Longjohn ★ Posted November 20, 2019 Share #1 Posted November 20, 2019 One of the guys that works there just posted this selfie. Only one hour into the shift. It’s a dirty job but somebody’s gotta do it. Those hard hats start out yellow, that’s graphite, grease, and oil that drips off the press that turned it black. I used to pressure wash my hat every few weeks. I like working with this guy, he had a great attitude. 3 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razors Edge ★ Posted November 20, 2019 Share #2 Posted November 20, 2019 How do those glasses keep stuff out of his eyes? It looks like the crap would still get past them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsharr ★ Posted November 20, 2019 Share #3 Posted November 20, 2019 The American worker is the backbone of this country. If he dies, we die. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razors Edge ★ Posted November 20, 2019 Share #4 Posted November 20, 2019 2 minutes ago, jsharr said: The American worker is the backbone of this country. If he dies, we die. I ain't going anywhere anytime soon (I hope). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted November 20, 2019 Author Share #5 Posted November 20, 2019 40 minutes ago, Razors Edge said: How do those glasses keep stuff out of his eyes? It looks like the crap would still get past them. You can’t see it in this photo but they wrap around and fit close to the face. They actually give better protection than my $350 prescription safety glasses with side shields. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MickinMD ★ Posted November 20, 2019 Share #6 Posted November 20, 2019 I'm surprised OSHA allows such working conditions. When I was an industrial process development chemist, OSHA would check out our plant modifications before we launched a new product. They'd find three things wrong that were really all right and miss three things we knew we had to improve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donkpow Posted November 20, 2019 Share #7 Posted November 20, 2019 10 minutes ago, MickinMD said: I'm surprised OSHA allows such working conditions. It is likely an intermittent or occasional exposure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted November 20, 2019 Author Share #8 Posted November 20, 2019 7 minutes ago, MickinMD said: I'm surprised OSHA allows such working conditions. When I was an industrial process development chemist, OSHA would check out our plant modifications before we launched a new product. They'd find three things wrong that were really all right and miss three things we knew we had to improve. The goop on his hard hat accumulated over time. The speckles on his face came from a top clamp bolt in the press that won’t break loose. The air guns we use are quite heavy. You hold the air gun on the bolt and let it hammer to break it loose. As your arms tire it sometimes lets the socket slip down off the bolt and the air gun spins the socket throwing all the crap off the socket onto your face. That doesn’t happen every day but sometimes it happens multiple times a day. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisL Posted November 20, 2019 Share #9 Posted November 20, 2019 25 minutes ago, MickinMD said: I'm surprised OSHA allows such working conditions. When I was an industrial process development chemist, OSHA would check out our plant modifications before we launched a new product. They'd find three things wrong that were really all right and miss three things we knew we had to improve. OSHA probably has less stringent guidelines for certain industries. The Govt won’t shut down the steel industry as it won’t the coal industry & several others that are hazardous to the employee’s health. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BR46 Posted November 20, 2019 Share #10 Posted November 20, 2019 12 minutes ago, ChrisL said: I'm surprised OSHA allows such working conditions The only time we should OSHA in the wire company is if someone lopped off a finger. Every maintenance or setup man in the plant always carried a wire cutter on them at all times. I personally cut several people out of the machines when a wire would jump out a shoot through someone's hand or fingers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razors Edge ★ Posted November 20, 2019 Share #11 Posted November 20, 2019 5 minutes ago, BR46 said: The only time we should OSHA in the wire company is if someone lopped off a finger. Every maintenance or setup man in the plant always carried a wire cutter on them at all times. I personally cut several people out of the machines when a wire would jump out a shoot through someone's hand or fingers. We are severely lacking in options to respond to your post! I need a HOLY S$#@! option 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted November 20, 2019 Author Share #12 Posted November 20, 2019 It would be possible to lose a finger at the forge shop but more likely just smash them while handling/packing the cooled parts. An accident while running one of presses would be deadly. I tried not to think about what could happen. We never lost anyone during my 28 years there. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisL Posted November 20, 2019 Share #13 Posted November 20, 2019 33 minutes ago, BR46 said: The only time we should OSHA in the wire company is if someone lopped off a finger. Every maintenance or setup man in the plant always carried a wire cutter on them at all times. I personally cut several people out of the machines when a wire would jump out a shoot through someone's hand or fingers. Years ago my brother worked at a factory that made wire mesh netting for rock quarries. He once had a wire shoot into his wrist & nearly went through. When he pulled it out arterial bleeding started spitting out of his wrist. The injury didn’t so much jack him up, passing out from the bleed sent him to the ER! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BR46 Posted November 20, 2019 Share #14 Posted November 20, 2019 7 minutes ago, Longjohn said: more likely just smash them I seen it a few times where someone got a finger in a die and it smashed it flat that there was nothing left to save. It was always just from the first knuckle up. 5 minutes ago, ChrisL said: He once had a wire shoot into his wrist & nearly went through. When he pulled it out arterial bleeding started spitting out of his wrist I had one that shoot in the back of my hand and when I pulled it out blood shot out about a foot and you could see my pulse. One I remember seeing was a guy had a wire that went in his wrist and came out his elbow. A good friend / coworker had two 3/8 rods shoot through the same hand. Stored energy when working on a machine is one of the most dangerous things that Lockout Tagout won't always save you. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsharr ★ Posted November 20, 2019 Share #15 Posted November 20, 2019 2 hours ago, jsharr said: The American worker is the backbone of this country. If he dies, we die. Or she. Sorry to be so misogynistic 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smudge ★ Posted November 20, 2019 Share #16 Posted November 20, 2019 2 minutes ago, BR46 said: Stored energy when working on a machine is one of the most dangerous things that Lockout Tagout won't always save you. Good point. So I guess I'll stop whining about my finger, eh? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisL Posted November 20, 2019 Share #17 Posted November 20, 2019 4 minutes ago, smudge said: Good point. So I guess I'll stop whining about my finger, eh? Funny in that I was thinking if you this morning when I smashed my index finger between the pocket door & wall. Sumbitch that hurt but then I thought of your hammered fingers and stopped complaining! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted November 20, 2019 Author Share #18 Posted November 20, 2019 3 hours ago, jsharr said: Or she. Sorry to be so misogynistic Which reminds me the forge hired their second female employee this year. I hear she is young and cute. Nobody has mentioned her for awhile. I’ll bet she liven’s up the place. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirtyhip Posted November 20, 2019 Share #19 Posted November 20, 2019 I have no idea what this kind of work is. Forge? I like to forge ahead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsharr ★ Posted November 20, 2019 Share #20 Posted November 20, 2019 4 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said: I have no idea what this kind of work is. Forge? I like to forge ahead. Imagine a giant three hole punch full of lava 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted November 20, 2019 Share #21 Posted November 20, 2019 You would think a face shield would be required. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirtyhip Posted November 20, 2019 Share #22 Posted November 20, 2019 12 minutes ago, jsharr said: Imagine a giant three hole punch full of lava Sounds terrible 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted November 20, 2019 Share #23 Posted November 20, 2019 This is probably why forgery is illegal. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted November 20, 2019 Author Share #24 Posted November 20, 2019 8 minutes ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said: You would think a face shield would be required. They supply them to anyone that wants one. They get dirty too quick and you can’t see what you’re doing. The glasses fit close to your eyes and you can usually see through the dirt. The glasses are also easy to clean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BR46 Posted November 20, 2019 Share #25 Posted November 20, 2019 My son did a internship at a factory that had the world's longest forging hammer. He said it was one of the most impressing things to watch work 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted November 20, 2019 Author Share #26 Posted November 20, 2019 9 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said: Sounds terrible It sort of is. That’s why it pays more than double what the other jobs pay that are not on the press crew. The steel we work with is 2,300° F and depending what you are making would weigh up to 118#. I’m lifting that steel with tongs about six feet long and moving it through the dies.Each part gets moved about four times as we moved it through the press. The 118# part we make one part every 40 seconds. Some of the smaller parts we will run as fast as one part every six seconds. The shop is warm in the winter and hot as blazes in the summer. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Further Posted November 20, 2019 Share #27 Posted November 20, 2019 The forge at my work smashes chunks of alloy or titanium weighing up to 40,000 pounds. All the moving is done by machinery, forklift, crane or manipulator. The manipulator manipulates the piece while it is being squeezed, picture a giant pliers on the front of a locomotive. It rides on tracks, grabs the piece and can rotate, move up & down, back & forth, and in & out. There are 2 manipulators one on either side of the press and they pass the piece back & forth through the press. The operator sits in a chair with a joystick on each armrest, one for each manipulator, and foot pedals to control the press. they just bought a new chair, it cost 57,000.00 and is very complicated. The press squeezes at 3200 tons of pressure. It is powered by 2, 1000 horsepower hydraulic pumps. They start with a piece up to 45" diameter and turn it into a piece down to 8" diameter and a lot longer than what it started. They can make a variety of shapes, round, square, rectangle, octagon... We used to squish phone books & wood & such. It explodes in a most satisfying manner, specially if it soaked in diesel fuel beforehand ? The present management hasn't much sense of fun. ? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted November 21, 2019 Author Share #28 Posted November 21, 2019 When I drove truck before I started at the forge I hauled steel into shops that had Further’s type of press. That is all I knew when I got hired. When I went in there on my first day it was a whole different kind of forging. Both types of presses are impressive. The great big stuff is easier on your body because machines do all the work. The closed die forgings take a lot of tonnage. Our biggest press was a 44,000 ton press manufactured in Erie Pa. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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