I am trying to remember; the connections are fuzzy. Gary Cooper, for sure. Frank Capra, probably. And Stanwyck - ? Maybe. I recall a strong woman; and none were stronger in the 30's Hollywood stables. If you don't know what I am on about, you don't watch enough old movies, and the great depression doesn't seem like recent history to you. Not to fret. In a fair world we all get our turn. Not to say I was there; I wasn't. But those around me were 'there enough' for me to be impressed by the indentations and bruises it had left on them. If you think that in my dotage I wander, let me say: this arn in which we deal IS history.
My asides aside, here's the lad. No 'tales from the crypt' to tell on this one. He came from a stable home: nice concrete pad in a newer garage. His 'people' were sane enough; the wife was worried about the 11 month old's bilateral ear ache but had time to be glad to see all that space opened up in the wake of John passing on. The husband appeared to have few regrets. He'd been going to get to John for 12 years, and a few pieces were cleaned and primed. The father-in-law had one 'just like that that he used all the time'; maybe a little pressure would ease now; no longer necessary to try quite so hard to prove that the girl hadn't gone and married a loser.
The 12' flatbed trailer that I rented from UHaul was a wee it wide. My backing techniques being barely execrable I got it down the 50' drive and aimed at the garage door. No way I was getting it inside with 2" clearance on each side. I unhitched and we pushed it the 20' in by hand to where John was held in the embrace of a fixed chain fall. Backing the truck in I rehitched, and we laid him down as sweet as cherry pie and slid him up in the trailer bed. Lots of parts were shoveled in on top of the body, and away I drove in a developing snow storm. Goodbye Biddeford.
I apologize for the washed-out nature of these pics. J.W. was in deep shadow and I did what I could to pull him out. These are just the prelims, anywho, the establishing shots.
When I got home it was just getting dark and I was way ahead of the snow coming up from the south. By morning I wasn't, and it was. Beleagured is the word that comes to mind, the one you can really get your mouth around and work. I saw my future ahead of me etched in cold, dramatic lines. Me, several inches of snow, slick footing on a steel deck, and J.W. needing to get out so I could return the trailer from whence it had come.
Inch by inch I slid him down to the tailgate. Corner by corner I pried him over the protrusions. And then, with arn on dirt and maybe a 20 degree angle to him, I just said to hell with it all, grabbed the topmost part and heaved him up onto his foot. I am not ruptured. My back feels fine. But I am seriously considering giving this body a rest. I may soon pass on the mantle of the 'buy-the biggest' to some younger guy. Anyone want to take over the NorthEast Region of ArnAnon?
My 25# of genuine babbitt came in the green truck from Magnolia. I have five machines backed up; four of them are babbitted. I really need to quit hunting and start gutting and skinning.
These pics aren't going to help the arn-voyerurs get their jollies, I fear. These are 2 shots of some of the parts. You can see J.W. is babbitted. And maybe you can see that he has iron spokes on wooden wheels. I hope he is all there. It will probably be months before I know.
It is amusing here to take a look at Wallace's skinny-assed base in the background. J.W.'s wheels just dwarf him. (If you are wondering who Wallace is go to the below link and open up the photo index and look under either band saws, or J.D. Wallace & Co. I just haven't gotten him onto this site yet.)
If I don't get the link in, you can see the J.J.- arn/paper vampire by noc, write-up on John A. White & Co. in the W's of the manufacturer's index at www.oldwwmachines.com.
As I was on my way south to see J.W. the first time I considered the vague possibility that this might be a Joslin machine - the N.H. connection, and I was wondering how much it would cost me to ship it to capitalism's northern tier. Not that I really would do such a thing, but I seem to have quit daydreaming about sex some time back.... This is a good thing, no?
J.J. put me in touch with a New Hamster cabinet maker, David Lamb, who owns 18 J.W. machines. He tells me this is the the Dover Bandsaw Model, mfg. from 1892 to 1910. It was the smallest machine the co. made.
David, since you are the go-to guy on John White I have some questions. And yes, it has been a long while since I first tallked with you about this machine.
Here are the top wheel babbitts. I was able to pry them out whole; in fact, the short middle pieces fell out when I took it off the shaft. I see one reason: there are no nubs for the babbitt to hold in, as there are on the end pieces. This causes me to speculate that perhaps the center sections should not be poured, but should act as oil reservoirs. The babbitts were in execrable condition. Pitted, poor shallow oil grooves, and probably never scraped to fit when poured, although there are longitudinal scratches in the bottom bearings that might have been done with a screwdriver.
So much for caustic commentary. The other question is: how would you pour these? The top and bottom boxes are notched in a locking pattern when put together in such a way that I am not sure how the shimming is done. Maybe this bearing should be poured in one piece from the end???? I am really reaching here. The oil holes are awfully small to do a pour through...
