Bethlehem Steel forging plant summer training (1975)

Tom's first-summer experience at Beth Steel forging plant — 500 new engineers, week of vice-presidential talks, observation of manual oxide-scale removal from large forgings.

I remember the first time I worked for Bethlehem Steel during the summer, they had a program to introduce all the 500 new engineers that year to steelmaking. In the morning we would listen to vice presidents give talks. This lasted for a week, which tells you how many vice presidents they had — you could spend five mornings listening to them. They weren't long talks, half an hour each. In the afternoon we'd go down to the Bethlehem plant. I remember going to the forging plant — this was summer of 1975 — and they had a big forging hammer slamming down on these things. When the great big crane moved the steel back and they were done, two bare-shirted steelworkers went out with their shovels scooping up all the slag, the oxide that had come off. It was about six inches deep on the forging bed, and you had to scoop it off, because if you brought another one in, all you'd do is forge that stuff into the surface of the next one.