Sheet Metal Worker (1942)

[Music] the sheetmetal worker may be employed in a large manufacturing plant like this department in an aircraft Factory factories produce sheet metal furniture advertising signs laundry equipment many other sheet metal products usually on a quantity basis sheet metal workers are also employed in large and small job shops and by sheet metal contractors in some sections of the country entire buildings or various parts of them may be constructed of sheet metal other buildings are ornamented with metalwork to add to the beauty of the design steeples on many buildings are covered with metal and solar roofs both of the flattened pitched types a large number of houses and other buildings have sheet metal gutters and downspouts which carry the rain from the roof the gutters may be either of the open half round type or the square box type by means of the sheet metal break can special forming attachments any desired shape and size can be developed the installation of gutters and down spotting on either new or old buildings is part of the sheet metal workers job skylights are used on a great number of office and industrial buildings these may be large and some have ventilators on them regardless of size nearly all metal skylights and ventilators must be especially designed each piece must be formed and fitted carefully so that the installed assembly will be exactly according to specifications and plans although for the most part furnaces are manufactured in factories their installation provides considerable business for the local sheet metal shop air conditioning and ventilating systems in stores factories and homes have greatly increased activity in the sheet night filled most of these installations must be especially designed the sheetmetal worker or contractor must plan the location of the pipe and ducts their size and shape and type of material and the volume of air to be carried full-sized accurate patterns must be drafted the sheet metal is cut formed and joined and the various parts are assembled and installed many public trade schools have both day and night classes in sheet metal work there are also some reliable private trade schools offering such courses you will find instruction of this nature extremely valuable if you decide to become a sheetmetal worker you will learn first to use the simpler tools of the trade such as the hand shears or Smith's later you will learn to operate hand and power machines for shearing and trimming metal the forming machine is one of the most useful in the shop for with it you'll be able to roll the cylindrical shape so essential in heating and ventilating installations using a different type of machine square pipe and square boxes and pans are formed the edges of the cylinder or the square pipe a groove by hand or run through a grooving machine the edges have previously been bent on a bar folder or sheet metal break to form what are known as locks when pressure is applied to the locks they are closed into a tight fitting scene after a length of pipe or a cylinder is completed it may be crimped on the end with a crimping machine this is done as in the case of common stove pipe to allow the end of one section of five to slip over the end of another section a bead is usually raised next to the crimped end to keep the two ends from slipping too far this may be done on the same machine or a special beading machine in making pails waters and various vessels and containers this setting down machine is used the circular edge of the which forms the site of the container has first been bird on a burning machine and the rim of the bottom or cover has been edged the corresponding edges are pressed closely together by the rolls of the setting down machine and then double seamed on another machine the setting down machine is generally used where a quantity of the same kind of work is to be turned out the forming machine may be used for forming conical and tapering work such as can tops funnels metal lampshades and various other articles there are many other sheet metal working machines in addition to the ones you have just seen they are all interesting to operate and essential to the sheet metal worker the sheet metal worker must be able to use measuring instruments such as the micrometer for in constructing the various articles made from sheet metal various gauges or thicknesses of metal are used he must be able to read allowance charge which tell him how much allowance must be made for the shrinkage of the heavier metals in the bending and rolling operations the expert sheet metal worker must also be able to read blueprints in detail and assembly drawings when he's required to make articles simple in form a pattern can be made directly on the metal from given measurements if he is required to make more complicated articles it is highly important first to make a full-size drawing on paper using drawing instruments sometimes patterns are drawn on metal and then cut out and used as templates in laying out succeeding sheets when a number of exact duplicates must be made you can see that a knowledge of geometry and other mathematics will be of great value many employers including the government require that their employees be at least high school graduates many airplane parts which are made of sheet metal are formed or stamped on large presses the enormous growth of the aircraft industry has led to the development of many automatic machines and methods among these are great pneumatic hammers which are used in shaping large sheets of metal usually aluminum although strictly speaking this type of work is machine operation it takes a definite amount of skill rivet holes are grilled with machines that are in large part automatic in this type of operation the drill may follow a pattern of holes in a template and may drill a large number of identical sheets at one time sheet metal airplane parts are fastened solidly together by riveting and welding in some types of riveting a riveting gun is pressed against the head of the rivet the end of the rivet is spread out or exploded thereby clinching it the sheets for the covering or skin of the plane must be carefully shaped and as free from dents as possible the size and location of rivets are accurately determined by the designers in order to obtain maximum strength with minimum weight rivets damaged in the riveting process must be drilled out and replaced skill is required to prevent damage to the metal accuracy and good workmanship were of highest importance in the aircraft sheetmetal field one way of shaping sheet metal is by bending it over animals called steaks which are placed in a bench plane to hold them rigidly using a mallet or hammer the expert workman can hammer sheet metal into almost any shape desired by using steaks of different sizes and shapes he must be familiar with the use of the great many steaks and know just the right one to select for a certain job particularly in making highly specialized parts for airplanes frequently he will make a special design part with only a model to guide him and he must compare his work with the model from time to time to check his accuracy sometimes he will have to make the model himself and in replacing damaged parts he will use the damaged part itself for a model another type of tool called the dolly is similar to the steaks in the purpose for which it is used as with the steak the worker must know just the right dolly to use for a certain piece of work instead of being secured to the bench the dolly is held in the hand handwork of this nature requires a very high degree of skill with a forming mallet and a knowledge of the working properties of metal to prevent weakening and distorting the piece of work by bending it too abruptly sheet metal can be placed over a hollow wooden mould and hammered to take on the shape of the mould a sandbag serves is a very flexible mold the coppersmiths of olden times were expert in turning out hand hammered objects of great beauty some of their skills are valuable to the sheetmetal worker today as long as so many products which are so useful in our modern lives are made out of sheet metal there will be jobs for skilled workers in this field [Music]