parts went to scrap.
After Armageddon, no one will know how to make anything, not even a pencil.
 
OSHA would have a fit. They used to heat rivets and toss them up red hot in metal cups to the guys on the upper decks. They would find the missed ones 2-3 blocks away in the street.
 
OSHA would have a fit. They used to heat rivets and toss them up red hot in metal cups to the guys on the upper decks. They would find the missed ones 2-3 blocks away in the street.

I got a 20 disc 3 stooges collection for valentines day ( my girlfriends cool like that)
one was them tossing rivets on a skyscraper "hot one coming up"
 
After Armageddon, no one will know how to make anything, not even a pencil.

You have a point, they (fabricators) are disappearing at an alarming rate.
I've been an aircraft sheet metal technician for over 50 of my 72 years. When I was in high school I kept asking myself, after seeing my grades in math..."why the hell do I need to know this crap; geometry and algebra? I will never have a use for it." Little did I know the part they would play in my future. Sheet metal work and oxyacetylene welding became my "forte" in Aviation School. My instructor always made the comment, "If you master sheet metal, you will never have to look for a job." ( True! I have never been un-employed) I taught Aviation Science (A&P school) for 12 years at a local university and influenced many of my students in the field of sheet metal fabrication...passing along the wisdom of my instructor. Most of them are now working in the aviation industry and others are building weapons for Lockheed and General Dynamics. Me? I'm still doing it professionally everyday at our aircraft repair shop and in my spare time on my two 65 Barracuda projects.
When you are out there working on your cars, mowers or house, give this a thought. Got any young ones around? Yours, the neighbor's? Try and get them to put their phones down and show them what you are doing. Some will...some wont. Maybe one or two of them just might be influenced by your knowledge.
Norm
 
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You have a point, they (fabricators) are disappearing at an alarming rate.
I've been an aircraft sheet metal technician for over 50 of my 72 years. When I was in high school I kept asking myself, after seeing my grades in math..."why the hell do I need to know this crap; geometry and algebra? I will never have a use for it." Little did I know the part they would play in my future. Sheet metal work and oxyacetylene welding became my "forte" in Aviation School. My instructor always made the comment, "If you master sheet metal, you will never have to look for a job." ( True! I have never been un-employed) I taught Aviation Science (A&P school) for 12 years at a local university and influenced many of my students in the field of sheet metal fabrication...passing along the wisdom of my instructor. Most of them are now working in the aviation industry and others are building weapons for Lockheed and General Dynamics. Me? I'm still doing it professionally everyday at our aircraft repair shop and in my spare time on my two 65 Barracuda projects.
When you are out there working on your cars, mowers or house, give this a thought. Got any young ones around? Yours, the neighbor's? Try and get them to put their phones done and show them what you are doing. Some will...some wont. Maybe one or two of them just might be influenced by your knowledge.
Norm

Good luck with putting the phones down.... I gave up on that idea. The younger generation would rather live on the street than not have 24 hour access to their phones.

But your instructor was spot on about a life long career. Sounds like you paid attention! Nice...

JW
 
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