Email or username:

Password:

Forgot your password?
Daniel Bohrer

I finally found a good offer for a hand-cranked grinder on the local classifieds. The seller didn't know the model, but the "Ixion" logo was still recognizable to me – an old German make, probably from the 1930s, that usually goes for twice the asking price… 🙂

It only needed a bit of light clean up with soap and a wire brush. The insides were still good as new, but the screw hole holding the hand crank tight needed a small reminder that it once was an M5 thread…
#HandTools #ToolRestoration

The hand-cranked grinding wheel, with light surface rust and flaked off black paint, also the painted-on badge is mostly missing and only it shadow is visible. The machine is fixed to a workbench with a screw so that the hand crank can swing freely outside the edge of the workbench.
Everything disassembled on the workbench, next to screw drivers, wrenches, latex gloves, a bowl of soapy water and a tooth brush.
The cover of the machine case has been opened, and two well-oiled sets of transmission gears can be seen between the hand crank shaft and the grinding wheel shaft.
The machine body is held in a vice, and the screw hole in the crank shaft is being recut with a hand-held thread cutter.
43 comments
Daniel Bohrer

That's what fascinates me about these old machines: they just work! No motor coils or electronics that can burn out, or refuse to work because the software wasn't updated in time, just three plain gears and a cover to hold the lubricants in. Basic physics that lasts several lifetimes!

Daniel Bohrer

And it does still work like a charm 😍 Only the grinding wheel could be trued up a bit. But it's perfect for my unplugged basement workshop!
#HandTools #ToolRestoration

kiki

@daniel_bohrer this is really cool! I never really thought about hand operated "power tools" before 🤯

Daniel Bohrer

@Kiki yes! It's mind-blowing what you can sometimes find! I still have a hand-powered vertical drill press from the same brand in my basement that needs a clean up…

Daniel Bohrer

… but that antique grinding wheel definitely needed a better tool rest. The existing one was only good for grinding 90° angles, but I needed to regrind a plane iron at 25°.

improvised tool rest from two pieces of thick laminated sheet of bamboo glued together at a right angle (about 7 by 10 cm). It is fixed to the place where the old tool rest was, using the same old screw and wing nut. It is tilted so that the plane iron that rests on it meets the grinding wheel at 25°.
Daniel Bohrer

In a way, modern material science is probably the reason that these kinds of ever-lasting machines are no longer manufactured today. We have gained the knowledge how thin and cheap we can manufacture parts so that they last exactly their intended life span, and not a year more. This knowledge has paved the way for capitalism to decrease the time between product cycles to their liking: if you want a well-built product, you better be ready to pay extra for it.

Daniel Bohrer

On the other hand, the decrease in cost to built a product also makes it affordable for more people.
For example let's have a look at household sewing machines. This ad [1] for the Singer "New Family" model puts the most basic model at $60, and these models were manufactured from ~1865–1900 [2]. The average wage in the US in 1870 was about $2.23 per day [3], so the machine cost about one month's wage.

[1]: ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machi
[2]: ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machi
[3]: fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/bu

On the other hand, the decrease in cost to built a product also makes it affordable for more people.
For example let's have a look at household sewing machines. This ad [1] for the Singer "New Family" model puts the most basic model at $60, and these models were manufactured from ~1865–1900 [2]. The average wage in the US in 1870 was about $2.23 per day [3], so the machine cost about one month's wage.

scanned page from the catalog, showing a drawing of a treadle sewing machine, which would count as an antique today, on a decorative cast-iron base. The price listing below puts it at $60 for the model with a black walnut table and drawer, or $62 with mahogany table and drawer, or $67 with table and a polished cover
Daniel Bohrer

You can still get a used Singer "New Family" model for about $120 in today's money on eBay.

But for $350 you can also get a whole new sewing machine [4]. The difference is that today's average wages in the US have climbed to around $1000 per week [5], so you only have to work about three days to afford a sewing machine.

[4]: singer.com/machines/computeriz
[5]: fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/mo

You can still get a used Singer "New Family" model for about $120 in today's money on eBay.

But for $350 you can also get a whole new sewing machine [4]. The difference is that today's average wages in the US have climbed to around $1000 per week [5], so you only have to work about three days to afford a sewing machine.

Daniel Bohrer

Sorry, I was only able to find one US catalog of Singer, so that's what my calculation is based on. But I suspect that the situation might be similar for other manufacturers and other (developed) countries.

On a side note, I found out that you can still buy newly manufactured replacement parts for treadle sewing machines – but then that's no surprise given that these models still have a large user base in countries with insufficiently developed electrical grids.

Daniel Bohrer

Speaking of sewing machines, and Things That Just Work… got a new old tool today: Pfaff Model 30 treadle sewing machine from 1950 🥰

#Pfaff30 #AntiqueTools

Daniel Bohrer behind an old Pfaff No. 30 treadle sewing machine, making a slightly astonished face, pointing at the machine with his index finger. The machine is black with gold lettering and polished steel head. A few accessories and a leather belt are also on the oak table in which the machine sits.
underside of the machine tilted backwards in the table. There are a lot of steel axles with levers inside the cast iron machine body.
The housing cabinet showing a nice quartered oak veneer on the door
Daniel Bohrer

And it just runs and runs and runs… this machine was obviously well cared for by its previous owner(s), I didn't have to oil anything at all (yet). Will still clean it up before its first productive use though.

gim

@daniel_bohrer I recently got a Köhler 11-30 (about the same age) and it runs so smoothly! I will have to replace the leather belt sooner or later, but everything else :blobcat_chefskiss:
I even got the original manual and uploaded it to archive.org
archive.org/details/kohler_11-

gim

@daniel_bohrer would you be interested in comparing detailed photos?
I'm kinda hooked :blobcat_idea:

Daniel Bohrer replied to gim

@gim yes probably, but I'll probably not gonna come around to it today…

gim replied to Daniel

@daniel_bohrer me neither. I'm rather tired and prefer not to turn on bright lights to capture some photos^^

Daniel Bohrer replied to gim

@gim btw this playlist was the start of my rabbit hole a few weeks ago, you might find good views there: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnW

Daniel Bohrer

Forgot to take a "before" picture, but here's a "during" picture. The insides was only a bit dusty, and the caked-up oil went away well with isopropyl alcohol.

old black sewing machine opened up, surrounded by old rags and towels, mineral spirits and isopropyl alcohol
close-up of the opened head section of the machine with some vertical rods and levers
Daniel Bohrer

Okay, let's see if I can restore that nice lacquer finish with my home-made mixture of lamp black, isopropyl alcohol and shellac…

Sadly the Pfaff logo on the back side is already too much gone, I don't think I'll be able to restore that.

#AntiqueTools #ToolRestoration #SewingMachine #Pfaff #Pfaff30

right-hand, rising column of the machine. the black lacquer finish on the casting has flaked off in some areas.
the same area being fixed up with a small paint brush and black shellac
large areas of lacquer are missing on the bed of the machine; they've been generously filled with one layer of black shellac already. Luckily the golden ornamental banding around it is still almost completely intact.
The round Pfaff logo on the back side is drawn with gold paint too, but a chunk of the outside circle is missing.
Daniel Bohrer

“The buttonholer is a truly magic device.”

Oh yes. Yes, it is!

User manual booklet for the buttonhole attachment, very 50's design. The first sentence of the introduction is cited in the text of the post.
The buttonholer is a longish device with a black casing and a turning knob on top, and a chrome baseplate. On one of the short sides, a chromed lever, a fixture rod and a presser foot protrude from the casing.
Disassembled view of the device, showing ratchets and more levers inside, and three metal buttonhole templates of different size with gear teeth on the inside
Daniel Bohrer

"I don't like these old sewing machines, they can only do straight stitches. How are you gonna do button holes?!"

Well, 1950's tech had a solution for that.

(Disassembly in the thread above)

#sewing #antiqueSewingMachines #antiqueTools

Daniel Bohrer replied to DELETED

@Maker_of_Things went for 1€ on eBay, apparently it's a niche product :D search for Singer or Gerster brand, but there are probably some more our there

Molly B replied to Daniel

@daniel_bohrer The first buttonholer I bought for my Singer 301 cost more than the machine (which came from a thrift store). This was pre-eBay, so I had to get the buttonholer at a local specialty shop that sold vintage parts *and* had the slant-needle version. Now I see them all over the place, and they're usually $10-$20--not a bad price for a bit of vintage wizardry. :-)

Zumbador replied to Daniel

@daniel_bohrer My husband has been using these old Singer machines in his design class because of our power outages. The students love using them.

Eamon replied to Daniel

@daniel_bohrer that's a cool gizmo but I'm extra impressed by your deft hand with a razor blade. Every time I've tried to do that I've sliced up my fingers. Weird how long it takes to feel the cuts from those things.

Daniel Bohrer replied to Eamon

@eamon I guess since my "main" hobby is hand tool woodworking, I'm kind of used to working with sharp objects… :)

Wonderdog replied to Eamon

@eamon @daniel_bohrer A small chisel from the local hardware store and an old block of scrap wood is safer for me - don’t get ripped off by specialty sewing stores wanting to sell you a “Buttonhole chisel set”!!

Lyn replied to Daniel

@daniel_bohrer And here's me not brave enough to use the automatic button holer on my modern machine!

Frances Larina replied to Lyn

@frogglin @daniel_bohrer

Some modern machines almost scare me with their speed.

Lyn replied to Frances

@Frances_Larina Mine can go a lot faster than I can, that's for sure!

Wonderdog replied to Daniel

@daniel_bohrer @frogglin You should see the number of attachments that came with both my Grandmother’s and my Great Grandmother’s treadle sewing machines! Amazing what they could do. I love the buttonhole attachments on the Singers - choice of buttonholes, even!

europlus :autisminf: replied to Daniel

@daniel_bohrer @mos_8502 I remember my Mum having something like that on her mid century Singer - she had scissors which allowed her to cut the holes afterwards, too. Hard to describe – a U shaped piece of metal where when the U was compressed the triangular blades (thicker towards the closed end of U) would join first and you could just cut as far as needed. Safer than a razor blade!

Gammapeak replied to Daniel

@daniel_bohrer impressive! I love sewing on my antique Singer, I had no idea buttonhole attachments like this existed for them.

Frances Larina

@daniel_bohrer

Oooh, that's a beautiful machine! Nice find!

Go Up