PLAN No. 919. THE METAL TRADES

Acknowledgment.

This monograph was prepared by Eugene C. Graham, Special Agent for the Federal Board, under direction of Charles H. Winslow, Chief of the Research Division. Acknowledgment is due to Dr. John Cummings of the Research Division for editorial assistance.

A Metal-working Age.

Nearly every industry depends to some extent, and most industries depend to a very great extent, upon metal working, either by employing metal workers directly in some processes, or by using metal products as raw materials in the manufacture of other products, or at least by using tools, implements, machines, and engines, which are products of metal-working trades and industries. And, in addition, these trades and industries produce a great variety of finished utensils and furniture ready for consumption in households. More than any other ours is a metal-working age.

Machine Work and Handwork.

Metals must be worked largely by machine processes, but they must be worked also in many instances by hand processes. All-round machinists and other metal workers must know how to operate machines, but they must also be skilled artisans capable of using a variety of hand tools. Bench hands, assemblers, and specialists in many lines are hand workers and only incidentally if at all machine operators.

If you like machinery and tools, and working with durable materials—working with steel and other less difficult metals as the carpenter works with wood, you can almost certainly find some line of metal working in which you can succeed, whatever your disability.

In the metal-working trades there is every variety of handwork and footwork and headwork to be done, light work and heavy work, work in shop or factory and work in the open, bench work and machine work, highly skilled as well as simple routine work.

Trade Training for Promotion.

Promotion comes to trained men who acquire dexterity in handling tools, in operating machines, in manipulating various metals. It comes easily to men trained broadly, who are able to deal intelligently with any problems that may arise in their line of work.

If you decide to enter one of the metal-working trades, you should take training for the trade, rather than for some job in the trade. Learn the trade rather than simply how to operate some one machine, or how to do one simple task, and you can then accept promotion in the trade, and make good at any job in it.

What Metal Workers Produce.

Everything in metal from a minute screw to a locomotive engine—from a tin can to a great gun casting. They produce machines to produce machines, and with tools and machines which they themselves produce, they produce every sort of metal product or metal part of a product, including machinery and equipment for the farm, the factory, and the home.

Nearly every article of common use, whether made of metal or of other material, is more or less a machine product, and practically the whole machinery for producing nonmetal as well as metal products is originally the product of the metal trades.

Specifically the product of a machine shop may be a complete machine, a rebuilt or repaired machine or machine part sold to other firms. For such a product raw material of cast iron, sheet iron, steel of varying degrees of hardness, wrought iron, brass, or bronze, comes from the foundry or from a stock department in which are kept sheets, steel bars, castings and forgings. Much of the labor in some shops must be employed in producing shop equipment, including formed cutters, reamers, drills, and various metal working tools made in the shop.

Processes.

Molding, which is a basic operation in the metal industries, is a comparatively simple process especially when standardized parts are being cast, and it is not necessarily heavy work since castings in various metals, may be of any size and weight. Molten metal, pure or alloyed, is poured into a mold formed by a pattern in sand or loam. In many instances castings must be finished by machinery.

When a part is to be subjected to hard usage or to severe strains and stresses, forging or hammering rather than casting may be the process employed in shaping it. Drop forgings are made by means of automatic power hammers and dies. With few exceptions forgings, also, must be finished by machining.

Sheet-metal workers lay out work on sheet metal, cut it, shape or bend it, and solder, rivet or weld it into various forms, such as are required in building up ornamental cornices for buildings, or in constructing hot-air heating apparatus, or in manufacturing filing cases, various sorts of containers, and many other articles. Some of the work is outside work, but an increasing number of processes are being performed in the shop with the use of machinery. Metal stamping and electric welding machines are used to form and weld together parts of, for example, automobile bodies, doors, and fenders.

Of all the metal-working trades, that of the machinist is the most varied in its hand and machinery processes, although many workmen never learn more in the trade than how to operate some one automatic machine, or how to do some one simple task. In general the machinist should know how to operate all of the machinery of his trade, and in addition he must acquire skill of hand in metal working, and especially in the processes of building, repairing, assembling, and erecting every sort of engine and machine.

PLAN No. 920. MOLDERS

Variety of Employments.

Foundry employments generally will not be found to be suitable for men who have suffered serious physical injuries, or for men whose physical strength has been seriously impaired by exposure or illness, and they are not generally employments for which any extended course of training is required. These employments are, however, more varied in character than they are commonly supposed to be, and some lines of molding and casting may very well be undertaken by men who have been disabled, especially in cases where previous experience and training in foundry work will prove helpful.

Practically all floor molding is heavy work. Shovels and various hand tools are used in building molds around patterns or templates which determine shape and size of castings. Bench molding and machine molding, on the other hand, may involve no considerable physical strains, and many operations in machine molding can be done with one hand. Some lines of bench molding may be done sitting at the bench and do not require the molder to move about in the foundry.

Promotion.

In welding as in other trades, advancement comes to specialists, and to those who acquire such technical knowledge as is practically useful in the various lines. Some training in metallurgy, for example, will have value where alloys of vanadium, chromium, tungsten, nickel, and manganese are used, and the expert molder who can calculate quickly and accurately, and can handle men may expect promotion to foremanship.

Hours and Wages.

Working hours in foundries vary from 8 to 9 a day, and wages of molders in private concerns range from 50 to 75 cents an hour, the Government rate in railroad shops being 88 cents. Pieceworkers in stove foundries and in other shops where machines are used earn highest wages.

Core Making.

Core making is lighter work than molding, since cores are generally smaller and lighter than molds or castings. The core maker often works at a bench, with a mixture of core sand and binder, which he rams tightly into molds. Comparatively little training is required and such disabilities as partial loss of sight or hearing, loss of fingers or thumbs, stiffness of knee, ankle or hip joint, and weakness of heart or lungs, need not be serious handicaps.

Machine Molding.

In well equipped plants machines do most of the ramming, turn over the mold, draw the pattern, and do away with much heavy lifting. Machine molders usually work by the piece, and must be active and quick to earn good wages.

Training.

Foundry work is taught in many schools, but only a few schools have been able to keep up with the industry in providing machinery.

PLAN No. 921. SHEET-METAL WORKERS

Demand for Workers.

The sheet-metal worker is the survival in modern industry of the village tinner or tinsmith, and the demand for these workers is large and increasing.

In the building trades, in ship building, in automobile and airplane construction, and in the manufacture of furniture, kitchen ware, heating and ventilating apparatus men of skill and experience in sheet-metal working are required.

What the Worker Does.

Workmen at the trade are mainly occupied in cutting out shapes or patterns, bending and forming these shapes on machines or with hand tools, and assembling the parts by hand. Edges are fastened together by riveting, soldering, or by lock seams. For example, a shaving-exhaust system consists of suction pipes, an exhaust fan, and a large pipe leading to the outlet, at which point is a dust separator called a cyclone. Practically all of the system is built of galvanized iron in sections, which are first constructed in the shop, then erected and supported in place in the factory where it is to be used. All of this work, including the erecting, is done by sheet-metal workers.

It is the work of the journeyman in a job shop to use the common machines for cutting and forming the sheets of metal, to rivet or solder the parts together, and to fasten them in place on buildings or in any location where the product is used.

This job-shop worker is, therefore, commonly both an outside and an inside worker. He must know how to place on buildings all the roofing, skylights, gutters, down spouts, cornices, metal ceilings, etc., needed in the construction. He installs air ducts for hot-air furnaces and for ventilating systems. He may be called on for a variety of repairs on sheet metal—to line tanks with lead, copper, or zinc, and to make and attach guards for machinery. The material for this work is bought in the form of sheets of various sizes, and the workman spends a large part of his time in the shop cutting up his material and working it into the required form.

Extreme accuracy of measurement is seldom necessary, and not much attention is paid to finish since much of the work is immediately painted.

In the building of ships there is a great variety of sheet-metal work done. Heavier gauge metal is used than on most architectural work and the joints are more often required to be oil and water tight.

In the automobile and motor truck industry many men are employed in the making and assembling of bodies, fenders, tanks, and radiators. Much of the formed work is drawn to shape in large presses, the finished shapes being assembled by hand.

Large factories now produce most of the kitchen utensils and stamped sheet-metal ware. This ware is coated with enamel or japan, or plated with nickel. Tin plate is still used, but sheet aluminum and enameled steel ware are fast taking its place. The manufacture of metal containers for canned fruits, meats and fish, oils, and sirups is an important industry. Very few machines for any purpose could dispense with sheet-metal parts without increasing the weight or the cost. In building construction the use of sheet metal is increasing, and when properly protected with paint it is both durable and inexpensive. Sheet metal is taking the place of wood for lath, sash, and trim for fireproof construction in large office buildings. It is used, also, in the manufacture of metal furniture for schools and offices.

Tools and Machines.

Tools and machines used by sheet metal workers include the following:

Hand tools.—Hammers, punches, chisels, hand snips or shears, rivet sets, rule, soldering outfit, and a variety of stakes of different shapes and sizes.

Hand and power machines.—Turning, burring, forming, setting, grooving, double seaming, beading, wiring, and folding machines, circular, rotary and squaring shears, cornice brake, and presses for drawing hollow ware.

Requirements.

Shopwork in sheet metal does not require men of great strength or quickness of movement. The machines are operated with the right hand and the stock supported with the left. To be of value to the shop a man should know something about pattern drafting, but many workmen are unable to lay out new work, and must work from old patterns or depend on the foreman for help. A sheet-metal worker needs fairly good eyesight, two hands with strong fingers, and on construction work a clear head and good use of his limbs. Requirements for outside work are quite different from those for inside work in the shop.

Hours and Wages.

Hours of labor average about nine a day, but in Government work the standard is eight hours.

Wages range from 45 to 85 cents per hour, but will average about 65 cents, with 68 cents as the union scale on Government work.

Future of the Employment.

There seems to be no reason for doubting that this occupation will remain a very stable one. After the war it may be difficult to absorb into industry all the men who have been trained as sheet-metal workers for shipbuilding, but it is certain that the normal requirements of the building trades, the automobile industry, and airplane construction will take many men.

Reeducation.

No single course of instruction will fit all cases. If a man can shift from general outside and inside work to inside work exclusively, it will be possible for him to learn the drafting of patterns to great advantage to himself and to the shop. Skill in soldering may also be acquired by practice and will increase the man’s earning capacity. Competent foremen are very much in demand, and they should be trained in drafting and in estimating the cost of construction.

This ability to estimate costs on job work can be attained by special training and would make a disabled man more independent of his handicap.

For the disabled man any course which provides only the theory will fail absolutely in making a man useful to the average employer. It will be necessary to locate the man in a selected situation where his handicap will count for the least and then train him to overcome entirely the handicap. If the school can help with this training the man should go to school, but in a majority of cases it will be necessary for the shop to provide the training, supplemented by evening courses or correspondence-school work. The latter would be quite satisfactory in pattern-drafting and cost-estimating courses.

PLAN No. 922. FACTORY WORKERS

Factory production of articles made of sheetmetal implies that machines will be used where possible. Parts will be stamped out with dies and hollow ware drawn to shape in large presses. The hand operations, as a rule, will be confined to riveting, soldering, and assembling parts.

Where disabled men can qualify it will not be difficult to place them on machines or at hand operations. While the pay will be lower than in the outdoor branch of the trade, work will be steadier and less dependent on weather conditions. Men with a variety of disabilities can find places. Training will be given on the job by foremen. Previous experience in any branch of sheet-metal work will be of value, and since the machines are largely automatic, only a short period of training will be required.

The position of foreman of a department is worth striving for, and the qualities which will help a man to overcome handicaps will also help him to get a foreman’s position, in which he will be largely independent of physical disabilities.

PLAN No. 923. MACHINISTS AND MACHINE OPERATORS

Previous training and experience in some of these metal-working employments will greatly help you if you elect to take up some related line of work. With a little training to overcome your handicap, you may be able to resume your old employment or one in which your previous training and experience will count.

Machines Operated

Machinists work with the following machines:

Metal turning.—Speed lathes; screw-cutting lathes; engine lathes; turret lathes; shaft and wheel lathes; automatic lathes.

Planing.—Planers; slotters; shapers; gear planers.

Milling.—Hand-feed millers; plain and universal milling machines; planer type millers; special milling and hobbing machines.

Drilling and boring.—Sensitive drills; vertical drilling machines; radial drills; multiple drills; horizontal and vertical boring machines, and boring mills.

Grinding.—Rough, wet, and dry grinders; tool grinders; cylindrical and special shaping grinders; planer type grinders; disk grinders.

Machines for special operations.—Bolt and nut machines; automatic screw machines; broaching machines; cutting-off saws; profiling machines; chasing and engraving machines; rifling machines.

Shop Conditions

The machinist and machine operator work sometimes in a room crowded with machines, and frequently under artificial light, but usually in a room with plenty of air properly heated. Most of the machines are safeguarded, but there is always danger of accident from moving trucks, flying particles of metal, and sometimes from unprotected belts, gears, and shafting. State laws and inspection may be counted on to reduce this danger materially. Most well-organized shops have announced safety rules to promote the health of the men and to reduce the number of accidents.

Hours of labor average from eight to nine a day. There is a tendency toward a standard eight-hour day, which is already established in Government work. There is usually an increase in the hourly rate for overtime work. Many shops pay according to a piecework rate or premium plan. The trade is fairly well organized, especially in job and railroad shops.

Equipment of The Worker

It is common practice for a machinist to provide himself with a kit of tools useful in his work. This outfit usually includes steel scales, inside and outside calipers, hammer, surface gauge, punches, and an indefinite collection of other tools of less importance. All classes of workmen, in fact, depend more or less on the shop tool room, and men beginning their employment often have nothing but a steel scale.

Opportunity for Promotion

A highly skilled general machinist who can handle men has an excellent opportunity to become a foreman, and workers who understand the technique of their trade may fairly expect to advance rapidly in wages and position. Men who can figure costs and devise economies in production especially are in demand.

Future of The Trade

The war has very greatly increased production in machine shops. The manufacture of guns and munitions and the demands of the shipbuilding industry for tools and machinery for ships have multiplied the demand for men many times. While there must be a readjustment after the war, it is certain that the manufacture of standard products will be very greatly in arrears, and since all industry, including agriculture, transportation, and the arts, depend on the machine shops for their product, there will be a continued demand for trained men.

Wages

Where machinists or machine operators receive wages at an hourly rate this rate approximates the Government scale in railroad shops, which is 68 cents an hour. In shops where the piecework or premium plan prevails, the amount earned by employees varies. It is safe to say that most men employed at any branch of the trade get more than $4 a day in wages.

Muscular Strain

A machinist is commonly expected to do some lifting, varying from very light weights to more than 100 pounds. Operators of large machines doing heavy work are often provided with air hoists or jib cranes or with chain hoists to help serve their machines. Probably the operator of a machine working on medium weight parts on lathes or grinding machines may have the maximum of physical strain, due to the quality production expected of him.

Your Disability

It would be foolish to make many general statements as to the effect of the loss of various members on the future of a man who desires to be a machinist or a machine operator. So much depends on the will power of the man and on the exercise of wisdom and foresight in selecting a line of work. Talk it over with the placement officer.

A study of the rehabilitation in industry of those injured in industrial accidents shows that most men have been taken back to work after such injuries as the loss of fingers, thumbs, one eye, or similar accidents. Others with more serious injuries have often been taken on again and provided with jobs, perhaps as watchmen or gate tenders, without any reeducation. They accepted their job, lived up their industrial insurance, and were down and out industrially. This should not happen to the man injured in industry, and must not happen to you, because there is a better way which will keep you in a good wage-earning occupation and make you independent.

It will be necessary, of course, for you to take account, not only of your physical condition and of the requirements of the trade, but also of your previous experience, your resources, and your aptitudes.

PLAN No. 924. BENCH HANDS

Kind of Work Done

In the construction of machinery, including the repair of worn and broken parts, there are many operations which can not conveniently be done on machines. This work is done by hand at a bench, fitted with a vise for holding the work. The work done consists of chipping and filling to remove metal, the laying out of centers, circular arcs, lines and limits for the operator, and a variety of operations which require the use of hand tools.

Examples of this work are:

Fitting piston rings to grooves and to standard test gauges.

Filing machined parts to provide smooth surfaces, and to remove burrs.

Laying out and marking parts for drilling and other operations. Much of this work is necessary in making special jigs and fixtures to increase quantity production.

Tools

The bench hand uses a variety of files, marking punches, light and heavy hammers, cold chisels, measuring tools and gauges, and often uses hand or power machines, such as bench drills, hand taps and dies.

Hours, Wages, and Conditions of Work

The hours of labor are as a minimum forty-eight a week, and will average between fifty-one and fifty-four. Wages are generally according to the scale paid to machinists and are subject to overtime, piecework, and premium rate changes. For instance, the wage scale in railroad shops is now 68 cents per hour and in shipyards 72 cents. Other shops seldom pay as much, but the union scale is from 50 cents to 75 cents an hour in sections where large shops predominate.

The health of the worker is not apt to be impaired by his work, as the muscular strain is not severe, and the sanitary conditions of shops are not generally unfavorable.

The importance of the bench worker in the metal-working industry is decreasing with the increased use of automatic machines, jigs, and fixtures which do away with laying out, and with improvements in molding and casting. All repair work in railroad, automobile, and other shops, however, require much handwork at the bench.

Handicaps

Filing, chipping, hammering, etc., may be done by men provided with an artificial hand or arm. The training required before a man can become accustomed to this substitute will take some time, since the bench worker is required to use a variety of tools, and the output of work will depend on the skill of the worker in handling these tools.

Previous experience in the employment will go a long way toward starting a man in the trade again. The use of hand tools is relatively less complicated than that of machine tools, and previous experience should provide the man with the essential knowledge of processes.

Reeducation for any line of bench work should take all possible advantage of previous experience. Many of the things done by the bench hand can be taught in a school in short courses, but experience at the bench on productive work may be obtained at the same time. If the school is provided with satisfactory benches of the proper height and with standard vises, the course may require no longer than from three to six months, allowing for instruction in the reading of blue prints, the use of tools, and for getting accustomed to the work again.

PLAN No. 925. ASSEMBLERS AND ERECTORS

The parts which go to make up the finished machines come from the shop and after inspection are ready to be put together. Men who work at a bench in the assembling room or on the erecting floor fasten these parts together.

Assembling Work

Examples of heavy work are found in the assembling of locomotives, stationary and marine engines, mining and pumping machinery, printing presses, rolling mills, and sugar machinery; of medium work in the assembling of gas and gasoline engines, farm machinery, automobiles, and trucks; of light work in the assembling of sewing machines, shoe machinery, cream separators, and typewriters.

Machinists who assemble medium and light machinery receive the parts from the stock room after they have been inspected for accuracy and finish, and bolt them together. Frequently mechanical means are used to carry the parts to the assembler, who bolts them in place on the frame of the machine. This is common in automobile factories.

From the assembling room the machines go to be tested or to be painted and prepared for shipment.

In contract work in job shops the routine described is not usually followed, and the work is performed by all-around men who take the place of the assemblers.

Erecting Work

Machinists who work as erectors usually fit the parts together, bolt them solidly, then test the machine for alignment. Shafting is fitted to bearings and sliding surfaces brought into contact by scraping with steel scrapers. Oil grooves are cut in bearing surfaces and all accessory parts fitted. Then in most cases the machine is taken down for shipment, and after reaching its destination is erected again on permanent foundations. Traveling machinists are frequently sent out from the shop to do this work in the field.

Tools

Assemblers and erectors use a variety of wrenches, hammers, and other tools. They are often provided with cranes and hoists for all heavy lifting. In the field they may have to devise special means of moving heavy machinery.

Hours, Wages, and Conditions of Work

The hours and wages of labor are the same as for the machine operators and bench men, the hours ranging from forty-eight to fifty-four a week.

The position of the assembler or erector is very important. There is no possibility of his being displaced by the introduction of machinery. The increase of production will demand more men, but it is fair to say that there are very many men who are qualified to fill the lower grades of work in this occupation. Only through experience and training on the job can men learn to be competent machinist erectors. These men hold responsible positions in industry and there is a constant demand for competent men.

Handicaps

The workman in this branch of the trade must be active and have physical strength, good eyesight, and considerable skill in the use of hand tools. He should know something about machine-tool processes, and may find it necessary to operate machines on occasion. Any handicap must be considered from the point of view of the man and the job he expects to take. If the man has had experience in the given line of work and wants to reenter it, he will be a very good judge of his own ability.

Nearly every disabled man who has previous experience in a machine shop will find it possible to use this experience to advantage.

Handicapped men who are preparing to enter this occupation may be trained in special classes in the factory where the work is done. A group of ten or twelve such men may be taken to a large factory and trained for special jobs under the instruction of a practical teacher.