How Studebaker Automobiles Are Made 
A Heart-to-Heart Story* No. 2 
In our Feb. 1st issue we sketched the 
story of Studebaker steels and how we 
treat them. We tried to convey some 
slight idea of 40 drop forges, each with 
a touch now delicate, now tremendous 
We told our readers something of our 
40 heat-treating ovens, where steel is 
baked until the metal is harder than 
steel-armor ana with a grain as fine as 
silk. 
To-day we shall move on from the 
great opening channels of Studebaker 
automobile manufacture into the shops, 
with their thousands of automatic ma¬ 
chines and myriads of workmen. We do 
this in order that you may clearly un¬ 
derstand the wonderful thoroughness 
and care with which every Studebaker 
car is built and so that at the end of 
these brief talks you can honestly say: 
“1 believe in Studebaker cars. They are 
built as I would wish my own car to be 
built.” If only we can describe clearly 
a little of this wonderful manufacturing 
organization we shall be satisfied. 
First, a further word about automo¬ 
bile manufacture in general. We spoke 
last time of the difference between an 
“assembler” of automobiles and a real 
manufacturer, and the advantage every 
genuine manufacturer offers to a buyer. 
Bear this in mind as we go on. 
The quality of any automobile de¬ 
pends—first, on the engineers’ designs; 
second, on the steels of which the parts 
are made, and third, upon the workman¬ 
ship which b lilds the car. 
It is of this third point of which we 
shall now speak. 
From the forge shoo, the foundry, the 
heat-treating rooms, the steel mill, the 
rough parts enter the machine shop. 
In machinery for building Studebaker 
cars we have invested millions of dollars. 
Why? Because that kind of manufacture 
is the best, and it is a prime Studebaker 
principle that the best is always the 
cheapest. No machine remains in our 
plants after a better one for its purpose 
can be secured. That is why Studebaker 
; s always among the leaders. And be¬ 
cause we build 50,000 cars per year it is 
cheaper for us to do this, although to a 
smaller manufacturer a similar invest¬ 
ment is impossible. 
There are 40 acres of floor space used 
in the manufacture of Studebaker cars, 
and fully half of this floor space is cov¬ 
ered by the best machinery known to the 
art of steel manufacture. Some ma¬ 
chines alone cost as much as $10,000. 
We buy them because thereby we build 
better cars at lower cost. 
The other morning the writer stood 
beside an automatic machine which was 
slowly drawing into its mechanism a 
two-inch bar of the finest special cone 
steel. In four automatic operations this 
bar of steel was being converted into 
ball cups for the ball bearings of the 
Studebaker “25” front wheels. The cup 
was completely shaped by this machine 
in two minutes, and it was accurate to 
within two thousandths of an inch. After 
being ground perfectly accurate in a 
special machine and heat treated for 
tool-steel hardness and toughness, it is 
ready to assemble in the front wheel 
of the sturdy Studebaker “25.” 
Farmers see every Springtime the 
miracle of the growing seed; the un¬ 
folding and development of life. Here, 
perhaps, is a miracle of man’s ingenuity 
almost as marvelous. The cold bar steel 
enters and the finished bearing comes 
out. No man can see the wonders of 
modern automobile manufacture without 
being struck with admiration. 
In the room with this same machine 
there are 100 other machines, and each 
machine cost over $2,000. The room is 
300 feet long and 60 feet wide, and 
there are three automatic machine rooms 
this size in the Studebaker plants. 
There are 296 automatic machines of 
similar type in the Studebaker automo¬ 
bile plants. Most of the small steel 
parts in Studebaker cars are made in 
these machines; always with the same 
marvelous accuracy and rapidity. It 
seems colossal, but remember that we 
are building 50,000 cars this year, and 
only in this way can they be built so 
good and so cheap. 
i )ne man can operate several of these 
machines and it is only by reducing 
labor cost in this way that we are able 
to pay excellent wages and at the same 
time produce, for example, the $1,290 
Studebaker “35,” which has no super¬ 
ior under $2,000. 
There are, of course, various parts 
too large to he manufactured by an au¬ 
tomatic machine, and these must be 
ground under the supervision of an ex¬ 
pert mechanic. 
Take the Studebaker cam shaft, which 
raises and lowers the valves. It goes 
through two drop forges and is aged 
for several weeks before it is ready 
for the 24 remaining operations in its 
manufacture. 
In the first operation it is cut to 
length; it is then put on special lathes 
and rough ground. It must go through 
several of these lathes—one to machine 
the shaft proper, another to “shoulder” 
the cams and bearings, another to ma¬ 
chine the cams, a fourth to machine the 
end bearings, a fifth to machine the cen¬ 
ter bearings. 
Boring and reaming valve seats in four momra at a 
time. The motors are locked in cast steel arms 
which hold them absolutely true. Consider the 
economy and accuracy of such manufacture. 
Then a heat-treatment tempers the 
core of the steel and a case-hardening 
oven bakes carbon into its surface until 
all the bearing surfaces are glass hard. 
It finally comes back to the machine 
rooms, where a vitrified emery wheel, 
turning over 1,500 revolutions per min¬ 
ute, cuts it within one thousandth of an 
inch true. 
When the last grinding operation is 
finished the cam shaft is handed over to 
a final inspector, who puts it on an abso¬ 
lutely true cast steel base and turns it 
under a dial-faced gauge which tests it 
to the last shade of accuracy. This in¬ 
spector is provided with an India oil 
stone as fine as a razor hone, and when 
he is done with the cam shaft it is abso¬ 
lutely perfect. 
Notice here that every cam shaft we 
build is identical to the last fraction of 
fineness with every other similar cam 
shaft and any shaft could be changed 
from car to car and give perfect results. 
A rifle barrel which shoots to hit and 
kill at a mile range is not as true as a 
Studebaker earn shaft. 
Consider a Studebaker piston for a 
moment. It is cast from clean, pure 
grey iron. Its head is mirror polished 
to make it too slippery for carbon to 
adhere to it. It is slowly ground around 
its diameter of 3 1 /i or 4% inches until it 
is absolutely true and its upper surface 
' a few thousandths smaller than its 
lower surface in order that the expan¬ 
sion under the greater heat at the top 
may be compensated for. 
The boring for the wrist pin bearings 
which hold the piston to the connecting 
rods, must be perfect, or the piston 
A very expensive milling machine which faces three side* 
Oi the cylinder at once, four cylinders at a time. Each 
cylinder is locked in a steel “jig ” which holds it rigidly 
accurate to the grinding tools. 
will not run evenly in its motor. Grooves 
must be cut for the piston rings; another 
very delicate operation, and when the 
piston is done it must equal, within a 
small fraction of an ounce, the weight 
of every other similar piston. 
This is done so carefully in order that 
every Studebaker owner may get from 
his car service equal to that of the high¬ 
est-priced cars built. The Studebaker 
organization has been doing business for 
60 years, and it looks to the future con¬ 
fident, not so much in its reputation for 
square dealing as in its knowledge that 
every piece of work which leaves the 
Studebaker factories is creditable to the 
finest ideals of business skill and re¬ 
sponsibility. We are selling not only 
cars which look surpassingly good, but 
cars that down to the last hidden detail 
are built to deserve every man’s confi¬ 
dence. 
Turning to the crank shaft for fur¬ 
ther illustration of Studebaker manu¬ 
facture, we could fill this entire page in 
describing the machinery and operations 
necessary to make it. It is one of the 
most difficult parts of an automobile to 
make. There are no less than 12 stand¬ 
ard tests through which a Studebaker 
crank shaft must pass before it can be 
used in a motor. These tests limit in 
accuracy to one thousandth part of an 
inch and to the smallest fractional part 
of an ounce in weight. In other words, 
a Studebaker crank shaft must be per¬ 
fectly sized and balanced. 
Another very important matter in the 
operation and durability of a motor car 
is the way the gear wheels are cut. From 
our last story you know something of 
the fine materials which enter the con¬ 
struction of all parts of Studebaker cars. 
A Studebaker gear is first drop-forged, 
as we have described, in what is known 
as a “blank.” That is the gear at first 
has no teeth. It is then milled for per¬ 
fect roundness and perfect center on its 
axis. Then it is ground for perfect 
width. 
After it is made into a perfect “blank,” 
the teeth are roughed out and it is ready 
for the cutting machine—one of the 
most remarkable machines ever made 
and, incidentally, a machine developed 
bv a woman. This grinder cuts the fin¬ 
ished tooth and the job is a mighty par¬ 
ticular one. The unique teeth on Stude¬ 
baker gears represent perfect efficiency 
curves, which means that a tooth in a 
Studebaker gear is in perfect contact 
from the moment it engages with an¬ 
other tooth until it disengages from that 
tooth. 
Finally when the gear has completed 
its long journey through the shop it 
arrives at the inspector’s table. He has 
an expensive machine, which is equipped 
with a master gear. The new gear is 
clamped into this testing machine and is 
rotated with the master gear in both 
directions under various pressures and 
at various speeds. If it is not perfect 
it will be noisy, and if it is noisy it is 
discarded. 
Thus we might go on describing part 
by part the manufacture of Studebaker 
cars. We shall close, however, with a 
final paragraph which we want you to 
consider deeply and carefully. 
Quality in an automobile, as we have 
already said, depends upon the work¬ 
manship. The workman must depend 
to a certain extent upon his tools. If 
we were building a $5,000 car we could 
not buy more expensive or better ma¬ 
chinery. \\ e could not employ more 
skillful labor than we do. We could not 
require higher standards for accuracy. 1 
In fact we do not know how we could 
improve^ any of the vital parts of our 
cars. If we did, we would do so. We 
have an immense factory which covers 
nearly forty acres. Our sixty years in 
the manufacturing business has given 
us—first, unquestioned manufacturing 
experience; second, financial resources 
sufficient to enable us to provide every 
mechanical facility known to the art of 
building quality motor cars. 
It is for these sane and convincing 
reasons that Studebaker cars are suck 
wonderful values. Believe in them, 
because from top to tires they are 
skilfully and honestly built. On these 
grounds we expect to interest you. 
Naturally, we can understand why 
some cars cost more than others, for 
we ourselves manufacture one car at 
$885 and another at $1,550. But in 
the vital parts of each car we use ex¬ 
actly the same material, exactly the 
same expert workmanship. Studebaker 
standards of accuracy are just as high 
for the cheaper car as they are for 
the higher priced car. In fact, these 
two cars are almost identical in design. 
The difference is merely a question of 
size. Just as watches are made in dif¬ 
ferent sizes, so Studebaker automobile? 
are made in different sizes. In each 
case you *get a full jeweled car. 
Boring a cylinder for the pistons, four at a time. 
One of the most particular operations in the man¬ 
ufacture of an automobile. 
A further description of Studebaker 
automobiles will appear in the March 
1 st issue, taking up the advanced stages 
of Studebaker manufacture. We trust 
that you will be looking’ for the com¬ 
ing story. . 
We regret that we could not go more 
into detail of manufacture in this story, 
but we are glad to invite you to send for 
our “ Proof Book,” which describes more 
fully some of the processes of manufacture 
and which tells the story more clearly by 
copious illustrations. You are welcome to 
it and upon your request we shall be glad 
to send it to you, together with our cat¬ 
alogue. Tear off the coupon below. 
THREE GREAT CARS 
Studebaker “25” Touring Car, $885 
5 passenger—Qas starter 
Studebaker “35” Touring Car, $1290 
6 passenger—electric lights, electric 
self-starter 
Studebaker “Six” Touring Car, $1550 
6 passenger—electric lights, electric 
self-starter 
All prices; completely equipped f. o. h. Detroit 
The Studebaker 
Corporation, 
Detroit, 
Mich. 
& 
-o s 
<*■ 
tfi 
V 
<p 
& v* 
