Chesapeake Area Metalworking Society
Museum Machine Shop Restoration Project
History from the year 2001
In late 1999 the Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association contacted CAMS about the possibility of working with them to move an antique machine shop and set up a new museum at Tuckahoe. What follows is a history, in reverse chronological order, of this project's progress during the year 2001.
CAMS/Tuckahoe Machine Tool Restoration Project
Work Report #40, December 8, 2001
The CAMS/Tuckahoe crew of Vince Iorio, Jerry Tuwiner, Steve Vandercook, Dave Welser and Luther Dietrich resumed work on the machine tool restoration project at the Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association's Rural Life Museum.
Dave again endeared himself to his teammates by acting as Provider of the Doughnuts. Thanks to Dave, everyone made it to the lunch break without feeling any hunger pangs of any consequence. In John McCalla's absence, Dave also manned the coffee pot, producing a brew that the coffee-drinkers in the crew described as memorable.
We made progress toward reassembling the Champion Blower & Forge post-mounted drill press. As we indicated in earlier work reports, a number of parts (chiefly the spindle and pulley shaft) had been rehabilitated, and the principal castings were primed and painted. Our first duty was to clean some of the smaller parts, especially the gears. We then remounted the main casting to the wall and test-fitted the spindle and related gears. A straight key will have to be replaced before we can proceed further.
We leveled the long-bed (14-inch swing) F. E. Reed lathe and took some actions to correct the binding in the manual carriage feed mechanism. We intend to devise a method of driving the spindle so that the lathe can be demonstrated at the annual show in July of 2002. We are still missing a countershaft for this machine, and its current location is probably highly temporary, so we will likely not set up the machine for serious chip making.
We also made good progress on the finish painting of two of our three rolling contractor's carts, using some "Dark Bronze" paint we found in our inventory. We had envisioned a snappy paint scheme, with the carts sporting gloss black tops and bottoms, with a bronze "midriff", but we discovered that "Dark Bronze" is evidently a euphemism for "Dark Olive Drab." It would take a sharp eye to discern the difference between it and black in a two-color paint scheme; consequently, the carts will be painted solidly in Dark Bronze.
We have not set a date for the next work session, but it will almost certainly fall after the holidays. To be advised of the next date, or for other information on the project, please contact Vince at: Iorio@toad.net
CAMS/Tuckahoe Machine Tool Restoration Project
Work Report #39--November 17, 2001
The CAMS/Tuckahoe crew of Pierre Huggins, Vince Iorio, Art Lyman, Jerry Tuwiner, Steve Vandercook, and Luther Dietrich joined Eric Harvey, of the Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association for the long-awaited move of the 15-foot long (nine feet between centers), 24-inch swing, Dietz, Schumacher, and Boye lathe from the home of its donor, Mr. Jack Woods of Preston, Maryland, to the grounds of the Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association.
Eric had procured a substantial roll-back auto carrier, which essentially eliminated all of the grunting and sweating (and worse) that customarily accompanies such a move. (A good thing, too--from our 1898 Dietz, Schumacher, and Boye machine tool catalog reprint, we calculated that a lathe of this size weighs about 5,275 pounds!) From the time of our arrival at Preston, until the lathe was offloaded at Tuckahoe, no more than one and one-half hours elapsed.
When the lathe was on the ground outside the Rural Life Museum building, we gave it a cursory inspection and cleaning, applied penetrating oil to all of the visible screw threads and joints that will likely have to be disassembled in the future, applied preservative to critical areas, and "cocooned" it with several layers of tarps. (The tarps that had covered the lathe for the past year had deteriorated; nevertheless, the machine was in surprisingly good shape, with only minimal surface rust. The cast-iron bracket that supports the carriage drive rod at the headstock end is cracked and will have to be repaired or replaced.) We had learned from our efforts last week to move the Rockford planer into the museum that it was desirable to unload machine tools aligned with the museum doors, so we put this learning to application--the lathe is in good position to be moved inside.
Vince reports that, based on information from Kenneth Cope's book on American Lathe Builders, the Dietz, Schumacher, and Boye lathes were built between April 1, 1886, and 1899. This lathe corresponds closely to the illustrations in the 1898 catalog reprint. We have been told that the lathe was used in the manufacture of internal combustion marine engines on the Eastern Shore, possibly in Oxford, Maryland. We plan to undertake some research into this; if true, the lathe will be an exceptional addition to the engine club's collection.
The coming holiday season makes it a little difficult for us to set a date for our next work session. To be informed of the date, when it is set, please contact Vince at: iorio@toad.net
CAMS/Tuckahoe Machine Tool Restoration Project
Work Report #38--November 10, 2001
The CAMS crew of John Davis, Vince Iorio, Art Lyman, John McCalla, Jerry Tuwiner, Dave Welser, Steve Vandercook, and Luther Dietrich continued work on the CAMS/Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association machine tool restoration at the Tuckahoe Rural Life Museum.
Dave again provided us with a supply of doughnuts, including some of the yummy coconut-covered yeast-raised ones!
The project of the day was the moving of the Rockford planer inside the museum building. We relocated the horse-related artifacts that had been adjacent to our exhibit area, then cleared the main aisle of our workbench, tool carts, and machine tool parts. The planer was bolted to two wooden skids and was located about ten feet (down a slight grade and offset from the door) from the concrete apron outside the far end of the building. In order to use pipe rollers, we dug shallow trenches from the skids to the apron, then laid down sturdy timbers to form a temporary ramp. (The trenches were necessary to allow the top surface of the timbers to align with the surface of the concrete apron.) Art parked his truck outside the end of the building next to our exhibit area, then deployed a winch cable from the truck, through the building, to the planer. We weighted the cable in a couple of places with short chains to retard whiplash in case the cable snapped.)
When all was in readiness, Art applied power to the winch, and by adjusting and relocating the rollers (and occasionally bringing a crowbar to bear), we coaxed the beast into the museum. Once it was on the apron, we were able to supplement (and eventually replace) the winch with human power. Although it sounds like a simple process, the weight (an estimated three tons with the table and motor removed) and size of the machine were such that the project consumed nearly all of the day. We think that we have learned an important lesson from this move: When there is an option of where to place a three-ton machine tool on the ground, outside a building we intend to move the machine tool into, it helps if it is placed squarely in line with the door!
On another front, Dave returned the short drive shaft from the Champion Blower & Forge post drill press, fully rehabilitated (re-engineered, actually--Dave made a new setscrew with an unthreaded, rounded point, similar to a spring plunger in form, but solid, then made a mating sleeve for the setscrew recess on the shaft).
Dave and Steve brought two more truckloads of treasure to be auctioned in support of the project. We stored much of it in the semi-trailer (using the space vacated by John McCalla's air tank during our last work session).
Our next work date is scheduled for Saturday, November 17. The principal project is to be the long-awaited move of the Dietz, Schumacher, and Boye lathe from Preston, Maryland, to the Tuckahoe show grounds.
CAMS/Tuckahoe Machine Tool Restoration Project
Work Report #37--October 27, 2001
The CAMS team resumed work on the machine tool restoration project in the Tuckahoe Rural Life Museum. In addition to the more-or-less "regular" crew of John Davis, Vince Iorio, Art Lyman, John McCalla, Dave Welser, and Luther Dietrich, Steve Vandercook, of the Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association joined us. Steve has a keen interest in old machine tools, as evidenced by the fact that he is a volunteer at the Baltimore Museum of Industry. Welcome aboard, Steve!
As at the last work session, Dave provided the crew with a generous supply of doughnuts. Not only did we fortify ourselves against imminent starvation, we got a head start toward putting on a layer of organic insulation against the rigors of the forthcoming winter. John McCalla aided and abetted Dave's efforts by bringing a coffee pot and coffee fixin's.
With Steve and Dave (assisted by another Tuckahoe S & G A member, Spencer Poore) came two Willard overhead-flat-belt-driven lathes (but without countershaft components, alas!) from a site near Dave’s home, that Dave has spoken of at recent CAMS meetings. They were unloaded behind the museum building, sprayed with oil, and covered with tarps to await auctioning at Tuckahoe's annual show next year. Proceeds are to benefit either the machine tool restoration project or the machine shop building fund (not that these two aims are mutually exclusive!). Dave also brought a pickup truck load of tools and accessories for auction or application, as the tactical situation dictates.
We continued the rehabilitation of the rolling contractor's carts that Art rounded up for the project. We cleaned another of the carts, then painted with primer the metal framework for it and the cart that we cleaned during our last work session on September 29. Working in his home shop, Jerry Tuwiner cut a Masonite insert for the top of the first cart, and it fit perfectly. After we paint the wooden portions of the carts, they will be, in Dave's words, "Museum quality."
We succeeded in finding and correcting the source of binding in the Smith & Mills shaper table feed. Happily, it turned out to be a simple problem--we had failed to adjust and tighten two locknuts on the far left of the leadscrew. When left untightened, the innermost nut would occasionally attempt to tighten itself against the table as the leadscrew turned and thus create a bind. (We believe that the locknut arrangement is intended to take up lateral play in the leadscrew.)
We also managed to disassemble the final subassembly (the drive shaft that carries power from the flat belt through a bevel gear to the spindle) of the Champion Blower and Forge post drill. Although it consisted of only four parts (not including a cantankerous setscrew), its disassembly called for more grunting and sweating than was seemly. Dave took the shaft to his home shop for rehabilitation. (He subsequently reported that he has completed this work.) Dave also returned the spindle shaft for the drill press that Jerry refurbished in his home shop since our last work session.
We also assessed one of Art's semi-trailers parked behind the Rural Life Museum building for use in storing supplies and equipment for the machine tool restoration project. As a first step, we removed an air tank belonging to John McCalla for relocation to his home shop. (We didn't evict John--he fully intended to remove the tank anyway!)
Our next work session is scheduled for Saturday, November 10. We anticipate that the principal project of the day will be moving the Rockford planer into the museum building for the winter. (It may have to be moved outside again for the annual show next year.)
CAMS/Tuckahoe Machine Tool Restoration Project
Work Report #36--September 29, 2001
The CAMS machine tool restoration team of Vince Iorio, Art Lyman, John McCalla, Jerry Tuwiner, Dave Welser, and Luther Dietrich resumed work on the machine tool restoration project.
Thanks to Dave, we were prepped for the day's duty by a selection of fine, handcrafted doughnuts.
We began the day by attempting to plan which restoration projects we should try to complete by next year's annual Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association show (to take place from Thursday, July 11 through Sunday, July 14, 2002). The planning session extended beyond our Saturday workday--the results are summarized at the end of this work report.
The major machine tool-related project of the day began with the removal (with some difficulty) of the spindle from the post-mounted Champion Blower and Forge #29 drill press. We then unbolted the main casting from the post where we had mounted it for cleaning and priming. There is still at least one other subassembly to this machine to be dealt with, but the worst is over. Our tentative plan is for Jerry to rehabilitate the spindle (which was heavily rusted; hence the difficulty in removing it), and for one of us to fabricate an eccentric link (currently missing) for the power downfeed. Unlike the usual and customary blacksmith's hand-cranked post drill, this unit is made for flat belt drive.
We also cleaned one of the three rolling contractor's cabinets that Art Lyman procured for the project. There were lots of old duct tape and stickers to be removed, as well as some well-weathered paint to be wire-brushed and sanded. Our plan is to apply a coat of paint, and possibly a Masonite work surface. This cabinet was one of the better ones, so we will have to reconsider how much effort we want to put into the two remaining ones.
We have not yet set a date for the next work session. To be notified of the date, please contact Vince at: iorio@toad.net
Work Plan (Goals) for 2002 Tuckahoe Show: (10/2/01)
1. Have the following machines running under power: - Smith & Mills shaper - Pratt & Whitney horizonal mill - Long Bed F.E. Reed Lathe
2. Have the following items setup for display, and/or operation: - Post mounted drill (#1) - Display - Post mounted drill (#2) - Operation - Portable key way cutter - Display - J.E. Snyder drill press - Display - Garvin horizontal mill - Display - Power hacksaw (on loan from Roy Schaffer)- Display
3. Assemble & set up the following items: - A poster explaining CAMS - A poster explaining our goals and future plans - A poster and a donation box for the building fund and more machines
Specific tasks or other known items that need to be addressed before show:
1. Smith & Mills shaper: - Locate and install larger motor - Replace gear on power feed mechanism - Find source of binding in table
2. Pratt & Whitney horizontal mill: - Finish fabricating motor mount (Vince) - Design set of pulleys (Vince) - Build a set of pulleys - Buy leather belt - Straighten handle - Fabricate 2nd handle - wood and metal parts (Or locate used) - Design new bearing support for overarm - Fabricate a new bearing support for overarm - Touch up paint
3. F.E. Reed Lathe: - Design and fabricate leveling feet - Level bed - Determine the source of binding in carriage and correct Bed twist, lead screw hangers, or? - Paint new metal guards to match lathe - Fabricate missing compound handle (Luther/Tex?) - Design a "drive system" like used on shaper that is out of sight (single-speed) - Install "Drive System" (Required materials include - Shafting, Motor, Bearings, Wood, Leather Belt, etc.)
Other items not directly related to 2002 Show:
1. Develop design/requirements package for new Machine Shop Museum building: - Size, shape, slab design, electrical service, water, etc. - Develop list of desired/expected machines for long term display - Develop layout plan for machines and drive components - Other ?????
2. Other fill-in work: - Move planer into museum (Question - Which way will it face?) - Clean and paint planer parts. - Clean and paint new/old roll-around toolboxes - Clean and sort miscellaneous tooling.
Future Projects: (Restore/Repair for Display) - Planer (Needs replacement feed gear, rack gear tooth, flat belts, etc.) - Garvin horizontal mill - 2nd F.E. Reed Lathe - Dietz, Schumacher, & Boye Lathe (Decide on location) - J.E. Snyder drill press - Paper cutter (Decide use, i.e. restore, trade, etc.) - Brown & Sharpe indexing-head - Small tabletop horizontal mill - K.O. Lee tool & cuttter grinder (Not "period", but could be a useful support tool) - Other ?????
CAMS/Tuckahoe Machine Tool Restoration Project
Work Report #35--September 8, 2001
The CAMS machine tool restoration team (on this occasion consisting of Vince Iorio, John McCalla, Jerry Tuwiner, Dave Welser, and Luther Dietrich) was augmented by Art Lyman and George Macey, both of the Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Historical Association, as work resumed on the machine tool restoration project.
The principal job of the day consisted of subjecting our "new" Rockford planer (which had been moved to Tuckahoe on August 23) to a rough cleaning of grease, oil, chips, sand (the planer had been stored inside a brass foundry warehouse), and general shop crud. The planer is big, and the accumulation was ugly, so we had recourse to extreme cleaning methods. John McCalla brought a power washer (in a vehicle loaned for the occasion by Steve Stallings), Art brought a jug of power wash detergent, with degreaser, and we had "water day". (Parents of children who attend summer day camp should be well acquainted with the concept of "water day".)
As a preliminary measure, Art brought the Tuckahoe forklift into play to help hoist the motor from its perch atop the planer's overhead frame. We then eased the table (estimated weight: 1,000 pounds) onto the forks so that the bed and the bottom of the table could be inspected and cleaned. As an additional precaution, we also removed the electrical controls and wiring.
Because the pressure washer can only operate in low-pressure mode when it is siphoning the detergent, we (John, mostly) applied the detergent just before lunch in order that it could soak into the crud during our lunch break. After lunch, we assaulted the machine with straight water in high-pressure mode. It was gratifying to see the accumulated grease, oil, chips, and old, loose paint fly. (It probably would not be much of an exaggeration to say that we had a blast!)
After the blasting session, we wiped the water from the planer's precision surfaces, and then applied WD-40 liberally. The warm afternoon sun did a great deal to speed the drying. We then wrapped the machine in tarps to protect against the effects of weather. We stored the table and motor in the Gas Engine Building temporarily. (We plan to further clean and paint the bed, feet, and frame before reassembly.)
During the course of cleaning, we had a good opportunity to inspect most of the planer's moving parts for damage. Our preliminary survey revealed one broken gear (of a simple spur type) in the cutting head feed mechanism, a crack in the base of the clapper box, and a broken tooth on the driven rack on the underside of the table. We believe that it will be fairly straightforward to repair or replace the damaged parts.
The Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association acquired a number of wheeled construction-type cabinets, with two large front doors and interior shelves. Art earmarked three of them for the restoration project. They show evidence of weathering, so we will probably sand and paint them during future work sessions. Dave also procured a bright, shining, red rolling tool box set for the project. Until now, we have been "organizing" our tools in an accumulation of smaller tool boxes, milk cartons, wooden wine crates, and similar makeshift containers. Now, thanks to Art's and Dave's efforts, we can bring some genuine organization to the project.
Perhaps in response to the many positive developments that have taken place with the machine tool collection, the Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association Board of Directors has granted the CAMS/Tuckahoe members who work on the restoration project status as the Machine Shop Committee. This means that in common with other Tuckahoe committees, the Machine Shop Committee will have the authority to enter a budget as a committee for approval to obtain funds for committee projects for the coming year. As a committee, we have also been asked to initiate planning for the proposed machine shop building. Preliminarily, it has been recommended that we examine old machine shop buildings that may still exist, as well as reviewing other sources (pictures, etc.).
Our next regular work session is scheduled for Saturday, September 29. For more information, please contact Vince at: iorio@toad.net
CAMS/Tuckahoe Machine Tool Restoration Project
Work Report #34--August 4, 2001
A hot, sticky August Saturday saw the resumption of the CAMS/Tuckahoe Machine Tool Restoration Project by John Davis, Vince Iorio, John McCalla, Dave Welser, and Luther Dietrich.
We started the day by re-establishing our work space after the annual show of the Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association on July 6-8. The machine tool area was in pretty good shape for the show, so it seemed a shame to "dirty it up" again, but we want to offer the public an even better exhibit next year. Accordingly, we moved our work tables back into the museum building, re-mounted the vise, and brought our boxes of tools and supplies out of hiding.
Next, we convened a meeting with Art Lyman to discuss the planer that we had been offered by Mr. George Cohen, of C & L Machine Shop in Brooklawn, New Jersey, during the annual show. It is a 1920's vintage Rockford, located in Camden, New Jersey, and is estimated to weigh approximately four tons. A "field crew" consisting of Art, Dave, John McCalla, and Jerry Tuwiner traveled to Camden in mid-July to survey the machine. The table is 7'2" long by 21" wide. The bed measures 10' 6" long by 25" wide. The overall height is 7'5", and the width (at widest point) is 5' 4". The motor, which appears original, is a Fairbanks Morse, 5 HP, 3 phase induction motor, having 1,200 RPM's and drawing 13 amps. The machine is stored indoors and has had some form of preservative applied to the precision surfaces. According to trade catalog information that John McCalla unearthed at the Smithsonian, it was manufactured to handle workpieces up to seven feet long, 21 inches wide, and 21 inches high. Mr. Cohen has offered the machine free to Tuckahoe/CAMS if we will move it.
Jerry consulted with a rigger (based in Prince Georges County, Maryland) with whom he has dealt before, and received informal estimates of $1,000 (if the move can be made at the rigger's convenience) or $1,600 (if the move is to be made at CAMS/Tuckahoe's convenience) for moving the machine from Camden to the Tuckahoe site. Art had sought funding at the monthly Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association Board of Directors meeting, and received a recommendation that the membership approve the expenditure of up to $500 on a "matching grant" basis. (Art has reported that this amount was subsequently increased to $750 at the membership meeting, where the expenditure was approved.)
We are also exploring two alternatives to a "full commercial" move: (a) Mr. Cohen has a friend who has offered to move the machine for less than $500 if we will come up and help. (b) Bill King (part of the New Jersey Tuckahoe contingent) has access to a heavy truck and has offered to move the machine during the week of August 20. We (CAMS/Tuckahoe) would be responsible for paying the gas and tolls, and he will need a few of us to help block the machine.
We have also learned that an unnamed individual (possibly a builder) in the Easton, Maryland, area has offered to erect a building for the machine shop if Tuckahoe will provide the materials. While this is clearly a long-term project that will not fall into place overnight, we need to get the planning process underway by working up specifications and a floor plan fairly soon.
Despite all the excitement about our "expansion program", we did manage to get some of the dirty, gritty work of machine tool restoration done during the afternoon. We disassembled most of the Champion Forge and Blower Co. post drill for cleaning. (A few components proved vexatious and resistant to the calm, measured forces of reason and will require more disassembly effort at our next work session.) We also stripped the paint from the column access door of the Garvin horizontal milling machine, and learned that some of the earlier coats are extremely resistant to removal.
Our next regular work session is scheduled for Saturday, September 1. Depending on the rigging and transportation option we chose for the Rockford planer, there may be a Camden/Tuckahoe work session set sometime later in August for the move. For more information, please contact Vince at: iorio@toad.net
CAMS/Tuckahoe Machine Tool Restoration Project
Work Report #33--July 6-8, 2001
CAMS members were to be found on both sides of the exhibit ropes at the 28th annual show of the Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association. Six of us--Vince Iorio, John McCalla, Roy Schaffer, Jerry Tuwiner, Dave Welser, and Luther Dietrich--manned the machine tool exhibit in the Tuckahoe Rural Life Museum building, while at least as many other CAMS-ers attended the show as spectators. Some visitors--we're thinking of Bob Hoffa in particular--came from as far away as West Virginia (and not just the panhandle of West Virginia, either!) or, in the case of Bill and Paul Therry, from Western Pennsylvania. Others--Dan Fox and Stan Stocker come most readily to mind--brought family members. To each of you who attended, we say "Thank you!" Your presence and words of praise and encouragement gave us a good feeling that we are on the right track. Those of us who manned the exhibit also offer a special "Thank you!" to Jerry, who helped out on each of the three days of the show.
Dave and Vince put in some quality time onsite on Wednesday and Thursday (July 4 and 5) wiring the electrical connections for the exhibit and otherwise making show preparations.
When we arrived at the grounds for the show, we found that a modest measure of our fame had preceded us. In the Friday, June 29, special supplement to the Easton, Maryland, Star-Democrat that doubled as the show brochure, we read, "This building also contains a machine shop exhibit displaying immaculately restored equipment housed in an original portion of an 1830 shop reassembled for this exhibit. The Chesapeake Area Machinists, a group of delightful and dedicated machinists, have put in many hours restoring and arranging this outstanding exhibit."
Well, "delightful and dedicated" is a hard act to keep up, but we tried, especially with respect to the "dedicated" part. The star of our show, the 16-inch Smith and Mills plain crank shaper, was coaxed to life on Friday, and it soldiered away all day under the power of its temporary 1/2 horsepower junk-box motor. In the evening, an unnamed CAMS-er tried taking some light cuts in a cast iron workpiece, at which point--and we're sure that this is only a coincidence--the motor crashed and burned, almost literally.
On Saturday morning, Jerry brought another secondhand motor for which he claims (and this simply must be an exaggeration) that he paid five dollars at a yard sale. Well, apparently word of what we were up to had gotten out over the used motor grapevine. After we adapted it to our mount and wired it up, this unit chose to accept its fate with calm, simple dignity by locking its armature and refusing to budge. It did make a nice loud buzz, though.
A scouting party surveyed the flea market, but came back empty-handed. Vince then managed to persuade motor guru Art Lyman to lend us one of his half-horsepower units. (Conjecture was rife that after hearing of our two failures, Art was initially reluctant to trust us with anything more electrical than a two-cell flashlight. And admittedly our record was pretty abysmal at that point, although we claim that it really wasn't our fault. Those motors were fairly eaten up with bad juju. Still, what does "fault" mean at a time like this?)
Mercifully, the third time proved to be the charm. After testing and mounting the motor, we flipped the switch, and the shaper came back to life. We tweaked and adjusted the countershaft components a bit over the next two days, with the result that ultimately the loudest noise that came from the machine was the "tick" of the flat drive belt connector passing over the small step of the countershaft cone pulley. (Out of a strong sense of caution bred from an even stronger sense of superstition, we refrained from attempting any more cuts. We also allowed the motor to take plenty of rest breaks.) As we expected, having an actual moving machine made a tremendous difference in public reaction to the exhibit. Quite a few visitors were impressed by the clear Plexiglas window that Dave made to cover the access port and show off the bull gear and rocker arm mechanism. (A few folks asked whether we had cut a hole for the window in the side of the one-and-one-half-inch thick cast-iron column, but we were able to show them the "stock" access cover and convince them that No Machine Tools Were Harmed In The Preparation Of This Exhibit.)
We wound up the show tired, but satisfied that we had given CAMS good public exposure. (Apparently others agree with this--one gentleman from New Jersey has offered us a planer. The restoration crew is currently evaluating the offer.) Steve Stallings again prepared a couple hundred or so flyers putting out information about CAMS, and the restoration crew worked up a flyer telling a little about the machine tool collection on display. We handed out all of the flyers that Steve supplied and a like number of the supplemental flyers. In general, attendance was quite good, even on Sunday, when a serious thunderstorm started the day.
As we have done in the past, we are decreeing a period of recuperation, so we have not yet set a date for our next work session. To be advised when we will get back together again, or for other information on the machine tool restoration project, contact Vince at: iorio@toad.net
CAMS/Tuckahoe Machine Tool Restoration Project
Work Report #32--June 30, 2001
A CAMS crew consisting of John McCalla, Jerry Tuwiner, Dave Welser, and Luther Dietrich continued work on the CAMS/Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association machine tool restoration project at the Tuckahoe Rural Life Museum.
The crew was joined by CAMS-er Roy Schaffer, who brought a Millers Falls power hacksaw (designed for flat belt drive) to lend to the exhibit during the Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association's annual show this coming weekend (July 6-8). A power hacksaw is an essential item for a turn-of-the-20th-century machine shop exhibit, and Roy's is a beauty. (Roy circulated pictures of this unit at the CAMS meeting on June 28.) Roy also has a number of other artifacts on exhibit in the Rural Life Museum, including some tools used for scarfing and lacing flat power transmission belts.
The bulk of the day's activities centered on making the machine tool exhibit area presentable for the annual show. We moved the work tables and flammable materials outside and to the rear of the museum building, covering the more vulnerable items with tarps. We placed small tools and supplies behind the false wall to the left and rear of the exhibit area. We did quite a bit of floor sweeping, and arranged and rearranged some of the smaller items to what we hope will be good effect during the show. All of this sounds simple, and in concept it was, but we had to do a considerable amount of grunting to get things wrapped up by the close of the workday.
A minor disaster struck as we attempted to exchange the antiquated drum switch we were using on the temporary electric motor for the Smith and Mills shaper for a more modern, and hopefully safer, breaker box. The shaper operated under the power of this motor both during our last work session, and at the beginning of this work session, but after the drum switch was disconnected, nothing would persuade the motor to come to life again. Art Lyman has promised to come up with a duplicate of our motor, so with a little frantic last-minute effort (at the time of this writing, Dave and Vince are planning to put in some mid-week work at the site), we still expect to have the shaper operational for the show. (Vince subsequently reported that he went to Tuckahoe on Wednesday the 4th and remounted the original motor. Art had found that the problem lay in the starting contacts and made the necessary repairs.)
On a brighter note, Dave brought and installed the Plexiglas cover that he has made for the shaper's side access port. Dave did a bang-up job--the mounting hardware is unobtrusive, and the surfaces have been polished perfectly. Now we can show off the machine's bull gear and rocker arm motion without worrying about inquisitive little fingers getting caught in the mechanism.
Art also brought a Century 3/4 horsepower electric motor that appears to be roughly contemporary with the Pratt & Whitney Number 10 horizontal milling machine. We had hoped to have this mill operational for the show, but if it doesn't happen this year, it should be a shoo-in for next year.
Our next work session will take place from 9:00 a.m. on Friday, July 6, through 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, July 8, as we man the machine tool exhibit during the Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association's annual show. We hope that our fellow CAMS-ers will turn out, either to help staff the exhibit (it looks like we will be lightly represented on Sunday in particular), or to attend the show. (Come by the exhibit and say hello!) As we have written before, there will be an impressive number of old engines, tractors, and other machines chuffing away merrily all weekend. For more information, including directions, check the Tuckahoe S & G A website at: www.tuckahoesteam.org
CAMS/Tuckahoe Machine Tool Restoration Project
Work Report #31--June 23, 2001
The CAMS crew of Vince Iorio, John McCalla, Jerry Tuwiner, Dave Welser, and Luther Dietrich continued work on the CAMS/Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association machine tool restoration project at the Tuckahoe Rural Life Museum.
After months of part-time restoration effort stretching back to October of 2000, the ram of the Smith & Mills shaper finally moved back and forth under power! We mounted the one-half horsepower motor (that we had found in a box of Pratt & Whitney milling machine parts) to the upright beam behind the shaper. We then set up the countershaft by packing the bearing grooves with some of the Dupont felt material provided by Bill and Paul Therry, soaking the felts in oil, and filing a setscrew flat on the shaft for the cone pulley. (For demonstration purposes, the shaft is fitted only with a v-belt pulley and a cone pulley.) After considerable juggling to align the v-belt pulley from the motor to the countershaft, and the flat belt pulley from the countershaft cone pulley to the shaper, we tightened everything down and flipped the switch. Our first effort was disappointing--we had the flat belt set on the medium-speed steps of the cone pulleys, and the belt promptly slipped off the pulleys--but after setting the belt on the lowest speed steps, the machine came vigorously to life. We found that we still have issues to correct with the table drive before it can be fully operational, but at least we will be able to demonstrate the machine's basic motion at the upcoming show on July 6-8.
During the workday, we had the privilege of receiving a visit from Mrs. Arthur Redpath. After the death of Mr. Redpath, Mrs. Redpath donated the long-bed F. E. Reed lathe and the Pratt & Whitney Number 10 horizontal milling machine to the Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association. (These were the first two machine tools that we undertook any restoration effort on.) Although our restoration work is not complete, Mrs. Redpath was pleased with our progress.
We also made a modicum of progress on the John T. Burr & Son portable keyseater. After replacing a badly munged Woodruff key on the cutter spindle, and straightening a bent worm shaft, we were able to turn the mechanism and gain some idea of how it is supposed to work. When the handle (which we are missing--does anyone have a spare crank with a hub internally threaded for a 1 3/4" diameter x 4 TPI Acme screw?) is turned, power is transmitted through a spur-and-pinion gear train to the cutter spindle. Power is further transmitted from the cutter spindle through a chain and sprocket to the worm shaft. The worm turns a worm gear mounted on a lead screw that moves the body of the cutter along the shaft to be keyslotted. For returning the body to its starting position, or for taking the plunge cuts necessary to establish the depth of the keyway, the worm is to be slid along its keyed shaft until it is completely disengaged from the worm gear. A wrench or a (missing) crank then fits over a square boss on the end of the lead screw for cranking the cutter body back to its starting point. A third small crank (located on what we believe would be the bottom of the unit when it is in application) is turned to plunge the cutter deeper into the work. In a nutshell, the unit may be thought of as a small, portable, special-purpose, hand-cranked, horizontal milling machine.
At the June 2001 CAMS meeting, Chris Helgesen delivered yet another parcel of parts that he had cleaned for the restoration project. Thanks, Chris!
Department of Amplifications and Corrections (Part 1): Recently it has come to our attention that we have been entirely too slapdash in identifying certain of the machine tools in the collection with respect to their size/capabilities. For example, for well over a year we have assumed that both of the larger F. E. Reed lathes were of 14-inch swing (or 7-inch swing in the British scheme of things). In the spirit of seeking truth and enlightenment, we actually put ruler and tape measure to the beasts, and report herewith the following findings:
"Old" (long-bed) F. E. Reed lathe: 16-inch swing; 74 inches between centers.
"New" F. E. Reed lathe: 18-inch swing; 32 inches between centers.
How could we have been bamboozled on this point for so long? We really can't say, so we aren't saying!
Department of Amplifications and Corrections (Part 2): From time to time, we have written of the use of "Wheeled Johnson Bars" in moving the machine tools around the exhibit area. We have just learned (through an MSC "Maintenance & Repair Source" catalog) that these devices actually have a more generic and technical name: "Pry Bar Lever Dollies". So in the future--if we can remember--we shall endeavor to use "Pry Bar Lever Dollies" in describing how we move goodies such as Garvin Number 13 1/2 horizontal milling machines from place to place. It must be said, though, that "Pry Bar Lever Dollies" just doesn't roll off the tongue (or the keyboarding fingers) nearly as smoothly as "Wheeled Johnson Bars".
Our next work session is set for Saturday, June 30. The annual show of the Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association takes place from Friday, July 6, through Sunday, July 8. For more information on the show, including directions to the site, visit the Tuckahoe S and G A website at:
http://www.tuckahoesteam.org/
CAMS/Tuckahoe Machine Tool Restoration Project
Work Report #30--June 16, 2001
A CAMS crew consisting of Vince Iorio, John McCalla, Jerry Tuwiner, Dave Welser, and Luther Dietrich continued work on the CAMS/Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association machine tool restoration project at the Tuckahoe Rural Life Museum.
Clean living and clear thinking were the order of the day as the prematurely portly CAMS-ers abandoned--for one workday--their raging doughnut lust. Unfortunately, the urge to continue walking in the way of dietary virtue was far too weak. Nearly everyone present complained loudly and endlessly over the lack of our accustomed comfort food, leaving little doubt that we will soon find ourselves again on the losing side of the battle of the bulge.
One major project that we accomplished with the upcoming annual show in mind was to move several of the countershafts and related parts out of the central aisleway of the museum building. For the most part, they are now next to, or under, their associated machine tools. (We will still need to move our worktables, equipment, supplies, etc., out of the building--negotiations are underway for temporary storage space elsewhere at Tuckahoe.)
Another major project was the mounting of the "new" heavy post drill to an upright beam between the J. E. Snyder drill press and the Garvin horizontal milling machine. Jerry brought a long 2x8 board, appropriately weathered to match the exhibit area backdrop. After we cut it to length, we drilled mounting holes for carriage bolts (to mount the drill press to the board) and lag screws (to mount the board to the upright beam). We bolted the drill press to the board, then hoisted it into position and lag-screwed the board/drill press assembly to the beam. All went well, especially considering the weight of the unit, but a number of curmudgeons were heard to criticize the height of the drill press from the floor. (When you visit the exhibit during the annual show of the Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association on July 6-8, be sure to note this feature and add your voice to the debate.)
In addition to our moving/mounting projects, we managed to clean a significant amount of rust and grime from several large parts, chiefly from the "new" drill press and the John T. Burr & Son portable keyseater. This cleaning operation had to be undertaken between sporadic rain showers. (As we have mentioned before, we greatly prefer to do our power wire-brushing out of doors, particularly when there is serious crud to be removed from the parts.) Unfortunately, our parts cleaner pump motor pooped out for good during this session. We now find ourselves in need of either a submersible 120V parts washer pump for a water/detergent washer, or a free or inexpensive solvent-based parts washer in working order. (Does anyone have any leads?)
We also essayed a tentative reassembly of the Burr portable keyseater, and believe that we now have a better idea of which parts are damaged or missing. There is quite a bit of restoration in store for this unit, including having two lugs (one broken off and one missing--to be replaced) welded to the cast-iron main body casting. We plan to have the partially-restored keyseater on hand during the annual show in the hope that passers-by may be moved to step forward with offers of missing parts or reminiscences of using these things back in the good old days. (Does anyone in CAMS have any information on either these Burr portable keyseaters, or on the company of "John T. Burr & Son, Manufacturers, Brooklyn N Y"?)
Vince brought some 2x6's and did some more work towards completing a motor mount for demonstrating the Smith & Mills 16-inch shaper. A significant task remaining to be accomplished here is the milling of setscrew flats for the cone pulley and fast pulley in the new countershaft.
Thanks are due to two CAMS-ers for their offsite efforts in support of the restoration project. Robert Vogel shared with us the fruits of his research into countershaft and lineshaft "bearings fitted with capillary oiling attachments" in which the documentary evidence strongly suggests that these bearings were fitted with felt wicking material. This information will be very helpful to us in setting up the countershaft bearings for the Smith & Mills shaper for the annual show, as well as in setting up all similar shaft bearings in the future. Bob Hoffa photographed his F. E. Reed lathe, including the change gear storage box detail, and posted the photos to his website for our guidance in fabricating a replacement gear box door. These photos may be viewed at:
http://www.awebresource.com/furniture/furniture/reedlathe.htm
Our next work session (the second remaining session before the annual show) is set for Saturday, June 23, starting at 10:00 a.m. We expect that the principal activities to be accomplished will center on doing some detail work on the machines to ready them for the show, and general area cleanup work (stowing tools, parts, supplies, etc., that will not be used during the show, as well as more traditional dusting, sweeping, and scrubbing). For directions to the site or for other information, please contact Vince Iorio at: iorio@toad.net
CAMS/Tuckahoe Machine Tool Restoration Project
Work Report #29--June 9, 2001
An abbreviated crew of CAMS volunteers--Vince Iorio, Charles Keeney, and Luther Dietrich--continued work on the CAMS/Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association machine tool restoration project at the Tuckahoe Rural Life Museum.
Our doughnut mania reached what we trust will be its highest expression of gluttony with Charles providing two dozen freshly-baked Krispy Kremes. We consumed well over a dozen of them, with some incidental help from some members of the Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association who stopped by our work site.
Despite having a small crew, we managed to get a considerable amount of work done. We fitted a couple of small parts (a setscrew and an anti-backlash collar, both pertaining to the clapper box compound slide) to the Smith and Mills shaper, we began our first serious mechanical work on the portable keyway cutter, and we rearranged the Garvin No. 13 1/2 horizontal milling machine and the "old" F. E. Reed long bed lathe within the exhibit area to allow visitors to see certain mechanical features more clearly.
We are having some difficulty in fathoming the workings of the keyseat cutter. Some parts may be missing, some parts are damaged, and the unit has experienced at least two efforts at making field-expedient repairs. A maker's plate bears the identification, "John T. Burr & Son, Manufacturers, Brooklyn N Y". We have an illustration from a trade catalog reprint of a comparable unit manufactured by the Pittsburgh Gage and Supply Co., which shows that the Pittsburgh unit was powered by two hand cranks. Our Burr unit is missing such cranks, and for that matter, it is not a completely foregone conclusion that it was hand-powered. (It could have taken its motion from a flexible shaft or other power transmission method.) Does anyone out there in CAMS-land have any information (trade literature, old advertisements, etc.) of John T. Burr & Son's portable keyway cutters (also known as portable shaft keyseaters)?
We initiated our mechanical work on the keyway cutter by removing the six studs (four of which were bent or broken) from the clamps that secured the cutter to the overhead shaft. We then removed a subassembly of the drive mechanism that clearly was binding (thus thwarting our efforts at seeing how it operated) for cleaning. We found that the binding was caused by a worm that was keyed, but was not otherwise secured to its shaft. We will make spacers to prevent lateral movement of this worm. Then we expect that we will be able to comprehend the workings of the device's drive train.
Vince determined that a 1/2 horsepower Craftsman electric motor we found with some of the Pratt & Whitney milling machine parts is operational, so it is a prime candidate for providing demonstration power for the Smith & Mills shaper during the annual Tuckahoe show (July 6-8). Working offsite, Dave Welser turned the end of the new countershaft to about one inch diameter to accept the 20-inch v-belt pulley Vince obtained from John Listman, a Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association member. With a small v-belt pulley on the motor shaft, we should have adequate power to show the basic motion of a shaper to the rapt multitude of onlookers.
We felt that the "old" F. E. Reed lathe's orientation within the exhibit area (perpendicular to the stream of visitor traffic, with the headstock toward the aisle) precluded visitors from readily seeing the chuck and carriage areas. We also hope to mount a very heavy post drill press to an upright beam opposite the existing post drill (i.e., where the headstock of the "old" Reed was). So we reversed the locations of the "old" Reed and the Garvin mill. As usual, we used wheeled Johnson bars (to lift the machine onto four inches or so of temporary cribbing) and pipe rollers to move the mill to its new location. We found that the lathe could be "walked" (slid, actually, one end at a time) without using wheels, after we loosened the headstock so that we could slide it to the far end of the bed when it was time to "walk" the headstock end.
We noted that the fellows from the Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association were making surprising progress toward completing their new horse-powered equipment building. We understand that when this building is finished, the major horse-related items from the Rural Life Museum will be moved to the horse building, thus freeing up space for the heavy Dietz, Schumacher, and Boye lathe for which we are awaiting delivery. Vince reports that we are now looking for someone who can move a 18-foot lathe, because the Tuckahoe S & G A member who thought he could move it decided that it was too heavy for his trailer. If the move takes place before the annual show, there will be a lot of cleaning to be accomplished in a short time, and a lot of restoration work down the road, but the D, S, & B lathe holds out the promise of being a truly outstanding exhibit.
Our next work session is scheduled for Saturday, June 19, starting around 10:00 a.m. If we are to get things in shape in time for the annual show, we really need more hands in attendance. The restoration activity takes place in the Rural Life Museum of the Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association show grounds located just beyond Milepost 58 on US Route 50 as you drive from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge toward Easton, Maryland. For more information, contact Vince Iorio at: iorio@toad.net
CAMS/Tuckahoe Machine Tool Restoration Project
Work Report #28--June 2, 2001
A bumper crop of CAMS volunteers--Pierre Huggins, Vince Iorio, Charles Keeney, Jerry Tuwiner, Dave Welser, and Luther Dietrich--continued work on the CAMS/Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association machine tool restoration project at the Tuckahoe Rural Life Museum.
Our weakness for doughnuts continued to get the better of us. Charles and Luther provided two dozen or so (we think--actually, we lost count), and the crew managed to consume nearly all of them by day's end. (We used to appeal for more volunteers to help with the work--now we find ourselves hoping that more people will turn out to help deal with the doughnuts.)
Again, we find ourselves in the pleasant position of welcoming a new volunteer to the team--Pierre Huggins. Pierre responded to our appeal in the last work report for volunteers with wire-brush-equipped angle grinders and eye/face protection, and soon proved himself to be a worthy rival to Jerry for the "Dirtiest CAMS-er of the Day" award.
Thanks to Jerry and Pierre's efforts, we succeeded in cleaning the countershaft assembly for the Garvin milling machine. (Actually, it is something of a jury-rigged assembly, with two lineshaft brackets instead of proper countershaft brackets, and with a curious two-step pulley for the fixed driven pulley.) Our plan is to clean, paint, and display the countershafts with their associated machine tools until we have adequate overhead framing for mounting lineshafting and countershafts.
Although the bearings for the Garvin countershaft are of a different form than those of the Smith & Mills shaper, they have similar oil grooves cut or cast inside the ends. In cleaning out these grooves, Dave discovered remnants of old felt. Accordingly, we may reassess our opinion as to whether these grooves should be lined with felt to act as a sort of seal to retard oil leakage. The need is indicated for further research into this area.
We also decided to tackle the portable keyway cutter that turned up at the exhibit area a few months ago. We had initially put this project on the back burner, but we have subsequently learned that a prime application for these devices was to cut keyways in installed overhead line shafting. We hope that by having the cutter cleaned up and on display during the annual show, we may attract added spectator interest for our exhibit. Charles has shown remarkable talent in sketching and note taking, so he prepared a series of "before" drawings of the keyway cutter that should prove invaluable for final assembly.
Work progressed on the Smith & Mills shaper. We finished assembling the vise, so, apart from some tuning and tweaking, the unit is mechanically complete. Vince procured a V-belt pulley of about 20 inches in diameter. The hub is too small to be bored out to fit the countershaft, so Dave is going to turn down the end of the shaft to fit the pulley. (The new shaft is two inches longer than the old one, so we have sufficient material to work with.) When the pulley is fitted to the countershaft, we will mount a small electric motor to drive the shaper at low speeds through the countershaft for demonstrations during the show. Dave is also working on a Plexiglas cover for the access hole to show the motion of the pinion, bull gear, and rocker arm.
Our next work session is scheduled for this coming Saturday, June 9, starting at 10:00 a.m. The activity takes place in the Rural Life Museum of the Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association show grounds located just beyond Milepost 58 on US Route 50 as you drive from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge toward Easton, Maryland. As is perpetually the case, we would like to see more of our fellow CAMS-ers onsite with us, bathing themselves in glory (or whatever cleaning and lubricating gunk we happen to be using that day). For more information, contact Vince Iorio at: iorio@toad.net
CAMS/Tuckahoe Machine Tool Restoration Project
Work Report #27--May 26, 2001
An extremely wet, soggy day saw the abbreviated team of Vince Iorio, Jerry Tuwiner, and Luther Dietrich continue work on the CAMS/Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association machine tool restoration project at the Tuckahoe Rural Life Museum.
We are pleased to report that on this day, we managed to manfully restrain our doughnut lust by consuming only a half-dozen of them. Much better for our waistlines!
Dave Welser had made a corrugated cardboard and wood mockup of the Plexiglas cover (for demonstration purposes) that he is making for the access port of the Smith & Mills 16-inch Plain Crank Shaper. Dave was unable to attend this session, so Jerry brought the mockup, test-fitted it, and made corrections to the wood "dogs" that position the cover.
For the sake of safety and good housekeeping, we normally do all of our heavy parts cleaning outside the museum building. (Most of our cleaning solvents should not be used inside a closed building, and our rotary wire brushing tends to throw off more grit and dust than we like to sweep up afterwards.) The rainy weather militated strongly against this sort of activity, so we focused on reassembling the table feed mechanism of the Smith & Mills 16-inch Plain Crank Shaper. We also mounted the base and main body of the vise to the shaper table. At the end of the day, the only reassembly remaining to be completed on the shaper was that of the vise's movable jaw and lead screw. We held off on these parts because they need a little more cleaning, which will require better weather.
We had previously given the shaper countershaft cast iron bearings an external cleaning, but we had not done very much on their insides. We were aware that there was a groove, approximately a quarter inch wide, inside the end of each bearing. We had guessed that these were for accepting a felt ring to act as a seal against oil leakage, and to fabricate such seals we had, in fact, supplied ourselves with some of the felt wiper material that Bill and Paul Therry very generously provided to CAMS attendees at the Virginia meeting on May 22. When we scraped away some of the ancient shop crud that had accumulated in these grooves, we discovered, much to our surprise, that there were holes inside the grooves at the bottom of the bearings. Further probing revealed that these holes led to oil passageways that in turn led to a small rectangular sump on the inside bottom of each bearing. Perhaps not surprisingly, the heaviest crud accumulation was in the bearing that exhibited the most wear and scoring. (It had supported the badly worn and scored end of the countershaft. As noted in an earlier report, we replaced this shaft.) We cleared the grooves, passageways, and sumps, with the hope that, with proper lubrication, we will be able to operate the shaper without a recurrence of the earlier excessive wear and scoring problems.
As a further measure to prepare the shaper for operation, Vince brought a supply of neats foot oil which he applied liberally to the leather belt that we hope to use between the countershaft and the shaper.
Finally, we made an effort to prioritize the tasks remaining to be accomplished before the Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association's annual show on July 6, 7, and 8. Accordingly, we moved some of the artifacts that should be cleaned and painted into our work area and arranged them so as to get a running start on working on them next time.
Our next work session (the fifth session before the annual show) is scheduled for this coming Saturday, June 2. Some additional workers, particularly those bearing wire-wheel-equipped angle grinders and eye/face protection, would be enthusiastically welcomed. (Let us know if you're coming, and we'll lay in an extra stock of doughnuts!)
For more information, contact Vince Iorio at: iorio@toad.net
CAMS/Tuckahoe Machine Tool Restoration Project
Work Report #26--May 19, 2001
The team of Vince Iorio, John McCalla, Dave Welser, and Luther Dietrich continued work on the CAMS/Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association machine tool restoration project.
To stave off imminent Saturday morning starvation, Dave, Luther, and Hans Wendt (of the Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association) provided a stock of doughnuts.
Dave brought two 2 x 10 boards and woodworking implements, so the principal project of the day was the construction of a wooden subframe to sit under the Smith & Mills shaper. This subframe extends to the rear of the shaper about four feet, and will support the shaper's countershaft (mounted with the hangers inverted) and perhaps a mount for a small electric motor for testing and demonstration of the basic motion of the shaper.
Dave and John took on the task of notching the 2 x 10's to fit around a post situated behind the shaper, as well as locating and installing four eight-inch-long bolts to fasten the shaper to the subframe. When they had completed this work, we found that the chore of positioning the boards under the shaper with the bolts properly aligned amounted to a "Towers of Hanoi" type of exercise. After testing a couple of ideas, we consulted with a more experienced equipment mover, John Anderson (of the Tuckahoe S & G A), who suggested a scheme of cribbing and "Johnson bar" effort that would allow us to position the shaper without trapping some of the cribbing between the shaper and the subframe.
Because the shaper was already heavy enough for the lifting we had to do, we did not install any more of the larger parts (vise, etc.) during this work session. Instead, we contented ourselves with attaching only two or three small threaded parts (a clamping screw and a couple of plugs).
With Hans Wendt's help, Dave procured a large piece of 1/2 inch Plexiglas from the Tuckahoe scrap pile. He plans to make a round clear cover to replace the access hatch on the "dumb" side of the shaper, so that when the shaper is operated at low speeds for demonstrations, the movement of the pinion, bull gear, and rocker arm may be observed by spectators.
We also salvaged some countershaft collars (in the popular 1 7/16" I.D. size) for the shaper's countershaft from some shafting that was stored outside the Steam Engine Building.
As we indicated in an earlier work report, we had concerns over one of the shaper's cast iron countershaft hangers that had been broken and welded sometime in the dim past. Accordingly, we sought the opinion of Tuckahoe S & G A member Eric Harvey (proprietor of the E. R. Harvey Metal Working Corporation in Easton, Maryland) as to the piece's soundness. Eric immediately ground off the old weld, notched the piece, used his portable arc welding rig to reweld it, and ground down the new weld. Eric did terrific work, such that with a little wire-brushing and a coat of paint, the hanger should be indistinguishable from its mate.
Another Tuckahoe hand, Dave "Bullet" Wooters, contributed a Texas Instruments handheld calculator to the project. This is a welcome acquisition, since we find ourselves having to do a bit of ciphering from time to time. Having a calculator onsite will help reduce the number of items we have to remember to bring from home for each work session.
At the regularly-scheduled CAMS meeting on Tuesday, May 22, Chris Helgesen brought yet more Tuckahoe tooling--three large boring bars--that he had cleaned in his home shop for the project. Thanks again, Chris!
Speaking of work sessions, the next one is scheduled for this coming Saturday, May 26. The restoration activity takes place in the Rural Life Museum of the Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association showgrounds located just beyond Milepost 58 on US Route 50 as you drive from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge toward Easton, Maryland. We have six Saturdays (hence, six more work sessions) remaining before the Association's annual show on July 6, 7, and 8, and a little additional help would be enthusiastically welcomed. In addition to finishing assembling the shaper and bringing it under light power for demonstrating at the show, we hope to clean, paint, and prepare for display at least two and possibly three of the countershafts we have on hand. We also hope to complete the reassembly of the Pratt & Whitney #10 horizontal milling machine. If a suitable electric motor can be located (Art Lyman is working on this), we hope to demonstrate it under power as well. The final, and arguably least pleasant, task will be straightening up and cleaning our display area.
For more information, contact Vince Iorio at: iorio@toad.net
CAMS/Tuckahoe Machine Tool Restoration Project
Work Report #25--May 5, 2001
Vince Iorio, Jerry Tuwiner, Dave Welser, and Luther Dietrich continued work on the CAMS/Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association machine tool restoration project.
Although the team strove valiantly to work productively, the Tuckahoe folks were conducting a steam engine operation class. The club-owned tractor, the "Senator," was puttering about the grounds, tooting its whistle, and thus necessitating a visit by the CAMS team to admire the steel and cast iron qualities of the machine.
The distraction notwithstanding, we did manage to get some good work done. The major project of the day consisted of moving several of the machine tools within the exhibit area to showcase our finished work a bit better for the Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association's annual show in July. Basically, we swapped the locations of the Snyder drill press (which is now next to the "old" F. E. Reed lathe) and the Smith & Mills shaper (which is now next to the "new" F. E. Reed lathe), and moved the Pratt & Whitney horizontal milling machine so that it is now between the J. E. Snyder drill press and the emergency exit. We have a plan to temporarily mount the shaper on two timbers, mount the countershaft (with the hangars inverted) to cross timbers to be located behind the shaper, then mount a small (1/2 to 3/4 horsepower) electric motor above the countershaft. The idea is to couple the small motor to the shaper to move the ram either free, or to take very light cuts in a workpiece for demonstration purposes only. This plan will be much easier to implement with the shaper in its new location. We moved the equipment in our customary labor-intensive fashion by using wheeled "Johnson bars", pipe rollers, and middle-aged muscles.
We made good progress towards reassembling the Smith & Mills shaper by attaching the cross saddle and table--heavy components that required some grunting to maneuver into place. We also assembled the compound slide, clapper box, and tool holder to the ram. (We noted a crack in the clapper near the hole for the pivot pin. It does not appear to immediately jeopardize the strength or safety of the assembly, but we may want to take measurements and make a drawing to facilitate reproducing the part if the crack widens as the machine is used.) At this point, the shaper needs only to have the table power feed components and the vise added to be complete.
Dave procured a 36-inch length of 1 7/16-inch diameter, C1144 TGP (turned, ground, & polished) cold-rolled steel, which he faced and chamfered in his home shop to serve as a replacement shaft for the shaper countershaft assembly. We did considerable test fitting, and reassembled most of the countershaft to determine the necessary layout of components for our proposed shaper power transmission scheme.
Jerry continued to serve in his role as Principal Foundryman to the project by casting an oil drip cup in aluminum for the countershaft assembly for the Dietz, Schumacher, and Boye lathe. As with the pieces Jerry made for our last work session, this part was beautifully cast and finished.
Vince moved the work forward on the Pratt & Whitney #10 horizontal milling machine by taking off the table so that he could:
1. Broach a larger key way in the gear he made,
2. Make a key for the gear,
3. Shorten the shaft that the gear goes on, and do something to keep it from falling out, and
4. Mill a groove in the two stop rods.
Our next work session is scheduled for Saturday, May 19, starting around 10:00 a.m. We would welcome more of our fellow CAMS-ers to join us. The restoration activity takes place in the Rural Life Museum of the Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association showgrounds located just beyond Milepost 58 on US Route 50 as you drive from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge toward Easton, Maryland. For more information, contact Vince Iorio at: iorio@toad.net
CAMS/Tuckahoe Machine Tool Restoration Project
Work Report #24--April 21, 2001
Six CAMS volunteers--John Davis, Vince Iorio, John McCalla, Jerry Tuwiner, Dave Welser, and Luther Dietrich--continued work on the CAMS/Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association machine tool restoration project.
Rumors continued to persist of a dire doughnut shortage on Maryland's Eastern Shore, so John Davis and Luther brought enough of the tantalizing tori to stave off starvation until lunchtime.
Jerry established himself as the team's premier foundryman by providing very well-executed and finished aluminum castings from his home shop for a tool tray for the "old" 14-inch F.E. Reed long bed lathe and for an oil drip cup for the Smith and Mills shaper countershaft. Although the tool tray was completely missing from the lathe, Jerry was able to use the one from the "new" Reed lathe as a pattern. The shaper countershaft assembly had only one of the two original oil drip cups present; again, Jerry was able to use this part as a pattern for the missing cup. Great work, Jerry! (It bears mentioning that at the regular CAMS meeting on Thursday, April 26, we were treated to an excellent presentation on leather power transmission belting by Mr. John K. Slingluff, Jr., President of the Baltimore Belting Company, Inc. Mr. Slingluff made us more keenly aware of the importance of these oil cups in collecting the excess oil that may seep from the countershaft bearings and preventing it from getting on the leather drive belts.)
The day's efforts centered principally on additional parts cleaning and reassembly of the 16-inch Smith and Mills plain crank shaper. Vince procured a five-gallon bucket of Mobil gear grease (Mobilux EP 023), which, when applied in the right places, made for some extremely happy-sounding gears! We succeeded in reassembling and installing the bull gear and the rocker arm, and, based on the notes, drawings, and photographs we took before removing these components, we are reasonably sure that we connected them correctly. We also reassembled and repositioned the ram and attempted to connect the link which "converts the oscillating motion of the rocker arm to the necessary reciprocating motion of the ram" (from "Shapers" by Emanuele Stieri, Essential Books, New York, 1942; reprinted by Lindsay Publications 1994). This part, however, caused us great vexation. Made of cast iron, the link is a simple, one-piece component with two holes of about one-inch diameter (to accommodate the pins that connect the link to the rocker arm and the ram). The holes are positioned off-center, and there are radii in the casting that seem calculated to provide clearances with the rocker arm and the column casting when the ram is at the two extremes of its travel. Further, there are two oil holes (which lead to the pins) drilled in one side of the link. Logic suggested to us that: (A) the link should be positioned ahead of the rocker arm, so that the cast-iron part would receive its greatest stress in compression (a notion that is strengthened by the cutaway diagram of a column or pillar shaper in "Shapers" by Stieri), and (B) the oil holes should be on top of the link. Ultimately, after several trials and errors we were able to connect the ram to serve these ends, but it took a great deal of the afternoon, as well as a great deal of heavy lifting, particularly on the part of John McCalla, who had to lift his end higher than the rest of us in order to allow our "link man" (Dave) to insert the final pin safely. (As a final note on the shaper, we determined that the bull gear had 106 teeth, and the drive pinion had 16.)
At this juncture, the principal missing part of the "old" F. E. Reed lathe (apart from a countershaft) is the handle for the cross slide. (As we mentioned in our last work report, John McCalla produced a servicable handle for the carriage advance. We have determined that it is one-half inch or so shorter than the original, but it is of the correct appearance and it works reasonably well, so reproducing an exact match for the original is not a priority with us for the moment.) Dave has offered to make a replacement cross slide crank if a suitable used one cannot be found, so, acting on the basis of data partly fictitious and partly imaginary, Luther produced a mechanical drawing for Dave's guidance.
On a parting note, we observe that this work session marked the first anniversary of the CAMS/Tuckahoe machine tool restoration project. (The initial CAMS field trip to the Tuckahoe site took place on April 22, 2000.) Although, to our discomfiture, we have not yet completed the restoration of any single machine tool, we are within a hairbreadth of completing the Smith and Mills shaper and are contemplating how to bring it under some form of power for testing and demonstration (ideally in time for the annual Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association show on July 6-8, 2001). In addition, the "old" F. E. Reed lathe is more than 95 percent complete, and it is not inconceivable that we may succeed in bringing it under power later this Spring or Summer. At last year’s Steam & Gas Show we had only one machine partially restored, and a few others set up for a static display. But even with such a humble start, we generated a steady stream of interest from the general public. Everyone from old timers, some of who apprenticed on similar machines, to the young kids who thought the old machines were just cool, stopped by to talk and admire the exhibit. This year we expect to have at least two machines restored to functioning condition, and perhaps running for live demonstrations. Operational machines will generate even greater interest from the public and will definitely add a new dimension to the Tuckahoe Steam & Gas Show experience.
The next work session is scheduled for Saturday, May 5, starting at around 10:00 a.m., and, as always, we urge our fellow CAMS-ers to join us. Further, we anticipate that in the weeks ahead before Tuckahoe's annual show, we will step up the pace a bit and perhaps try to hold a work session nearly every weekend. For more information, contact Vince Iorio at: iorio@toad.net
CAMS/Tuckahoe Machine Tool Restoration Project
Work Report #23--March 31, 2001
A normal-sized crew of CAMS volunteers--Vince Iorio, John McCalla, Jerry Tuwiner, Dave Welser, and Luther Dietrich--continued work on the CAMS/Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association machine tool restoration project.
Apparently there were strong rumors abroad of a doughnut shortage on Maryland's Eastern Shore--Dave and John both brought generous assortments of the tasty pastries. Thanks, guys!
John brought a solid-handle, three-ball balanced crank for the carriage advance of the "old" F.E. Reed lathe. Although the radius of throw of 2 1/2 inches is about 1/2 inch shorter than the original handle (which is broken--we only have the center ball/counterweight ball portion), the new handle fits the carriage perfectly and will serve admirably until (and if) we find or make a full-scale replacement crank.
Our work on the Smith & Mills shaper progressed. Jerry cleaned the shaper cone pulley, which was the last major component of the shaper that was awaiting cleaning. (Despite some threat of rain, we managed to complete most of our cleaning operations outside the museum building.) We began the process of re-assembly by fitting the saddle back to the column, which was easily a three-man job. We also reattached the feed mechanism housing to the column. Finally, Jerry and Vince painted the pulleys and some miscellaneous parts.
One important task that we must accomplish before we "button up" the shaper is to count the teeth on the bull gear and the pinion in order to work out what the final speed range will be.
We continued to work on the countershaft for the shaper by cleaning the drive pulley and beginning to clean the freewheeling pulley. We made some more careful measurements of the countershaft itself, and are embarrassed to report that our initial diameter measurement of 1.444 inches mentioned in our last work report was in error. (At least we attempted to cover ourselves there by noting that, "further inspection and measurement are in order"!) Repeated careful measurements of undamaged areas of the shaft revealed a diameter of 1.437 inches (1 7/16 inches, for all practical purposes). Rather than pursuing our tentative plan of seeking a 1- 1/2 inch diameter shaft and modifying the pulleys and bearings to fit, we are now giving more consideration to procuring a 34-inch length of an appropriate grade of 1 7/16 inch cold rolled steel. We measured a couple of other countershafts at Tuckahoe, including the one for the Garvin horizontal milling machine, and found that they also measured 1 7/16 inches in diameter. (According to a 19th-century source, "Modern Machine-Shop Practice" (1892) by Joshua Rose, the nominal diameter of cold rolled shafting was equal to the actual diameter, but if the shafting had been turned, the actual diameter would be 1/16 inch less than the nominal diameter. Hence, our 1 7/16 shafts would have been turned from 1-1/2 inch material.)
At the regularly-scheduled CAMS meeting on Tuesday, March 27, Chris Helgesen returned the box of tooling that he had offered to clean for the restoration project. We had known that Chris was building a media-blasting cabinet, and we had thought that perhaps he would try it out on this project. We were amazed to learn that, instead, Chris decided to treat us to a museum-quality restoration by first removing the loose rust and dirt by manual methods, then subjecting the components to electrolysis, then finally giving each piece a light coat of oil. The result is an assortment of great-looking tooling ready for immediate display or application. Thanks, Chris!
Our next work session is scheduled for Saturday, April 21, starting around 10:00 a.m., and as usual, we invite, urge, and perhaps exhort our fellow CAMS-ers to join us. The restoration activity takes place in the Rural Life Museum of the Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association showgrounds located just beyond Milepost 58 on US Route 50 as you drive from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge toward Easton, Maryland. For more information, contact Vince Iorio at: iorio@toad.net
CAMS/Tuckahoe Machine Tool Restoration Project
Work Report #22--March 17, 2001
St. Patrick's Day saw yet another bumper crop of CAMS volunteers--John Davis, Vince Iorio, Charles Keeney, Jerry Tuwiner, Dave Welser, and Luther Dietrich--continue work on the CAMS/Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association machine tool restoration project.
For the third consecutive work session, the team has been graced with new blood, this time in the person of John Davis. Welcome aboard, John!
The weather carried a hint of Spring, so after gorging on fresh doughnuts (Thanks, Dave!), we carried out a bit of light housecleaning, sweeping under our workbench areas and disposing of several newspapers that had performed dropcloth duty. We probably should pay more attention to these housekeeping duties as we go along. It's remarkable how the dirt, rust flakes, and general shop crud can accumulate.
Dave managed to produce more parts for the W.O. Hickok paper cutter. This time he brought the massive blade/pivot/counterweight assembly, as well as the fulcrum component that the blade pivots on. The table of the cutter had been covered with a sheet of plywood, and is serving as a light work table, so we did not attempt to assemble these parts. We continue to hold out the hope that this artifact may serve us as trading stock for other, more sorely-needed machine tool parts or accessories.
The presence of such a relatively large work crew encouraged us to press further with our disassembly of the Smith & Mills shaper. During this session we managed to extract the pinion gear and bull gear from the column. After cleaning the column, we raised it onto a pair of thick wooden planks and applied a coat of turn-of-the-twentieth-century Basic Machine Tool Black paint. (We also painted number of smaller shaper parts.) In the meantime, part of the crew tackled the disassembly of the bull gear. The bull gear carries an eccentrically-mounted, adjustable crank pin mechanism, which drives a pivoting arm-and-link assembly, which in turn drives the ram. Upon disassembly, we found that the crank pin mechanism is adjusted through a sun-and-planet gear (with only one "planet") that is locked through an extremely simple screw-and-pad clutch. We cleaned some light rust from these components, along with the customary buildup of decades of shop crud. The near-Springlike weather permitted us to undertake a good deal of this work outside the museum building.
We also made progress disassembling and cleaning the countershaft for the shaper. We removed the drive pulley, the freewheeling pulley, and the cone pulley, then we cleaned the surface rust from the cone pulley. With all of the pulleys removed, the shaft lent itself to closer inspection, which revealed that the wear and scoring problems noted in our last work report are more severe and extensive than we had first observed. The shaft, which is 34 inches long, has a diameter (measured at an undamaged area) of 1.444 inches. This strikes us as an odd size, and leads us to wonder if it might be possible to replace the shaft with one of 1 1/2 inches diameter, then bore, ream, or hone the pulleys and bearings to fit. Again, further inspection and measurement are in order.
The next work session is scheduled for Saturday, March 31, starting at 10:00 a.m. We urge all CAMS-ers with an interest in antique machine tool restoration to join us. For more information, contact Vince Iorio at: iorio@toad.net
CAMS/Tuckahoe Machine Tool Restoration Project
Work Report #21 -February 24, 2001
A freshly-expanded team, consisting of Kevin Brady, Vince Iorio, Charles Keeney, John McCalla, Dave Welser, and Luther Dietrich continued work on the CAMS/Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association machine tool restoration project.
For this session, we were pleased (downright tickled, actually) to have Kevin and Charles join the team. Welcome aboard, fellas!
We started the day by assembling the W.O. Hickok cast iron paper cutter table (mentioned in Work Report #20) for use as a work table. We discovered that we were missing two of the 1/2"-13 hex-head bolts that hold the crossbraces to the legs; nevertheless, the six bolts that were present secured the unit sufficiently well to allow it to perform light work table duty for the remainder of the session. (Dave brought another cast-iron part for this table. We aren't sure of its function, but it clearly belongs there.) Our original intent was to make a permanent work bench out of the Hickok paper cutter, but that was before we had learned anything about the history of the Hickok firm, or knew that it was a paper cutter. Some members of the group are wondering if we should restore it as a paper cutter, or use it for “trading bait” for machine tool parts or accessories.
With so many hands in attendance (it was our biggest work crew yet!), we were able to remove several heavy components from the Smith & Mills shaper for cleaning and painting that we had initially decided to leave in place. In particular, we removed the table and the table saddle, along with the traversing and elevating lead screws and related parts. It was good that we removed the table because there was rust behind it, and the elevation screw really needed to be cleaned. The traversing screw was in good shape. The shaper is not a universal type, but the table is removable, leaving a vertical table with T-slots (like a Deckel or Aciera mill).
Next time we plan to remove more of the power feed mechanism. Jerry Tuwiner had removed most of it in earlier work sessions and cleaned and reassembled it, but we want to remove the main casting that it is attached to and strip the non-period red paint from the machined surfaces. We discovered that the power feed can be configured to move the table transversely, or vertically by just removing a gear (by hand), moving it down to the vertical adjustment shaft, and reinstalling it there.
What we have not decided yet is whether we want to mess with the crank (bull) gearing, and the rocker arm. The gear appears to be in good shape, and all of the teeth appear to be undamaged. But it is all heavily "crud-ed up" (how's that for a description?). A previous owner did a lot of wood working, and some of the crud is wood dust, which is fairly bad, plus the shaper had been installed in a shop with a dirt floor. Vince's thoughts are to remove everything; his only reservation is a lack of clear instructions on how to do so. The link between the rocker arm and the ram clamping block was removed easily, which is an encouraging sign. A final item of note on the shaper is that the vertical shaft supporting the table has ball bearings taking the thrust/weight.
We measured the step pulleys and the corresponding countershaft pulleys that we have that were associated with the Smith & Mills shaper and the Garvin horizontal milling machine in order to verify that we have correct countershaft pulleys for these machines. (Thankfully, we do.) We also measured the headstock spindle step pulleys on the two F.E. Reed lathes as an aid to procuring or fabricating replacement countershaft pulleys. (We currently do not have any countershaft pulleys for these machines.) Both of these pulleys have five steps, of the following circumferences:
Pulley A: 29 5/8", 25 1/8", 20 7/8", 16 1/2", and 12 1/8" (This pulley's steps each measures 2 3/32" wide.)
Pulley B: 33 1/4", 27 7/8", 22 3/8", 16 7/8", and 12 1/8" (This pulley's steps each measures 2 1/2" wide.)
If anyone knows of a possible source of such step pulleys (or complete countershaft assemblies incorporating these pulleys), please let us know. It would be immeasurably faster to procure these items, rather than to fabricate them.
We also began to disassemble and clean the countershaft for the Smith & Mills shaper. (The shaper appears to be the most complete and potentially serviceable machine tool in the collection; hence we are trying to put it in operation in time for the Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association's annual show in July. Actually getting it running, though, might be harder than just cleaning away 100 years of accumulated shop crud, painting it, and reassembling it.) We received a couple of disappointments: (1)The base of one of the cast-iron support brackets had broken and been welded/brazed by an earlier, unknown workman. (It will be highly advisable to have this piece inspected by a skilled welder to assess whether it can safely be put to application, or whether it will need to have this work redone.) (2)One of the cast-iron bearings, and the associated area of the steel countershaft, had evidently been run without adequate lubrication and had developed heavy scoring. There is a possibility that we may be able to effect a repair by boring and sleeving the bearing, then re-orienting the pulleys on the countershaft to bring a hitherto-unused area of the shaft into play in the bearing. We will explore these matters further during future work sessions.
Team members continued to bring supplies, tools, and equipment for loan or donation to the project. This session's "booty" included:
Two "S" pattern adjustable (period?) wrenches (Dave)
Six gallons degreaser for the parts washer (Dave)
Hydraulic jack (Dave) Three wooden boxes for parts (Dave) More WD40 (Dave)
Another part for the Hickok table (Dave) CO2 fire extinguisher (Dave)
Cup wire wheel for Milwaukee angle grinder (Dave)
One socket wrench set (Luther)
If anyone out there would like to lend or donate a yellow hazmat/flammable liquid cabinets for storage of painting supplies and cleaning solvents, it would improve our housekeeping and safety immensely, particularly since we are working in a building without running water.
The next work session is scheduled for Saturday, March 17, starting at around 10:00 a.m., and, as always, we urge our fellow CAMS-ers to join us. For more information, contact Vince Iorio at: iorio@toad.net
Tuckahoe Machine Tool Restoration Project
Work Report #20 -January 20, 2001
A cold, rainy January day saw the team of Vince Iorio, John McCalla, Jerry Tuwiner, Dave Welser, and Luther Dietrich continue work on the CAMS/Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association machine tool restoration project.
In our last work report, we were faced with the necessity of bidding farewell to Brian Bratvold as he left the Mid-Atlantic area to report to his new employer in Iowa. We begin this report on a happier note by welcoming John McCalla to the team. In addition to bringing a keen interest in restoration work to our efforts, John will also help to balance the rate of participation between Maryland and Virginia CAMS-ers (current tally: Marylanders-3, Virginians-2, not that anyone's really keeping score, of course).
Before he left, Brian completed the set of back gear guards that he had fabricated for the "old" F. E. Reed 14" lathe. Dave brought them to the Tuckahoe site and installed them. They fit great and look terrific--after a coat of paint, they'll be indistinguishable from factory originals. Brian also left a very nice oak machinists'-type tool box with Vince, who brought it to the site for use/exhibit.
Vince also brought a pinion gear and a set of new stop rods that he had made in his shop for the Pratt & Whitney #10 horizontal milling machine. Test-fitting revealed that the pinion gear meshed perfectly with the rack for the machine's transverse (X-axis) table feed. At that point, Vince announced that the piece was his first effort at gear-cutting. (Nice going, Vince!)
Dave completed repair work on a parts washer that Brian had donated to the project. After considerable remounting and adjusting, the pump finally generated a steady stream of cleaning fluid inside the tub. Its first project was to aid us as we began, in a very modest way, to clean some of the greasier and grubbier components of the overhead countershafts for the Smith & Mills shaper and the Dietz, Schumacher, and Boye lathe.
The big project for the day centered around inspecting and cleaning a disassembled cast-iron table that Dave scored at a yard sale somewhere in the eastern United States and brought to the site for possible application as a work table. A brass manufacturer's plate bears the markings, "No. 3295 Hickok Harrisburg Pa USA". This fairly well identifies the artifact as the product of the W. O. Hickok Manufacturing Co. The company has been in business since 1844 (evidently under continuous ownership and management by the Hickok family), and manufactures machinery for the printing and bookbinding trades. Hickok's original product was a machine that used modified fountain pen points to rule the lines in ledgers. Apparently the company still manufactures ruling machines, as well as other machines for printing and binding. Over the years, the company has also manufactured apple cider presses, bicycles, seed spreaders, the official brass measuring pots for the State of Pennsylvania (A one-half peck Hickok brass pot was recently offered for sale on eBay.), and cast-iron bridge parts. Unfortunately, we have only a few weak clues as to what our "No. 3295" machine originally did. There is a foot pedal and linkage still mounted to one of the side leg castings, and there is a brass rule affixed to one edge of the table. We noted that the two cast-iron leg crossbraces, each of which is shaped like an elongated "X", bore heavy painted outline striping and finer pinstriping within the outlines--detailing that has not been seen on such machinery for several decades. (No, we did not clean away the striping!) All in all, this will make up into an impressive table, perhaps to display a surface plate and associated layout tools, even though it was probably not originally intended to support machine shop operations. In the meantime, does anyone know what the function of Hickok's "No. 3295" machine was? (Our best guess so far is some sort of paper cutter.)
In addition to the Hickok table, Dave also brought two hacksaws, one of which is somewhat period (hence, a possible addition to the future exhibit), a small Dremel flex shaft tool (currently with no tooling), a Milwaukee angle grinder (on loan) with a wire wheel, some miscellaneous cleaning tools, and our very own wheeled Johnson bar (for moving heavy things short distances). Jerry brought some period wooden drawers/boxes which may form the basis for a tools or materials storage unit.
At the scheduled CAMS meeting on Tuesday, January 23, 2001, CAMS-er Don Nichols contributed an Armstrong tool holder, capable of holding a 5/16" tool bit in at least five positions, for use/display on the Smith & Mills shaper. Thank you, Don!
It appears that individual team members have a variety of schedule conflicts for the next month or so that make it difficult to set the next work date at this time. To be notified when a date is set, or for any other information on the machine tool restoration project, contact Vince at: iorio@toad.net
The end, or actually you have reached the beginning of the Tuckahoe chronology for the year 2001.
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