Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1911-10-22


cylinder castings for their motors from
! other concerns provided with special
foundry equipment and corps Of skilled
uloiders But the production OF these
complicated castings is only the begin
nihe OF the grooming that the cylinders
must receive. They must be bored and
ground out 80 that the interior Will be
as smooth a. glass. the valve-pockets
ana openings must be finished. the sur
aces smoothed OF where adjoining cyl
ihaers or pipes are 20 be connected. holes
must be drilled and threads cut In
dozen places; and all OF this work musv
De done without injuring the casting or
raising It's temperature above a given
point Tor With every explosion the thin
walls Of each cylinder must withstand
pressure Of from four to five hundred
pounds per square inch
Paradoxical as II may seem. the more
cheaply good car Is to be produced the
greater must be the Investment I'm tools
and other equipment-and yet Il Is the
cost Of such machines that really de-
termines the selling price OF an auto
mobile. The car Of the oiden days. built
piece by piece in the small machine-shop.
cost three times a. much ~ the better
automobiles OF to-day manufactured in
establishments having millions Of dollars
worth OF tools and equipment. But this
Investment IN tools saves labor and In
creases the quality and quantity Of the
output-and thereby reduces the cost OF
production.
Uniform Parts.
One Of the demands growing out Of
the increased use OF automobiles is that
all parts OF cars OF like model shall be
interchangeable, 20 that broken or worn
portions may be replaced without the
necessity for extra fitting. In former
days this accuracy would have increased
tho cost OF production greatly. but I'M
der modern methods Il fits in perfectly
with the conditions OF machine manu-
facturo. To render like parts inter-
ehangeabe all must be OF exactly the
same size and shape This means that
all holes must occupy tho name relative
position to one another IN every dupii-
cate piece, and that far greater accuracy
must prevail than could be obtained
merely by means OF measurements 10
facilitate matters. the multiple, or gang"
drill has been introduced by means Of
which a dozen holes may be drilled In
piece In the time that would ordinarily
be required 10 bore one. This is one ma
chine, but II consists OF twelve or flf-
teen drills, each OF which IL set in a
movable spindle. This allows each drill
TO be set Independently OF the others,
and thus any combination OF location or
size Of holes may be obtained. But even
with such a machine, properly set SUI
ffrinnt ku .Hf a.,
meet the rigid requirements OF modern
automobile construction without tho adj
ditional use OF Gigs" These are steel
plates la which holes have been bored
corresponding TO the proper location Of
the holes 70 be drilled in certain piece
The holes In the jig are provided with
guides OF tho proper size, and these d.
rect each drill TO It's place.
Five Thousand Pieces.
And 30 each part of modern car may
DO taken as an Illustration. the machine
operations and processes described, and
the amount OF time and labor necessary
for the completion OF each computed,
with astonishing results. The statistlcian
would find probably, that there are APP
proximately five thousand different parts
TO ear; that there IL an average OF five
landings and as many distinct opera
lions required by every piece; and that
no surface Is left rough or unfinished.
for all are milled bored. ground, polished,
or plated lie would tell you that 10
make any OF those pieces--except the
simplest screw, bolt, or muffin even the
best equipped shop outside. Of an auto
mobile factory, would cost from one to
one hundred dollars, and evan then there
would not be the certainty OF obtaining
the perfect 1T that Is assured by the In
feature OF mod
ern motor car production Five thou
sand parts at an average cost OF five
dollars each represents a total outlay
Of 5000 that would be needed for the
OF a single high-grade car
by this plooe-meal method-and no al