• TOPICS
    • Design
    • Manufacturing
    • Inspection
    • Heat Treating
    • Lubrication
    • Materials
    • The Gear Industry
    • Gears by Type
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Departments
    • Archives
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise
  • NEWSLETTER
    • Subscribe
  • VIDEO
    • Gear Technology TV
      • Ask the Expert Live
      • Revolutions
    • Industry Videos
  • BLOGS
  • BUYER'S GUIDE
  • NEWS and EVENTS
    • Product News
    • Industry News
    • Events
  • ADVERTISING
    • Brand Awareness
      • Print: Display Advertising
      • Online: Web Banners & Keyword Banners
      • Online: Native Advertising (Sponsored Content)
      • E-mail: Custom, White Papers & Webinars
      • E-mail: Newsletter Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
    • Response & Lead Generation
      • Online: Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
      • E-mail: Newsletters
      • E-mail: Newsletter Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
      • E-mail: Custom, White Papers & Webinars
      • Online: Buyers Guide
    • Print Advertising
      • Print: Display Advertising
      • Print: MPT Expo Showstoppers
      • Print: Buyers Guide
      • Print: Manufacturing sMart
      • Print: Specifications
      • MPT Expo Show Guide Advertising
    • Online Advertising
      • Online: Web Banners & Keyword Banners
      • Online: Native Advertising (Sponsored Content)
      • Online: Buyers Guide
      • Online: Specifications
    • E-mail Advertising
      • E-mail: E-Newsletters
      • E-mail: Newsletter Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
      • E-mail: AGMA Industry News
      • E-mail: Custom, White Papers & Webinars
      • E-mail: Specifications
    • Special Promotions
      • Print: MPT Expo Showstoppers
      • Print: Buyers Guide
      • Print: Manufacturing sMart
      • MPT Expo Show Guide Advertising
  • CONTACT US
  • AGMA
    • Membership
    • Events
    • Education
    • Emerging Technology
    • AGMA Media
    • Standards
Subscribe
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Home » Blogs » Gear Talk With Chuck » A Global Gear Community

Gear Talk With Chuck
Gear Talk With Chuck RSS FeedRSS

Design / Materials / The Gear Industry / Gear Geometry / Alloys / History
Charles schultz
Chuck Schultz is a licensed engineer, Gear Technology Technical Editor, and Chief Engineer for Beyta Gear Service. He has written the "Gear Talk with Chuck" blog for Gear Technology since 2014.

A Global Gear Community

August 15, 2019
Charles D. Schultz
No Comments
Roman Cisek’s journey from Poland to the United States is an example of how the gear trade has become one big international community. A few weeks ago I posted about my employer taking on the distribution of worm boxes made in the United Kingdom. At the same time, Mr. Cisek’s firm was licensing American designs to make in Poland. Twenty-five years after WWII, the real peace dividend was the opening of markets so consumers could enjoy the best products available — not just whatever local factories wanted to churn out. Not everything went smoothly. In Milwaukee, we learned what “if in doubt, ask” meant. Behind the Iron Curtain, Mr. Cisek was challenged to find steels that could match the performance of highly alloyed grades, but without the “unavailable alloys.” Everyone had to learn to compete with new competitors and understand gear geometry in a different light. Most of you reading this posting are too young to appreciate the shock that “Solidarity” was to the accepted world order. Chicago already had a large Polish immigrant community and it rallied to support the fledgling labor movement. At Chicago Gear [where Mr. Cisek later worked], management even decided to match the funds raised by our Polish employees. We recognized that history was being made while we watched from the safety of our living room couches. Forty years later, no one thinks twice about open markets. Products come from all over the world; we expect American products to be welcome everywhere as well. There have been many “winners” from this system and more than a few “losers,” too. Once the “genie” of free trade is out of the bottle it is very difficult to put it back. Our current “trade war” will eventually fizzle out as a result. For those with an interest, James Mitchener’s novel Poland is an excellent primer on a wonderful country that has sent so many talented people to these shores. From Casimir Pulaski during the American revolution to Roman Cisek in the post-Solidarity days, our community is better for their contributions.  (Full disclosure — my Polish co-workers at Brad Foote Gear Works pointed out that my great grandpa Otto’s home village is now a suburb of Gadnz — birthplace of Solidarity. According to them that makes me of Polish, not German, lineage.)Roman Cisek’s journey from Poland to the United States is an example of how the gear trade has become one big international community. A few weeks ago I posted about my employer taking on the distribution of worm boxes made in the United Kingdom. At the same time, Mr. Cisek’s firm was licensing American designs to make in Poland. Twenty-five years after WWII, the real peace dividend was the opening of markets so consumers could enjoy the best products available — not just whatever local factories wanted to churn out. Not everything went smoothly. In Milwaukee, we learned what “if in doubt, ask” meant. Behind the Iron Curtain, Mr. Cisek was challenged to find steels that could match the performance of highly alloyed grades, but without the “unavailable alloys.” Everyone had to learn to compete with new competitors and understand gear geometry in a different light. Most of you reading this posting are too young to appreciate the shock that “Solidarity” was to the accepted world order. Chicago already had a large Polish immigrant community and it rallied to support the fledgling labor movement. At Chicago Gear [where Mr. Cisek later worked], management even decided to match the funds raised by our Polish employees. We recognized that history was being made while we watched from the safety of our living room couches. Forty years later, no one thinks twice about open markets. Products come from all over the world; we expect American products to be welcome everywhere as well. There have been many “winners” from this system and more than a few “losers,” too. Once the “genie” of free trade is out of the bottle it is very difficult to put it back. Our current “trade war” will eventually fizzle out as a result. For those with an interest, James Mitchener’s novel Poland is an excellent primer on a wonderful country that has sent so many talented people to these shores. From Casimir Pulaski during the American revolution to Roman Cisek in the post-Solidarity days, our community is better for their contributions.  (Full disclosure — my Polish co-workers at Brad Foote Gear Works pointed out that my great grandpa Otto’s home village is now a suburb of Gadnz — birthplace of Solidarity. According to them that makes me of Polish, not German, lineage.)

Recent Comments

Thank you for this - Happy Saint Patrick's...

Post a comment to this article

Report Abusive Comment

Free Gear Technology Subscriptions
Subscribe
Free Gear Technology Subscriptions
Subscribe
FEATURED VIDEO
  • Ipsen1
    Maintaining a Furnace's Heat Exchanger with Ipsen
December 15, 2022
RECOMMENDED
  • Precision Equals Performance at ZPE GripTec

    October 12, 2022
    gt0922_Page_28_Image_0003.jpg
  • State of the Powder Metal Industry

    October 12, 2022
    gt0922_Page_30_Image_0001.jpg
  • The Afterglow of Furnaces North America 2022

    October 12, 2022
    gt0922_Page_20_Image_0001.jpg
  • Reigniting the Educational Infrastructure

    December 5, 2022
    gt1122_Page_20_Image_0001.jpg
  • Profile: Continuing Education and Training with the AGMA

    December 5, 2022
    gt1122_Page_26_Image_0001.jpg
  • Reigniting the Educational Infrastructure

    December 5, 2022
    gt1122_Page_20_Image_0001.jpg
  • Profile: Continuing Education and Training with the AGMA

    December 5, 2022
    gt1122_Page_26_Image_0001.jpg
  • Precision Equals Performance at ZPE GripTec

    October 12, 2022
    gt0922_Page_28_Image_0003.jpg
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • Contribute
  • AGMA
Powered byAGMA
Copyright © 2023 Gear Technology
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact