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

[@samshublom8761]

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]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@MichaelWysocki-ks5xt]

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

[@G58]

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.

[@jessespad]

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.

[@HotRod37]

Worked on the assembly line for GM on a crappy job. Woke up in the middle of the night once and my arms were still doing my job!!

[@adrielburned6924]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

Hard work too. Thanks for watching!

[@Davey-Drums]

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]

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]

Then came the unions and messed everything up.

[@danielalamo2075]

And it is not even hard work. Just tedious.

[@TexRenner]

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]

Thanks for sharing!

[@Kordziel]

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

[@TexRenner]

@@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]

wow! Oak spokes, fantastic

[@mikeadler434]

👍👍

[@daveblevins3322]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

It is amazing! Thanks for watching!

[@rodenreyes6320]

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

[@drxym]

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.

[@blipblip88]

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]

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

[@bobbybishop5662]

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]

Well said! Thanks for watching!

[@ronniel5941]

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]

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]

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

[@peterdarr383]

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.

[@patmccarthy5069]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

They sure were!

[@hieppham7435]

and none are alive to see new wheels

[@armandbourque2468]

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

[@G58]

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]

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

[@kevinrobert224]

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]

Indeed he did!

[@Tumbleweed_Tx]

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]

Ford gave away a big bag with every car purchase.

[@douglashewitt5064]

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.

[@JM-iz3fr]

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]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching!

[@noahlevy48]

Where was this? Is it still in business?

[@gulfy09]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

Thanks for watching!

[@bobpourri9647]

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

[@thecbs1957]

​@@bobpourri9647😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

[@rafaelallenblock]

@@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]

@@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.

[@chazzmccloud36]

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]

Love your comment! Thanks for watching!

[@TheDavidlloydjones]

Exactly right!

[@Urbicide]

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?

[@jimhallinsn1023]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

I hear ya! Thanks for watching!

[@ryelor123]

Most didn't. Turnover was really high.

[@seanseoltoir]

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

[@chazzmccloud36]

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]

@@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.

[@terry_willis]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

We sure do! Thanks for watching!

[@jimarcher5255]

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

[@chazzmccloud36]

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

[@bigdaddysshop8180]

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]

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...

[@z06doc86]

So refreshing to see such polite discussion in the comments.

[@kensmithgallery4432]

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]

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]

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

[@G58]

@@carlu-dovica​​⁠The First Amendment is not respected by the GooTube algorithms.

[@joewoodchuck3824]

Is that a dare? 😁

[@KevinMiller-lh9ur]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

It is pretty amazing to see! Thanks for watching!

[@2pugman]

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.

[@jim1407]

Machines driven by belts, old school awesomeness.

[@kensmithgallery4432]

Yes it is!

[@mtpocketswoodenickle2637]

Most likely steam boiler power driven as well.

[@sodiorne2]

WOW! So many steps to making one of these!

[@kensmithgallery4432]

Crazy to think about it! Thanks for watching!

[@Redmenace96]

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.

[@tiger7199]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

I'm sure it was. Thanks for watching!

[@MillwalltheCat]

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]

He was efficient! Thanks for watching!

[@johndoyle4723]

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]

Tough as nails. Thanks for watching!

[@peterdarr383]

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.

[@peterwaugh9416]

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]

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

[@simontist]

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

[@cdjhyoung]

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

[@peterdarr383]

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

[@ellieprice363]

@suspicionofdeceitSomeone suggested many years ago that the patent office should be closed since everything important had already been invented. They were soon proven to be very wrong.

[@quantumleap359]

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]

Thanks for the info and for watching too!

[@mtb416]

The factory class came from better stock back then

[@chrismoody1342]

Absolutely mind numbing work.

[@kensmithgallery4432]

I agree. Thanks for watching!

[@bwalmsley5087]

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]

It really is incredible! Thanks for watching!

[@johnferguson40]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

Crazy to think about it! Thanks for watching!

[@gm3801]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

And they eventually did! Thanks for watching!

[@philipbrown2628]

Fords were a union free zone

[@2_dog_Restoration]

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]

Thanks for the info! Thanks for watching!

[@bill3641]

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]

I bet is was very monotonous!

[@michaelbailey4164]

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

[@CoreyBrisson]

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

[@simontist]

It leaves the mind free to wander.

[@blubbietweeduizend]

​@@michaelbailey4164😂😂😂

[@Kysushanz]

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]

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

[@chasevans7171]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

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

[@noscwoh1]

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]

Lead is a good lubricant:)

[@redneckhippiefreak]

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

[@redneckhippiefreak]

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

[@Urbicide]

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]

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

[@thisolesignguy2733]

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]

Thanks for commenting and for watching!

[@rafaelallenblock]

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 .

[@steamon2]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

A lot of work indeed! Thanks for watching!

[@radioguy1620]

somehow hurt my back watching this ! tough work.

[@kensmithgallery4432]

Tough indeed! Thanks for watching!

[@catafalque3634]

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]

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

[@54mgtf22]

What an enormously labour intensive process. 😮

[@kensmithgallery4432]

Indeed! Thanks for watching!

[@sayaka23]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

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

[@autoguy57]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

It sure did! Thanks for watching!

[@autoguy57]

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

[@yfelwulf]

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

[@robertanvilrm]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

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

[@detroitredneckdetroitredne6674]

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]

Thanks so much. God bless you as well!

[@Rockriverboarder]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

You bet! Thanks for watching!

[@B81Mack]

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]

Long before OSHA too. Thanks for watching!

[@fredradon2484]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

Hard to believe really. Thanks for watching!

[@terryeustice5399]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

@@terryeustice5399 my pleasure!

[@fasx56]

The workers sure had their building process and materials organized in an efficient way. Quite impressive for the early manufacturing of car spokes and Rims made out of wood, lot more automated then I thought it would be. This was necessary to build the thousands of Model A and Model T and the many variations of those two. Ford I believe was the First to organize Assembly Line mass production in the US.

[@kensmithgallery4432]

Thanks so much for commenting and for watching!

[@george1la]

Very interesting to see the manufacturing details. Thanks.

[@kensmithgallery4432]

You bet!

[@jeffreyhickman3871]

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 KZbin channel!! Your friend, Jeff!!

[@kensmithgallery4432]

Welcome to the channel Jeff! Thanks for watching!

[@ScoutSniper3124]

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]

I know what you mean!

[@bernarddavis1050]

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.

[@zacharyhinschberger2414]

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]

It is crazy! Thanks for watching!

[@rjlchristie]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

A classic film! Thanks for watching!

[@punchion]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

It really is! Thanks for watching!

[@lancemichaletz7248]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

It was very smart!

[@Proud2bmodest]

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

[@GlennOutland-me2yr]

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]

I believe it. Thanks for watching!

[@rickblackwell6435]

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]

I didn't know that about wagon wheels!

[@truracer20]

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.

[@Redmenace96]

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]

So true! Thanks for watching!

[@interdiction2]

"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]

Great respect! Thanks for watching!

[@311superfly]

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

[@interdiction2]

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

[@mysticwine]

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

[@interdiction2]

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

[@lefthandedleprechaun8702]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

Right on! Thanks for watching!

[@goodmoodgoodday5385]

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]

I understand how you feel. Thanks for watching!

[@jmgee4630]

Progress??

[@lukaszbebnowski7633]

I thought the same thing too.

[@jeffrowlette]

Love the video! AND....cool piano 🎹 😍

[@kensmithgallery4432]

Yay, thank you!

[@Cap10VDO]

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]

Agreed! Thanks for watching!

[@jeffclark5024]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

It really is amazing! Thanks for watching!

[@patriley9449]

Very interesting.

[@kensmithgallery4432]

Thanks for watching!

[@101boertjie]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching!

[@theotherwalt]

That was.... _entertaining_

[@kensmithgallery4432]

Thanks for watching!

[@rafaelallenblock]

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]

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

[@miketaylor6282]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

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

[@terry94131]

@@kensmithgallery4432 Ballroom dancing during breaks?

[@runeshadow]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

Love Joplin! Thanks for watching!

[@brianmeek5236]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

I bet it was!

[@stevegosnell1435]

Fantastic video

[@kensmithgallery4432]

Thanks! 😃

[@allegory7638]

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]

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

[@joeviking61]

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.

[@LouisAloi]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

Very labor intensive! Thanks for watching!

[@lagunafishing]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

Yep! Thanks for watching!

[@peterdarr383]

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

[@cool386vintagetechnology6]

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

[@robertdavis171]

Never really said that.

[@carlu-dovica]

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]

Glad it was helpful!

[@jsstacy7861]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@MichaelWysocki-ks5xt]

When everywhere else was $1.00 a day.

[@StringDriver]

All the hands it took to make a wheel. Mind boggling

[@kensmithgallery4432]

it sure is! Thanks for watching!

[@billfeld5883]

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]

Sounds like some great family heritage!

[@billfeld5883]

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

[@hahaha9076]

Clever machining and manufacturing from so early.

[@kensmithgallery4432]

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

[@malibu188]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

Right ?!?!?! Thanks for watching!

[@peterdarr383]

OIL - based paint

[@fernacticus]

Fascinating. Those people were earning their money for sure.

[@kensmithgallery4432]

They sure did! Thanks for watching!

[@jamesgeorge4874]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

Oh that is so funny! Thanks for watching!

[@512Chaos]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

That is so awesome! Thanks for watching!

[@charleswelch249]

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]

I understand how you feel. Thanks for watching!

[@ccrx6700]

Fascinating thank you for sharing this delightful presentation 👍😊😎

[@kensmithgallery4432]

Thanks for watching!

[@ianmoss9945]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

He sure did! Thanks for watching!

[@JIm-w1b]

Wow, that multitude of operations and with no regard to safety or eye protection, and the intensity of the labor, keeping up the pace, all day long

[@kensmithgallery4432]

Thanks for watching!

[@MrArtVendelay]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

I can only imagine! Thanks for watching!

[@Gaspipenicklioni]

The facility was far more fascinating than the vehicle's it produced, just incredible for the era.

[@kensmithgallery4432]

Pretty amazing for its time! Thanks for watching!

[@dwaynekoblitz6032]

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]

They sure are different worlds. Thanks for watching!

[@jonroland2702]

Back when people weren't afraid to work. Great video

[@kensmithgallery4432]

Lots of folks working hard back then. Thanks for watching!

[@MichaelWysocki-ks5xt]

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]

I bet! Thanks for watching!

[@marcosflores-march7278]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

You got that right! Thanks for watching!

[@toyfarmer2129]

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]

I understand how you feel!

[@keithammleter3824]

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]

@@keithammleter3824 great points!

[@vernonslone8627]

@@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]

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.

[@woodrow7201]

Nice video. Great music, I'm heading to the piano now! wheres my Joplin book?

[@kensmithgallery4432]

Joplin was the king of ragtime! Thanks for watching!

[@NoosaHeads]

How many got their hands chopped off?

[@kensmithgallery4432]

Long before OSHA and safety standards. Thanks for watching!

[@roberteast4160]

I was told ford recycle stuff like pallets to make parts out of them. Very smart man.

[@kensmithgallery4432]

He sure was. Thanks for watching!

[@2bigbufords]

These jobs would suck

[@kensmithgallery4432]

Compared to today, I agree. Thanks for watching!

[@RoadKing65]

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

[@2bigbufords]

@@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.

[@mroku9528]

Thank you yt for suggesting me this

[@kensmithgallery4432]

Thanks for watching!

[@jimeditorial]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

Indeed!

[@emmanuelunitedchurchottawa4152]

Mind numbing work.

[@kensmithgallery4432]

I get it. Thanks for watching!

[@ThomasSmith-fz6wq]

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

[@kensmithgallery4432]

You bring up a great question!

[@kenbakker3241]

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]

@@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]

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

[@williamforbes5826]

​@@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!