Precision thread plug gages probably sound pretty pedestrian in their purpose, but certainly not regarding the process through which these important measurement instruments come into being. Imagine a place, WESTport Corporation, where making such gages is like an act of art. Each gage in its virgin state has been carefully labored over using strategic precision, not something that you can just whip up overnight, but a masterpiece honed over time.
At first blush, these gages don’t exactly scream pizazz. They stand at the threshold of industrial specification; even in applications so mundane, all bolts and screws are fitted to set requirements. It all begins with the quality of gage steel. People need to remember that the type of steel picked determines a factor in how it shall not only be strong, but precisely poised in the balance between toughness and abrasion resistance. Steel which is too hard chips, while steel which is too soft does not last longer than a snowflake in summer.
And then, of course, there is the forging: a craftsmanship of very hot steel billets formed into what is so lovingly described as blanks-which I lovingly refer to as gages in waiting. The blank is raw canvas. Now, the cutting-a dance of tools against steel, slicing, forming, creating.
This is not about stew and chopping vegetables; this is a symphony of precision machining. Manufactured threads, made to standard perfection, just like a conductor leading his orchestra, are done so with harmony in cuts and shaping. So, when the grinding comes to a stop at the machining stage, we reach that disastrous stage of treatment called heat treatment. Gages with coats of raw steel go for sauna-like dips into furnaces. It’s a bit like boot camp for steels, effectively tempering them to survive the rigors of industrial life. In many ways, it was an induction into the real world for our unsung heroes-bestowing strength and toughness upon them.