Way back in the late 50's we bought a brand new very expensive
vertical boring mill. It arrived from Italia accompanied by two really
professional installers dressed in three-piece dark Italian suits.
Keep in mind, this mega-ton, mega-buck machine tool was to be
installed several feet below the shop floor in a PIT. Well these two
what, wops? dagoes? arrived every morning in their suits, doffed their
jackets and donned blue shop coats. They connected the 660 volt
power, the hydraulic feeds, the lubrication lines, the leveling blocks,
the oil drains, and they left each afternoon after removing their coats,
washing their hands, and replacing the jackets and ties. SUAVE.
That was in 1959.
That boring mill is running today. After milling parts for the valves
for the
Nautilus submarine and experimental pieces that went into early
space programs and nuclear power plants. It ended up hot-spinning 1-inch
steel cylinders into formed valve bodies.
Not bad for some cheap junk Italian stuff.
Show me a Chevvy lasting that long and doing as well!
ciaffone
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