Forging on Big Bertha aka Olde 88
I was 18 years old and in my freshman year at Central Connecticut State College and was hired by New Departure as summer help. I was assigned to what was called the Primary Area. The beginning of what was the multiple operational process of producing a ball bearing had its birth in Primary. Members of my family had worked at New Departure since 1916 and in 1968 I was about to become anointed! The rhythm created by 24 hour a day production always enthralled me when I was 12 yrs old, delivering newspapers at 4 a.m. The sound of the pound of New Departure could be heard throughout the town of Bristol every night and now, I was part of it.
New Departure was a Family of 5,000 and many impressed me as real characters, always smiling and having good time as they went about their duties of producing ball bearings. The most exceptional of these characters worked in the Forge Shop; a purgatory of fire and thunder, which was like stepping into Dante's Inferno for a young, impressionable lad like me. Forging was the first process of creating the World Class bearings which went into the engines of the bombers and submarines, which helped the Allies win World War II and I would spend my 3rd shift break time in the Forge Shop drinking in the excitement of this operation. Soon, I became quite friendly with the forgers, as I would watch and ask questions about the process. These guys knew how to have Fun and I was asked if I would like to give it a try and work with the crew who forged on "Big Bertha," an opportunity I jumped at.
Now, "Big Bertha" was not the typical forging machine! She was 35 feet tall; 20 feet above ground and 15 feet below in a pit. It took 5 men to operate it and when the tooling slammed into the 10 inch solid steel preheated fired bar, the whole area quaked. Three people guided the crane cradled bar into the stop area where the tooling would engage it 4 times to complete the operation. A fourth man would be perched 18 feet up on the top of "Bertha" and hook the forging on the finished cut. Forging was an art, a dance of syncopated balance and teamwork, in which the person guiding the end of the bar was the fulcrum of the bar's balance, something I was to learn very quickly!! The forgers instructed me and had me perform each part of the operation and then it was my turn to be the fulcrum at the end of the bar. Now, guiding the end of the bar "looked" to be the easiest part of the operation. So, with new found confidence, I took my place at the end of the bar but another forger joined me. I was a bit baffled as to why, but soon found out what all forgers know, that the balance at the end of the bar was the most crucial! Then it happened: SLAM as the tooling engaged and I was lifted 3 feet off the floor! My "Helper" had control of the bar as I was lifted off the cement making certain that I would be safe in my lift into space! They all turned to see the look of bewilderment I had on my face and laughed until tears dripped from their eyes. I explained "What the" and started laughing as well! My "Helper" smiled at me and said "Ya got yer wings now, Kid!!"
I was asked to stay on at New Departure after the summer vacation period had ended and attended college during the day. Once I graduated from college, I decided to stay at New Departure, rather than commute to Hartford and toil as an accountant. I ended up working for General Motors for 38 years and retired in 2006.
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