A few more recollections from the period approx 2000:

At the end of the month/quarter to encourage production to hit the numbers, cases of beer were alternated with every third or fourth stove at the head of the line. You want to see stoves fly down the line, that’s the way to do it!

A the top of the sand tower at the foundry there was a little device that earned the nickname Saddam. Essentially it was an automated scooper. It would pack a ball of green sand and drop it on a scale where weight and moisture content readings were taken. This was used to maintain the right sand consistency for the casting line. Sometimes though, the scoop mechanism would malfunction and launch a sandball in a random direction. Many a time a worker got smacked by these ‘scuds’, getting hit became a rite of passage.

Well, to prep for the winter I found an original Defiant in great shape for $250. It’s going in the basement which I’m filling with wood from our woodlot out back.

Have a great day,