How Did They Do It? The Making of The Ford Model T Wheel Start to Finish An Original Film By Ford.

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How Did They Do It? The Making of The Ford Model T Wheel Start to Finish An Original Film By Ford.

Рет қаралды 324,005

Күн бұрын

This original promotional advertising film by Ford Motor Company shows the in-depth, complete process of making the Model T Wooden Spoke Wheel from start to finish. The Film is from 1918.
From the moving assembly line at the Ford Motor Company River Rouge Plant in Detroit Michigan, Henry Ford and his famous Tin Lizzy Model T was a masterful creation that put the world on wheels. This silent era film as period correct music that makes reading the script just as enjoyable as watching the movie itself.

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@samshublom8761 Ай бұрын

This is a great illustration of the main principle of mass production...take an otherwise skilled trade, wheelwrighting, and break the process down into many small operations that can be done by semiskilled labor using equipment designed specifically for the given task. All of the various operations look like they could become repetitively mind numbing, but check out the guy at 3:20. He is running two machines at once continually turning in an anti clockwise circle. At the end of the day, I wouldn't be surprised if he was still turning circles when he walked home from the plant. But, he was making a better than average living wage for the time. Thanks for posting this.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

@MichaelWysocki-ks5xt Ай бұрын

That’s what I was going to say, poor guy turned left in his sleep.

@G58 Ай бұрын

You nailed it. This is the Production Line, which was the REAL innovation that Ford bought to the auto industry. Without the Production Line, the Assembly Line would not make any significant difference.

@user-uv7up4vg6i Ай бұрын

To be precise, the definition of mass production is interchangeability. This means that components, whatever they may be, have been so accurately made that they can be swapped around one for the other. This in turn can only be achieved when the machines and the tooling in use are are accurate. It also presumes ways and means for checking tolerances of the product and effecting adjustments to production when tolerances are exceeded. The common and mistaken use of the term mass production is the production of items "en masse" meaning; large numbers of something. So it is that the mass production of, say, biscuits does not mean that they have been accurately made to very fine tolerances but, that in common parlance, a lot of them have been made and economies of scale have been achieved. In the case of the Ford wheels BOTH definitions apply. The wheels have indeed been made in large numbers BUT and very importantly, they have been made so accurately that they are interchangeable.

@jessespad Ай бұрын

This is awesome. It amazes me how much special equipment they made in such a short amount of time. Really cool to see how America used to make things.

@TexRenner Ай бұрын

My brother turned a full set of spokes for all four wheels of our family's 1926 Ford touring car. Our dad, who was a brilliant carpenter, oversaw the project; the wood was harvested from an oak we lost during hurricane Carla in 1961.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing!

@Kordziel Ай бұрын

How did they hold up? Hickory was normally used in wheels, because of its light weight and strength.

@TexRenner Ай бұрын

@@Kordziel not very well. My brother remembers having to tighten and shim them repeatedly. Eventually found a descent set of steel spoke wheels; it drove much better after that.

@Psycandy Ай бұрын

wow! Oak spokes, fantastic

@mikeadler434 Ай бұрын

👍👍

@blipblip88 27 күн бұрын

This little documentary was done 3 years before my dad was born. He later worked all his life as a die maker for Hudson Motors and then Chrysler Motors after serving in the war. Thanks for the upload. I know he would have enjoyed watching this as I did!

@kensmithgallery4432 27 күн бұрын

I'm sure he would have. Thanks for watching!

@bgarr99 19 күн бұрын

The old whimsical music doesn't do justice to the amount of hard work and craftsmanship these guys are putting in. Those wheels would be thousands of dollars each if they were made in a similar fashion today.

@kensmithgallery4432 19 күн бұрын

I can't imagine what they would cost today. Thanks for watching!

@user-fv5oy4nm8u 17 күн бұрын

Extreme exploitation always pays well.

@daveblevins3322 Ай бұрын

Isn't it amazing how ingenious the folks were that designed and built all those machines ?? 🤯🤯🇺🇸🇺🇸🔥

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

It is amazing! Thanks for watching!

@rodenreyes6320 Ай бұрын

Foundation of America today, those early assembly line tooling, I think.

@drxym Ай бұрын

The ingenuity was developing a process where manufacture was a series of simple steps where an operator could do one thing before passing their work onto the next. Most of the steps in themselves weren't especially complex. I think it was clear also that some of those steps were pretty dangerous and RSI inducing in no time.

@adrielburned6924 Ай бұрын

For all you young fellas out there, this is called work.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Hard work too. Thanks for watching!

@Davey-Drums Ай бұрын

I've done some work, but that was hard driven, like a piece of a machine: Charlie Chaplin did a movie on it - early industrialization consuming man. Still, I understand Ford paid a good wage; and when you are poor, bringing in some cash can be pretty motivating. Ford did create reliable paying jobs for working men and women. (I was impressed with the young lady manually loading a ball bearing race with INDIVIDUAL ball bearings) . It was real productive labor flowing money from all the employees to the surrounding community.

@pollodustino 29 күн бұрын

Even at the time this was filmed this was considered inhumane and demeaning work by workers. Vibrant creative men, or at least industrious and vigorous men, were forced into a mechanized production role where each man becomes just as interchangeable as the parts he's producing. It reduces the soul of Man down to a part, indistinguishable from the rest. Prior to full mechanization each man had a indelible influence on whatever he was producing. I am not trying to diminish what you are saying. This truly was hard work, and many men today have no clue what hard work entails. But to say this is "work" as a blanket statement diminishes the human relationship to work as a meaningful and spiritual endeavor, which the production line tends to squash.

@carlmorgan8452 29 күн бұрын

Then came the unions and messed everything up.

@danielalamo2075 27 күн бұрын

And it is not even hard work. Just tedious.

@terry_willis Ай бұрын

This was filmed before OSHA was a word. God bless these hardy men. Today, we stand on their shoulders.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

We sure do! Thanks for watching!

@jimarcher5255 Ай бұрын

Most of these operations would be banned by OSHA for safety concerns

@chazzmccloud36 Ай бұрын

How quickly people forget the fact that we are all perched on the shoulders of giants.

@bigdaddysshop8180 Ай бұрын

Lol.. You couldn't haul water for these men.. They were REAL MEN. NO THE PANSIES WE HAVE TODAY.PEOPLE today don't know what it's like to put in a hard days work. We just think we work hard.

@jolla9963 Ай бұрын

It was Henry Ford who thought of OH&S, it was he who stopped alcahol being drank in the work place because of injuries that were occurring on his productiin lines by drunk employees, he also gave a 5 day week so his employees could have time to relax and enjoy their live, thus making them happier employees, not to mention the interest free loans provided to employees at repayments they set, which again, makes for a healthier work place, if the employee is not stressed and thinking of other things, thus keeping their mind on the task at hand. Henry saw things in a differrnt light. A happy healthy employee was a productive employee. And it was the productive employee that made him his money. This principle has been forgotten in the modern corporate error of greed, greed and even more greed...

@JM-iz3fr Ай бұрын

In the late 70's I discovered a shop where I grew up - spelling? Weir wire wheel works. They had belt driven tools some they said from the civil war as well as similar tools in this vid. They repaired, re-made wheels for cannons to old cars. There were wooden crates and barrels filled with original fittings for the wheels some marked ford,Buick Cadillac. Was so awesome to see the operation as a whole! Thanks for the great vid!

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching!

@noahlevy9412 Ай бұрын

Where was this? Is it still in business?

@bobbybishop5662 Ай бұрын

So amazing to think these plants were designed and built without a single calculator or computor. A slide rule , drafting table and really smart engineers. Great content.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Well said! Thanks for watching!

@ronniel5941 Ай бұрын

Slide rules are fine for structural design. My last colleague to use one in the drawing office I worked in only stopped because of all the jeers from the young ‘uns with their fancy calculators - which were very expensive back then.

@martinwade9421 Ай бұрын

Now the dumb engineers are putting the starter motor inside the bell-housing, and the rubber timing-belt inside with the hot engine oil!

@seanseoltoir Ай бұрын

And today *some* people are too lazy to even use the spell checker that is part of their browser or app when posting...

@peterdarr383 Ай бұрын

There were mechanical adding machines that did multiplication and even division. My Dad had one and I used to enjoy watching the "plates" flip and engage.

@kevinrobert224 Ай бұрын

Henery ford didnt like wasting all the wood trimmings so with the help of a man named Edward kingsford the two started the Kingsford charcoal briquette Co.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Indeed he did!

@Tumbleweed_Tx Ай бұрын

He also hated wasting the wooden palettes that were used for shipping things to the factory, so he used them to make the floors of the Model T

@williamthurmond4940 Ай бұрын

Ford gave away a big bag with every car purchase.

@douglashewitt5064 24 күн бұрын

Better than that, Ford had the boxes that transported parts made a specific size so that it would be used for the car floorboards and dashboard.

@chazzmccloud36 Ай бұрын

Thank you for this video. I was, until recently, a utility tree trimmer for 15 years. I watched a video of the early loggers, similar to this one. I was reminded of how much harder our grandfathers had it than we do now. It's so easy to take our lives for granted. Videos like this are a great way to gain perspective on our (relatively) plush lives we get to live today, thanks to them.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Love your comment! Thanks for watching!

@TheDavidlloydjones Ай бұрын

Exactly right!

@Urbicide 27 күн бұрын

Imagine having to fell & cut trees with axes & misery whips. The early chain saws weighed a lot. I saw a pic of a man up in a tree, using only a climbing belt to tie him in, using a McCulloch 3-25 chain saw. It was McCulloch's first one-man chain saw, rated at 3 horsepower & weighed 25 pounds. The really funny part to me was how this man was smiling! Imagine if he could have wielded a MS-200T?

@patmccarthy5069 Ай бұрын

Awesome to see the Ford assembly line of the era. All of the workers were tough SOBs.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

They sure were!

@hieppham7435 Ай бұрын

and none are alive to see new wheels

@armandbourque2468 Ай бұрын

And the injury rate was through the roof. No safeties on the machine tools.

@G58 Ай бұрын

This is the Production Line. This was the REAL innovation that Ford bought to the auto industry. Without the Production Line, the Assembly Line would not make any significant difference.

@douglas9607 Ай бұрын

I saw a bunch of kids that looked like you or me.

@z06doc86 Ай бұрын

So refreshing to see such polite discussion in the comments.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Yes it is refreshing to see. But I have no problem removing any sort of hate speech either. I'm fine if someone has an opposing viewpoint, just be kind. Talk or write the way you would want someone talking or writing to you. I don't believe that is asking much. Thanks for commenting and for watching!

@carlu-dovica Ай бұрын

Most comments are completely legit simply because most videos are intended for family entertainment. Things go awry when the video gets radical or profanity laced and commenters tend to use the same fomat to respond in like manner. But not everything is as offensive, and with some thought may actually be a reference to an episode in life that everyone remembers, and actually means something to the majoriy of viewers. Unfortunately, some are interpreted as offensive by the inexperienced little hired Z who carries a big eraser, and deletes a comment that to most might be perfectly acceptable. Don't forget we have a very strong constitution that protects the right of free speech.

@G58 Ай бұрын

@@carlu-dovicaThe First Amendment is not respected by the GooTube algorithms.

@G58 Ай бұрын

@@carlu-dovica⁠The First Amendment is not respected by the GooTube algorithms.

@joewoodchuck3824 Ай бұрын

Is that a dare? 😁

@jimhallinsn1023 Ай бұрын

Boy is that work mind numbing, i doubt i would last long in that environment.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

I hear ya! Thanks for watching!

@ryelor123 Ай бұрын

Most didn't. Turnover was really high.

@seanseoltoir Ай бұрын

Gen-Slacker with ADD? OK, that's probably redundant...

@chazzmccloud36 Ай бұрын

I bet you'd find a way to work through it if you had a family to feed, and there were no other jobs. We may be finding ourselves in a similar situation sooner than we think.

@arquebusierx Ай бұрын

@@seanseoltoir I would find this mind numbing as well, and I have work 80 hour weeks in the oilfield, laziness is definitely not the issue here :) it's more the highly repetitive nature of the work involved.

@KevinMiller-lh9ur Ай бұрын

What an operation just to make the wheels. And all the machines that were designed and produced to build the wheels. Very impressive.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

It is pretty amazing to see! Thanks for watching!

@2pugman Ай бұрын

My father had a Model T as a young person. If the wooden wheels started to become lose, they drove to a local brook and drove into the water to swell up the wooden spokes. They washed the car while they were at it.

@johnferguson40 Ай бұрын

It's like something out of Fritz Lang's film Metropolis.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Crazy to think about it! Thanks for watching!

@jim1407 Ай бұрын

Machines driven by belts, old school awesomeness.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Yes it is!

@mtpocketswoodenickle2637 Ай бұрын

Most likely steam boiler power driven as well.

@quantumleap359 Ай бұрын

It's been said, the noise inside the factories from all the machines, belting and shafting was deafening, but the factory itself was kept scrupulously clean. To be sure, a very different time in American automotive manufacturing. Great film, thanks for posting.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Thanks for the info and for watching too!

@mtb416 Ай бұрын

The factory class came from better stock back then

@johndoyle4723 Ай бұрын

Thanks, amazing production line, I cannot imagine how hard a life it was working this fast and repetitively for perhaps years. They were tough guys.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Tough as nails. Thanks for watching!

@peterdarr383 Ай бұрын

They would move the guys around - I liked the "boys" threading nuts myself. I heard they started you at the spoke sanding station to test you out, see if you'd show up on time and do good work. Hanging doors and dropping bodies on chassis were for the most experienced.

@tiger7199 9 күн бұрын

The work must have been mind-numbing. All these steps just for the wheels. Amazing.

@kensmithgallery4432 9 күн бұрын

I'm sure it was. Thanks for watching!

@MillwalltheCat Ай бұрын

Every movement and action of each worker, was timed and analysed for efficiancy. In a process industry, assembly-line stoppages cost money, and Henry loved money.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

He was efficient! Thanks for watching!

@peterwaugh9416 Ай бұрын

All those workers would have been born in the 1800's back in the horse & buggy days. They would have thought the model T was the most advanced thing they ever saw.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

I'm sure that was a pretty common thought too!

@simontist Ай бұрын

Like how we see all the high-tech AI stuff today, people will look back on that like we do the Model T.

@cdjhyoung Ай бұрын

What was really unique was that the Model T was priced at a point that it was affordable to those work men.

@suspicionofdeceit Ай бұрын

@@simontistI don’t think it will be equivalent, there isn’t much left to be created.

@peterdarr383 Ай бұрын

@@suspicionofdeceit Close down the Patent Office !! - - Albert Einstein

@sodiorne2 Ай бұрын

WOW! So many steps to making one of these!

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Crazy to think about it! Thanks for watching!

@Redmenace96 Ай бұрын

Before the vid, I thought it might be 4-5 steps/assemblies. The wood was predictable, but the parts in the hub and the ball bearings opened my eyes. Very high quality wheel, even today.

@gm3801 Ай бұрын

How amazing is that? Hundreds of people employed just to make some car wheels. The unions would love this.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

And they eventually did! Thanks for watching!

@philipbrown2628 Ай бұрын

Fords were a union free zone

@bill3641 Ай бұрын

The monotony of those jobs would have been mind crushing. I once saw a comment related to a similar video , and someone claimed that back in the day they stamped the same side front fenders for GM square body trucks for literally years.....

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

I bet is was very monotonous!

@michaelbailey4164 Ай бұрын

Especially boring the spoke holes.. Many were bored at the end of a shift.

@CoreyBrisson Ай бұрын

@@michaelbailey4164 I see what ya did there. Noice.

@simontist Ай бұрын

It leaves the mind free to wander.

@blubbietweeduizend Ай бұрын

@@michaelbailey4164😂😂😂

@thisolesignguy2733 Ай бұрын

Now you see all the workers that were involved in just making wheels. Ford always did their workers right, when they upgraded to metal wheels they retrained all their workers into new positions. Never a man left behind. That's why Ford is still one of the best to this day.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Thanks for commenting and for watching!

@rafaelallenblock Ай бұрын

I was thinking that: Dozens of workers and dozens of precision machines and all the machined bolts and nuts and hoops etc all to be replaced by a relatviely crude but effective steel wheel .

@chasevans7171 Ай бұрын

Amazing to see the process. Not convinced that dunking the bearings in paint was Henry's best idea though.....

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Not sure the reason behind it either. Thanks for watching!

@noscwoh1 Ай бұрын

The machine held the wheels by the hubs top and bottom when it spun them. My guess is it sealed the bearings well enough for the dunk.

@davidstewart8081 Ай бұрын

Lead is a good lubricant:)

@redneckhippiefreak Ай бұрын

The "paint" was linseed oil and charcoal dust. It mixes with grease.

@redneckhippiefreak Ай бұрын

@@kensmithgallery4432 It was linseed oil and charcoal dust. The Linseed oil would mix in with the bearing grease.

@autoguy57 Ай бұрын

Henry was WAY ahead of the game. His innovative thinking changed the world.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

It sure did! Thanks for watching!

@autoguy57 Ай бұрын

@@kensmithgallery4432 I grew up in the automotive industry, never saw this video. Great!

@yfelwulf Ай бұрын

Simply copied other companies and scaled it up Springfield Armoury was doing this before Ford was around.

@gulfy09 Ай бұрын

Back then a poor man had a horse the rich owned automobile's today its the opposite..

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Thanks for watching!

@bobpourri9647 Ай бұрын

The Model T was meant to be affordable to the working man: Ford wanted his own workers to be able to own one.

@thecbs1957 Ай бұрын

@@bobpourri9647😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

@rafaelallenblock Ай бұрын

@@bobpourri9647 Then the Dodge brothers sued Ford and ruled that Ford broke the law when he tried to pay his workers a fair wage.

@8546Ken Ай бұрын

@@bobpourri9647 I think they got the price of a Model T down to $250. I don't know what the wages were then. But the Model T was a real bargain compared to other cars of that time, which were totally hand made in small quantities.

@chrismoody1342 Ай бұрын

Absolutely mind numbing work.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

I agree. Thanks for watching!

@ScoutSniper3124 Ай бұрын

Imagine the look on the craftsman wheelwrights at the Ford factory who spent his lifetime perfecting their trade the day they came in with the hydraulic press that stamped out wheels from sheet steel 30 a minute. I imagine they all threw their tools in the box and went for a beer or two. Times are a changing.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

I know what you mean!

@bernarddavis1050 Ай бұрын

They were NOT craftsmen; that's the whole point of this kind of mass production! These were basically unskilled people set to do the identical task, endlessly repeated. These workers actually replaced real craftsmen (wheelwrights) and in their turn were displaced by machines. In fact, steel wheels could have been made even back then, and much faster and cheaper than wooden artillery wheels. But the public would not have accepted them: everyone just knew that wheels had to have wooden spokes, because that is how they had always been made.

@2_dog_Restoration Ай бұрын

It's amazing that the Steam bender that Dave Engels from Engels Coach Shop on u tube has built is of a very similar design as the steam bender in use @2:22 !!THANKS for Posting such interesting content.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Thanks for the info! Thanks for watching!

@interdiction2 Ай бұрын

"Equalizing" looks like the easiest way to lose your fingers if you lost concentration for a second. Frightening what people were expected to do day in day out. I don't think I could do it. Respect to those guys.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Great respect! Thanks for watching!

@311superfly Ай бұрын

Damn I just commented about digit losses. Lmao. Early Friday morning in Florida.

@interdiction2 Ай бұрын

@@311superfly I couldn't do it. My attention would drift.

@mysticwine Ай бұрын

They were paid piecework. The more they produced the more they were paid.

@interdiction2 Ай бұрын

@mysticwine I don't think I would have survived long enough to make a wage.

@B81Mack Ай бұрын

No OSHA, that's for sure. Looks like a finger and hand mangling haven. Much respect to those hard working men, they truly built the modern world in which we live.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Long before OSHA too. Thanks for watching!

@bwalmsley5087 10 күн бұрын

And to think that all those machines and tools were also built using other machines and tools and so on. The whole process is incredible.

@kensmithgallery4432 10 күн бұрын

It really is incredible! Thanks for watching!

@catafalque3634 Ай бұрын

I have one of these wheels given to me by my uncle here in Scotland, I often look at it wondering how it was made, and now I know! Absolutely fascinating. I can look at it again and think of all those workers through whose hands it passed. Thank you.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

What a great gift from your uncle! Thanks for watching!

@detroitredneckdetroitredne6674 Ай бұрын

Hello from romulus Michigan brother thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise and for taking us on your adventure through time and history GOD-BLESS

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Thanks so much. God bless you as well!

@terryeustice5399 Ай бұрын

That is something I have never seen. Thank you Ken for sharing. Quite a bit involved. 💕💯👊👍

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

@@terryeustice5399 my pleasure!

@robertanvilrm Ай бұрын

the sheer amount of steps that go into making a wheal then as apposed to now is astounding

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Pretty crazy when you think about it. Thanks for watching!

@carlu-dovica Ай бұрын

Thank you so much for providing this video as the closing argument for another video discussion where the spokes on Ford wheels were determined to be made of hickory, but with very little evidence available to prove it. 🙂

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

@54mgtf22 Ай бұрын

What an enormously labour intensive process. 😮

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Indeed! Thanks for watching!

@lancemichaletz7248 Ай бұрын

33 years painting commercial building, and always interested in our past, Dip the wheel in paint and give it a spin, Smart !!!😅

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

It was very smart!

@Proud2bmodest Ай бұрын

The technique is still used today for high tech semiconductor manufacturing.

@jeffreyhickman3871 Ай бұрын

I'm such a fan of history, and all these documentary videos 📹 of it. Cars 🚗 were built so much better back then, being built by hand ✋️. There's a saying for cars today. Mounds of cash 💸, piles of trash 🗑. Money 💰 is all car manufacturers care about today, not safety or the people driving them. At least, not yesteryear's safety. Just subbed!! VERY INTERESTING KZfaq channel!! Your friend, Jeff!!

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Welcome to the channel Jeff! Thanks for watching!

@radioguy1620 Ай бұрын

somehow hurt my back watching this ! tough work.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Tough indeed! Thanks for watching!

@rickblackwell6435 Ай бұрын

The assembly of the spokes into the felloes before inserting them into the hub is opposite of how wagon were generally made. Great way to speed up mass production.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

I didn't know that about wagon wheels!

@truracer20 Ай бұрын

These wheels don't use hubs that are anything like wagon hubs. These wheels use two drive flanges that sandwich the spokes because the wheel diameter is so small that a typical wagon hub would be too large and require very short spokes and a unitized hub that assembles like a typical wagon hub but is as compact as the drive flanges would be extremely complicated to produce and would make the car more expensive. It was just basic engineering and had little to do with assembly speed.

@GlennOutland-me2yr Ай бұрын

so glad to see the film. In 1965 I worked with a fine gentleman who worked at this plant in the U P of Michigan. He said he started at 17yrs old 12:59

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

I believe it. Thanks for watching!

@zacharyhinschberger2414 21 күн бұрын

Just think....all that and those people for tires...just the tires lol amazing! All those belts moving to power and turn the machines is crazy!

@kensmithgallery4432 21 күн бұрын

It is crazy! Thanks for watching!

@rjlchristie Ай бұрын

Wow, Fritz Lang's nightmare film Metropolis hit the nail on the head, I had thought it exaggeration.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

A classic film! Thanks for watching!

@goodmoodgoodday5385 Ай бұрын

It's almost unbelievable how many people were employed there compared to today's production facilities. How many work steps had to be done. All these people were able to support their families with this work. A Ford T cost something under $500 at the time. And Ford made great profits. When I look at how things work today, what life costs, what a car costs, sometimes two jobs aren't enough. What's going on today, 100 years later?

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

I understand how you feel. Thanks for watching!

@jmgee4630 28 күн бұрын

Progress??

@lukaszbebnowski7633 17 күн бұрын

I thought the same thing too.

@Kysushanz 19 күн бұрын

My father would have loved watching this - he was a Carpenter and Joiner but also was a wheelwright and worked for a time in Harland and Wolf Shipyard in Belfast. All the things he did by hand - Henry Ford mechanicalized.

@kensmithgallery4432 19 күн бұрын

I bet he would have loved watching this. Thanks for watching!

@sayaka23 Ай бұрын

Huge amount of work went into those wooden wheels, even with the wire spoke wheels how the spokes are welded is amazing.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

I have a set of wires on my 30. I know exactly what you mean. Thanks for watching!

@george1la Ай бұрын

Very interesting to see the manufacturing details. Thanks.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

You bet!

@Cap10VDO Ай бұрын

Next time you think your job makes you feel like "a cog in a machine", watch this video and see what that phrase really meant.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Agreed! Thanks for watching!

@Rockriverboarder Ай бұрын

Wow that’s an astonishing number of operations to finish just the wheel. Very interesting. Thanks!

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

You bet! Thanks for watching!

@rafaelallenblock Ай бұрын

Holy cow, so much work by so many people involving many finely machined components whether turned wood or threaded bolts and nuts all to be replaced by a comparatively crude sheet metal stamping when the steel wheel was introduced.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

It's hard to even imagine. Thanks for watching!

@brianmeek5236 Ай бұрын

I put new wood spokes in the wheels of my 1925 Buick, took me 4 days. One a day was enough

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

I bet it was!

@lagunafishing Ай бұрын

Henry Ford; "You can have any colour you want as long as it's black!"

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Yep! Thanks for watching!

@peterdarr383 Ай бұрын

The first few years of the "T" there were a few colors.

@cool386vintagetechnology6 Ай бұрын

Only for the U.S. production from 1914 to 1925.

@robertdavis171 28 күн бұрын

Never really said that.

@Urbicide 27 күн бұрын

What a historical video! The amount of material & labor required to make one wheel is incredible. I wonder how many men it took? Didn't Ford manufacture something like 15 million Model T cars? If so, that would have required 60 million wheels + Lord knows how many spares. I wonder if the workers ever got to rotate their positions on the production lines? Men used to smoke like crazy, but I didn't see one cigarette.

@kensmithgallery4432 27 күн бұрын

He did make 15 million T's and lots of spare parts too! Thanks for watching!

@lefthandedleprechaun8702 Ай бұрын

Thanks for posting this, Im a lifelong woodworker, enjoyed it

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Right on! Thanks for watching!

@miketaylor6282 Ай бұрын

Now wait just a minute! Are you telling me that Ford had piano music playing for his workers? 😂

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

And it was piped in all over the factory! Thanks for watching!

@terry94131 Ай бұрын

@@kensmithgallery4432 Ballroom dancing during breaks?

@charleswelch249 Ай бұрын

I'd like to see people today work like that again. You can be guaranteed that not 1 of those workers felt entitled or the world owed them anything. Making a steel wheel would have been easier, but look at all the people who would have been out of work back then.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

I understand how you feel. Thanks for watching!

@steamon2 29 күн бұрын

Never realised how much work went into making a wheel and how many men it took great film

@kensmithgallery4432 29 күн бұрын

A lot of work indeed! Thanks for watching!

@Redmenace96 Ай бұрын

The inner hubs were far more complex than I would have predicted. The finest wheel known to man at the time, and a very high quality part even today in 2024.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

So true! Thanks for watching!

@patriley9449 Ай бұрын

Very interesting.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Thanks for watching!

@jamesgeorge4874 Ай бұрын

Imagine your mechanic saying, "Your wheels have termites, sir"

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Oh that is so funny! Thanks for watching!

@punchion Ай бұрын

So much automation involved and lots of job creation too! Amazing!

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

It really is! Thanks for watching!

@fredradon2484 26 күн бұрын

Incredible how much work was put into just the wheels. OMG

@kensmithgallery4432 25 күн бұрын

Hard to believe really. Thanks for watching!

@malibu188 Ай бұрын

10:27 bearings 12:08 paint wheel and bearings :)

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Right ?!?!?! Thanks for watching!

@peterdarr383 Ай бұрын

OIL - based paint

@ianmoss9945 Ай бұрын

Kings lumber supplied the wood for ford and with the waste pieces of oak they formed the company Kingsford charcoal.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

He sure did! Thanks for watching!

@fernacticus Ай бұрын

Fascinating. Those people were earning their money for sure.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

They sure did! Thanks for watching!

@hahaha9076 Ай бұрын

Clever machining and manufacturing from so early.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

It sure was clever for that time period. Thanks for watching!

@theotherwalt Ай бұрын

That was.... _entertaining_

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Thanks for watching!

@jsstacy7861 Ай бұрын

At one point the workers were paid $5.00 a day. Glad it was before my time. But very interesting to see. Thanks

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

@MichaelWysocki-ks5xt Ай бұрын

When everywhere else was $1.00 a day.

@LaLaLand.Germany Ай бұрын

Wow, those poor schlobs! All day any day the same move, all in the dust and the noise... I don´t at all find that romantic. It might have been for Mr. Ford- he was able to extract every living inch out of those people without fear of it coming back to him. Thanks for putting this up!

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Thanks for watching!

@billfeld5883 Ай бұрын

My great aunt, 35yr at Ford, my grandmother 30yrs at GM,factory work in the old days wasn't an easy way to make a living, 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 They did have a great retirement plan better than I have. 😢😢😢😢😢😢

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Sounds like some great family heritage!

@billfeld5883 Ай бұрын

@@kensmithgallery4432 yes alot of us worked for the UAW.

@MrArtVendelay Ай бұрын

THousands of families were kept afloat just from making wheels. Imagine how the rest of the place fared.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

I can only imagine! Thanks for watching!

@jeffclark5024 Ай бұрын

It’s amazing how far we’ve come in what seems like a relatively short amount of time.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

It really is amazing! Thanks for watching!

@512Chaos Ай бұрын

My great grandfather worked in that section, spindles specifically in 1918, I still have his ID card.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

That is so awesome! Thanks for watching!

@MichaelWysocki-ks5xt Ай бұрын

Had some monotonous jobs in my day. Some were not really that bad, if you didn’t have to concentrate too much, your body could just run on automatic while your mind was elsewhere.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

I bet! Thanks for watching!

@allegory7638 Ай бұрын

So when the hub went into the paint dip, did the dipping machine seal off both hub holes from the paint? Were the bearings subsequently lubricated as they went onto the axle?

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Great question! I'm not sure to be honest. Thanks for watching!

@joeviking61 Ай бұрын

I was think the same thing. The bearings were immersed in paint. Maybe they greased them after painting, and the paint just wore off under friction.

@marcosflores-march7278 Ай бұрын

Ahhh! The good ol’ days - when work was plentiful and music was great.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

You got that right! Thanks for watching!

@dwaynekoblitz6032 Ай бұрын

Production workers vs maintenance workers. I'm a mechanic. I could never do this. And operators could never be in maintenance. Two different worlds.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

They sure are different worlds. Thanks for watching!

@toyfarmer2129 Ай бұрын

If only things made today were given that much care.we live in an era of modern junk.Henry Ford would cry if he saw how todays throw away pickups are made.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

I understand how you feel!

@keithammleter3824 Ай бұрын

No, he would be amazed. Safety, drivability, reliability, durability are all vastly better in today's cars. For example, a Model T engine required a complete disassembly and rebuild about every 10,000 to 20,000 miles. Modern engines last at least 200,000 miles. A Model T required a full service every 1000 miles. Typical service intervals for modern cars are every 12,000 miles. A model T is utterly incapable of keeping up with modern traffic speeds. Due to its non-optimised side valve low compression engine, its fuel consumption is about double that of a typical modern car. Wood was cheap then, but it is not actually a suitable material to make car wheels out of. It expands and contracts with humidity and is prone to sudden catastrophic failure.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

@@keithammleter3824 great points!

@vernonslone8627 Ай бұрын

@@keithammleter3824 Thank you... I get so tired of hearing how much better the old cars were than the new ones....Cars today are safer, better riding,,and better engineered....400 horsepower is nothing today...Back then it was 40...I have driven T's A's and flatmotors and I'll take my new Ram pickup any day....

@harlanbarnhart4656 Ай бұрын

It does seem like modern cars are thin and cheaply made, but a surprising amount of them is actually recycled. The parts that count are as robust as required, but no more. The reliability and lack of required maintenance is astounding by the standard of any other era. We just take it for granted they should work that way.

@LouisAloi Ай бұрын

Pretty interesting how labor intensive fabricating wheels were then.Kudos to the person that invented the stamped steel wheel👍

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Very labor intensive! Thanks for watching!

@runeshadow Ай бұрын

Nice bit of Scott Joplin there 🎶🎵 And some youngsters working hard

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Love Joplin! Thanks for watching!

@NoosaHeads Ай бұрын

How many got their hands chopped off?

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Long before OSHA and safety standards. Thanks for watching!

@jimeditorial Ай бұрын

You can see how metal wheels were a cost savings....so much labor

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Indeed!

@101boertjie Ай бұрын

Great video, a testament to a different time and hardworking men.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching!

@Davey-Drums Ай бұрын

With all the machinery, there was still a LOT of skilled craftsmanship going on. The machines helped, but they needed immediate human control for the "brain work". The machinery enabled fantastic volume and economy of scale The "assembly line' was a revelation. It certainly included strong discipline on the workers to keep up with the pace. It was machine driven work pace - relentless. Of course, the workplace hazards were barely appreciated - just part of the job - not for sissies. Really interesting how "old technology" persists: case in point - building wood spoke "wagon wheels" for the new "horseless carriages". They kept the carriage wheels of old - actually manufactured with great precision and care. The wheels on those Model T s was actually one of their special qualities. And then "mass production" meant that most families could afford their own Model T, and opening up a whole new 20th century. What a ride!

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Pretty amazing when you think about it! Thanks for watching!

@ThomasSmith-fz6wq Ай бұрын

They painted the whole wheel with the ball bearings already installed. I bet the had a lot of wheel bearing failures back then.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

You bring up a great question!

@kenbakker3241 Ай бұрын

I noticed the exact same thing. However, it probably was was a very thin coat of lacquer paint that would work into the grease, compared to the road grit of the day at least it wasn't abrasive.

@ThomasSmith-fz6wq Ай бұрын

@@kenbakker3241 Just curious, but I bet the grease they packed the bearings with when installing the wheels on the car was probably pretty thick and washed away the paint?

@ThomasSmith-fz6wq Ай бұрын

Actually they used oil to fill the wheel hubs like big trucks have today.

@williamforbes5826 Ай бұрын

@@ThomasSmith-fz6wqJust for clarification, class 7&8 trucks use oil hubs as well as grease hubs. The same for semi trailers. But you are right in that it is the same as some big trucks!

@2bigbufords Ай бұрын

These jobs would suck

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Compared to today, I agree. Thanks for watching!

@RoadKing65 26 күн бұрын

They didn't suck. It was a different time so try to understand that. Learn more about history before you make a comment.

@2bigbufords 26 күн бұрын

@@RoadKing65 Really? Monotonous, mind numbing, menial simple task done over and over all day long everyday of your working life. Work that machines now do. If that wouldnt suck as a job I dont know what would. Has nothing to do with history.

@Sometungsten Ай бұрын

Although not safe by today's standards, the tooling is amazing.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

I agree! Thanks for watching!

@DMLand Ай бұрын

Amazing to be reminded of the extent to which our forefathers were basically "smart machines" in these factories. They were so good at these repetitive movements (which likely caused all sorts of damage over the years) that it's practically a dance.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

I'm sure you are probably right. Thanks for watching!

@72chargerse72 Ай бұрын

Amazing and EVERY one wearing a hat ( of some sort) And belt drive equipment too. Thanks for posting this.

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

You bet! Thanks for watching!

@jeffrowlette Ай бұрын

Love the video! AND....cool piano 🎹 😍

@kensmithgallery4432 Ай бұрын

Yay, thank you!

@advil000 Ай бұрын

1:35 pushing your hand between the two spinning blades while holding the spoke to equalize both ends of the spoke at once. That one takes nerves of steel.

@kensmithgallery4432 29 күн бұрын

BIG nerves of steel! Thanks for watching!