Shop Class Field Trip

Many years ago my grandpa and a man named John Drexler became business partners. Therefore, my grandpas construction company was Drexler. My grandpa built a big 5 million dollar building for John’s asphalt company, Ace Asphalt. For a “field trip” we went to the building that my he built. We walked around and I met a few people. we talked for a while and snuck some food out of the refrigerator. I was so surprised at how many little offices there were. Many people knew him because he used to have an office there for years.

My grandpa’s dad was a machinist and made small parts for his job. My Great Grandpa Harry Wilson did it all by hand. Today they do it all with computerized machines. Turns out that one of my grandpa’s friends owned a machinist company but he gave it to his son’s.

Our next stop was Industrial Metal Supply where they sell all things metal: metal dowels (basically metal poles) rails, fences, sheet metal, decorative metals, so if you need metal wholesale this is the place. There were chunks of metal you could buy to melt and put into a custom mold to make the shape and size you need.

We went to KLK Inc. which is my grandpa’s friends company. They make aerospace goods, decorative and ornamental items, fitness equipment, medical equipment, and commercial products. It is so cool to see the robot like machines in action. I have seen a lot of metal products in my life but not how they are made. What it does is it takes the computer image and makes it based on the measurements. Water is needed to cool the steel so it doesn’t get to hot.