Chapter 25

Tuesday

At two o'clock the next day I phoned Mrs Howard. She was excited because of the work she had done. I loaded the two bags on my bike and right after school I went right over and checked on her collection. The spheres were far from uniform but I did test them with a hammer. Most were quite strong. The steel bolt was put into some and then I used various methods to test the strength of the threads. Most had distorted and were unusable but some seemed strong enough for our needs.

This was not a bad thing, for we had learned a few important points. We needed a mould and something that could form the threads, be extractable later and not burn. A graphite rod came to mind but it would leave some graphite that would not allow the ball to be securely bolted later. This would be like applying glue to an oily surface. The same would be true of any carbon-based product as it burnt.

A light bulb caught my eye and I looked at the stove and chuckled because it was for wood. "We can use a small light bulb, use it as a master. Make a mould from its form and put the ceramic material in that and leave it in the mould when it is fired."

"Ohh, that sounds interesting. Can you find one of those large marbles that boys like to play with?"

I yelled, "Right back," as I left the house excitedly.

Two blocks down I found some boys playing marbles. They were doing it the old way with a ring but that was fine. Pulling up I said, "Hi, guys. I need a large marble. I will pay for it." I was shown a few but none were what I wanted. A nearby school got my attention and I asked three groups of boys with similar luck. One small boy in the back came forward and offered me a large ball from a bearing. He let me look at it and I saw no real wear and it was about the right size. "I'll give you fifty cents for this."

"Fifty cents! Yea, I'll take that."

The kid got two quarters, which was the equivalent of an hour's wages for a man.

Mrs Howard was glad to see the bearing and immediately began to work on it. I left her to her work and took some of the undamaged spheres. The phone book was close and I phoned a few places before I found the taps I needed to suit the type of bolt I had.

Eight blocks away I put some money on the counter and used a tap to see how it worked in the hard ceramic material. It did cut. An adjustable wrench helped and I took the tap out to see how damaged the ceramic was. I had three people looking at me. "Do you have a good magnifying glass?" The curious stock keeper brought a small glass to me. It looked like the threads in the sphere were damaged.

"Do you have any aluminum bolts?" I got no for an answer. "Anybody cut some threads in aluminum stock?" The man at the counter said, "The machinist in the back does engine work and brake drums. Ask him."

I put the wrench back and bought a few taps and some grade eight bolts to test the ceramic.

Going through the stockroom and into the back workshop I talked to an old man who sounded very crotchety. "What do you want, kid?"

"I am making an artificial hip. I need some pieces of threaded aluminum rod about three inches long."

"Cain't make no hip, sonny. I know. Mine's been shot for years."

"Some similar old farts said that a certain contraption couldn't fly or that a horseless carriage was only a passing fad. Now, are you going to help, or go down in history as a grouchy old man who ignored my request?"

He paused for a moment to think and eyed me very speculatively. "What size thread you want?" he said as he got off of his chair with some difficulty.

I gave him my specs. It would be stronger to form the threads than to cut them but I had to stick with what I had. He hobbled to the front and came back with some round stock and then put a die on the end with the other end in the vice. In twenty minutes I had a yard of thread. The old man measured and cut the lengths off and stacked them. I took a nut and got the damaged threads at the ends straightened out and started a new pile.

The old man finished and started cleaning the threads himself. While I was working I asked, "I need a spherical reamer or file about an inch in diameter and one a bit bigger."

"What's it fer?"

"When I operate, I have to cut a hollow area in the pelvic bone. Then I have to use the rasp, file or reamer to cut a spherical depression in the bone. The cup for this ceramic ball gets attached to that area. It is attached by epoxy or it is rough and the bone grows into the crevices. I cut off the top section of the leg bone and insert a metal framework into the femur. This holds the ball I made. In two weeks the patient can walk around. In a month they can almost walk without a cane. In six weeks they can walk painlessly but still have to take it slow. Mine will outlast all the other types previously manufactured."

"Y'll not ketch me under your knife."

"This one is for a dog. Later ones are for humans. Now, what about the tools I need?"

He had two used rotary rasps in his cupboards but they were too small. "Your supplier got any bigger?"

We looked through a catalogue and found the parts but they were all too small. The old man yelled to the front and another catalogue came back. Again it was fruitless.

"Could you make one?"

"Could but it would be too soft."

"Make some. They are for bone not steel. How much do you want for two?"

"Sonny, I can't work for free. I gotta eat."

"My name is Alex Kramer. You heard of me?"

"You that kid that stopped those robbers?"

"Yep. I am working on saving people now. You make two and I will pay." I took out twenty dollars and laid it on the table under a bolt. "That can get you started. It has to fit into a half-inch drill."

The old man looked at me and said, "Come back tomorrow."

"How much for the aluminum rod and the labour?"

"We will settle up then."

I took the shafts and on the way out bought two wrenches that fit the bag of nuts I bought too.

I was back at Mrs Howard's house soon after and put the material down in her workroom. She took some of the clay and formed it around the threaded rods and pushed it into a mould she had made. I helped her for a few more hours but she would have to fire more moulds than we were using now to take the clay.

Mrs Howard hustled me out of the house with a few cookies and told me to see her again tomorrow.

On the way home I passed a butcher shop and stepped in. The butcher was a large man who had to look over the corner to see me after the customers before me had been served.

"What would you like?"

"I need some sheep and pig pelvises for medical research. I will pay for them."

He looked at me and saw only a boy. "What's a kid like you doing with the bones?"

I went into a detailed account of all the things I had to do to get to Lass' pelvis, then how I'd have to make a hemispherical cavity. I used all the medical terms and didn't miss a single muscle, vein or artery in my monologue.

I then added, "Well, are you going to sell me some bones?"

The man just walked to the back and brought out a hind and I stopped him. "I need to see the portion so I get the hip joint."

He allowed me behind the counter, I pointed out my needs and said, "I need this and it can be in halves this time. The flesh is not important to me. The dog getting the hip is a long-haired collie of at least seven years."

The man cut the meat away and then used a cleaver to break the large bone. He showed me the bone and wrapped it up. Bones were usually free in the 50s and even 70s, too but soon things were squeezed tight and even those had to get sold but they still were not much. This was much like chicken wings. They were usually given away to needy families. It was only after they were baked or deep-fried with hot sauce that they commanded a premium price.

"Here you go, kid," the butcher said as he handed me the package.

"Tomorrow I have to come back to this area to test out the tools we need. May I leave this here now? If more become available, I will purchase them tomorrow."

The man looked at me closely, "You that kid that saved the baby?"

"I had the help of a mechanic, two police officers and the child's older brother. The doctors at the hospital did the final work."

"Come by tomorrow and I will put aside all the hips that are about the size you want."

"I will need human-sized later sir."

He just looked and this time it was for at least thirty seconds. I waved and left with my thanks.

At home I was able to get hold of Mr Creighton. He was still active in making the Rubik's cube. "Sir, can you farm out the job for the hip? I can give you some better drawings tomorrow."

"There must be a few people you haven't got working for you in this city. I will call them tonight and see."

"Don't try to get the old fart who works behind the auto parts shop. I already got him."

He paused for a moment and asked the address. Then wanted me to describe the man. "That old goat would sour milk but he can work wonders if his arthritis isn't acting up."

"I figured that. I don't have much in my bag of tricks to help him."

"He smokes too much anyway."

"That bothers me. I know instinctively that smoking is bad for you. The tobacco companies deny this and at the same time work on selectively breeding tobacco so that it will have more of the drugs a human craves. Other people know this and some who are not addicted themselves do nothing to bring this to the attention of the world."

"Young Alex, apathy is one of our more enduring traits. We need someone to fight for us but then we will ignore the results. Better to let the fools die and be done with it."

"You may be right for a while but I think I am going to have to take them on soon enough."

"Good luck because you will certainly need it."

Wednesday

The next morning I saw some preliminary signs posted for musicians. The doors were now a community awareness area, where people came to find out what was happening. Rita and her girls were with me to see what I thought of the layout.

The students looking at the poster talked to Rita about the project and I waved my hand and left her to her job.

The girls in the office were still happy. When none of the students were looking Linda kissed me on the cheek. "Thanks, Alex. I feel so much better."

"I said you could count on me and I did what was necessary."

During some of the classes Rita told me of many people who wanted to come to audition. I suggested her that she make an acquaintance of the music teacher and see if the person could be of any help. I handed her some hand-written music scores with the words and the preferred instrumentation. I suggested that her girls make a copy of the work, so the musicians could work on it in their own time.

I smiled as she started making her own copy when the teacher was not looking.

Science today took on a slightly new meaning. Mr Froom went into his lesson and asked a few questions of the class. As usual, he avoided me unless he had to have the answer. My answers at times were somewhat truer than his simplistic requests and this made him avoid me like the plague.

When there was a few minutes left in the class and the students were writing furiously down what was on the blackboard, I put up my hand. This was unusual and instead of asking my question out loud, I walked to his desk.

"Sir, I have a project that you may find interesting."

"What is it?"

A fairly detailed print was put in front of him showing the hip joint and more sheets showing more detail. One showed a cup that would support the ball and a rough surface on the other side. The words were in large print, stating what the article was but the man still had to ask.

I put my finger on the title and said, "For this implant I need a certain type of mineral, called hydroxyapatite, to cover the metal surface of the artificial hip implant. The mineral is really the exact same as bone crystal. This will encourage the body, not only to accept the mineral but to grow onto it for strength."

"Who is going to get this? You aren't a doctor."

"I am not a doctor but many discoveries made in history have not been made by doctors. As to who gets this, well, a dog is going to get a double hip replacement in a few weeks. Eventually, humans will get the hip."

"Artificial hips are not good, they wear out too quick. I don't know what you are trying to pull, Kramer but the ideas have all been tried before. I don't have time for this foolishness." His voice was high and loud. All the students were looking at us.

"I would like to mention that a few months ago you talked about the people that ridiculed Galileo. At the time you said how they didn't have open minds to scientific advances." The bell now rang. I picked up the papers into a neat pile but left them on his desk. "Thank you for your time, sir."

Rita was on me in the hall and the other students were close. I said loud enough for everybody to hear. "Arthritis is the cause of joint dysfunction and I am just making some attempts at finding an aid to those people. In a way, it is like a wheelchair or a cane but the pain will be gone."

Mr. Armstrong just glared at me for a moment in Geography. I guess he, too, was a little miffed at something asked of him other than what had been said thousands of times to other classes. This was nothing new, for many people just refused to think and would rather coast through life.

After a few phone calls I was back at the same butcher shop again. The butcher was much more cordial this time and brought out two wrapped packages.

I thanked him for the material and asked how much. He said, "Nothing, just let me know if it works."

"I may do more than that, sir. Thank you again."

When I got to the parts shop, I went to the rear of the building. The old man was working on an engine block when I stepped in through the large back door.

When the man saw me he said, "I had this ready this morning. You should have been here then."

"I would have liked to but if I miss any more school I can't pass the year, no matter what my marks are."

The man thought for a while and then stated, "The parts are on the bench."

There were two parts and one was in a half-inch drill. A piece of wood in a vice told me that the tool worked at least on that medium. There was a long extension cord attached to the drill. It reached the small patch of grass close to the door where my bike was. I took a package of bone out of the carrier and opened part of the wrap to expose the bone. While stepping on the pelvis with one foot I brought the drill close and tried to begin the cavity.

This was a problem for it wanted to wander. The old man was watching me. "Can I borrow one of your small rotary rasps?"

He just went to his tools and brought back both of the rotary burrs. This seemed to work fairly well and then I tried the larger tool again in the hole I had made. The tool worked this time and made the cavity the way I wanted. In the future there had been tools made to do this job but now the tools were small and not suited to do the job quickly and accurately.

This went on for many tests. The grooves in the spherical file built up fast making constant cleaning necessary. A body file might be better but that would be harder to fabricate. Its grooves were open and the cut material would get discharged as new material entered.

The old man wanted his turn and he made a few attempts at being a surgeon too. I said after his second attempt, "Doctor, it seems that the file needs to be cleaned out a lot."

"Yea it does. Ya gotta switch tools, or get an apprentice to clean it for ya. Maybe the ridges can spiral out and clean themselves like a twist drill."

"That sounds great. You going to make one for me?"

"Maybe, if'n I got the time. I'm kinda busy here."

"I talked to Mr Creighton yesterday. He said you were one of the best."

"You did, did you? Well you're probably right. I will try again."

Mrs Howard was happy to see me. The ceramic pieces were still warm but not overly so. Some of the aluminum had actually melted and I was not sure I could get the studs out. Others that had sat with the aluminum downwards had the metal melt and run out. With a pair of pliers I was able to get the metal twisted out of some. The ceramic threads were better this time but not as good as I wanted.

I tried one of the taps I bought yesterday and this cleaned out some of the metal still in the ceramic but it still damaged the thread. A laser could cut the contour I wanted, even inside the sphere but the laser had not been invented yet.

It would be best to use a machine to make the spheres the same way ball bearings were made. Here, a heavy machine with two plates spun around with rough spheres between them. Over time they were squeezed more and eventually the balls came out fairly spherical. Another machine of the same kind took these balls, this time with abrasive powder was added to get more accuracy. After the balls were hardened and coated with chrome, they went into a similar machine again with even finer abrasive powder.

This could be done to the ceramic spheres but they were many times harder than the ball bearings. I would have to grind a flat on the surface and find a way to drill and tap a hole. If I tried that with the balls we already had, they would not be round because of the flat spot.

None of this was insurmountable; it was just a matter of time and effort. The time was running out and the effort was just an old grouchy man, an old woman and me.

Thursday and Friday

The next two days were not very productive. We made small headway but not enough to write home about. I didn't like the idea but I just might have to cement the bolt into the ceramic and leave it at that.

The other projects were working. Mr Creighton had hired many of the students to assemble the cubes and they were being stored at the factory. At present there were very few completed and none had any coloured decals on the surfaces.

Izzy was complaining about all the work he had to do in making just the booths for the fair. The units with wheels had not even been started yet.

The fair grounds were laid out with strings and small flags along with some booths. Helen MacNeil had done her own work and hired a dozer to move the soil where she wanted it. Crushed rock and culverts were put down, so cars could navigate the area. Word got to me through her husband that the electricity would be provided by a large transformer on a flatbed during the fair itself but now we had to rely on smaller units to just get going.

The local newspaper started to go daily, listing all the things being done and by whom. People liked seeing their name in the paper so the copies sold. Even advertising had increased for some of the businesses taking advantage of our event.

The family came home for the weekend but I was still busy with the ceramic. The library in town was not of much use. I talked long distance to some people about how to make the balls very accurate but they were of little use because I was breaking new ground, or I should say trying to find out something I had no previous experience in.

Church didn't help much, especially when even more people came over to the house to talk about the fair or to just socialise. Mom had got help beforehand and had stocked up on some food and she dragooned Helen into helping her. I assisted, too, by getting Rita and two of her friends to help as well. Aron couldn't find a safe place, so he also had to help. Because I was answering questions all the time, I at least avoided most of the other kind of drudgery.

Derrick and his wife came over, too. He asked me about Tom Ciesla and his project and I said that I knew nothing, yet. His wife made me proud when she organized a few farmers to bring their machinery over and make the remainder of her camping area flat. A large part of the fairgrounds itself was still to be done.

Monday

At third period Monday I was very surprised when Mr Armstrong asked me to step outside his class with him after he gave the students an assignment.

"Alex, what did you suspect my condition was?"

"Did you get a diagnosis yet?"

"Yes, I did on Friday."

"I think you have the second type of diabetes. Is that what your doctor said?"

"Yes he did and I want to know how you knew."

"Reading medical texts. Finding both the visible manifestations and the symptoms of a great many common maladies. I am also talking to people who can give me the same type of information."

After he digested my words he said, "You did a very good job. There are not many people who could have done that."

"Might I ask what you were prescribed?"

The regimen was adequate for this time and I could not make anything better without scrapping other plans. "Might I suggest that you take a half hour walk every day to get in shape. The diet has to be followed and the exercise has to be constant. You should have many more fruitful years ahead of you."

"The doctor didn't mention exercise much. It was just in passing."

"Exercise is good for everybody and especially you. Please take my advice and start walking more but don't overdo it. You may end up with an aneurysm instead."

"Thanks, Alex. I will work on it."

"Then I will harp like an old lady if you don't follow up on it."

"You do that."

At seventh period I got another shock. Mr Froom was nice to me and he too asked me to talk in the hall. He apologised for his earlier remark and asked what I would like him to do.

I said, "Bones are a crystalline structure. An uncommon mineral by the name of hydroxyapatite will assist the bone structure to attach to the metal cap I drew. I only have to attach some of the crystals first. In a week I have to have the joint completed. I can do it without the hydroxyapatite but it will not be as strong."