Page 21 - MY STORY

My job was to act as a quality control kind of person to

certify that incoming material met the chemistry and
mechanical properties, troubleshoot problems in the shop
when material cracked or did not provide the required

shape and dimensions in the heading machines.

I was also in charge of checking and rejuvenating the hot

sodium hydride (NaH) salt bath used for descaling wire or
fasteners after heat treatment. The latter was truly a
smelly, relatively dangerous, hot job. Rejuvenating the

bath consisted of opening a barrel of pure elemental
sodium brick and getting it into the molten bath without

getting any moisture into the process which could result
in an explosion.

The best part of the job was troubleshooting wire and rod

stock problems on the shop floor when the bolt and screw
heading or threading machines spit out defective parts.

Some of that work actually involved understanding the
metallurgy of these materials, which was a major learning
process for me and a lot of fun to meet the challenges.

Some semblance of confidence began to assert itself in
my psyche as I actually solved problems – nice feeling.