b'Stanley Strama polishes a mold plate.Molding a Stellar Trajectory emigrated from Germany, he cer- new staff.continued from Page 43 tainly was familiar with apprenticeshipThat said, even young people programs, and Donlin said Cometoutside the industrial technology gundrilling machine has an auxiliaryhas had a four-year apprenticeshipprogram have a good chance of head that enables all three opera- program for quite some time. It waslanding a job at Comet, albeit one tions to be performed in one setup.active well before me. This could gothat involves doing basic tasks, such The machines are suitable for pro- back to 1898 for all I know. as cleaning and painting. Well just ducing holes from 4.75 mm to 50.8And since Donlin started work- watch him and see if he wants to mm (0.187" to 2") in diameter. ing at Comet full time, hes been onwork, Donlin said. I can go 80" (2,032 mm) deepthe apprentice board. Currently, the Part of the observation process from one side, he said. So theo- moldmaker has three apprenticestakes into account punctuality. It is retically, I can go 160" (4.064 mm). in the program, though attractingmind-boggling how many people About 80% of Comets moldsnew ones can be tough, he said.are late for their first day of work, are made of P-20 tool steel, whichOne of the biggest problems inhe said. Im telling you that every-is pre-hardened to 26 to 32 HRC,the moldmaking industry is tryingone Ive given a second chance to Donlin said. Most of the rest areto get kids interested, Donlin said.and believed whatever story he had aluminum or H-13 tool steel. Tol- Nobody seems to want to get theirto why he was late, he was late the erances are as tight as 0.051 mmhands dirty anymore. If they donext day and the next day. You learn (0.002"). want to get into moldmaking, theya lot immediately.He added that Comet can buildjust want to sit behind a computerTo help attract workers, Comet molds for up to a 2,722-metric-tonand program. keeps help wanted signs for a mold-(3,000-ton) press, which means theIn addition to being on Cometsmaker and a CNC machine operator mold probably weighs from 13,608apprentice board, Donlin is on theon its sign by the street year-round. to27,216kg(30,000to60,000manufacturing board at York HighHowever, the company is located pounds). I dont do that a lot, but ISchool in Elmhurst, which has an in- off the beaten path. You dont go can do it. dustrial technology program. Theyby Comet Die accidentally, Don-have invested mightily in that pro- lin said, but sure enough, Ive had Worker Training gram, he said. The investments two people say, I was just driving Because company founder Salginclude new machine tools andby and saw this sign.CTE54MARCH 2020Moldmaking.indd 54 2/14/20 3:38 PM'