Fred R Clark & Son Machineworks

[Nitro]

Seeing a horizontal mill used like that is unusual. Good bit of improvisation! Often machines like that had a bolt on vertical head like this on a Tom Senior. The big problem was that you lost most of the height making things difficult especially if you had the head without quill feed!

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Yeah, a little unorthodox, but the cuts were fairly gentle.

Most of what I'm doing in that shop is much like a field repair.
I have access to better machinery, but want to do as much as I can with what little we have there.

All in the spirit of things and the satisfaction of being able to say it was done there

 

[Nitro]

Flat belt pulley for the little shaper project:

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New sleeve to adapt the 1 inch bore to the 3/4 inch shaft
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Drill bushing to guide the drill thru the sleeve to spot drill the driven shaft.
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After the shaft is spot drilled, I will open the bore in the sleeve to clear a 3/8 inch ball bearing that will be held in place by the cup pointed set screws.

The definition of machine work: hours of boredom interrupted by micro-seconds of sheer terror

Done on my Logan 922 with modern tooling and a DRO

 

[Nitro]

Flat belt pulley for the little shaper project:

View attachment 102146
New sleeve to adapt the 1 inch bore to the 3/4 inch shaft
View attachment 102147
View attachment 102145
Drill bushing to guide the drill thru the sleeve to spot drill the driven shaft.
View attachment 102148
After the shaft is spot drilled, I will open the bore in the sleeve to clear a 3/8 inch ball bearing that will be held in place by the cup pointed set screws.

The definition of machine work: hours of boredom interrupted by micro-seconds of sheer terror

Everything assembled as expected.
All that is left is to calculate the exact location of the pulley to sprocket location for the final task of spot drilling the shaft.
Sort of back-burnered for a bit as other cleanups and decorating took precedence.

 

[Nitro]

Some of the farm tractors are being staged on the freshly cut lawn:

Just 11 days until showtime!

 

[Nitro]

1930s Biplane that flew over:

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

Looks like so much fun!

 

[Nitro]

Well it was hustle, hustle, busy busy right up until showdate.
The shop was a disaster area from all the work that had been done between the summer show of last year and our annual Pike Festival show last weekend.

Eight days were spent doing show prep, all camping in the shop.
Show day hit on Saturday which began at 2 AM for me,
All of the prep work had been completed by 4:30 when it was off to the shower house for a polish before getting dressed in my 1920's attire. Gotta look proper when running century old equipment
After dressing, it was off to the flea market area to score some trinkets before the show.
(pretty nice haul, all in all, one being a running drive engine off an old 1960s Lawn Boy Loafer riding mower like this one )

Pretty cool, huh?

 

[Nitro]

So the shop had many improvements done to the machines and display areas.
One detail was a computer running on a 32 inch TV screen that was running a 40 image slideshow of vintage photos to let the public see shops with a 100 or so machines all running on line shaft systems.

The Diamond 22 was actually tasked with boring some holes in two pieces of angle iron that got welded into our Lee-Norse miner in the coal mine display.
Like everything else here, the miner got put thru it's paces.

After the task was completed, the machine got cleaned up before mocking it up as being used.

After removing the modern tool holder and staging some old Ford model A connecting rods as the next job, the chips in the table were saved during the cleanup to mock the final display.

 

[Nitro]

The 1920 Ohio shaper once again shined like the sun.

 

[Nitro]

The Monarch lathe also performed well for the entire show

The new wooden chip pan was a great addition to it too.

 

[Nitro]

The old Garvin horizontal mill was plagued with a bad feed drive belt issue, so I just let it run as a static display instead of in an actual cut.
The drill press on that side of the shop was turning as well, but doing no actual work.

Here is the old #3 Cincinnati mill with a faked setup on it.
The engine block is from a 1928 Ford Model A.
The boring bar was made out of scrap material and machined on our vintage equipment.

The old toolbox I refinished last fall was filled with vintage tooling including a Starrett arm style indicator from the 1920s
Also on the tool cart is my working 1930 Sola-ray flashlight and the 1950s batteries that were still in it

The cart is a modern one I wood sided to give it a vintage look.

 

[Nitro]

Have to hide all of the modern stuff to keep the oldschool look to the place, so here is the beginnings of the new tool locker.

It will be finished with rough sawn siding for continuity, but for this show I simply covered it with a canvas tarp.
Some of the other stuff was stashed in flat black plastic totes under the work bench and in some corners and the rest was done with black bath towels for more blend in camo.

 

[Nitro]

Because I moved around the furniture, I was able to display Fred's mobility scooter beneath the pictorial of his life's work.

Mr. Clark built this to navigate our shows after arthritis started trashing his knees, so it is only fitting to see her go again as another tribute.
The new batteries are behind it, but the one drive motor has an issue, so until it is sorted out, it will have to wait.
The goal is to get it going for our August show.

 

[Nitro]

A cool part of the show was allowing selected young children behind the barricades to see the machinery up close after they promised to either keep their hands in their pockets or behind their backs.
I let a few select little people turn the feed cranks with the cutters stopped in order to start a new pass, so some did get a hands on experience too this weekend.

I'm sure that made quite an impression on them that was also reflected in their parent's eyes.

Kids need to see the old stuff that made their modern world possible, and what better way that to get to experience it doing the actual work guided by skilled hands in a learning environment.

Only 72 more days til our three day August show!

 

[Nitro]

Well not exactly someone who wants to waste any time, I put in another long haul in out at the showgrounds.

A couple of details were set in motion, one being a threaded arbor made out of a Ford Model A main bearing bolt.

The Coleman Baja Warrior minibike got dragged out of my shed and delivered to the shop.
Yes, I like to ride steel horses too.
This thing is huge, as in true adult sized.
Which means the the tiny Dirtbug has to find a new home since it can't haul my chubby butt around.
Oh well, Easy Rider had fun with it until she got too big too

After an initial inspection and some disassembly for needed repairs, it was determined that a $65 belt drive torque converter assembly would be the hot ticket instead of the pathetic centrifugal clutch it came with.
After the crankshaft got the rust polished off it and the original jackshaft removed, I fueled it enough to hear it run.

Good to go, change the oil!

Replacement footpegs were needed, so it was shop time to fashion new ones out of thick walled tubing.
Milled and drilled 'em on the Diamond 22
Yep, you guessed it, they fold too.
The front fender got yanked off to remove the ball bat damages it had inflicted on it and then reattached.
The stupid fake fuel tank was battered from that session too, but had been previously been massaged with a hammer to square it up.
Take two brothers, a pound of pisstivity and a Louisville slugger and the end result is it ending up in the hands of a new owner after Mum said enough was enough.

I might look for a small motorcycle tank to replace it and toss the original Predator tank in the scrap barrel, but that is still in the works.
A new seat is available for $40, so my $100 steed will get a new saddle.
I hope to have the new drive assembly in the next week and after about a half a day of work for rear fender and drive assembly, we might get to go for a gallop on her.
We should be able to make her good again for less than
$250, so I'll call it a win

And how cool is this?
A brand new propane fired battery pump driven instant hot water rig.

It charges off a 110 volt outlet and can either be fueled with one pound cylinders or hooked to full sized propane bottles.

Finalized the plans for my tinyhouse on wheels and made up the list for the lumber yard.
Yep, insulated, wired for power with provisions for a kitchen and food storage area plus the all-needed entertainment system.
Microwave, refrigerator, air fryer, ya know, your basics for bachelor living while roughing it at the shop.
And air conditioning.
Need AC for those hot summer nights

The plan is to have a moveable self-contained living unit that can function as a year round vacation home that can be parked indoors and be pulled outside by the 'horse during show dates


Now I'm cookin' wif gas....

 

[Nitro]

So once again, my travels took me back to the showgrounds on the 6th.

Lots to get done, so first up was some wrench time on the old Wheel Horse for a new carburetor, or so I thought.
Nope, denied again as it leaked fuel out of it faster than I could pump it in.
I managed to get the original working again, but it is leaky too, so now it is time for a better plan.
I'll keep ya posted.

Ok, wrench on the Baja Warrior a bit.
Got the rear fender remounted but stuck waiting for parts for the drive to be delivered.
It needs a seat, so I bought a new one with springs under it to soften the ride from the rigid rear on her.
Another detail coming in the mail was a full tuneup, air filter, fuel filter, a throttle cable and a new carburetor.
Since I wasn't home, of course it all got delivered in my absence.
Cool, now I have parts and pieces to slap on her when I return.
All that is left now is to score the new fuel tank for it

I'm trying to work over an Ebay vendor for that, so wish me luck
Ok, next up was moving a section of lineshaft for the Rhoads shaper.

Ratchet straps and pull binder straps were used for the move while climbing up and down a step ladder.
The section of shaft got moved about 30 inches to the left.

Finally moved and remounted after about three hours of labor.

Peachy, because even the belt still fit

A bearing adjuster bolt was trashed, so I had to modify a nut from a bigger unit to use a larger bolt.
(sometimes you simply have to work with what ya got)

The old Diamond 22 and a long endmill was there for the win.
Not a whole lot more to do to finish up the topside, but climbing the ladder likely 100 times earlier said it would have to wait.
I also got the pulley alignment done on the machine, so that will be finalized during the next session.

 

[Nitro]

Ok, not all work work work...

Where is that USA place?
Do they still make stuff there?

 

[Nitro]

On another note, the new shower rig was the hot ticket

Works beautifully in fact.
Great purchase if I dare say so.
Instant hot water and easy to use.

I ate like the proverbial pig too, lots of steaks, chops, kielbasa, sausages on the charcoal grille plus a plethora of other goodies.

A part of the next plan will be hauling a small riding mower up there to use on the shop grounds and my little four wheeler.

Till next time, keep 'er between the ditches

 

[Nitro]

Asymmetrical belt driven torque converter for the Baja Warrior

That should soak up some of it's massive power and give 'er some serious top end

 

[tazz]

Asymmetrical belt driven torque converter

I bet you say that to all the girls