Latest Acquisitions 2008.03.23

Thought I would take a moment to describe the latest in old 'arn that I've gotten over the last few months.



First up is this 24" Rockwell Scroll Saw Model 40-440 Serial Number FP-1467. This was from a Craigslist ad listed for $75 - reduced to $65 because the seller couldn't find the insert (ended up buying one from an OWWM member for $8). I'm not showing the stand, but it was also included - typical Walker Turner/Delta/Rockwell with splayed feet and square bolts. This example also comes with the cast belt cover but not the light (one could only wish - those are going for crazy money these days). It also has a magnetic switch installed so it was probably used in some production environment (guessing there). Very nice Delta/Rockwell motor with knurl for hand turning.

I've been looking for a while for a cast iron stand for the 6" Delta Joiner (see earlier post) and finally found one - in this case with a working joiner attached! The joiner is missing some parts and has some slop, but does have the coveted porkchop guard - I may end up parting the joiner and concentrating on the earlier one I purchased. This stand is fairly complete (has both back covers and 2 knurl knobs). I haven't removed the motor but it's a beast and probably better than the one I got with my other 6" joiner.

Next up are a couple of old hand-drills. The 5/8" Van Dorn I ended up getting while picking up a Rockwell Radial Drill Press (I'll have pics up in a later post - forgot to take them). Got it for $25 - it's slow but has tremendous torque.

I picked up these two hand drills at to separate yard sales for a couple of bucks a piece - both are Craftsman - the one on the left is the better of the two and has replaceable bushings.

Found this Franklin Electric motor converted to a single disc grinder. It was $5 and I figured I could use it for something.



I spotted an ad for a few misc. 3 phase motors and in the middle was one listed as a "driver" so I took a chance that it was a Walker Turner - turned out I was right. It also came with the reversing switch - I'm not sure what it was used for - at first I thought a shaper but at 1/3 HP probably not. Not bad for $10.


That's it for this post - I still need to take some pics of the Rockwell Radial Drill Press I picked up, as well as a Sears Dunlap 8" table saw. I'll have those posted soon.

-- John

Tools from September 8th 2007

I went to a really unusual estate sale on the 8th - the basement was full of old tools that had belonged to the home owner's father. Amongst them where the following:

Walker Turner tabletop Drill Press
Delta tilt-table Table Saw
Craftsman 1/2" shaper (unusual, cast iron round table and guard)
Boise Crane snowflake Bandsaw (looked to be 12 inch) table top model
Walker Turner bench grinder
Walker Turner Sanding Machine setup

There were also several work benches, bits and pieces, hand tools, etc. there was also an assortment of small old motors and many threading taps. Looking over everything - the pricing seem pretty close to what I would expect collectible retail to be - for instance the bandsaw was priced at $400 - the drill press had already sold so I'm not sure what it ended up going for. The table saw was priced at $350, etc. The sanding machine setup was the thing that interested me, as I had never seen anything like it - it had $350 on it and apparently I was the only one interested as I'm to pick it up the following week for $200. It came with what looked like most if not all the parts plus two original WT wrenches (and the dust collector underneath)

More images from the original CL post:




This is what I ended up bringing home:


Includes the two tables (one mounted with the sander), the WT sander, the Craftsman Shaper and a box of handtools, sand paper and bits.

Detail Pics of the Sander:

It turns out that the sander is a Walker Turner SM900 and is actually pretty rare. It came with a little vacuum and bag that hangs underneath (the bag is ripped though - dry rotted) - you can see it in one of the photos of all the parts. It also originally had a sliding table (I've got the two rails) to make it into a stroke sander - I think the table was in the basement stacked on some other things. The "stroking block" might have also been amongst all the bits but I wouldn't have known it was part of this setup.

The Craftsman Shaper is also unusual. It appears to predate most of the numbered tools you usually see produced by Sears. It's entirely made of cast iron, stand, table and fence. The base has "Craftsman" "14" Bearing" and the "Patent Number 1893080" I looked up the patent and it was assigned to C.A. Roberts in 1932. The blue paint looks to be original.

Turns out that this is a Craftsman branded Herbert's Shaper. Patent Link: http://www.google.com/patents?id=w3s_AAAAEBAJ&dq=1893080

-- John