Fred R Clark & Son Machineworks

[Nitro]

I've always heard it said that it will always be darkest just before the dawn, so today may bring some light to that statement

Today, during yet another retail therapy session, I came across this little gem:

Her chrome plating is a little worn, the diffuser is still in place and yet another testament to the old Eveready leak-proof batteries that were still inside.

I'm going to add this to the tool display with fresh new batteries on the inside and add the Eveready batteries to the display area.

I own literally dozens of modern flashlights, but to me, this old thang is about as cool as it gets

As Bill Withers once sang,
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
It's not warm when she's away
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
And she's always gone too long
anytime she goes away....

Peace out kids

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

Wow @Nitro that's really cool. One of those super heavy flashlights like they had when i was a kid?

 

[Nitro]

Wow @Nitro that's really cool. One of those super heavy flashlights like they had when i was a kid?

Yeah, it's fairly old, possibly from the late 1920s

 

[Nitro]

Spent another weekend up at the shop.
Left home on Friday morning and had no plans to return home until Monday morning.
This was the view of the coal mining area Saturday morning.

Not much of a work weekend as it was used as a time to decompress.
Saturday was spent out on the road hitting all of the spots I hadn't been to in a while.
A little retail therapy as it were.

Most of my time there was spent lounging in my very humble abode, eating and catching up on some movies.
The reality check began around 5AM on Monday as I packed it in and closed the door.

Once home, it was time to hit the mailbox to gather the treasures that arrived during my absense.
First up was a Morse Taper #4 to Morse Taper #2 adapter sleeve.

Perfect for another shop project.
A "proper" #2 Morse internal taper to a straight shank was about $35, while not completely out of the question, still not favorable to the budget.

Spend a mere $12 for the adapter and cut away all of the excess material that was in the way.

In fact, a nice project that will enable me to use the ER32 collets on my Logan lathe in my home shop.
Easy-peasy, have at it.
Use a turning tool to waste away the excess metal to ready it for a finish grind with my Dumore toolpost grinder.
The knockout slot created an uneven finish with the turning tool, but the grinder doesn't care about that.

Finished product.

Now it can be fitted to the Logan with the Hardinge 5C collets to be used with this:

External straight shank to internal Morse taper #2 to ER32.
The ER32 setups offer better gripping than the Hardinge collets due to their superior modern design.
They can hold both tooling and material which can come in handy when doing milling work on a lathe.

Why Morse taper 2B?
2B can be adapted to Morse Taper #3 for my 10K South Bend lathe.
The bonus round here is that both my 922 Logan and the South Bend both have a #2 Morse taper tailstock quill.
It will also fit on one of my drill presses.

And cuz it fits the new dividing head as well.
Oh, and all of the ER32 collets for the Diamond 22 arbor are interchangeable with it too

As I like to say, more bang fer yer buck kids...

See ya when I'm lookin' atcha

 

[Nitro]

Retail therapy find for the shop:

 

[Nitro]

Yet another fun filled action packed three day weekend at the machineworks.

Friday began in Fredericktown with a stop to gather another addition to my Gilbert collection.
From there, it was off to my doc's place for a checkup.
She granted me a clean bill of health and said I was good to go until May
After that was over, I had already packed my provisions and projects for a 3 day stay, so since I was already in the neighborhood, what the heck, have at it!

On the project list was a TV and DVD stand for inside of my tent fashioned out of rough sawn lumber.

Cool, a raised platform for the TV, a stash shelf for the DVDs and other assorted junk, a place to park a can of pop and an floor level area for more "stuff "

It was fairly warm outdoors, so I did manage to wander around outside here and again.

 

[Nitro]

The partial Gilbert Erector set is really cool.

It features parts and pieces to build several renditions of a 1926 White truck.

 

[Nitro]

There was only one tire and wheel set in the box, but I still have it to attempt to match it with modern tires for model aircraft in either sourced airplane wheels or ones I make myself.

I set about straightening a few damaged parts and was very satisfied with my results.

There are quite a few parts in the kit that I have never seen before.
I did find out that there was a roof available that looks simple enough to make.

 

[Nitro]

Before it was all over, I did manage to set up a machining project to finish out a vise for the old Diamond 22 horizontal milling machine.

The new ER32 collet arbor was exactly what was needed to hold the milling cutters that will be used to finish the work.
I didn't have the needed endmills to finish it up, but the setup is ready to go for when I have the time to work on it again.

Patience weedhopper, Rome wasn't burned in a day, or sumpin' like that....


Til the next time, take care, go fast and remain on point

 

[Nitro]

 

[Nitro]

Since I have plans to display my collection of antique corded drill motors, I figured why not add to it's appeal with a few versions of the original cordless drills from my museum.
First up is this spiffy enclosed drive Craftsman hand drill likely from the early 1950s

The gear drive is packed with grease and the handle is a storage area for the drills.

Then I found this puppy:

Made in the USA by Pexto.

Peck, Stow & Wilcox Company (Pexto)

An article on the Peck, Stow & Wilcox Company (Pexto) and their hand tools.

alloy-artifacts.org

I have a really neat adjustable bit for her too.

 

[Gerontius]

I love everything about this thread. I have an old Fall River drill (the hand crank kind) which I bought for three dollars--it does everything I need a drill to do.

 

[Nitro]

I love everything about this thread. I have an old Fall River drill (the hand crank kind) which I bought for three dollars--it does everything I need a drill to do.

Being a part of this preservation society will allow others to learn about the past and also offers me an opportunity to display pieces out of my personal museum to the masses.

I consider myself very fortunate to have been entrusted with maintaining and operating our equipment in all respects.

 

[Rodafina]

I love everything about this thread.

Likewise! I always get excited when I see a new post has come in. Always something fascinating, but you never quite know what!

 

[Nitro]

This old gal, a Burgess Vibro-tool is about 75 years old:

She can perform a multitude of tasks, some of which are outlined here:

 

[Nitro]

Shop time again this week

I finally finished the assemply of our old hand cranked drill press.

The column was rusty, so it got a tuneup on a lathe

All realigned, spiffy and ready for action again!
It was hung off kilter and never power fed from square one.
I figured out the issue with the feed mechanism on New Years day but had to refurbish the column in my home shop, so it got put on hold again until I made my return.

Good things come to those who wait

 

[Nitro]

Sunday afternoon was spent repairing the barricades on the steam powered rock crusher display.

After the repairs were finished, I wandered over to the Whistle Stop to capture a couple of images of our steam locomotive
The old H K Porter 0-6-0 was manufactured in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania in 1914

 

[Nitro]

Time to finish the wood siding on the tool cart:

From there, it was off to the coal mining junkyard to gather up this 1928 Ford Model A engine block to fixture on our old #3 Cincinnati horizontal milling machine

The intention is to make a mock setup on the table as if it was getting refurbished.

The "Horse" was used to haul it

 

[Nitro]

Model A conrods

 

[Nitro]

Steam rollers