Veritas Tools Canada #6

What would you say if I told you that every plane iron leaving veritas is lapped to within one thou' and that the large iron used in their #4 1/2 can take over an hour in this machine because of the size.

Here is the final check for perpendicular, squareness to the face etc. He checks for thickness of various parts and flaws.

Talk about flaws. I was handed a large low angle plane and told that it had been rejected because of a flaw in the casting and if I could find the flaw I could have the plane. Two of us looked, but could we find the flaw? Finally he put us out of our misery. I couldn't believe the standards as I went from one workstation to the next to the next.

Though major surfacing is critical incrementally to achieving the perfection levels Veritas strives for, and they use some very sophisticated high-tech gadgetry you don't find secondhand in flleamarkets and garage sales, the human element is heavily relied on and the staff at Veritas really care and have pride in their product. There was a certain togetherness between workers there and a consciousness of each other in the work, which seemed enjoyable to me and this element permeated the workplace and was I think so valuable to the workforce and the company itself. When I asked a question, whoever was performing the task answered openly with a sort confidence, but more than that, it was with a certain care value about what they were creating and that was really refreshing.

Another element rarified in todays culture of dumbing down the ethic of work to the lowest common denominator was the obvious choice of staff to task. Each person I met seemed contented and happy at their work. Not an easy challenge in today's work culture.

I forgot to ask Wally Wilson about young people there too, but it seemed a fairly proportionate age range of staff in terms of age and gender. I met a young man who's training was as a jeweller. He was hand honing the carving chisels like 'V' tools for a perfected edge all carvers use. Take care opening these packages!

In my next blog I will be talking about the higher tech end of product design and development at Veritas.