The engineering office was really just one big room, well lit from the sawtooth roof design. There were large reciprocating fans mounted high on the vertical I-beams, which kept the air moving during the summer months. But there was no air conditioning. One of the engineers had been recording summer temperatures using a pencil, on one of the I-beams. I remember that it was common to see those numbers in the high 90’s, and even a few into the 100’s (I bet those numbers are still there, if you knew where to look). Quite oppressive to those of us wearing dress shirts and ties.

Our furniture consisted of old oak office drafting tables and a variety of drafting machines. Most of those were the older type with weighted arms which swung out over the tops of the drafting boards. The angular drafting surface itself could be adjusted manually, with a rod and lock knob on each corner. Usually the draftsman would find a suitable incline and leave it there for all his work, as it was quite a chore to change it. Each “work station” consisted of this drafting table, and a large, flat, reference desk. The draftsman sat between these, moving back and forth from the reference table (where the job assignment layouts and paperwork were laid flat), and the drafting surface, where he may be doing layout work or detailing a part. I might mention that these “work cubicles” were placed in-line, front to back, and the engineer had to keep an eye on the next persons drafting machines counterweight, else he get whacked by it!

The company knew that the office, especially during the hot summer months, needed air conditioning. At the same time, they decided to replace the obsolete drafting equipment (I believe this happened in the late 70’s-early 80’s). It was quite an expensive undertaking, as there were perhaps forty or so engineers. Each department got new drafting tables and state of the art (for then) Vemco drafting machines (no more counterweights!). These tables were of two different lengths, 6 foot, or 8 foot. The eight foot size went to those who did most of the design layout work, the six footers went to detailers, mostly. Both sizes had motorized vertical adjustments, and manual angle (one handed) clamps. Each department was segregated with five foot walls which allowed for air movement. All of this work had to take place without causing undue delays in our engineering tasks; so most of it was done at night over a several month period.

There were three distinct engineering departments at this time, two mechanical (Grinder and Lathe Products), and one electrical. The Electrical Engineering department covered both product lines. They also had the task of doing design work on PCB’s (printed circuit boards). We did a lot of our own PCB work, and used a “light table” to lay out the actual conductive tracks that connected the various electronic items on those boards.