Gifts To Go

Being in the machine shop we are often asked to make unique things. One of those things is going away gifts. Over the years I have made a scaled reactor vessel and a small steam generator for departing folks. I have no pics of those.

Last year one of the senior staff here at work decided to retire.

The company has a standard three figure plaque design they give to retiring management. Problem is I have worked for him in some capacity for over 28 yrs. He and his wife are wonderful folk. His daughter baby sat my kids when they were little. Knowing his family is being part of his family.

For him I wanted to make something a bit more unique. His main field is turbines and turbine generators.

This is not the first time he has left a company where I worked for him. For his first departure I machined a small steam turbine as his going away gift. I turned it from solid brass.  That was about 17 years ago.

This time I wanted to create something more complex. I designed this as a miniature turbine generator. It’s the thing that is turned by the turbine and generates electricity at the power plant. The actual components vary but a common unit is approximately 42 inches in diameter and up to 40 ft long. A bit large for setting on your desk.

This is the concept drawing.

This is the final product.

It is about 10 inches long and has a brass body with 64 hand formed copper windings. I had the body turned by our machinist and the stainless steel end rings turned outside. I made the slot wedges and formed the copper windings. My fingers were sore for days. There are a total of 83 pieces in the completed model.

He seemed to like it.