Virginia attended Ball State for one year, 1941-42, but wanted to save up money for school and decided to work at Stellite the following year. The three shifts, which the workers alternated every couple of weeks, were 7 am - 3 pm; 3 pm - 11 pm; and 11 pm - 7 am. Her department produced wax moulds for aircraft superchargers, a top-secret war project.
Photo credit: Indiana Historical Society, HAYNES_IMAGE_007
Photo credit: Popular Science, June 1941, "He Harnessed a Tornado"
Haynes Stellite was located in the SW part of Kokomo and Virginia took turns driving to the factory with her neighbor, Elsie Teel. Elsie's boyfriend at the time, Evert Donaldson, had been drafted and gave her his car to drive. Virginia drove the family car, a 1937 Chevy 2-door, when she worked the 2nd or 3rd shift. Jeanette Mohr (Lockhart) was her shift supervisor. Theresa Busby also worked at Stellite, but in a different department. Mom Oakley's, described as a local "greasy spoon," was a favorite place to hangout and dance for young women factory workers and the boys from nearby Bunker Hill Naval Base. They would flock there either after 2nd shift or before the third shift.
Photo credit: Indiana Historical Society, 1944, "Women making turbine blades for military planes," 1944_Stellite_S85P
The following excerpt is from "The History of Haynes International, Inc." by Charlie Sponaugle. Published in Metals Technology: Solidifying our Region's Wealth for a Third Century, Pittsburgh Engineer, Winter 2005, in an editorial comment by Ronald E. Ashburn, Executive Director for Iron and Steel Technology.
The History of Haynes International, Inc., excerpt
The History of Haynes International, Inc., excerpt
The company weathered the depression years selling its hard-facing alloys in industrial and agricultural applications and the new
Hastelloy alloys in the growing
chemical process industry. During
this time new melting technology
was moved to Kokomo from Union
Carbide’s facility in Niagara Falls,
NY. It was about 1940 that the first
wrought versions of the Hastelloy
alloys were being developed and
rolled at Ingersoll Steel and Disc
Company in New Castle, Indiana.
The 1940s were the beginning of a new era for the company. The second world war would alter the company’s future much as the first world war had done. One of the growing applications for Stellite was investment cast turbine blades (or buckets). These blades were used in the superchargers for military piston engines on a number of planes. Over 25 million buckets were produced for the war effort. Haynes Stellite alloys 21 and 31, both cobalt-based, were used in this application about 1941. Haynes Stellite was the premier investment casting house in the US at this time and supplied about 70% of the turbine buckets used.
Another application using both the Stellite alloys and the new Hastelloy alloys was search light reflectors for the US Navy. These metallic reflectors were shatter- proof and maintained a high luster even in saltwater environments. These reflectors were made from plate rolled by outside conversion sources using billet melted in Kokomo. Another factor in the growth of the company during the 1940s was the large amount of Hastelloy alloy used by the Manhattan Project and the Chemical Warfare Service.
Production during the war years was at an all time high, with employment reaching over 2,000 during the second world war and 3,000 by the end of the Korean war. A major milestone occurred in the late 1940s with the establishment of the wrought alloy plant in Kokomo. Prior to this, wrought products were finished by outside rolling mills. The new wrought alloy plant was situated on about 100 acres of land south of the main plant location. This new facility included rolling equipment for the production of plate and sheet products.
New high temperature wrought alloys were also being added. MULTIMET® (a nickel-cobalt- chromium-molybdenum-tungsten alloy) appeared in 1949 and in 1950 the cobalt alloy L-605 (now called Haynes alloy 25) was first manufactured. These alloys found increasing usage in aircraft superchargers and in the newly invented jet engine.
The 1940s were the beginning of a new era for the company. The second world war would alter the company’s future much as the first world war had done. One of the growing applications for Stellite was investment cast turbine blades (or buckets). These blades were used in the superchargers for military piston engines on a number of planes. Over 25 million buckets were produced for the war effort. Haynes Stellite alloys 21 and 31, both cobalt-based, were used in this application about 1941. Haynes Stellite was the premier investment casting house in the US at this time and supplied about 70% of the turbine buckets used.
Another application using both the Stellite alloys and the new Hastelloy alloys was search light reflectors for the US Navy. These metallic reflectors were shatter- proof and maintained a high luster even in saltwater environments. These reflectors were made from plate rolled by outside conversion sources using billet melted in Kokomo. Another factor in the growth of the company during the 1940s was the large amount of Hastelloy alloy used by the Manhattan Project and the Chemical Warfare Service.
Production during the war years was at an all time high, with employment reaching over 2,000 during the second world war and 3,000 by the end of the Korean war. A major milestone occurred in the late 1940s with the establishment of the wrought alloy plant in Kokomo. Prior to this, wrought products were finished by outside rolling mills. The new wrought alloy plant was situated on about 100 acres of land south of the main plant location. This new facility included rolling equipment for the production of plate and sheet products.
New high temperature wrought alloys were also being added. MULTIMET® (a nickel-cobalt- chromium-molybdenum-tungsten alloy) appeared in 1949 and in 1950 the cobalt alloy L-605 (now called Haynes alloy 25) was first manufactured. These alloys found increasing usage in aircraft superchargers and in the newly invented jet engine.
