Part 4

They have built and shipped about six hundred machines, not including slide rests and vises.

The screw slotters and tapping machines are of a type in great demand for munition factories, being particularly serviceable for use on fuse parts, small arms and government hardware.

Thus, the school, while following its basic plan, is supplying the country’s vital needs in training boys and at the same time making an essential product.

In addition, further use of the equipment is secured by the operation of night continuation classes for twenty-five weeks in the year. The classes are operated six nights per week and Saturday afternoon with instructors taken from the local factories under one of the regular day force.

Men in all stages of experience, ambitious apprentices, unskilled clerks, drivers, porters, etc., who wish to enter the local munition factories come to these classes.

As an instance of extremes we may take the case of a painter of sixty who entered the Marlin Rockwell Corporation on machine work after two seasons of study; and the case of an experienced toolmaker taking advantage of the equipment to learn some new operations so as to fit himself for a higher grade of work. Both men made good. Machinists take the continuation course so that they may qualify as toolmakers. Four classes of fifty men—making a total of two hundred men—are taught in the night classes.

The results have been so satisfactory that these classes will be continued and if the demand warrants women will be given instruction upon specified evenings. The school management believes that the day is coming when women will receive a far greater share of trade instruction.

Plans are in operation to increase the efficiency of the school by teaching special classes. For instance, a class in the use of measuring instruments and gauges would prove valuable and reduce, in a great measure, the time taken in training the unskilled men and women taking up factory work. Large numbers can be handled in such courses.

The school is prepared to take crippled and disabled resident soldiers in any of its trade courses, night or day, when the demand comes.

Since this article was prepared, orders for fifty No. 1 screw slotters and twelve No. 1 vertical tapping machines have been booked at this school.

This order of twelve tapping machines will go directly into an optical factory for use on government supplies.

FRANK R. LAWRENCE, Acting Director.

September 16, 1918.

Milling the “tailstock” on a motor-driven vertical milling machine. A natural mechanic (one out of every fifteen that apply can be classed as such), 14 years old. Has been an apprentice about four months. Is doing work usually done by boys of eighteen months’ experience.]

Boring is an advanced branch of the machine trade, and requires great skill to successfully complete an accurate piece of work.

A boy must complete 4,000 hours before he is advanced to this operation, and not then unless we consider him competent to do this accurate work.

The “head” and “tail” of this machine must “line” to .001 of an inch in 18 inches, and therefore must be bored until all the “spring” is out of the boring bar.

This boy, age 15, is making a measurement with a spring caliper to ascertain proper size before reaming.]

Scraping beds—a difficult art. Notice the standard Brown & Sharpe surface plate at the left. The surface of these beds must show an 85 per cent bearing, the tailstocks scraped to fit the same. These boys are about 14½ years old, and have served six months’ apprenticeship.]

Planing “head.” It is one of the advanced operations and requires much care in machining. The slot shown must be absolutely in line with the boxes, and they are tested with an aligning bar after planing. This boy is 16 years old, and will graduate in about two months.]

DAYTON INDUSTRIAL INSTITUTE

Dayton, Ohio

The Dayton Industrial Institute was established to replace the vestibule schools in the following plants: The Dayton Engineering Laboratories Co., the Domestic Engineering Co., the Dayton Metal Products Co., and the Dayton Wright Airplane Co.

Although the school has been fostered by the above companies, any manufacturer in Dayton is at liberty to send students to the school under certain regulations.

The Directors of the several companies thought it advisable to segregate the training school from the plants, and combine the school under one directing head. Most gratifying results have been obtained since the opening of the school January 1, 1918.

During the past seven months over 500 persons, from all walks of life, have been trained for factory work. About 200 of this number were women.

In addition to the large number of people trained, over 100,000 pieces of commercial product have been manufactured, which passed the most rigid factory inspection.

A large percentage of the work has been parts of war products, such as detonator bodies, Liberty motor ignition parts, inspection gauges for war materials, crank shafts, cam shafts, motor truck parts, etc., as well as airplane parts, consisting of ribs, fins, stabilizers, wheel covers, etc., for the DeHaviland fighting plane.