Something old that you have that you like

[woodworkingboy]

I think we all like to see old things. Old is a relative term, so if it seems old to you, then it fits. Maybe putting up pics of your "old lady" or "old man" should be avoided, I mean that is ultra awesome, but probably best reserved for another thread.

Starting it off, I have this old wood cutting bandsaw, lots and lots of wood pushed through it in over thirty years of almost daily use, and have only broken one blade, or my neighbor did. :roll:

A Silver Manufacturing saw, out of the great state of Ohio, and a good history for that company can be found. They went to this style base in 1910, and I figure that it's about a hundred years old. It was originally set up to be powered by line shafts that ran through a shop, the order of those days, but at some point someone converted it to having it's own motor. A rather simple and well made machine, although when I purchased it at an auction in Oakland California at a chair shop that went out of business, it required a lot of restoration, the upper sleeve bearing was shot, and the lower one I converted from the old style poured babbit bearing to ball bearing. I cleaned it up and repainted, reset the wheels with new rubber, really tried for a good performing machine. I don't think it received the grease it deserved. I did re-pour the block that holds the upper tracking guide shaft, a great learning experience. The wheels track the blade smoothly and vibration free on the rubber tires. The table tilts and the throat opens to where it can cut wood that is 17" thick. It has been a great tool for me, of all my equipment, I guess that it is my favorite.

 

[Rborist1]

Hyper cool!

 

[SkwerI]

An amazing machine, Jay.

I guess the first thing that comes to mind for me is an old Athol brand bench vise. The company is gone but Erik knows the building where they used to be located in Massachusetts. My father brought it down from Connecticut when we moved here in 1969 and it served over 20 years of duty in his gas station. At that point he gave me the bench it was mounted on but the vise was strictly a loan. I'm not sure he still remembers I have it but I'm not going to remind him.

 

[Burnham]

Nice, Jay. Neat idea for a thread, too.

 

[sawinredneck]

I have a 60 plus yo 410 gauge single shot shotgun in burgundy mahogany that I first learned to shoot with, and my great grandpas side by side 12 gauge that goes to Bubba. Both mean a lot to me. I'll have to get pics sometime.
I'll also have to get pics of Bubba's car. Damn if I want it, but dad promised the guy he bought it from he wouldn't sell it, so Bubba gets it. A 1928 Model A pickup.

 

[Al Smith]

I have an old bandsaw about like that .It's a tad smaller with 24" wheels .I think it's a Cresent made in the 30's and solid as a battleship .

This big drill press was made most likely prior to 1920 .Has an x-y table .Once a line shaft driven machine ,now with a 5 HP single phase motor and a #4 Morse taper spindle . Capable of drilling a 3 inch hole .Must weigh about a ton I suppose .

Lest I forget a little tid bit of info regarding Jay's comment on made in Ohio .Cincinnati Ohio was once the center of machine tool manufacturers in the entire world .Around 1900 there were over 5,000 men in the work force making machines .Some of those well built old things were built so solidly they are still in use today .

 

[MasterBlaster]

Besides me, I don't have anything old. My Junior HS yearbook?

 

[Tree Reb]

Except for this computer and an XL Tshirt, everything I own is old.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Reading up on it, your Athol vise is quite old. They were bought out by the well known Starrett Co. in 1900. Mr. Starrett was a former employee of the Athol works. This old Starrett ad from 1915 appears to show your vise model, or one very similar.

 

[stig]

My beloved wedge beater/firewoodsplitter that I got from my mentor, of course.

It belonged to his father before him, but not having any boys ( and his two daughters didn't turn out to be loggers) he passed it on to me when he retired.

That thing has knocked wedges into trees for almost a century.

 

[Mr. Sir]

My guns, of course!

 

[brendonv]

That's rad, Jay. I have a bunch of old stuff. I really can't say I like one thing the best though, I do have a pretty sweet old lock collection adding up. Old carpentry books, these cool tire ash trays, some old pocket watches, I have tons of stuff spread around.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Ha, Brett, your guns pics remind me of when I moved to Japan and had a Mannlicher rifle that I was repairing for someone, included in my shipping container. I had indicated that I was bringing it on a customs declaration, dumb but probably fortunate. Customs had me fetch it and they layed it on a white sheet and took lots of pictures, and also took photos of a number of the inspectors holding it like they had just captured Pancho Villa after a shootout. Man, did I get into some trouble over that, very lucky I didn't get sent to prison.

 

[sotc]

I'm like Brendon, I have gobs of old stuff. Tools, baseball cards, money, books etc.
This first one is a glass that hung upsidedown in a wire basket at the base of this tower. My great uncle had a water tank up on top that gravity fed his house and for as long as I can remember that glass hung in that basket and anytime you wanted a drink, you just turned on the spigot, drank and put the glass back. I got the glass after Uncle Henry died, fun memory, it is rusted that color, should be a clear glass.

Then some old snap on and craftsman tools and my grampa's old vice

 

[MasterBlaster]

What's up with that weird vise? The thing that goes to the floor?

 

[woodworkingboy]

That is so it can stick out away from the bench and still be supported. Nice old feature. I had to put my Wilton on a metal plate to accomplish the same thing.

 

[Al Smith]

That's an old what they called blacksmiths vice .The floor support is because they used it to bend iron in .I have one myself among maybe a dozen other vices .

 

[Al Smith]

I just noticed ,Willie has stuff all over the place like half the rest of us .Oregon shops are just as messy as Ohio shops or Swedish shops for that matter .

 

[Stumper]

I have my grandfather's vise on my bench....not the one he used on the farm but one that he stuck in his garage in his dotage...still it is fairly old and was his. I have a 105 year old rifle that I like...............and I have to say it was fun pulling out my old Husky 268xp on the job the other day and having Matt Mayo comment how cool it is that a saw made in 1985 is still working hard.

 

[SkwerI]

I haven't seen Matt in ages, since he joined up with us on that fishing trip up at the reservoir. Or is that not the same person? I forget...

 

[flushcut]

I have a 1930's Sears hatchet and a crosscut saw that I can't date but from what I have found out it is prior to 1850.

 

[woodworkingboy]

I sort of have a ten dollar US gold coin from the late 1800s that has been in my family for four generations, the only thing handed down. My mom kept it in her top dresser drawer, and when I was a kid, I used to take it out of its little pouch and hold it. Mom died and it couldn't be found, but then I discovered that a safe deposit box existed in her name, by looking through the California State controller's website that lists unclaimed property taken over by the state. I know that it was in the box, because there was some mention of that years ago that I completely forgot. I haven't been able to get access to it as the state is super careful about releasing taken over property. California is holding millions in unclaimed property that rightfully belongs to people, probably every state is. There is a list of specific requirements to satisfy an heir's claim, and kind of hard to do from my present location. One of these days hope to get it back. Apparently they hold things indefinitely, but will eventually dispose of paper in safe deposit boxes, which might be cash or bonds, deeds, whatever.

I've mentioned it before, people should check their state's website for unclaimed property, in their name and relatives. An address can pinpoint the last known person whose property it was. It could be back wages, insurance payments, any number of things. They won't tell you what was in a box, lots of scammers are after it. They will say about checks and other payments.

 

[stehansen]

I have a Caterpillar D-2 that was bought new by my Dad's Stepdad. 1936, 5J series for those caterpillar types.
My Dad and I completely rebuilt it in the 1980's except for the tracks. Which are in poor shape. I have a 540 PTO for it and a flat belt drive arrangement.

2nd tractor isn't mine. I hoped it would be mine someday but my Dad is looking to sell it. So I am trying to figure a way out to buy it. RD-6, 1935 as I understand it, originally bought by my great uncle and my Dad and I got it with a bunch of equipment when we bought out my Dad's cousin when he retired. Just got it running the other day, recently had the carb rebuilt and the magneto repaired. The front cylinder is not firing correctly. Most likely an injector. It fires OK when working hard but in an idle it doesn't fire at all making it put out a puff of blue smoke a couple of times a second.

 

[Al Smith]

On that RD 6 I assume it uses the flat plate injectors that the real old D4's used .Now if that's the case ,here's the fix .

First of course you have to get the injector off the machine .Unscrew the top cap and back all the way off the adjustment screw .Disassemble the injector .You will find the nozzle is just a flat plate with a hole in it .Over the years the acids in the fuel will have caused the plate to be etched around that hole .Now either use a lapping plate with compound or exremely fine lapping paper ,5 micron .Lap the face of it useing a figure 8 motion until the surface shows no signs of etching .Clean real well then reassemble the injector .The cracking pressure should be 1550 PSI more or less with a nice spray pattern .A word of caution here .Always make real sure the screw adjuster is completely unscrewed before you try and reassemble the injector else you will crack the plate .

The rebuilt kits for just the nozzle alone were 100 bucks 20 years ago .I imagine a complete injector by now is 4-500 at least . I've got the IPL for these injectors if you need it .

 

[sotc]

I just noticed ,Willie has stuff all over the place like half the rest of us .Oregon shops are just as messy as Ohio shops or Swedish shops for that matter .

I photo shopped that in so you wouldn't feel bad Al