curious What is the oldest power tool that you still use

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

Most of my power tools are from about 1960 and later, but I have two drill presses. One a large floor model and the little one is an ancient Companion half inch bench top model.As I understand it, Companion was a Sears brand from 1933 to 1941. I actually use it more than many of the machines. I do have an older drill press that I sometimes use made by Pratt and Whitney, but it clamps to the bench and is hand cranked.

[Matt Mattingley]

I think my 1942 DOALL is my oldest many time a week user.

My tablesaw is a 1950s, my oldest drill press (most used)1950s,my Lathe is 1960s, my disk/Bobbin are 1960s, my Mill is 1960s, my cyl grinder 1960s, my surface grinder 1970s. Most of my stationary machines are over 40 years old.

[Bruce Page]

I have a small 1/4" polished aluminum PC drill from the 50's that was my father's. It's my go to for small holes.

[Ray Newman]

Sears variable speed scroll saw -- Model #316.26710 -- bought Summer of 1970.

[Keith Westfall]

Me?? Manufactured in 1951, bit of a tool, but noticeably getting short on power...

[Bradley Gray]

My 32" Crescent band saw. Not sure of mfg date but the casting is dated 1898.

[Jerry Wright]

1936ish Craftsman 9"wood lathe with brass bushings and oil cups. It will deposit an oil stripe on your shirt when freshly oiled. How do I know??

[Bruce Volden]

Does my post drill count as a power tool?

Bruce

[Steve Rozmiarek]

My 36" Oliver bandsaw, 1920's I think.

[Darcy Warner]

1870s 36" BS.

[Jim Becker]

I have an orange Black and Decker 7.25" circular saw from the late 1970s or early 1980s.

[Chuck Saunders]

1914 Baxter Whitney 30" Planer

[Vince Shriver]

corded "Mall" drill motor.

[Dan Hulbert]

Craftsman lathe from 1955
PC router I bought used in 79, never tried to date it, but my guess is late 50's to early 60's

[Will Boulware]

Crescent 24" jointer. Cutterhead is a 1915 patent date, but the castings are stamped with a 4 digit number. From what I've read, Crescent was well into the 5 digits by the mid-teens, so the castings probably sat around a bit before the machine was completed.

[Patrick Kane]

Wow, you all are overdue to upgrade! haha jk, thats incredible with some of the pre-WWI stuff.

My oldest is almost twice as old as me. 1960 or 61 Delta Rockwell drill press.

[Bill White]

1952 (+-) Craftsman-KingSeely floor model drill press. Only change I have made was to add a segmented belt.
Old dude is as solid as the day it was new. C'man motor.

[Darcy Warner]

391129

Only picture I could find.

Hand held stuff, I have some old Stanley Carter routers from the 30s and a few PC belt Sanders from the 40s.

[Derek Cohen]

I have a couple of "R2D2" Stanley routers from the 50's. Not in use - need to be rewired.

https://s19.postimg.cc/uu44bxin7/Stanley_Routervintage_X1.jpg

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Edwin Santos]

391129

Only picture I could find.

Hand held stuff, I have some old Stanley Carter routers from the 30s and a few PC belt Sanders from the 40s.

You have to marvel at just how elegant that machine is. Like someone really cared when they designed it. Thanks for sharing,
Edwin

[Steve Jenkins]

1949 Oliver 16” jointer

[Jim Davenport]

Two 1956 vintage. A Dewalt "MBF" RAS, and a Shopsmith "Greenie" MK5.

[Mike O'Keefe]

I have a 1949 Delta 17'' drill press and a 1953 Unisaw that I use all the time. Mike O'Keefe

[Peter Christensen]

Black and Decker 7 1/4” polished aluminium bodied circular saw from the mid 50’s.

[Darcy Warner]

You have to marvel at just how elegant that machine is. Like someone really cared when they designed it. Thanks for sharing,
Edwin

Not a more elegant time period for woodworking machinery than the Victorian era. They liked to show off the pattern makers and foundry guys.

I have about 5 machines made by that company all circa 1870 to 1890. All gorgeous.

[Rick Alexander]

1948 14 inch RAS is by far the oldest. Most everything else in there is 1970 or newer with most power tools less than 20 years old. I did have to get the motor redone on the RAS as the motor got to where it didn't want to start up cleanly but the guy rebuilt the entire inside of the motor for a very reasonable price and it's worked perfectly since (>5 years). The thing is a joy to use and stays absolutely dead nuts accurate and cuts 24 inches across. Makes for very quick work cutting accurately and grooving base sides using the dado set.

[Rod Sheridan]

Late 1940's Black and Decker heavy Duty 3/8" electric drill. It's the same 1/2" drill they made for decades with the D handle, permanent side handle and removable top pipe handle.

I also have a Walker Turner drill press and a mid sixties Powermatic Model 81............Rod.

[Dave Cav]

My Millbury tenoner was made in the '30s, I think. If post drill count, I have a Buffalo Forge and Blower that's probably over 100 years old.

[ray grundhoefer]

1970's powermatic model 50, 1963 model 141 bandsaw torit dust collector from the later 60's, dewalt 1957 radial arm saw, 1950's unisaw and my latest purchase woodmaster 3875 drum sander, not sure of year but its an older blue one

[Doug Hepler]

The oldest tool in my shop right now is a ½ hp Grinder Sears Craftsman 397-19340 from the 1970's.

However my son in law has my original complement of tools that date from before WWII : 18" Jig Saw Sears Craftsman 103-0407; 4" Jointer Walker-Turner Driver Line no model # visible; Drill Press Sears Craftsman 101-03622; 10" Wet Grinder Sears Dunlap. These were in regular use in my shop until I downsized. They are relics of an age when tools were made to last. Interestingly motors for power tools in that era were sold separately. Most people swapped motors from tool to tool until they could acquire enough discarded washing machine and dryer motors. These machines were in perfect working order and are at least as durable and useful as their modern counterparts. They should last indefinitely. Also, until Sears reorganization, most parts were available for most machines. I don't know what the equivalent tools would cost today -- probably too much for most of us.

A trip down memory lane

Doug

[Bill Space]

I’m not sure exactly as I do have some pretty old power tools.

But it I am sure about my 1947 right hand! So I will submit that as the oldest power tool I use regularly! :D

[Terry Therneau]

I have a 1947 Unisaw and 1947 Delta scroll saw, both from someone retiring to assisted living who bought them new, that started my interest. I've added a 1924 Yates 6" direct drive jointer (smooooth), Ekstrom-Carlson edge sander, and Walker-Turner 14" and Moak 26" bandsaws (1950s I think). I had a 1925 12" Solem planer (400+ lbs) but sold it when I upgraded to a 16" minimax.

Terry T

[David Kumm]

Olderst to newest but all prior to 1940. The 1950s were about the best vintage but the period prior to WW2 had some nice machines. Those made during the war years can be good or bad depending on how quickly made and what materials were in short supply.391144late 1920s or early 30s, Greenlee 356 vertical borer. About 9" of travel.391145 Fay and Egan mortiser. Fairly compact but heavy as all F and E machines were. Again, late 20s early 30s.

391146 1932 Whitney 77 slider391147 1936 Oliver 217 with cast aluminum door. Aluminum for machines was stopped by early 40s to conserve for the war.3911481938 Yates Y20. Dave

[Lee Schierer]

My oldest power tool is my Homecraft bench top drill press. It has a serial number of O-724. I also have a Homecraft shaper and a Homecraft 6" jointer that are probably about the same age. From what I can determine the drill press is from 1947.

[Darcy Warner]

Olderst to newest but all prior to 1940. The 1950s were about the best vintage but the period prior to WW2 had some nice machines. Those made during the war years can be good or bad depending on how quickly made and what materials were in short supply.391144late 1920s or early 30s, Greenlee 356 vertical borer. About 9" of travel.391145 Fay and Egan mortiser. Fairly compact but heavy as all F and E machines were. Again, late 20s early 30s.

391146 1932 Whitney 77 slider391147 1936 Oliver 217 with cast aluminum door. Aluminum for machines was stopped by early 40s to conserve for the war.3911481938 Yates Y20. Dave

Best looking Oliver BS, well except for my old #16

[William Hodge]

True bragging rights would be old, in use, and in use by old user when user was younger and got older.

I have one machine I have been using for 32 years, and in two years I will have used it for one quarter of it's life span. I have used it for about 68% of my life.

Speaking of digits, the machine I had that removed the most digits (3) was a Delta tablesaw. After my father decided to full OSHA violation on it, I gave it away to a school. He was done with it anyway.

[Brian Backner]

I don't have it anymore - I donated it to a museum - but how about an Ames of Chicopee lathe from the mid-1830s? It was given to me by the grandson of the previous owner upon his passing. He used it for wood turning though it was actually a metal lathe. Heavy old girl with everything hand fitted (no two screws or bolts were interchangable!). It had helical gears in the headstock - can't imagine how long it took someone to fashion those by hand!

[jack forsberg]

i am with Dave 50s is the zenith . i have older but this one gets used ,early 40s

Oliver 190D


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNZrBlN8MHQ

[Wayne Jolly]

1950-ish Sears Craftsman 6x48 belt sander that my mom bought new in (I think) 1952.

Wayne

[Bill Adamsen]

I have a couple of "R2D2" Stanley routers from the 50's. Not in use - need to be rewired.

https://s19.postimg.cc/uu44bxin7/Stanley_Routervintage_X1.jpg

Regards from Perth – Derek

Same ... I rewired and they are my go-to routers for light bearing-guided edging. Handles are a bit too low for template work.

[Bill Adamsen]

I have an older square chisel mortiser ... WWII vintage that I use regularly.

My friend Larry has that beat by several decades. He uses (daily) a Marcus B. Tidey sliding panel saw of 19th century vintage. I did a short review of this saw on OWWM (http://owwm.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=179832). The saw came from the Remington Arms Munitions factory (Bridgeport, CT) which shut its doors in 1986. Those with a knowledge of the history of guns may remember that Remington Company was sold in 1888 by the Remington family to the company that owned Union Metallic Cartridge (as well as Winchester) and the production moved to the Bridgeport, CT facility and the firm renamed Remington Arms Company. Larry doesn't know when this saw was acquired by Remington. Marcus Tidey died in 1901 and the First World War took a toll on the firm's already shaky production. So it would not be unreasonable to think delivery was taken during that last decade of the nineteenth century.

[David Kumm]

The planer marks are still visible over the entire saw table and even on the throat plate. That saw is good for several more lifetimes. Both machines are impressive. Dave

[Alan Schwabacher]

My 1930's Craftsman lathe is the oldest, but the 1948 Red Star RAS is a favorite. I also like the 1952 Delta bandsaw and 1950's Atlas shaper. All have new bearings, work beautifully, and are older than I am. So far, I have not needed any new bearings.

But most of my hand tools are substantially older still.

[Luke Bergin]

I've got an old 1940's Walker Turner 16" bandsaw that still gets used. Runs like a champ.

[andy bessette]

Sears brand tilting table saw and Index Super 55 mill from the '50's, i think.

https://s26.postimg.cc/ognzkzfwp/sears-saw-2.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
https://s26.postimg.cc/qwl7l38ll/sears-saw-1.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
https://s26.postimg.cc/70knlkqfd/shop-10.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

[Charles Taylor]

My 12" jointer, a Northfield from between 1921 and 1930.

[Dave Lehnert]

1989 Shopsmith Mark V

[Cary Falk]

1980's PM1200 20" drill press

[Stephen Rosenthal]

1937 Delta 1200 scroll saw. Runs like a sewing machine and I use it quite often. I’ve got other stationary machines (Craftsman, Dewalt, Parks) from the early ‘60s that get a lot of use and my dad’s no-name electric drill (probably Mall) from the late ‘40s that I rarely use.

[Bill Adamsen]

The planer marks are still visible over the entire saw table and even on the throat plate. That saw is good for several more lifetimes. Both machines are impressive. Dave

Larry's saw is really impressive. And the fact that it is used daily and producing some of the most interesting work I've seen even more so. I also love that the saw has a "history." The saw has a feature I've never seen, which is an arm with notched detents that allows dropping the blade almost instantly, below the table top surface. While it may have had other purposes, it was also a clever approach to saw safety. Are any manufacturers still producing tools with planed surfaces? I have several late vintage Italian and Austrian machines with beautifully planed surfaces. Occasionally I see the equipment to do planing on sale through industrial recovery and other sources. I'm guessing there are few folks around that know what surface planing is, or even how to use or maintain the equipment to do it.

My Yates mortiser is listed on Vintage Machinery. It is the only M40 I've ever seen ... though it is pretty much identical to one of their other models ... in fact Peter G. has several in his shop in the Berkshires. Mine came from Dave Kuns. Dave Kuns had purchased from Don Britt in Isola, Kansas back in the mid-1990s. Somewhere along the line it had been suggested the mortiser had been purchased originally by Boeing, which is possible since Boeing Wichita, with groundbreaking in June 1941 for the production of the B-29 bomber, was in partial operation one year later in June 1942. Wichita was almost precisely in the center of the country and deemed relatively safe (at that time) from the risk of war, and with Boeing's Stearman production already located in Wichita, it seemed a natural choice to expand production. At one time the location supported 40,000 workers and what I was told was the largest indoor production facility in the world. I have no paperwork, but according to the S/N Registry at VM the mortiser is a 1943 machine, that might dovetail nicely with the startup of that Wichita facility just a few hours west of Isola.

I lived in Wichita for a number of years, so I enjoy thinking my mortiser and I spent time in the same place before meeting again a few years back.

[Osvaldo Cristo]

My belt sander purchased at SEARS on the very beginning of 1990s. It was used last time yesterday.

[Ole Anderson]

B&D 7-1/4” SawCat bought new in 1967. A Craftsman King Seeley 6” jointer gifted as a pile of rust in 1979, probably from the 1950’s.

[Frederick Skelly]

I have a Craftsman router my Dad bought in the mid 70s. Still works very well.

[Bill Dufour]

My 20" Walker Turner drillpress. It is older then 1951 since it has the cast iron belt guard.
Bil lD

[Larry Edgerton]

I think I am the oldest tool in my shop? :D

[Phillip Gregory]

The oldest one is a 1923 Whitney No. 134 direct drive double spindle shaper. I don't use it every day as I don't use a shaper every day, but when I need to use it, I do, and it works well. It came out of a cabinet shop that went belly-up recently before I got it, and they were using it until they closed.

The oldest tool I use on an "every day I am in the shop" basis is my 1956 medium arm DeWalt GE radial arm saw. It is indispensable and I probably use this tool more than any other powered tool save for the shop vac and the dust collector.

[Raymond Seward]

1946 14" Delta Band Saw....still runs straight & true.....

[Rollie Kelly]

Keith, maybe you need to be fettled a little bit.

[Gary Radice]

1921 Wysong and Miles mortising machine model 272
Late 1920's Crescent 26" bandsaw
1949 Crescent 12' jointer
1950s Parks 12" planer, Boice Crane oscillating spindle sander, Delta scroll saw
1960s Delta 12" wood lathe and Powermatic 1150 drill press
1970s Delta Unisaw

[Rich Engelhardt]

I have a Black and Decker 3/8" drill I bought from K-mart back in the early 1970's.

Somewhere in the house is my 1963 jig saw and 1963 1/4 sheet sander.

[Doug Walls]

The 1950s were about the best vintage
I agree with Dave!

Nearly all of my stationary power equipment is from around the 1950's to the 1960's era.

Two of the oldest are my 17" Delta drill press & Kalamazoo band saw.

Doug

[John Sincerbeaux]

391421391422

66 Kindt Collins 24”
68 Northfield 16HD jointer

[Ron Hampe]

18" Oliver 399d planer and mid to late 40's craftsman 109 lathe

[Mike Cutler]

Oldest Power tool I bought new is my Makita circular saw. I bought it in the mid 80's.

Oldest machine I own is an early 1900's Kane and Roach, 16" jointer. I can't say I use it everyday though, and right now I have it apart again, so I don't think this one counts.