American products, American jobs, American engineering, American factories....
American products, American engineering, American factories, American jobs.
...Thank you for the use of these vintage 1911 machine shop images from Oberloh Woodwind and Brass Works. (C.J. Conn Band Instruments)
Shown in numerical order, we thought we would share these very interesting images from the collection of Daniel Oberloh that depict the working environment at the Conn factory, early in the twentieth century. These images are from the postcard series originally offered by C.G. Conn of their newly re-built factory in ElkHart Indiana. c.1911.
A big THANK YOU for the use of these images from Oberloh Woodwind and Brass Works. (C.J. Conn Band Instruments) Visit www.oberloh.com/gallery!
Oberloh Woodwind and Brass Works is known nationally for our work on brass and woodwinds. We also have the largest machine shop for instrument repair in the Pacific Northwest, allowing us to rebuild instruments that have been damaged beyond hope. Except for plating, all work is performed on the premises. We also have the capability to fabricate instrument parts that are no longer carried by the manufacturer. Take a look at some of the completed projects we have featured in our picture gallery. If you have an instrument that other shops say cannot be repaired or rebuilt, bring the horn to us to look at before you thrash it!
Visit www.oberloh.com/gallery!
To contact us, please call (206) 241-5767 or email. You are also welcome to stop by our shop:
#2 Tooling Dept. Creating band instruments requires a great number of special tools,
First, A brand spanking new factory to replace the previous one that burned down in 1910. Employing 250 men and 53 Women producing 800 instruments a month, 45 a day.
#4 Early ACME Automatic screw machines, Automatic lathes, turret lathes.
#4 Power press, presses were fitted with custom dies (made by the machine, of course.) that stamped out sheets of brass into the rough parts for sub-assemblies. This press is stamping out one of the half sections for a tuba bottom bow.
#5 mouthpiece second operations on small finishing lathes. Making mouthpieces, lots of mouth pieces.
#6 Valve making Dept. More second operations on small modified lathes assembling and finishing parts to final size. Where many small pieces are made and put together creating the valve assemblies for all brass instruments.
#7 Typical early 1900s assembly. The "Bell Spinning department" is where brass instrument bells are formed on spinning-lathes. The process is one that calls for a high degree of skill. Spinning Lathes and machines on left, filing and hand fitting together of the parts made in visces on the right.
#8 More typical early 1900s assembly. Spinning Lathes and machines on right this time, filing and hand fitting together of the parts made in visces on the left by the light from the windows. Assembling tubas, euphoniums, all the big brass and iron.
#9 Draw benches are used for repeatedly pulling brass tubes thru variously sizing dies to the desired diameter and taper.
#10 mounting trumpets and cornets. Look at all the horns on the ceiling. Look at all the men working.
#11 Crook making (U-Curve) called maccaroni (sp?).
#12 Helicon Bending to a pattern. With the use of a large cheater-bar, the large lead filled branch of a helicon bass (marching tuba) is accurately bent by hand to the proper radius.
#13 Bending smaller sub-assembly branches, like those on french horns and baritones were also filled with lead and bent to the desired radius. The "Bending Department" is where large bows, branches and bells are..well..bent. Seen here is where the ripples that occur during the process are hammered and burnished out.
#14 The magical trombone department. Tube ends sized on right, fitted on the left and soldered. lots of parts on the ceiling.
Unlike today where every city has it's local repair and restoration shops (like Oberloh Woodwind and Brass Works), there was a time when getting a brass instrument repaired ment shipping it to a manufacturer in the midwest US.
#6 Filling the branches and bells with lead keeps them from kinking during the bending process.
#17 Saxophones, A lot more people, workstations and steps to assemble here.
#18 Once it is together, it's ready for polishing. Here is a shot of the "Buffing Department". You will start here, don't end up here, very dirty work.
#19 Strapping horns is the process that polishes the brass in all the tight spots. Mmm, good times. The man on the left looks so very excited. The second job to teach and test your precision .
#20 After polishing and buffing instruments that are to be nickel, silver or gold are sent to the plating department. Looks like the wood electro-plating vats on the left.
#21 Engraving and Burnishing. Windows lots of windows and light necessary. Conn had a huge engraving department referencing their superior product. However It was always a bottle neck in the production. Unfortunately, this was cut back quite a bit when the new owners took over around 1917. Standing to the left in the back of the room looks to be Connıs famous engraver Julius Stenberg. And in the back right corner is most probably his brother Charles aka "Doc" who worked at C. G. Conn nearly their entire lives (from the 1880s to the 1950s).
#22 Brass instruments final assembly and check. Trumpets and cornets, Once all the parts are made it is time to put them together.
#24 Brass foundry. Many parts are cast from molten brass and nickel-silver. Parts like clarinet, bassoon and sax key levers as well as percussion and banjo hardware. Note the gas fired melting pots in the back, hoist above them, molds prepared. Parts on sprues in the middle, scales to weigh the metals. Patterns piled by the windows.
#24 Electric power room. Gas, I mean gas driven large 90 volt alternator and Dynamo for plating and early DC motors. In 1911, electricity was still new and worth showing off, Don't depend on anyone else to get it to you like in Texas.
#25 Steam driven Blast fans, say ventilators. In winter time; warm and comfortable workers are happy workers (mostly in the office).
#26 Boilers still are needed. Boilers make steam, steam powers the steam engines that drive the lineshafting that spin the Machine tools and al the belts you see coming from all the ceilings that powers machine tools. Very necessary for a factory in 1911.
#27 Woodworking machines. Band Saw in the foreground, Lathes, Planers, Shapers semi hidden in the back. How many manufacturers can afford and have the skill to make their own cases today? (Henry Ford did not invent complete process control, start to finish ).
#28 Wood bending with steam and presses even some small floor screws. See left case shells, drum shells ect.
#29 On the factory floor, Progressive Women in the work place?. Women sewing, detail work glueing and fitting cases. GASP!
#30 String Instrument dept. a couple guys, Compared to the rest of the factory, it looks like they were just dabbling in luthier work.
#31 Flute, Piccolo, Actual wood Clarinets, the makers work in the best place. No gauges seen Clarinet builders selective fit parts and are also still using some line shaft driven fitting lathes to make the size needed.
#32 Clarinet makers turning by the windows and electric bulbs hanging down. Lots of rough parts on the left on shelves.
#33 Reed body makers, lots of raw wood blanks staked on the center table to semi finish. Woodwinds from now on!
#34 Drum assembly room from parts already made by others departments.
#35 Reed testing, hope they have some tuning forks. Are they family? Gas lights hanging from the ceiling, playing an pump organ for reference. A real day gig if you have a good ear.
Testing, grading, hopefully adjusting to a tuning fork using beat frequency? Look at all the instruments in the bins behind him. a lot of money waiting to be finally made.
#37 Packing, receiving dept. Before cardboard boxes, All with wood packaging wood boxes are a lot stronger and denote better quality .
#38 Accounting. Which department is losing all the money the boss demands. The Office 1911 style, with real wood varnished furniture. Electrified gas lamps with hanging electric lights hanging down. Look at the technology of the phones. Adding machines A real typewriter make no mistakes, one try at it. Before cell-phones, no xerox, no computers, no television ads, radio ads, ball-point-pens...
#39 Stenographic. Correspondence was a lot harder and time consuming 1911. No email, no word processing, no copy and paste, no phone call unless your Rich or a business.
#40 Photographs. Newer tech for 1911, only for the young who learned it currently, the older people never saw it, learned it or knew it. look at the glass plate camera with flash powder. Say cheese, I need a good pic to mail for this sale.
#41 The Dark room Printing room. Note chemicals on the shelf at left, Electrified gas lights, Running water, the electrified printer center and the steam heat register behind the woman.
#42 Dictation room. Blah, blah, blah, I don't want my daughter to work there, she looks scared.
#43 Dictation office, transcription. Letters proof-read before typing to get a sale or a problem resolved, Blah, blah, blah, these women look contented.
#44 Mr Conn private office. A early typewriter and desk. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ..... Mr. Conn, sir?
We hope these images are of interest to our machine shop, machinist, musical, electrical or early office intrigued visitors.
A big THANK YOU for the use of these images from Oberloh Woodwind and Brass Works. (C.J. Conn Band Instruments) Visit www.oberloh.com/gallery! Thank you for the use of these images to: Copyright 2007-2011 Oberloh Woodwind and Brass Works
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forms and jigs that are special made.
The Machine shop department is where the best machinists are.
Most of the tooling is made yourself for you own use.
Whatever you need, whatever you think will work, you make yourself,
it will give you the ability to do the job easier and it is faster than finding one for sale. 
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