A culmination of many things comes together to make a great machinist. None of which are more important than the ability to visualize something complete before it’s started. I refer to this as spatial concepts. All great mechanical people have this gift and rarely does anyone exceed my father in this capacity.

Born in December of 1924, the son of two German immigrants, Leonard Fronhofer the III learned early that his interests were not in the bakery business that his father owned, but more in the mechanical field. By the time my dad was a young teenager he had a collection of early model Fords. Repairing and rebuilding them became second nature and at times his collection of vehicles exceeded half a dozen and he kept them all in good running condition. At the age of 14 or 15 he decided to build a tractor and using parts from model A’s and model T’s, his project began. Starting in the front he powered it with a Model A engine. After that came two Model A dump truck transmissions and a model T differential (worm gear type) in the rear. He made chains for the tires from used parts donated to him and cut angle iron pieces to bolt on to them for added traction. All this was done with very basic tools including a vise, a drill, and a hacksaw. Many hours went into the project but soon it came to a halt. He needed a metal lathe and had to purchase tires, which probably would have stopped the project had it not been for the good will of the school shop teacher. He let my father use their metal lathe and found a garage that would donate tires for his tractor. It was never my dads idea but the shop teacher took a real interest in the project and had the class paint it, even talked him into entering it at the Trenton Fair in New Jersey; my dad was only 15 or 16 at the time and won first prize. Perhaps being introduced to the use of that lathe and the interest that teacher took in my dad’s project are to be credited for the following three generations of machinists.

My father went on to complete his apprenticeship and started his own small machine shop, which did repairs for local farmers. He is now retired and visits my shop almost daily. Although his eyesight is almost gone you can see him basking in the glory of what he started over 60 years ago. I could write volumes on my dad’s creativeness and accomplishments, hopefully someday I’ll get the chance to do that. But for now, I’d just like to thank him for the gift he passed on to my siblings and myself so that we can enjoy, as he did, the art of machining.

Wilson Pratt finishing the assembly of some GSC Contactors