McKinley High School - President Yearbook (Buffalo, NY)

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PLASTERING Plastering is a very old trade and has been taught at McKinley since the school was instituted. Classes this year were under the supervi- sion of Mr. Franklin A. Smith. The course aims to provide the boys with a knowledge of all aspects of 4 the trade that they would need to know in a job situation. Among the specific things learned are: three coat work, patching, designing, making templates and running molds. All boys are given a chance to develop skill in trade operations. In one large room of the shop, six small practice rooms were built by the carpenters. The classes are divided into six crews and each crew as- signed to a room. The boys plan ex- actly what will go in each room and then set about constructing it with the advice of the teacher. Five of the rooms have a rectangular ceiling with a cornice between the ceiling and the room. The sixth has a round ceiling with a light trough along the wall. From building these rooms the boys learn teamwork and some of the difficulties that a craftsman runs into on the job. The boys also are given experi- ence in various kinds of moldssuch as lamps, flower pots and lawn pieces. There is experience also in planning, designing and construct- ing all kinds of ornamental work.

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and V -block vises. They also were given experience in heat treating. Mr. Napier's Juniors made tap wrenches, C -clamps, plug gages, T -bolts, wood-turning centers, pump wrenches and drill gages. Their training included experience with the new DO-ALL machine. The Senior supervised by Mr. Speck made V-Block vises, Thread pieces, spur gear, locking screws, lathe centers and ground drills. In addition they accomplished such iobs as magnetic parallels, molding cutters and the resurfacing of bench plates. They also painted or repaint- ed several of the machines and re- paried some furnace boiler pads. PATTERNMAKING Patternmaking as a trade makes a high demand for skill on the part of its workers. Whereas, other trades may fluctuate in importance with changed production methods, Patternmaking seems not to vary in the importance assigned it. If any- thing, modern mass production has seemed to make the Patternmaker more essential. At McKinley, the course is aimed at making the individual completely proficient. The student learns to make small machine parts as well as large structural castings with equal precision. Although he learns the use of many modern machines, in- struction in the use of necessary handtools is not ignored. The Pat- ternmaker also receives the neces- sary background in mathematics and mechnical drawing, helping to provide him with a well rounded experience. The Pattermaking instructor is Mr. Elmer Clabeau, a man with consid- erable work history in industry. The record of Mr, Clabeau's previous students indicates the soundness of their school training. This results seems inevitable toone watching the steady progress of Freshmen learn- ing the fundamental use of sharp tools to the Seniors working skillful- ly on their larger iobs such as the grinder casing, bearing housing and gear block.

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PLUMBING This trade, as the name indicates, originated many centuries ago with the worker of lead. It has since de- veloped into a trade, the demand for whose services is constantly' ex- panding in this Space Age with its demand for sanitation and durabil- ity. ln the course of the year, Sopho- more students under the supervi- sion of Mr. Metz have completed numerous pipe assemblies and off- sets to familiarize themselves with various pipe sizes and fittings and their necessary mathematical com- putations. They also performed suc- cessfully on basin lead work and cast iron assemblies. The Juniors and Seniors were supervised by Mr. Ben D'Arcangelo. The Juniors concentrated on the challenging techniques of wiping various ioints. They also assembled a complete bathroom profiting from the lay-out and mechanical work in- volved. The Seniors installed a com- plete commercial lavatory involving such more advanced work as the plumbing fixture layout and the in- stallation of a circulatory line, air chambers and floor drains. They al- so performed advanced lead work,