IT'S NOT MANUAL TRAINING

MR. GEORGE FRAZIER

A few days ago, there was a post on “You May Be From Union City, Indiana...” with a split photo of George and Mrs. Frazier. And his book “Jig”. This very interesting post reminded that I had started a story about Mr. Frazier several months ago as a part of a collection of memories from my younger days.

These stories are not intended for publication but to leave behind some information that may be of interest to future generations. I have many questions I wish I had asked of my parents and grandparents but never took the time to ask.

These stories will include people, events, and of course teachers who have impacted my life. The post I mentioned above was just enough to inspire me to complete the Mr. Frazier story.

Let me begin by saying that to this day it is difficult for me to refer to Mr. Frazier as George but for this endeavor I will use George just to save time time.

George Frazier taught school in the Indiana school system for over forty years, retiring at the end of my junior year in 1961. He was not only a teacher. He was an inventor a traveler a civic volunteer and a philanthropist.

I first met George in the fall of 1956 in a classroom in the southeast corner of the basement floor of the old West Side School building. (Now Hoosier Place Apartments) There were actually two rooms in that room, as I recall. The first room contained several desks/work benches; the corner of each bench had a vise, a swing out seat and a small storage area for drafting tools etc. This room also housed numerous hand tools as well as power wood working tools. More on that later. As I recall the second room contained metal working machines, a small foundry area and a wood finishing room.

George insisted that projects be completed in a certain way, beginning with a mechanical drawing of the project. Because he required these drawings, our first lessons were in the use of the drafting tools stored in the work bench. These tools, a drawing board, “T” square and triangles were a bit primitive, and I am reasonably sure that George made them because he probably did not enough in his budget to buy manufactured tools.

George taught us how to place the paper on the board correctly so the drawing lines would be parallel to the edges of the paper. We were also taught to divide the paper into four equal quadrants and how to draw a front view in the first quadrant, a side view in the second quadrant and a top view in the third; the fourth being used for extension lines only. Then it was time for dimension lines, and this is where we were treated to the first of George's many quotes. George made it clear that the arrow heads at the end of the dimension lines could not look like chicken feet. Hence the quote “Arrow heads have narrow heads”. To this day, nearly seventy years later I still make narrow heads when required.

When the drawing was completed, and the coveted (GF) initials were obtained we were permitted to move on to the actual construction of the project. Also, we heard the second of his quotations at this time. “That's pretty good for a little feller about your size, shape and color.”

Our first project was a wooden sanding block approximately 6”x 2 ½” x 3/4” with a 1/4” chamfer on all four top edges. This project required the use of common hand tools such as saws, mortise marking tool, and block plane. Of course, this would require the knowledge of how to use these tools. But George was there and ready with the skills.

Each student was assigned a plane and each plane and the bit for it were stamped with a number which corresponded to a number on a shelving unit where that plane would be kept when not in use. We were taught how to install the bit and how to adjust it properly so that when the tool was pushed across the wood a long, thin curl of wood would exit the plane. We were instructed that when we did not actually have the plane in our hand it should be placed on its side to to prevent damaging the bit. Each student was responsible for the care of his assigned plane including cleaning and keeping the bit sharp. Sharpening the bit was a lesson for another day.

Once the project was completed, the tools put away and the work area cleaned it was time to present the finished project to George for his approval. If any part of the project did not meet his expectation there would no (GF) on the project until the error was corrected. Then back to George for a second try. If that attempt was successful the student would get another “That's pretty good for a little feller about your size, shape and color” or if something was not quite up to his standards or a bit out of square he may say “that's as crooked as a hinds dog leg”. No GF and back to work on that one.

George taught us about all kinds of tools. What a ball peen hammer was for and how to use it and claw hammers and sledgehammers. We learned about saber saws, coping saws, jig saws and crosscut saws and rip saws and how to tell the difference. We learned about the different kinds of screw drivers and chisels and how to determine the different sizes of screws and nails. Wood screws, sheet metal screws, and on and on. Nails, from huge spikes to tiny wire brads. We learned how to determine the grit of sandpaper by reading the code on the back and what grade to use for a given purpose.

As the years went by, we moved on to bigger and more complicated power tools including metal working machines. Metal lathe, router, planer and jointer. The same tools we had used in wood working classes only much much bigger and more powerful; requiring more skill to use properly, and I haven't even mentioned the welders.

So far, I have only talked about George's teaching, but he taught us much more than what he talked about in the classroom.

He told stories about his many travels around this country and about his childhood. We were told about “stealing” honey form a bumble bee nest and about the old bachelor neighbor Henry Garr who only had one pair of underwear and one pair of coveralls which wore all year long....without laundering. Henry also took a bath once a year “whether he needed it or not”.

He taught by example by volunteering on the city park board where many of his ideas and innovations are still evident today. Many residents of Union City and the surrounding area are still benefiting from his labors. I am sure many of them have never even heard of him, but his dedication lives on.

George invented a garage door opener and a lawn chair and I'm sure other things, of which, I'm probably not even aware. He spent most summers traveling around this country taking 35mm slide photos which he categorized and then presented as travelogs for various groups around the area. He said on several occasions that he had been to every state in the union at least twice, except Alaska and Hawaii and he wouldn't be going to Hawaii until he could teach his Ply-Mouth to swim.

George wasn't one to set and think about his successes. After retirement he became a tour guide and continued to travel the U.S. sharing his vast knowledge of our country with many others, and while at home he continued to present his programs for many civic and social organizations.

George wasn't very big in stature, but he was a big man in many other ways. As I said, he wasn't one to set around. He returned to UC-W frequently to substitute, instilling pride in their school, their community, in their country and pride in themselves.

Mr. Frazier is gone now but he is not forgotten. He lives on in the hearts of all who knew him.

If I could speak to him today and sum his up his life I would just say,

That's pretty good for a little feller about your size, shape and color.

R. Bruss