Gears, shafts, and shifting forks used in the transmission are also made in the machine shop. The gears and shafts are next heat treated and tested. They are then ground to insure accuracy and are again tested for trueness. This testing operation is done by men who sit at benches. Part of this work is done sitting, and could be done by a man with one leg. Gears are tested as to hardness and for centers. Special equipment is used for these operations, and a man does not need experience other than that learned at the work in a short time.
From the inspection department the transmission case, shafts, gears, and bearings (the bearing having been made in another department or purchased) are taken to the assembly department. Here we find men standing at benches putting together the various parts of the transmissions. Gears are riveted or keyed to shafts, bearings are fitted to cases, and shafts and parts put in the case. Shafts and bearing are then adjusted and the adjustments locked. The assembled transmission is now ready for the inspectors, who check the work. The work in the transmission assembly department is similar to that of the rear axle department. Some transmissions are heavy and some light. The employee in this department must be able to move about freely, and must be able to use such hand tools as wrenches, files, and hammers. He needs no special instruction.
The transmission is now passed to the testing department where it is tested for noisy bearings and gears. If it passes this test, the covers are put on to keep out dirt. It is then numbered and sent to the stock department.
In a transmission factory there are many occupations that could be filled by men with slight handicaps. Much of the work can be done by men who have lost fingers, one hand, a leg, or foot, and by men who are not physically strong. The factories pay good wages, hours are reasonable, and the work is steady. Much of the work is piece-work.
PLAN No. 1129. CLUTCH
Practically all parts of the clutch are made in the machine shop. After the parts have been machined and inspected they are sent to the assembly department, where the work is similar to that described for other units. It requires a man who can use both hands and move about. Wages for this work are practically the same as are paid the assembler in the other unit factories—from 80 to 60 cents per hour—and general conditions are the same as in other factories.
PLAN No. 1130. ENGINES
There are a number of concerns which build only automobile engines, and the automobile engine factory is usually a large plant.
Usually about three classes or grades of engines are built in a factory which makes a specialty of engines. The first class or grades of engines go into the higher-priced cars, the second grade into the second-class cars, and the third grade into the cheaper cars.
The engine factory must have its foundry in which are employed such foundry experts and helpers as patternmakers, coremen, cupolamen, molders, and machine operators. Some engine parts are aluminum, some brass, some steel, and some cast iron. There is much work in the foundry that could easily be done by handicapped men—by men, for example, who have stiff joints and who are unable to move about freely, and men who have lost one arm, a hand, or a leg.