Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith
ilmarinen - MODERATOR
Moderator
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2004
- Messages
- 36,432
OK, this is still hard to believe for me, but I got the best deal I ever had today.
I was working around the house and a friend called me. He was at a VFW flea Market and met an old chap. They got to talking and somehow the fellow asked him if he knew anyone who wanted a 1885 metal lathe. He called me up while talking to the fellow, and relayed the mans name/address/phone. The house was only 1/2 mile from my place. The fellow said he would be home later in the afternoon. I asked what he wanted for it and he said to give him $20 and haul it out of his garage. I was expecting a decorative antique object ... or scrap metal.
I wrote the info on a sticky note and put it on the outside of the leather folder that I carry everywhere. After finishing all my daily runs and errands, I went to call the fellow and found the note was gone. I looked everywhere and it was gone.
I remembered his was name - Jim - and the street name. I called my buddy, but he didn't remember any of the info. I knew the street, because it was over by my old house, and since it is a very short street, I went over to ask anyone I saw if they knew an old man namesd Jim who had an old lathe in his garage.
As I turned on the street, there was a fire engine in the middle of the street blocking passage. I pulled over, and since pretty much everyone who lived on the street was there, I felt pretty sure someone would know "Jim". I immediately recognizede one of my old knife customers, and he came over to say "Hi". I looked around and recognized his elderly dad, and looked at the open garage door with the firemen in the garage .. and saw a wonderful antique lathe. The dad recognized me and came over to see what I was doing there. We all couldn't believe the amazing coincidence.
The fire call was because there was smoke in the garage when he came home, but the fire crew and all of us could find no source. It had quickly aired out and no more was comming from anything. Eventually the fire crew left, we opened some beers, and he told me that many years ago when he was a metal scrapper, an old fellow sold the lathe to him for $20. He couldn't scrap something that pertty, so he took it home and stuck it in the garage .. and it has sat there ever since. His daughter lives there now and he is trying to clear some of the ceiling to floor stacks of old junk he left behind, so he wanted to get rid of the lathe. He told me that if I took the lathe ( probably 500-600 pounds, I also had to take the cabinet filled with gears and parts, and a extrta chucks. He said the cabinet probably weighed 400 pounds. The metal cabinet was burried behind the lathe, so I left pulling it out for next weekend.
The lathe was origionally run from an overhead line shaft, but the old machinist had made a really neat multi-speed speed reducer arrangement of turned parts run by a 1HP motor. There was still a 2" wide canvas belt running the lathe. The retrofit is a work of art in itself.
Along with the lathe he gave me a shop logbook that the old guy gave him with the lathe. It is entirely handwritten and filled with drawings, part numbers, measurements, and notes on making and repairing all sorts of early airplane parts and tailhioks for the first aircraft to use shipboard landing. It also had a section on parts for attaching the floats on seaplanes. In the book was an old timeclock punch card with the job title Aircraft Mechanic General ... dated 8-28-39.
The lathe looks like it came out of a museum. It is clean, well oiled, not a spot of rust, everything moves well, and he said he has turned it on and it runs like a top. Even the nickel handles and turn cranks are in wonderful condition and almost polished (probably from use).
I took a lot of rather dark photos, which I will try and clean up and post later tonight.
I asked Jim what he wanted for the lathe, and he said if I wanted it for my new shop it was mine for a handshake. Suffice to say that he and his family will have some nice knives this Chrstmas.
More info and better photos after I look through the cabinet of parts nextweek.
I was working around the house and a friend called me. He was at a VFW flea Market and met an old chap. They got to talking and somehow the fellow asked him if he knew anyone who wanted a 1885 metal lathe. He called me up while talking to the fellow, and relayed the mans name/address/phone. The house was only 1/2 mile from my place. The fellow said he would be home later in the afternoon. I asked what he wanted for it and he said to give him $20 and haul it out of his garage. I was expecting a decorative antique object ... or scrap metal.
I wrote the info on a sticky note and put it on the outside of the leather folder that I carry everywhere. After finishing all my daily runs and errands, I went to call the fellow and found the note was gone. I looked everywhere and it was gone.
I remembered his was name - Jim - and the street name. I called my buddy, but he didn't remember any of the info. I knew the street, because it was over by my old house, and since it is a very short street, I went over to ask anyone I saw if they knew an old man namesd Jim who had an old lathe in his garage.
As I turned on the street, there was a fire engine in the middle of the street blocking passage. I pulled over, and since pretty much everyone who lived on the street was there, I felt pretty sure someone would know "Jim". I immediately recognizede one of my old knife customers, and he came over to say "Hi". I looked around and recognized his elderly dad, and looked at the open garage door with the firemen in the garage .. and saw a wonderful antique lathe. The dad recognized me and came over to see what I was doing there. We all couldn't believe the amazing coincidence.
The fire call was because there was smoke in the garage when he came home, but the fire crew and all of us could find no source. It had quickly aired out and no more was comming from anything. Eventually the fire crew left, we opened some beers, and he told me that many years ago when he was a metal scrapper, an old fellow sold the lathe to him for $20. He couldn't scrap something that pertty, so he took it home and stuck it in the garage .. and it has sat there ever since. His daughter lives there now and he is trying to clear some of the ceiling to floor stacks of old junk he left behind, so he wanted to get rid of the lathe. He told me that if I took the lathe ( probably 500-600 pounds, I also had to take the cabinet filled with gears and parts, and a extrta chucks. He said the cabinet probably weighed 400 pounds. The metal cabinet was burried behind the lathe, so I left pulling it out for next weekend.
The lathe was origionally run from an overhead line shaft, but the old machinist had made a really neat multi-speed speed reducer arrangement of turned parts run by a 1HP motor. There was still a 2" wide canvas belt running the lathe. The retrofit is a work of art in itself.
Along with the lathe he gave me a shop logbook that the old guy gave him with the lathe. It is entirely handwritten and filled with drawings, part numbers, measurements, and notes on making and repairing all sorts of early airplane parts and tailhioks for the first aircraft to use shipboard landing. It also had a section on parts for attaching the floats on seaplanes. In the book was an old timeclock punch card with the job title Aircraft Mechanic General ... dated 8-28-39.
The lathe looks like it came out of a museum. It is clean, well oiled, not a spot of rust, everything moves well, and he said he has turned it on and it runs like a top. Even the nickel handles and turn cranks are in wonderful condition and almost polished (probably from use).
I took a lot of rather dark photos, which I will try and clean up and post later tonight.
I asked Jim what he wanted for the lathe, and he said if I wanted it for my new shop it was mine for a handshake. Suffice to say that he and his family will have some nice knives this Chrstmas.
More info and better photos after I look through the cabinet of parts nextweek.
