My Other Country

September 18, 2019 • 8 Replies

By Lloyd Graff

As I write this piece, Tuesday’s election in Israel is too close to call. Bibi Netanyahu and Benny Gantz are running neck-and-neck again. This is the second election because Netanyahu could not form a government after the first one in April, though he had a tiny majority of the seats in the 120-seat parliamentary free-for-all.

Why does this election mean a lot to me?

Israel is my country, almost as much as America is.

It was born when I was three, in 1948. Its wars were my wars. Much more than Vietnam, which was my war to fear and despise, Israel’s wars in 1948, 1956, 1967, and 1973 were the wars I felt in my bones. These wars were the wars where I prayed for victories. These were the wars that absolutely could not be lost, because that would have meant death to the heart and soul of the Jewish people.

I’m sure it is very hard for most people to understand how I feel about Israel – even for many younger Jews today

I am not a Holocaust survivor. I am not the child of a survivor, but I truly identify with their suffering. The passion of the survivors to build something great out of the ashes of their parents and relatives, as well as the passion of the children of the early settlers from Eastern Europe who did not come to America but lived the dream of making something wonderful out of the sand and dirt of the Holy Land, was a feeling I always connected with.

I have always been extremely emotional about Israel. I am sure I have mythologized it since I read Leon Uris’ book Exodus and watched Paul Newman in the movie. My wife and I named our first son Ari, the name of Newman’s character in the movie.

For most of my adult life my biggest charitable contributions have been to support Eretz Yisrael, the Hebrew name for Israel. I have only visited twice, but I think and dream about Israel often.

I am interested in the current election but not excited about it. From a practical standpoint, there is not that much to distinguish between the leaders, Netanyahu and Gantz, on the issues I care so deeply about, except that Gantz is allied with the secular parties.

They are both warriors who achieved their fame and importance through military service. Bibi Netanyahu spent part of his childhood in America and achieved a name partly from the valor of his brother who died on the Entebbe raid to free the Israelis whose plane was hijacked to Uganda.

Benny Gantz was a top general in the Israeli Defense Forces. They both stand for Israeli strength in the face of hundreds of millions of Arabs who hate the tiny Jewish Nation.

Netanyahu has the luster of presiding over the economic stardom of the country in recent years, as a cheerleader of “Startup Nation.” He has also been tarnished by pettiness, corruption, nasty politics, and unholy alliances with ultra-Orthodox religious parties.

Gantz and the opposition coalition have made the election about Bibi, just as the Democrats will make 2020 about Donald Trump, one of Netanyahu’s fans.

I have been listening lately to Steven Pressfield’s stunning book, The Lion’s Gate, about Israel and the 1967 six-day war against the Arabs led by Gamal Abdel Nasser.

Reading about the incredible valor and brilliance of 20-year-old Israel with 2.7 million people fighting alone for survival against the Russian-equipped armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq is inspiring. I know Israel is not pure and unblemished. No country is. But I love it to my core. It is an integral part of my life. I really don’t care who wins the election as long as Israel always wins.

Question: Does Israel mean something to you?

Swarfcast Ep. 53 – Chris Manning on the Beauty of Bar Loaders

September 13, 2019 • 2 Replies

By Noah Graff

On today’s podcast we’re talking about bar loaders for multi-spindle screw machines. Our guest is Chris Manning. Chris has been installing and repairing integrated bar loaders around the world for 20 years, primarily Cucchi bar loaders. Integrated loaders, usually those made by Cucchi or IEMCA, replace the traditional stock reels on multi-spindles.

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Bar loaders may sound like a boring topic, but they are actually quite expensive and complex equipment. One integrated loader can enable a single machinist to run three machines at a time.

Main Points of the Interview

(3:10-8:05) Chris talks about his career path. He started as a chipper at a machine shop in Ohio in the ‘80s. Eventually he graduated to running and setting up cam multi-spindles. In the late ’90s he went to work at Gosiger, a machine tool distributor in Dayton, Ohio, where he sold Euroturn multi-spindles and Cucchi bar loaders. Later, he worked with Luca Lanzetta who took over distributing Cucchi. Since then he has worked for various other machine tool firms and started his own company Bar Loader Services.

(10:10-10:45) Chris explains that integrated loaders are best suited for long parts such as shafts and typically cost around $125,000.

(11:42-13:50) Chris discusses the mechanical process of integrated bar loaders. He says that if they are properly implemented in a shop, a Cucchi or IEMCA bar loader can enable one person to run three multi-spindles at a time.

(15:20) Chris explains the differences between Cucchi loaders and IEMCA loaders. He says the fingers on Cucchi loaders enable it to absorb vibration well and that they are far superior at running hex stock. He says he prefers IEMCA loaders for running very small diameters, 1/8” or smaller.

(20:10-21:30) Chris talks about the main technical problems he encounters in the field when bar loaders are poorly maintained.

(21:30-22:25) Chris speaks highly about the new MBL bar loaders produced by INDEX. He says they seem like a cross breed between IEMCA and Cucchi, taking the best characteristics of each.

(22:34) Chris says he is seeing more and more shops in the United States replacing multi-spindles with single spindle CNCs and CNC turning centers.

(26:45-29:05) Chris discusses the process of replacing a stock reel on a multi-spindle with an integrated loader. He says it is harder to replace a bar loader with a stock reel than to replace a stock reel with a bar loader.

Question: Do businesses need fewer people today?

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Trade War 7th Round

September 11, 2019 • 8 Replies

I keep trying to make sense out of the trade war with China. It isn’t easy. I use metaphors to describe the tariffs and the tit-for-tat jabbing of the two major powers. It is a bit like Ultimate Fighting Championship, but it is much more complicated. Donald Trump has an election battle coming up, and a booming economy is his biggest asset going into 2020. China’s Xi has no election, but he has Communist cronies who are not all fawning stooges.

Trump has immigration woes that he is trying to turn into a positive politically, but it isn’t working well. Xi has Hong Kong mass demonstrations, which are now more than an annoyance to his regime. It is a problem that is a public relations horror and potentially could spark rebellion within China, despite its rigidly controlled press. Just like a million people leaving Central America desperately knocking on the door of a country built by immigrants is a problem without an easy solution here, the longing for freedom in Hong Kong ultimately overflowing into China is a problem that just won’t evaporate.

China under Xi wants to overwhelm the United States in every way other than a shooting war. Manipulating outdated trading norms developed by Kissinger and Clinton and maintained without a whimper by every administration since then out of convenience and laziness has served China beautifully as it has eviscerated American industry and workers in exchange for $5 t-shirts at Walmart and Target. The Obama Administration timidly objected to the Chinese trade bullying, but had no taste for a trade war which would have been rather uncomfortable and unpopular.

Pugnacious Donald Trump was looking for a fight. He seems to thrive on nonphysical, non-shooting warfare. Advisors convinced him that it was a winnable war if he played it right. Tariffs were his weapon of choice.

Tariffs probably hurt China a bit more than they hurt the United States because we buy a lot more from them than they buy from us, and if the farmers take a fist to the jaw, Trump and Congress can cushion the hurt with subsides. If t-shirts bump up $0.50, Walmart can eat a little bit and the richer American workers can absorb their annoyance with fatter paychecks. China can manipulate its currency to cheapen its goods and the Fed can manipulate interest rates to make mortgages cheaper.

This is why, after two years of trade war, the American economy is still quite good and China’s economy is still growing.

The mavens in the press here have exaggerated the impact of the tariffs, and some are trying to talk the country into a recession for political purposes. It is having an effect: capital spending is slowing, and big business bureaucrats are becoming fearful because they tend to be sheep. Machine tool sales are weakening. Japanese production of machine tools is soft.

Was Trump right in picking this fight with China? Short-term, politically, it was dumb. Since most politicians only think in terms of the next election, it was a stupid aberrant move in their eyes. He hurts his base in rural America. Any gain for American industry is far away and foggy.

Barack Obama saw the same things as Donald Trump, but was afraid of confrontation. Trump relishes confrontation, but appears to lack a coherent strategy. The Chinese want to outlast Trump and may succeed, but Xi may be in trouble at home amongst his enemies because Trump has not folded yet. Hong Kong is potentially very dangerous for the regime with the Chinese home economy softening, and China’s ambitious plans for a Belt and Road initiative to aid developing countries seeming to have faltered.

Trump’s Huawei gambit has given Xi a black eye, but the company evidently has some attractive 5G products at good prices, which will allow it to weather the storm.

Put it all together and the two fighters have fought a draw through six or seven rounds of a 15-round bout. China has not given in on intellectual property theft, and America keeps jabbing them with tariffs.

I do not see a knockout or surrender in the foreseeable future. The stock market will be a yo-yo. Big business will play defense. Growth in both countries will gasp a little, but keep on going.

Is the battle worth the trouble? The Chinese certainly think so. Do we?

Question: Where were you on September 11, 2001?

Swarfcast Ep. 52 – Harry Eighmy of ATP on Running High Volume Work Successfully

September 4, 2019 Comments Off

By Noah Graff

On today’s podcast we discuss how to run a profitable high volume machining business. Our guest is Harry Eighmy, co-owner and C.O.O. of American Turned Products (ATP) in Erie, Pennsylvania.

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Harry and his brother Scott believe it is important to invest heavily in high-end turning equipment such as INDEX multi-spindles and Hydromat rotary transfer machines for large volumes. They also make sure to balance their high volume work with smaller run jobs using CNC Swiss and turning centers, such as Tornos DECOs and INDEX C200s.

Main points of the interview

(3:03) Harry discusses American Turned Products’ focus on high volume machining, but also the company’s ability to machine smaller run prototype parts in order to win high volume jobs.

(5:05) Harry talks about the history of his family’s machining businesses, starting with a Brown & Sharp shop started by his grandfather around 1955. The family’s business evolved into a higher volume model using ACME-GRIDLEYs in 1970s.

(6:40) Harry says that the company doesn’t have a huge amount of customers, but it tries to do a variety of jobs for those it has. The company has no customer with more than 25% of its business.

(8:00-14:40) Harry talks about the Davenport shop in El Paso, Texas, his family started in 1990, which he ran for five years starting at age 26.

(16:30) Harry talks about his father, Jerry Eighmy, who had the foresight in the late ‘90s to sell off all of the company’s ACMEs. The company upgraded to all European multi-spindles, particularly Index CNC multi-spindles.

(23:00-26:00) Harry talks about ATP’s reliance on INDEX CNC multi-spindles and turning centers, Hydromat rotary transfer machines, and Tornos CNC Swiss. He says that to justify buying a $500,000 to $2 million machine a company has to run it at least 100 hours per week.

(31:00) Harry talks about the importance of having a vision for the company going forward. He says that the quality of people a company does business for is one of the most important factors for success.

Question: Is high volume production too risky these days?

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PTSD 11 Years Later

August 29, 2019 • 11 Replies

By Lloyd Graff

Of all the weeks in the year this is the one I dread the most.

I suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder which was triggered by my almost catastrophic heart attack that occurred 11 years ago this week. It is also the week that my mother died suddenly in 1993.

I think about the heart attack every day of my life, wondering how I survived, why I survived, and when the final shoe might drop. I don’t try to not think about it, because that only causes me to think about it even more.

The strange thing is that it wasn’t all that terrible for me when it happened, because most of the time I was drugged. I had collateral heart circulation developed over 25 years of dedicated running, so even though my most important heart artery was 99% blocked I could still function, if only in a painful and sickly way. I had trouble breathing and thought I had pneumonia. My wife, Risa, and I drove 55 minutes August 29, 2008, to see a friend who was an infectious disease doctor, and I walked into his office at the hospital while Risa parked. He was treating a kid while I waited. I remember him checking me out in the waiting area, putting a stethoscope on my chest, and saying Lloyd, I’m wheeling you to the emergency room myself. I remember somebody yelling, “Can I cut his underwear off?” and then nothing.

Lloyd on a flatbed truck 11 years later

Then the nightmare really started for Risa and my children and many, many people who rushed to the St. Francis Hospital in Evanston to be with her.

Somehow by good fortune that morning a heart surgeon Dr. Muhammed Akbar was available to insert a stent into my blocked artery, known as the “widowmaker.” When asked after the emergency surgery how he did it he simply pointed skyward, Risa recalls. Without the longshot stent insertion I had virtually no chance of survival. Bypass surgery at that point was almost certain to fail. The hope was that I would gain strength over the Labor Day weekend, and they would do a quadruple bypass on Tuesday.

Risa and my children and sister slept in the waiting room for those four nights. I mostly slept and got stronger. I was unaware of what was happening. I wasn’t worried, as best I can remember. They suffered and waited but also had wonderful family togetherness moments.

I strengthened over the long weekend. I was hooked into tubes and had a mask that prohibited me from speaking.

My family regaled me with songs for 45 minutes before the surgery. I am sure it helped them and me, but I can’t remember the singing. The only thing I think I can remember is that the Cubs were on the radio, and I heard the score was 9-6 just before I went into surgery, and they cracked my chest open.

The bypass surgery worked amazingly well. Afterwards, the surgeon said I should be good for 20 years. I’ve held on to that comment desperately for the past 11 years.

Now it’s 4017 days later, and I’m feeling pretty darn good. But the event haunts me – every day. It affects every big decision. I think about it every time I plan a vacation or blow out birthday candles. The memory still lingers of being wheeled into emergency surgery and not exactly being terrified, just being in shock and amazement and almost amused about being asked whether I cared if they cut my underwear off.

Will I ever forget that day, those crazy weird moments? No, unless I lose my memory.

My PTSD is not horrible. I live my life, often with great joy. I am not depressed, most of the time. But I am stuck with that memory tattoo of August 29, 2008. The day I probably should have died, but didn’t.

Question: Do you have post-traumatic stress disorder?

Swarfcast Ep. 51 – Physical Therapist Doug Conroy on Protecting Your Body at Work

August 23, 2019 • 5 Replies

By Noah Graff

On today’s podcast I interview Dr. Doug Conroy of Conroy Orthopedic & Sports Physical Therapy. Doug has been treating injured folks for decades, including me as I rehab my left Achilles tendon. Our interview focuses on the negative effects a workplace environment can have on the human body.

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Doug told me that in the past, workplace health risks were mostly associated with accidents in industrial settings. However, he says that many of today’s experts consider office jobs with constant sitting as possibly more dangerous to workers’ health, going as far as to characterize sitting as “the new smoking.”

Main points of the interview

(2:55) Doug explains his expertise in the field of orthopedic physical therapy.

(5:18) Doug explains that the association of workplace health risks with an industrial setting is changing. Arguably, the largest threat to the health of the working population is prolonged sitting, which he characterizes as “the new smoking.”

(11:00 – 16:00) Doug recommends workers change position after 20 to 30 minutes, regardless of their posture. He says that it is generally healthier to be a mechanic who moves around than to work at a desk.

(16:00) Doug explains how many people do not seek medical advice or physical therapy soon enough. As a result, it can take twice as long to reverse the bad habits their bodies have become accustomed to.

(17:00) Doug describes various scenarios where surgery should be performed or abstained from. He cites medical studies which show that many doctors recommend unnecessary surgeries.

(20:10) Doug talks about the use of prescription pain killers during recovery. He says they were overprescribed in the past, but the trend is changing.

(24:10) Doug talks about the improvements in knee, hip, and other joint replacement surgeries. In the past, joint replacements made sense only for older people because of the need to replace them every 10 to 15 years. With new advancements, the components that go into joint replacements are significantly improved so that more young people are receiving replacements.

(30:50) Doug discusses various sports injuries, such as damaged Achilles tendons, ACLs, ulnar collateral ligaments and thumb injuries. He compares the severity of those injuries and examines new developments in treatment.

(35:25) Doug reminds listeners to pay attention to what their bodies are telling them. He also says people need to share more information with doctors and physical therapists, in order to better their chance for recovery.

Question: Would you rather work in the shop or in the office?

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Condo or College?

August 21, 2019 • 14 Replies

For most of my life I have made my good living by buying and selling physical things. My line of credit with my bank is still directly related to the financial institution’s belief in the value of inventory, machines, and cash on hand in relation to money owed to them.

This is the traditional bible of finance. Our statistical yardsticks of wealth, both individually and as a country, are based on measurable, identifiable things. But increasingly I am doubting a lot of these old rubrics which the college Economics texts are based on.

I am not the only one who is questioning the ancient axioms.

About a week ago I heard one of the chief decision makers at BlackRock, one of Wall Street’s largest money managers, announce that he and BlackRock have been wrong in predicting that interest rates and inflation had to go up because unemployment was at a record low and wages were rising. He said the old playbook was wrong, and they were throwing it away.

The chief investment guru of PIMCO, who has had an awful time betting on higher interest rates, took the blame for his terrible year a couple of days ago, but he is staying with the strategy that placed him in the lowest 7% of money managers. He bet on rising mortgage rates.

This is not an idle academic argument. I think it is important for the machining world for several reasons.

The people in our world make stuff for people who want stuff. We use machines and steel and oil. We employ people and use physical space and ship goods to customers.

What if stuff, things, physically measurable items are gradually becoming less important each day?

Mortgage rates are dropping like a stone, currently, as the 10-year U.S. Treasury interest rate hovers around 1.5%. Yet there is no rush by young people to buy homes or condos. Renting is popular today, not buying. One big reason for that is that young people have big college debts they are paying off monthly. They have consciously, or unconsciously, made the deduction that education is more important to them than home ownership. Whether this will prove to be a good or bad economic gamble, long term, is an unknown, but it is affecting the purchase of real estate, and I expect this trend to continue.

I think we are seeing the same choices in vehicles. Young people are investing in day care and gym memberships and restaurants rather than a Harley or a convertible. For city people, Uber, a bicycle, or the subway are limiting car buying. This doesn’t mean that people are poorer today because they do not own a car. They are making different choices.

People are also veering into different spending choices in food and vacations. We are seeing more folks opt for restaurant food or delivered menus. People are spending on travel experiences rather than buying a cabin at a lake in Northern Michigan or Wisconsin.

Warren Buffett recently admitted he made one of his worst mistakes by buying Heinz and its tired old brands. Same with Kraft and Campbell’s. Tired old brands are not selling. Panera and plant-based meat are working.

I’ve been bouncing around in this article, but the theme running through it is that the bankers and investors who have followed the ancient rules are losing. The manufacturers who have done well making parts for home faucets and sedans are beginning to fade. Real value lies in intellectual capital, but it can also evaporate quickly. The numbers that bounce the markets around like yo-yos are obsolete. GDP does not measure air quality, creativity, or life expectancy. Employment does not measure automation improvements. The markets are volatile because people look at conflicting numbers. And the numbers they look at are yesterday’s.

Question: Is college a better investment than a house?

Swarfcast Ep. 50 – Robots, Vaporizers and Transfer Machines

August 16, 2019 • 1 Reply

By Lloyd and Noah Graff

For the fiftieth episode of Swarfcast we are playing clips from some of our favorite past podcasts.

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Highlights include:

(3:06) From episode 1, Lloyd talks about his decision to go into the family machinery business. He also talks about his working relationship with his father and his father’s cousin Aaron Pinkert.

(7:37) From episode 15, George Breiwa, founder of DynoVap, talks about his proprietary vaporizer that does not rely on an external electrical source. He discusses manufacturing his product using CNC Swiss screw machines.

(11:10) From episode 10, John Griner, owner of Griner Engineering, discusses his company’s drug testing policy.

(13:50) From episode 18, Jerry Levine, former executive at Amoco, gives his take on global warming, saying the earth’s environment is not in an age of crisis as many scientists believe.

(17:00) From episode 5, Esben Østergaard, founder of Universal Robot, discusses the role of collaborative robots in the future of manufacturing. He says that in today’s economy there is a need for robots that are easy to redeploy for constantly changing short runs.

(20:25) From episode 37, Brent Robertson of Fathom gives Lloyd and Noah insight on how they can find purpose running their machine tool business and media business.

(23:53) From episode 47, business writer, Bo Burlingham discusses the keys for business owners to successfully exit their businesses.

(26:47) From Episode 43, Bruno Schmitter, owner of Hydromat USA, discusses his upbringing in Switzerland and the early days of selling Hydromat rotary transfer machines in the United States.

Question: Who would you like to hear interviewed in a future Swarfcast?

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Swarfcast Ep. 49 – Sebastien Schmitt of Staubli on Robotics in Diverse Fields

August 9, 2019 Comments Off

By Lloyd and Noah Graff

On today’s podcast we interview Sebastien Schmitt, North American Robotics Division Manager of Stäubli, a prominent robot producer from Switzerland. Sebastien explains how Stäubli focuses on building robots to help produce smaller automative components for car interiors and parts under the hood rather than assembling large car bodies like some of its competitors.

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Sebastien also discusses Stäubli’s TX2 Robot, a model which can be used in a collaborative or a standard industrial mode, plus the importance of working with robot integrators who are specialized in their specific fields in order to get the most out of robots.

Highlights from the podcast include:

(2:44) Sebastien Schmitt discusses the history of Stäubli since the company’s inception in 1892 in Switzerland as a producer of textile machines. Later Stäubli got into the connector business, and in 1980s it entered the robotics field.

(6:10) Sebastien discusses the specialty areas for Stäubli robots. He says that 50 percent of industrial robots are utilized by the automotive sector. Stäubli focuses on the production of smaller automotive components such as car interiors and parts under the hood. Other robotics companies produce a lot of larger robots for welding and assembling car bodies.

(7:37) Sebastien discusses Stäubli’s significance in automating industries such as pharmaceuticals, life sciences and medical devices.

(13:00-18:30) Sebastien discusses the trend of collaborative robots. Stäubli’s TX2 model is capable of being used as a collaborative robot as well as standard industrial type. He discusses how robots can only truly be collaborative if they are properly integrated. Telling the robot what to do is not complicated. The complicated part is integrating the robot to execute a productive application.

(18:30) Sebastien explaines Stäubli’s philosophy of partnering with integrators who are specialists in the field of an application rather than using an in-house integration department.

(23:25) Sebastien discusses statistics which show that when countries bring in a lot of robotics into their infrastructure their unemployment rate actually decreases.

(25:55) Sebastien discusses how he got into robotics. He talks about his upbringing in northeast France, an area once known for mining. He was influenced by his father, a mechanic who was the first in his family who didn’t go into mining.

(29:43) Sebastien gives his preference for the film Short Circuit over The Terminator.

Question: What task do you wish you could give to a robot?

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Machining a Pancreas

August 7, 2019 • 6 Replies

By Lloyd Graff

A couple days ago, Futurism newsletter ran a piece about Liam Zebedee, a software engineer in Brooklyn who struggles with diabetes while trying to live the semblance of a normal life.

He built his own “artificial pancreas” because he was frustrated with the daily hassle of dealing with hospitals, doctors, insurance companies, and pharmacies. He started with a good piece of hardware, an insulin pump. He then developed his own software and purchased the necessary hardware for $979. He pays $225 per month for off-the-shelf glucose sensors plus his monthly cost for a supply of insulin.

“I know that it’s pretty insane to run your basic metabolism on untyped JavaScript code,” Zebedee writes. “But if you were in my shoes, you’d realize it was safer than going to the hospital, intentionally or not.”

The homemade “artificial pancreas” shows the hand of ingenuity that builds businesses out of ideas. In a small way our machinery business has been grappling with a mechanical challenge which most of the “smart people” we consulted told us would likely end in failure.

We do not tackle a lot of setups on screw machines these days because if folks want us to do it, it usually means that they cannot do it themselves and don’t know anybody who can. We took on this one for several good reasons that seemed to trump the obvious impediments. It was a big opportunity to sell machines, but failure would be very expensive.

The job was to thread both sides of a 4-1/2” long, ¾”-diameter pipe. The customer made a couple million of them a year, but their process either on CNC lathes or screw machines and threading machines was laborious and even dangerous.

On the face of it, at least to me, who did know enough to understand why they had done it the old-school laborious way for 50 years, it was quite doable on a Wickman. Thread chasing on one end, die head threading on the other, a piece of cake.

What I did not know was that steel pipe, 4-1/2” long, presents nasty problems for threading. Pipe is not uniform in surface quality, wall thickness, and machinability. There are significant differences in the products of each manufacturer. It is not perfectly straight, it will wobble—more the longer you attempt to machine. Cutting tools usually are not durable enough to compensate for the roughness and wobble of pipe.

Wickman has a husky and generally quite useful thread chasing attachment for the end of the pipe closest to the spindle. Unfortunately, it was really not expected to cut steel pipe to connect a hot water heater. It normally rests on an aluminum base on top of the cross slide, but to our own dismay, we consistently got unacceptable chatter using the attachment. After tearing our hair out in frustration, Javier, our engineer, mentioned that at his previous job they had occasionally used a steel base when chasing difficult stainless steel components. Luck had it that we had a scruffy old steel base on our parts shelf. To our shock the chasing worked.

We ran into similar issues trying to do die head threading on the other end. The cutting tools broke, the die heads fell apart, chatter was a constant companion. We put a Logan air threading attachment on to replace the mechanical one. Better, but still not good enough. Then we slowed down the clutch by changing gears. Still no good. Finally, we put it on the slowest possible threading speed, and we got a good thread, but the cutters had a maddeningly short life. It required a different coating to finally make it work.

Through all of the experimenting we labored with four different varieties of seamless pipe. Only one worked reasonably well. We asked our customer for more pipe. They could not seem to provide it for us. “Purchasing” and “Politics” continually got in the way of providing us more raw material to perfect the process. We offered to buy it ourselves, pick it up ourselves at another plant, do anything to move the process, but the pipe did not come. Finally ten 10-foot lengths arrived. Not enough for a full run off, but enough for samples and a good tryout of the process.

“We did it.” At least we think so for now. Not a homemade, artificial pancreas, but a satisfying, improvised solution to the problem for Graff-Pinkert.

Question: Tell us about an “impossible” job that you solved.

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