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MAKING BODIES FOR BUSINESS MOTORS.

30th September 1924
Page 11
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Page 11, 30th September 1924 — MAKING BODIES FOR BUSINESS MOTORS.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

--A Newly Established Department of One of the Leading British Manufacturing Concerns, in which Body Production on a Large Scale is Proceeding.

TIIE MAKING of bodies for motorbuses, motor coaches and goods vehicles has, hitherto, very largely, and excepting only certain specific productions, not been brought up to that degree of standardization to which chassis manufacture, to take ,an example familiar to us all, has reached. It has been, and is to-day, to a very considerable extent, a matter of manual work involving the use of highly skilled body builders and a great deal of fitting.

It is the aim of Vickers, Ltd., not only to produce bodies in large numbers completely assembled and finished, but also to supply coach builders with sets of standard parts such as pillars, .sole plates, door frames and other details which lend themselves to standardized production. Such a policy can, obviously, only be pursued in a factory equipped with the finest repetition machinery, because it necessarily involves cheapness and extreme accuracy. The appeal to the coach builder who has orders in hand for execution is very strong because the resources of the company are so vast that large stocks of timber can be held and the world's resources of supply are open to their buyers, whilst the kiln-drying arrangements are on such a scale that the timber is well seasoned and is available at a first cost that is below anything attainable when purchases have to be made on a small scale. The accuracy of the work is the second ground of appeal, as the task of assembling and fitting becomes vastly simplified when the essential details of the framework are shaped, slotted, mortised or tenoned to dead accurate dimensions.

With these two factors operating to his advantage, the coach builder should be able to buy finished components at a cost which, if he were to buy timber and get the work done in his own shops, would no more than pay for the wciod. Coupled with this fact is that of rapidity in availability of the component parts. With the important parts delivered ready for assembling and panelling, the coach builder can put all bands on to these later stages of the work and the result would be a much larger weekly output at probably less cost in material and labourand with lower overhead charges. The works which have been devoted to coach building on a large scale is the factory at Crayford, greatly extended during the war for the production of machine guns. Contracts for these extremely interesting little• weapons having ended, a use was sought for the premises and a special staff was engaged to study body construction and production in large quantities. The practices of American factories were carefully examined, and then when all the plans were complete and proved feasible, the Crayford factory was laid out for its new era. The coach factory is extensive enough, but it is illuminating to be told (and to see with one's own eyes) that it at present only occupies a part of the machine-gun establishment and, therefore, that there is ample room for growth and expansion. The net effect of this is that ample room, within economical limits, can be given to the operatives and machinery.

The floors are equipped with special milling machines, plan

ing machines, shapers, spindles and other tools, and the equipment for the removal of dust, shavings and chips is most complete, so that the shops • are more than ordinarily clean and clear, and the benefit to the health of the workers of working in the glorious atmosphere of mid-Kent is not thrown away. It is interesting to watch the course of the operations, many and varied, by which a plank from the wood pile rapidly acquires a useful form. By means of a template the plank, after planing, is roughly marked to shape, and it is then cut to the marks by a band saw. It is then taken to a series of

spindles (according to the variety of cuts required) and spindled to exact shape and size. The spindle is a devilish tool, but one which, because of the variety of cutters which can be used and the speed of its operation, will produce even

complicated shapes uncannily fast. Slotting and boring, drilling and countersinking follow, multiple tools being used whenever the opportunity offers, so that many holes can be drilled at one operation, and then the parts pass to the checking jigs before a fine planing cut is given them. An interesting example of jig wok is found in the manufacture of door frames. The parts of the frame are shaped and the jointa cut, and then they are assembled, and the joints glued and screwed in the jig. The jig then goes on to a special machine and cutters give the frame the exact shape of the door-to-be with any complicated curves called for by the body design. It will be seen that by this system time is saved and absolute interchangeability ensured.

In the production of component parts there is, naturally, a great deal of unused wood that would, without a means of using it presenting itself, mean waste and loss of economy. Therefore, one of the most valuable machine tools in the building is engaged in cutting dovetail joints in pieces of wood and gluemg and jointing them together. As a matter of fact, the material thus produced, and from which many components are prepared, is quite as good for the purpose as, if not better than, solid planking, becarree all risk of warping is avoided, although with Well-seasoned wood this risk is small.

In the works one sees interesting tools for profiling wheel arches, others which cut dovetails on box sides, others which knock up accumulator boxes and toolboxes and lock the corners, and machines which screw fillets to. boards, all saying labour and turning out parts with a celerity and accuracy to dimensions that is more than surprising.

By means of jigs some components go through a subassembly process, and then on the final jig the components are wedded together to make the complete frame, which passes to the panelling section," and then on to the painting and finishing departments. At every step the work is checked and inspected, so that faulty work or material is unable to get by, and delay in subsequent phases of the construction is avoided. The use of special-purpose machines, working to mathematical accuracy, of course, greatly assists this process

of inspection; indeed, it Ls the factory that makes quick and accurate inspection possible. This precision, of machining a job ensures that the shape shall be period, Parts muse therefore be Alike and interchangeable, whieli is a valuable attribute when the tarts reach the assembly shops. Again, working to fine limits is more readily attained by the use of single-purpose machine tools, whilst another important factor is the use of well-seasoned stock. If the product of the machine tools is accurate, hand work can very largely be eliminated, and the use of non-productive labour avoided.

In the commercial-vehicle department one seea a number of types of coaches and buses, from 14-seater chars-a-banes, going through at the rate of six per week, up to 14-seater double-deck buses, of which 20 a week are turned out. A big railway has placed an order for a large number of' seater seater bus bodies, and these struck us as being extremely light and strong. Saloon buses of all types are built, and. quite a variety of vans, from 10 cwt, upwards in capacity. Of these an output of 5,000 a year or 100 a week is easy of accomplishment. A material now used te a large extent is Arrneurply (formed of plies of metal and wood). It serves admirably for flat panels on busk and vans.

The painting and varnishing shops are well arranged for speedy production; some of the ovens are large enough to accommodate six coaches at a time.

A. point which was raised during our inspection recently of this large body factory is the economy that would be effected if bus c.'haesis by different makers conformed to certain standards, so that the making of saloon bodies and of parts for themcoUld be entirely standardised. Seemingly, there should be a substantial saving in the cost of bodies if in their matiukicteire eitandardieation could be carried to the extent that has been done in the case of bodies for vans and private cars.


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