The great pattern pilfer
Never underestimate the abilities of children to end up in places that they’re not supposed to go. In particular young boys. Long before my 10th birthday I lived in a small town that had an industrial background. There were factories and there were steel foundries and we knew nothing of what went on inside. However at this same point in my life I wanted to build a cart with wheels. One day while out wandering around the grounds of the local foundry my friends and I decided to go inside a storage shed. Unfortunately the door was locked. Fortunately the smallest among us was able to go in through a hole in the wall and open the door. An open door is an invitation to explore and we had a plan. We wanted to find wheels for eventual carts. This building stored the molds used to make pieces in the foundry. Imagine a shape and there was probably one of them in there. We wandered from pile to pile until we finally found something that fit the description of a wheel. Very primitive. Crafted from hardwood by a molder or a pattern keeper. No they were never designed to be used as wheels on a cart but we were young and what did we know. And so we pilfered. I hate to use the word theft because the owner of the factory was never aware of his losses. In fact this one can be called the great pattern pilfer. There, here you have it. We were criminals long before we understood the meaning of the term. Enough time has passed that I have no fear of retribution. As an aside the cart was never completed because wooden mold patterns tend to break and within hours we had four flat tires where there never were tires. If I were to do it again with a lifetime of experience I probably would have chosen a different source for my materials.
