Eventually a place in the machine shop opened up and I was introduced to the work of refining the stuff that the foundry produced. I met the man who was in charge of the work. He was 80 years old! Still functioning, he told me that if he ever quit he would die. (And this was true. When the owner died and the place went up for sale he lost his job and promptly expired) He only worked half a day and would come in late and work the lathe until he got tired and went home. Good man! Taught me a lot of stuff. I mainly worked the drill press.
I was driving a friend down the hill on Granville street when I mentioned that I was looking for job. He mentioned that his father owned a foundry and I should apply. He said he’d put in a good word for me.
I did apply and found myself working at Bird Foundry on 2nd ave. just east of main. It was an aluminum foundry and fairly modern. It had lifts for the molten metal and a basement where the used sand was gathered and lifted up to the attic where it was shaken down again for molds by the workers. My job, of course, was the lowest of the low. I was the cleanup kid. I had to patrol the foundry and do whatever was needed to keep the place clean and functioning. It wasn’t ’til later that I discovered what a functioning old fashioned foundry was.
