-
43. Tool-and-Die Shop
- Wayne State University Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
43 TOOL-AND-DIE SHOP Henry Ford’s success in the automobile business was largely a result of continually having improved production machinery designed and built within Ford Motor Company as needed for special purposes. In addition to his automotive chassis and body designers were larger numbers of production machinery designers. During the 1927 changeover from the Model T to the Model A, several thousand men were employed to design and rebuild machinery necessary for efficient production of the Model A. In the early years at the Rouge, tool and die, pattern making, and machine work were done in several buildings wherever needed. The production foundry machine shop, for example, had a tool-and-die shop of considerable size, and the stamping plant was involved in preparing and maintaining its own dies. In 1938, however, a large new tool-and-die building was constructed in which die, tool, and special machining requirements of the Rouge Plant were largely consolidated. The men employed as tool-and-die makers were an elite class at the Rouge. Many had graduated from four years of training in the Ford Trade School and additional training in the Ford Apprentice School. With years of working experience, they had become highly skilled in designing, constructing , and repairing machinery in minimal time and with utmost accuracy. 263 264 Top:The tool-and-die department in the pressed-steel building on February 1, 1928. (833.50971) Bottom: Making sheetmetal dies in the tool-and-die department of pressed-steel operations in June 1931. Building a set of dies by hand can take several months. (833.56285) [54.173.214.79] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 16:13 GMT) 265 Top: The new tool-and-die building designed by Giffels & Vallet, as photographed on December 8, 1937, shortly following construction. The building is 300 feet wide and 1225 feet long, especially equipped for “no shadow” lighting. There are 95,285 panes of glass in the building. With $3 million worth of equipment, together with spotless dining rooms, marble shower chambers, and tiled lavatories, this is very likely the finest tool, die, and machine construction building in the world. (833. 69463-A) Bottom: The new tool-and-die building on August 16, 1939. There are 1366 machines in the building, ranging from 100-pound wet tool grinders to 122-ton tryout presses. A group of dies prepared in the shop is shown at the lower left. (833.72259-A) 266 A diemaker, operating a Goddard & Goddard serrated end-mill cutter, is preparing a die for use in the press shop to stamp out an automotive body panel. These mechanical engraving machines allow a die to be prepared in hours rather than months. (833.72760) [54.173.214.79] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 16:13 GMT) 267 Top: A view down another aisle of the tool-and-die building. Note the giant lathe at the lower left. (833.72259-C) Bottom: A large lathe in the tool-and-die building turning down a welded shaft on a used roller from the steel mill.This lathe has a swing of 14 feet and is 42 feet between centers. (833.74905) 268 A turbine wheel from the water tunnel pumphouse ready to be repaired on one of the tool-and-die building’s giant lathes. (833.72565A) ...