Old Jointer Refurbish--as promised!

[Mike Weaver]

Joanne,
As owner of a 12" jointer that needs restoring, I appreciate the time you took to document the process for us.

I defer to the experts with regard to the cutterhead, but 'Frank' sure is a beauty!
-Mike

[Matt Day]

Very impressive! If you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay for it and how much time do you think you invested? I'd love to tackle a project like that, just need a bigger shop!

[Al Willits]

Thanks for posting, very nice job, a definetly a "atta boy"...er...."atta girl"...
I bought all new stuff, but rebuilding a piece of old iron would have been fun, and no doubt better, congrats.

Al

[Larry Crim]

Very well done I admire your dedication to the old iron, anyone would be lucky to have that in the shop.
Larry

[Carl Eyman]

Would some Lock-Tite on those clamshell bolts be a good idea?

[Joanne Adler]

Thanks for all the nice comments.

The pictures look pretty good here, but I wish you could see this beast in person. He is really beautiful. Someone mentioned the curves of the legs--that is what lends a kind of grace to such a big piece of iron; it is not all straight and squared off like newer pieces. While I love a new, precision tool as much as the next woodworker, there is a kind of mystery and romance about using an old tool. And I love not sending every old thing to a junkyard or scrapper. Even though it was a lot of work to clean up, I would very much consider going this route again on, say, a larger planer (I just have a Dewalt lunchbox) or an older Unisaw or some cabinet saw (I have a contractor saw, which is fine, but one can always dream of better dust collection!).

I appreciate the safety warnings. Some day I hope to replace the cutterhead. I think that will be expensive and may require changing out the babbet for bearings, too. As I think I mentioned in my post, I know about the issues with the old clamshell heads. We cleaned scrutinized every bolt and bolt hole. We very carefully replaced them and tightened them equally. I clean and check the area regularly. I suspect many of the problems people had with them were due to lack of attention to things like that. Trust me, I am very cautious in my shop. My middle initial is "S" and I think that stands for "Safety".

Price--I paid $900 for Frank, plus $100 for delivery (from upstate NY to PA). And the guy helped unload it from his flatbed. I think anyone else would have charged $200 or $300 for such delivery, so I think I did all right. Other similar units I had seen listed went for quite a lot more. If I knew more about old tools, I might have tried to barter down, but I think this was fair; he had to haul the thing from western PA to NY and then down to eastern PA. Oh and I found a rebuilt 5hp single phase Leeson motor for around $200. My friend Rich had the belting and pulley for the motor. We spent a month or two of Sunday afternoons doing the refurb.

[Bill Simmeth]

Joanne,

Frank is a beauty (sounds somewhat like an oxymoron) and my safety warning wasn't meant to distract from that. Sounds like you have him well researched, but it's worth pointing out that patent research shows the Clement to be the progenitor of the highly copied "three-toed" jointer design. Clement merged with a slew of other companies in 1897 to form American Wood Working Machines. American then merged with Yates in 1925 to form Yates-American, the largest machinery company at that time. Through all of these machinations, Frank and his brothers survived as the Yates-American model No. 1. It was produced for decades and considered one of the finest jointers ever made. Yours is a fine example of the beginnings of that storied lineage!

As for the clamshell, it sounds like you're aware of the issues, so I won't belabor the point (okay, maybe just a little more )... The picture I posted is of a machine in use at a technical school in New England. The machine received regular maintenance and all blade changes were done by the shop teacher, a seemingly-knowledgeable trained professional following documented procedures. Yet, you see the results. Metal fatigue is not always readily visible until it's too late. This is especially true in this case where you have five medium-sized bolts straining to counteract the centrifugal forces pulling on a 20 lb hunk of steel spinning at 3,600 RPM (and have done so for 80 years or so).

The other incident I alluded to was recounted by Patrick Haire. Patrick is rather well-known for his incredible shop as documented on PBS and in countless articles. He is a professional cabinetmaker who operates a shop full of linebelt-driven machines, all impeccably restored. Patrick knows machines, especially old ones. (If you want to see some incredible old arn, rummage through owwm.com to find Patrick's picture postings!) Here is Patrick's narrative:

On the trial run of a restored 16" Clements jointer using this type [clam shell] head one knife was thrown, laying itself out along the entire width of the in-feed table. All the cap bolts instantly snapped throwing the cap upward with such force that it broke the cast iron fence into four pieces. This took out more than the replaceable table lip, but ruined the entire in-feed table. All pieces , including the knife, came to a rest within four feet of the jointer. I was standing five feet from the jointer. It was a head on crash with the miracle of everyone walking away unscathed. An audio witness to this who was several rooms away said the noise at impact dwarfed a shot gun blast. Graphic enough? I hope so. The question of whether or not this type of head should be used shouldn't fall into the category of opinion. Do away with them!

Finally, Oliver pulled the heads from the market in the 1940s due to a rash of similar incidents. As well, they took the (at that time) rather rare step of sending letters to registered owners urging them to retire the heads. They obviously were concerned -- 60 years ago.

There are several options to replacing the head; a new Byrd Shelix being one of the more expensive. With furniture plants closing in the Southeast, there are many larger gibbed/wedged blade heads floating around. (Your machinist friend might be able to help prepare one to fit in Frank.) The folks at OWWM.org can be a real help in exploring these options. Yes, you'll probably need to repour babbitt, but in the scheme of things...

Okay, end of sermon. Sorry for going on and on, but I'd surely hate to see either you or Frank in a mishap!

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Joanne, beutiful machine, fabulous restoration job.

Enough has been said about the cutterhead, I saw one come apart in 1981, it was pretyy scary.

On another note, do you have a magnetic starter on that motor or do you simply operate the disconnect switch to turn the machine on/off?

Regards, Rod.

[Bill White]

Wonderful job 'cause I like the old stuff too. I guess the '50s is a far back as my iron goes. By the way, that ain't a wrench. That's a "spanner". Keep us posted as to what you decide about the cutter head.
Bill

[Kristian Wild]

Simply beautiful. Frank is a very lucky guy. Great job Joanne.

[Corvin Alstot]

Wow great old jointer. Although its nice to see pristine new machines, the
lines and patina of the old iron are a treat to see.

Any other interesting tools in your shop?

[Sean Segraves]

Hello, my name is Sean. Recently obtained an old American 16" jointer, looking very much like your Frank. I just wanted to say that reading your post and seeing your photos are inspiring. As my jointer is sitting in misc. pieces in my basement waiting to be stripped, cleaned, painted and rebuilt. Thank you for your wonderful post.
Sean

[Charlie Velasquez]

Beautiful job! Well done.


PS - Welcome to the Creek, Sean. As you see already, you'll find a lot of know-how about refurbishing your machine here, just ask!

[Bryan Berguson]

Joanne,

Concerning you not wanting to drill into your heated concrete floor... I had to do the same thing to install a Radon system and like you, I didn't want to drill into my radiant tubing. I had a buddy that was a member of a fire department and had him come out with their infrared camera. I had shut the heat off for awhile, long enough to equalize the temperature, and then turned it on about an hour before he came. We could easily see every tube in the floor and I marked them while he directed me with the camera. We never touched a line when we drilled. So, if your glue doesn't hold, you could still "see" the lines and drill.

Bryan

[joe aiello]

1. I picked an old OLIVER 16" ( pattern makers) at an auction last year and from what I get from the serial # it was built in 1907.It is 9' long and the second heaviest machine in the shop. It's on a wooden floor that is suspect and currently sits over a structural wooden beam. The original owner(I am the 2nd) painted it the ugliest blue possible. Almost immediately, I started the refurbish cycle - paint stripping, sand blasting, grease, re-threading (1/2" uses 12tpi) where necessary;did in-feed and out-feed tables. The Babbitt bearings look good and had 5 hp 3ph motor( long and wide belt driven). I left the motor and went to get the next day and it was gone. The cutter head is a two knife type with the four hole clam bolts. This where I stopped. Everything I have read about this cutter head is negative; a liability, a safety issue, etc. Even talked to the OLIVER people and Rick Fink(I think). Questions -- anyone here have a similar machine? What is the replacement for this cutter head? What is the original color(I think dull green)? -- Right now it is being used as sturdy bench. ......This would be more presentable with paragraphs, lists, etc. - How do I do this? - thanks Joe.