HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1986-11-05, Page 126GSS/Wednesday, Nov 5, 1986
Sy."s t
are p
lents
t to scale
0 ne could never accuse Syd
Lawson of overlooking detail
in his job with Champion in
the quality assurance department.
And he diligently applied that
attention to detail to one of his many
basement projects, the construction
ie model of a 700 series
road grader.
Working away at the project for
over six years in the basement of his A claims that mawho can't sitfter six years ofdwork
home, Syd has carefully crafted an
exact replica of a Champion 700 on the model grader, he's got his
from him. He was 78 years -old when
he built a 1/4 scale traction engine.
He used to build his own patterns
and then sell the stuff when he was
finished."
A man of many interests, he
tinkers with motors, collects guns,
searches for Indian artifacts and
antitiiehas a passion for steam
Bines.
series grader. The product, a labor
of love for Sy -I who worked with
Champion for over 20 years before
his retirement in 1982, has been part
of Champion's Antique Club displays
this past year.
For Syd, who would rather tinker
around with an old car in the
driveway or fashion a steam engine
out of scrap parts than take a
holiday, the grader was a labor of
love.
"I just poked away at the thing in
the basement for six years," he
offers modestly. "But it turned into
something I never expected. It's nice
and I'm proud of it. I just wanted to
build a detailed finished grader."
With the grader, three refurbished
sports cars and a miniature steam
engine behind him, Syd is turning his
talents to an idle Model T in the
driveway.
Hired as a welder in 1961, Syd also
worked in both hydraulic cylinder
and final assembly. He worked a
steady afternoon shift by his own
choice, to devote daylight time to his
passion for tinkering with
machinery.
"I just loved working at
Champion," he fondly recalled.
"They were the best days of my life
and the guys were wonderful to work
with: It wasn't hard to work there
and the guys helped me a lot by
cutting some pieces for the scale
grader."
Syd was first involved with grader
models when he refurbished parts of,
Harry Barker's horse-drawn model
dating back to 1915. Used to
demonstrate operational benefits
and options at county and township
meetings, the model is now proudly
displayed in Mark Sully's office.
In 1969, Syd was asked by Jack
MacDonald to make a wooden
grader to scale to act as a visual aid
in the engineering of the 700 series.
The wooden scale model is still in
the company's engineering
department.
Syd comes by his mechanical
abilities honestly and suggests that
his 101 -year-old father was nothing
short of a genius.
"My father was a genius," he said.
"He built steam engines and was
mind on something else. Three years
ago he taught himself to play the
bagpipes and this winter; he thinks
he may try to play the violin.
"I just like something new all the
time."
always building something. I learned
it took Syd Lawson six years to
construct a scale model of a
Champion 700 series grader
Syd loved working at Champion.
Photos by Dave Sykes
CS