"The British Ferrograph Recorder Co Ltd."
The move from Tottenham, London in the late 1940's was to this brand new purpose built factory, based in South Shields, and proved to be very successful.
The area had been hit by unemployment so the arrival of this major employer was a boon.
The company in turn were able to recruit and train an excellent workforce, whose skills and dedication contributed greatly to the excellent reputation that Ferrograph gained for the quality and reliability of its products..
IMAGES FROM THE EARLY SIMONSIDE PRODUCTION LINE.
A Pressing Business.
Hydraulic Press.
The first impression Ferrograph owners have of their recorder is the overall weight. The steel deck panel, which is produced on this hydraulic press is largely responsible for this weight.
Ferrographs' were built to last. Which is why the recorders were said to be built like a battleship.
Stove Enameling.
After being punched and formed by the press, the deck plates were sprayed and then put through the ovens to bake the paint on.
Coil Winding.
All the manufacturing processes were done in house.
This ensured continuity of supply, quality, and reliability.
Every mechanical part of a quality tape recorder is precision made.
Flywheels are being dynamically balanced to ensure they run true. Note the depth of the flywheel with all the mass being concentrated at the outer rim. This ensures the energy is stored in the flywheel and prevents variations in loading from affecting the speed consistency.
This results in less Wow & Flutter being generated.
Whilst most tape recorder companies in those days usually bought record /play heads from specialist tape head manufacturers.
Ferrograph, developed their own equipment and method of production, here we can see the head grinding machine developed by Ferrograph.
Incidentally, these heads were the hardest wearing of all.
Much of the assembly process was carried out by hand, usually on a small production line basis with each operative being fully responsible for their own range of components.
This method resulted in workers having a sense of involvement and contributed in no small way to the excellent quality and reliability of their products.
Accuracy in the alignment of the record, play and erase heads was very important, they had all to be to the exact standards laid down.
Head Alignment
Height: To ensure that the head complies with the exacting measurements to ensure accurate track positioning.
Azimuth: To ensure that the head gap is exactly vertical, otherwise high frequency response and compatibility will suffer.
Zenith: The third adjustment to ensure that the head is exactly vertical in the forward / back plane, this ensures even contact of the tape with the head, and avoids dropouts and poor electrical output.
Finally, after all that care in assembly and adjustments the final frequency response check before dispatch, should result in a perfect machine. Bang on spec.
THE PICTURES BELOW ARE FROM SIMONSIDE IN THE 1970'S. NOTE THE ASSEMBLY OF THE SERIES 7 RECORDERS.
( PICTURES FROM A FERROGRAPH BROCHURE COURTESY OF BOB MARRIOTT.)
These photographs taken from a 1970's Ferrograph publicity brochure, show the reliance still on manual assembly rather than the full automation we know today.
However, this may have contributed to the high cost of the machines and made it harder to compete with the influx of foreign tape recorders.
Obviously a problem for our quality chappie.
The man in the picture is Alf Calthorpe from the
Testing dept.
If anyone can identify any of these other workers, I would be happy to include their names.
Mystery Process.
Can anyone hazard a guess at this activity?
Looks to me like some kind of milling machine, but for what?
Right:
Testing "YD" series recorders in the mid 1950's ready for shipment.
Note: Gentleman shown believed to be George Jolley.
Left: Test lab at the Ferrograph Simonside Works in the mid 1960's