Science: Spaghetti Splinter

Westinghouse has solved a delicate problem in electronic tube-making. A steel splinter used to be thrust into each tiny coiled filament for support while it was welded. But removing the steel support afterward was difficult. Now a slender stick of raw spaghetti, turned out to a thousandth-of-an-inch accuracy, takes the steel's place. After the coil is welded, an electric current burns up the spaghetti core in a flash. For this ingenious idea, which cuts filament-assembly time from five minutes to one, Westinghouse Engineer William A. Hayes got a WPB award of Individual Production Merit.

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