This will be a mish-mash page, new old tools, newer new tools, and furniture made for SWMBO's B-day. Just warning you about my utter lack of consistency.
You have to imagine this lovely little drill press setting in the weeds on the side of the road in rural Maine. Some items on the roadside are freebies, and don't always have the magic free-tag attached. Others are for sale, but don't always have a price on them. A puzzle. I have wondered if there is a tacit rule involved which allows scavenger-cognesciti-sorts to appreciate the difference soley by distance from the actual roadbed, not always paved and therefore itself a minor mystery. You can see my quandry. I am in the woods. There is a nice garden patch and a dirt lane to one
side, and down that road, back in the trees is a small silver Airstream. My hollers and hallos avail me nothing. I leave and drive home entirely disgruntled. A note has been left hanging off the d.p. handle: name and phone number.
Next day, I wander back that way, expecting the 'find' will be gone. 'Tis not - hmmmmm... This is a sign from the arn-god, Vulcan. My take-it-down tool roll is whipped out from behind the seat ot Thomas-the-truck. Unbolting and loading ensues. I keep looking over both shoulders for an angry man with a shotgun, or a State Police cruiser. A polished story/excuse spins in my febrile brain. I work fast. It remains quiet. All loaded, I split; The note is hung in plain sight. I feel awkward,
but as Popeye might have said, I haf done what I haf done.
The rig stays in the truck for the next day or two, ready to be returned pronto. And I wait.
Finally, last noc, my phone
rings and a very masculine Mainer calls my name. I admit to being who I am, not without trepidation. The man tells me a story of working on a farm and being
gone all week. He doesn't like the job. He wants to start a campgound/trailer park in this acreage. He wants
desperately to do something just for himself. His dream floats across the copper wires that no longer separate us. I warm to his vision. How much? I ask. I was looking for $50, he says. I am a little taken aback; I had set sights on $30 max. The moment is filled with confusion. I almost feel guilty. He probably feels vastly relieved that he hasn't been ripped off by the local gang of
drill press rustlers. I ask if he will take $40. Sure, he says. We are both home free - sort of.
Letters cast longwise into the right side of the column, facing the machine, are a little mushy. I am about 90% certain that the name thereon is "D'amour Littledale". The line below that is "New York" Later, cleaning the table I see that I was correct in my spelling on the name. Another company swims up from the depths to the delight of arn voyeurs. The press is about 2' high, and the throat about 6", table-center to column. You can see the leather flat belt that drives the countershaft, which is part the back of the press. Another belt, missing, will run from the countershaft up to the lipped pulleys and then do a 90 degree to drive the chuck assy. The return is a weight on a chain down inside the column. (If I have grossly overstepped the bounds of arn nomenclature, e.g. use of 'countershaft', please let me know)
The V belt to Flat belt countershaft goes on the underside of the table next to the motor. Caps are missing from the bearing oilers, but Babbitt doesn't rust. The motor is rather large, but I find it to be only a 1/2 h.p repulsion-induction type.
And here is my much-ballyhooed home-made 12" disc sander. It is all pretty straight-forward. I think the notch I took out of the back of the table, where the motor is inset into the table, was rather nicely done. I need to make up a good hardwood throat plate. I don't have it up yet since the first disc I tried I had put on with the ever-uselful Gorilla glue, but it didn't hold. Gorillas don't like aluminum. The other end of the shaft off this 3/4 hp motor drives an open-wheel wire brush. I have used this setup for the last couple of years for cleaning small parts. Works great until I lose my grip. Have some dents in the walls and a broken window to attest to the speed at which small items leave the top of the wheel. NASA needs to know about this techology.
I will start you off with the tag on my latest tool. That puts us all on the same page, as it seems to be a fairly new page. (WARNING!! Not OWWM certified!).
There are already questions as to why I bought a table saw dedicated to cutting linotype. Can I simply say that I was very taken with the quality of the machine? It has heft, lots of arn, only pieces of plastic are the vue-window in the guard and a drawer knob. The
tolerances are a wonder; given the size of a pica the fence moves at increments of 1/144 of an inch. It has nice lines, too. The company no longer existed by '61, per my only Thomas Register - which still has J.D. Wallace kicking around in Warsaw, Ind. When was this saw born? There is absolutely no info online, that I can find, that doesn't have JJ's imprimatur on it. Who was first into this uncharted territory? OWWM, of course. But even the inimitable JJ came up pretty much empty on this one..
It amazes me that the saw might be from as far back as the '30's judging by the lines, but I think the '50's more likely, and it is in such nice shape. This machine may have been unused for a goodly time, but it was at least kept out of the rain.
This type (pun alert!) of saw was used to trim the slugs, I think that is the word, of linotype after the linotype machine had hot cast them. It could cut so finely it was also used just to take out spaces and move letters closer together. I can really see a saw like this doing great work for a model builder, doll house maker, or manufacturer of very tight, small items, like jewelry boxes. As you can see I don't necessarily see myself as its last owner. It cries out to be used in a delicate and meticulous manner.
The table slides on ways and ball bearings. The fence sets up to cross cut at an exact 90 degree angle. Jigs could be made to slip in that would finalize any angle desired.
As seen above, motor access is thru a hinged, louvered door on the backside. A nice worklight will shine anywhere on the work surface. The part of the table outboard of the blade is pinned to lift back for blade changes. The blades are attached with 3 flat top screws and change easily. The blade lifts but does not angle from a set 90 degrees to the table. And the drawers are, top one collects sawdust/shavings, and the bottom is a tool drawer. The slots and bins below held....what? There were a few pieces of linotype in there.
Oh, lest we forget, there is a wire brush on the outboard side of the saw arbor. Methinks deburring must have been a part of the cutting step.
Since writing the above I have been encouraged to change the arbor over to one that will take 5/8" bore blades. The arbor is at the machinsts now
Oddly tucked beneath the smooth-sliding table of the Cost Cutter is Pat's new bookcase.
Before anyone cutely inquires as to this piece's antecedents, let me say that I am inspired by the Arts&Crafts styles. I am not so hidebound as to have to copy the multitundinous Stickley clan corner for corner, and maybe the little roundnesses I add pay some tribute to Art Nouveau. I think the best blend of all is the Greene&Greene style. (Only in my dreams...) It has through mortises which are pinned with dowels. The tile, one inset on each end, comes from a garage sale where I could not pass up buying the only dozen in the known world. Otherwise, it is a fairly plain piece. It is about 4' square, give or take, and is finsihed with a red oak Minwax oil, much like Watco. Oh, the almost invisible, in this pic, cutouts for feet in the bottom echo the tile.
This is actually the piece de resistance for the month of July. Took me 2 weeks of daily effort. It's size is fairly near the piece that inspiried it. There are some design changes, e.g. mine has no feet 'cause I accidentally cut them off..., but the dimensions are very close. It is so big, that filled with an Andean textile collection it is almost impossible to move. Hence, it has become a coffee table, since that is where it is.
Another change is the hardware. Mr. Hile's is very nice, but where do you get it? I got out an old piece of 1/8" plate, my anvil, a big hammer, plus asst. other tools, and made my own hardware. Took a while, and gave me a sore wrist, but I am pretty well satisfied. I had never made hinges before; quite a challenge. Observers with finely tuned noses will note that there are no rings for the hasps to go over; not fabricated yet. The cedar lining was my own addition. Smells so yummy.
Since I made it without plans, making it up as I went along, and since I don't know a lot about joinery, it has a variety of joints: mortise and tenon - hidden under the corner straps, biscuits, dowels, laps. I did manage to avoid my favorite: butt joints and box nails, much to Pat's relief.
Hope everyone has enjoyed the read. It shot a perfectly good day all to hell and back. don e.
p.s. Astute souls will have noticed the two pieces of Ephraim Faience gracing the bookcase!
This page was last updated on: August 14, 2006
waiting its turn to be made wonderful. The new arbor will have the delta standard of 12 tpi, left hand acme threads.
