The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1915-09-21
THE BEGINNING OF THE 4
HOUSE OF STCDEBAKER. 4


ISIsy(ufN ART.
II would be impossible in this
book to tell you how all of the
1000 parts in an automobile are
made.
Almost without exception each
part requires several operations TO
manufacture IL. Even by taking a
trip through the factory you could
gain OILY general idea of the lit
orally thousands OF intricate pro-
cesses of manufacture.
Then, think what engineering and
manufacturing skill it requires to
develop each process and organize 1t
in proper relation to every other
process, for production of $4,000
cars a year.
In your trip through the factory
you see hundreds Of shining parts
and in every case you notice the fin
ished pieces of steel passing various
inspections by expert Inspectors
men who measure to the thousandth
part of an inch, not with the naked
eye, but with delicate instruments,
which, through leverage. magnify
possible imperfections many times.
Let US sketch briefly few of the
processes necessary to manufacture
single part: the cam shaft. We
select this part because it is diff
cult part to manufacture, and yet
many of the operations in its manu-
facture are the same as those re-
CURED to manufacture the axle
shaft, transmission shaft, propeller
shaft and many of the other 1000
parts.
The raw material out of which
he cam shaft is made is specified
~ the Studebaker engineers and its
chemical composition determined to
give it the greatest possible resist
ance to twisting stran, vibration
strain and surface wear
The steel for the cam shaft comes
to the factory in bars. This bar is
cut off by gigantic shears into bill
let's about a foot long. The billet
is heated to a malleable state just
as the blacksmith of old heated the
piece OF steel TO make a horseshoe.
but the cam shaft, instead OF being
hammered into shape on an anvil,
IS placed ON the die OF great steam
hammer.
The die is the shape of the cam
shaft; the hammer which strikes
the steel is guided 10 strike exactly
the same spot on the die each time.
The face of the hammer is also cut
in the shape of the cam shaft. This
great hammer is operated by steam,
and it strikes a smashing blow. In
few strokes the billet of steel is
elongated and shaped roughly into
its final form. At the same time the
blows of the drop-forge hammer
press the grain of the steel togeth-
err and refine it. After this opera
ton the shaft is allowed to cool in
the air. 1t is then heated again
slowly to LOO degrees fahrenheit
in a furnace where the heat is cleo
trically measured. This treatment
protects the grain of the steel after
the stroke OF the drop-forge ham
mer
The shaft is now ready for its
next step in manufacture.
II goes through several lathes
which begin to shape it for its final
form. For this process it is, of
course, first cut TO length and meas
ured so that it can be turned ac-
curately, and the grinding machine
viii be especially made to machine
the cam surface into a parabolic
shape. that is. curved something
like an egg.
After these roughing processes the
shaft is again trucd, Inspected and,
Il it passes muster. packed III a
chemical composition and placed in
= heating furnace where it is kept
for eleven hours under tempera-
ture of LOO degrees fahrenheit
Under this heat a chemical sub
stance slowly permeates the surface
grain of the steel and, when the
steel is fixed by the next heat treat
ment, makes its surface diamond
hard after that treatment. So skill
fully has the steel expert developed
this process that extreme hardness
has been secured without the shaft
being made brittle. You must bear
in mind that the hardness extends
only just below the surface of the
steel. The core OF the shaft is still
as tough as tho horseshoe nail.
1t is now ready for its last finish
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