What's your oldest woodworking machine?

[Philip Glover]

I got this idea from another woodworking forum.
I thought it would be interesting to see what SMC members have for old woodworking machines.

My oldest is a circa 1900 Putnam sliding gap bed pattern makers lathe, s/n 13. This is a cross between a woodworking lathe and a metalworking lathe.
It was made in Fitchburg, MA.
The swing over the ways is 24", swing over gap is 36", and the max length between centers is 86" when the bed is completely open. It weighs somewhere between 3000 to 3500 lbs.
It is a very smooth running machine - no vibration.

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Regards,

Phil

[Clark Hussey]

Besides me. My Great Grandfather’s turn of the century Stanley #5

[Lisa Starr]

My Atlas Bandsaw or maybe one of my hand planes. I've never cared enough to date the planes.

[Phillip Mitchell]

Is a hand plane a machine?

In terms of power tools, I have an Oliver 166 12” jointer that dates from 1940 and a Tannewitz Model U table saw from a few years after. Both are still singing sweetly after all these years (knock on wood.)

[Dwayne Watt]

My nearly 100 year old #5 Sweetheart plane is the oldest. Unfortunately, I am not very good working with these experienced tools. The coolest is my new in the box Stanley #4 from the 1940's. It still has the price tag on the box ($4.95 for anyone who cares).
Most everything else is from this century.

[Steve Eure]

You guys are killing me. All I have is my Granddad's early 70's Craftsman scroll saw. Still works like a champ, although the new operator needs more help.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Oldest machine is my old Oliver 36" bandsaw. 1919 I think. Just shuffled the shop so it's still on it's pallet, doesn't get used much but works fantastically when I do. I have a few 1700's hand planes too, but they aren't machines. I bought it from a guy who intended to make it work in Montana, he got it from a trade school. It was a line belt machine originally, been converted to more modern drive. Still runs babbit bearings which will no doubt last much longer than I will.

That is a sweet lathe Phillip! I have an Oliver 159 that looks really modern compared to that beast.

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[Rod Sheridan]

I have a Powermatic Model 81 bandsaw, circa mid sixties and. a Walker Turner drill press, mid fifties and a Canadian made Rockwell lathe, maybe 1970?

I have a late 19th century Stanley #7 plane that gets frequent use, although it’s not a machine...Regards, Rod.

[Mark Carlson]

Just got my Dad's 1956 Shopsmith. Had fun replacing all the bearings and belts. Runs like new now. I plan is to use it as a disk sander, horizontal drill press, and try turning.

[Frank Necaise]

Beaver 6 inch Jointer Model 3800.
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[Jim Becker]

The only power tools remaining from my first acquisitions for the tiny, one-car shop I started this affliction with is my Jet 17" DP and 12" Delta miter saw...so that would be circa 1997 or so for both. The latter doesn't even live "in" my present shop. It's upstairs where I store my lumber since I only really use it for breaking stuff down and occasionally cutting a piece of aluminum angle. The DP works great and just recently got a new shop made table to replace the original one I made in about 2000.

[Charlie Jones]

I have a Rockwell floor model drill press. A guy that was closing his shop for retirement gave it to me along with some other things about 25 years ago. I don’t know when it was made, maybe in the 70’s . I had an Atlas that was a lot older. I gave it to my son. He still has it.

[Mike Henderson]

My first thought was that the oldest machine in my shop was me. But then I remembered that I have a few type 11 Stanley planes that are older than me.

Mike

[Warren Lake]

Brookman 25 spindle automatic dovetailer, in the 50's at least, service tech in England sort of dated it once but forgotten. All different years mostly older stuff. 60's to 80's.

[Jared Sankovich]

Oldest stationary would be a 1943 newman #60. Oldest tool would be a 1870s Disston back saw

[Andrew More]

Old 1970s cast iron Craftsman drill press. I realize it's not as impressive as some of the others, and you can get them for $100 on Craigslist, but it belonged to my dad, and still works pretty well. Was about to replace it with a newer model to get a table that cranks up and down, when I saw somebody had posted the trailer jack trick.

I sold my dad's table saw to somebody who appreciated it, which was another 1970s craftman. I would have held onto that for sentimental reasons, but the fence was just too wonky. I like my SawStop a lot better as a tool, but doesn't have quite the same level of sentiment.

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[Stephen Rosenthal]

Delta 1200 scroll saw, 1937-40, my favorite machine. I’ve got a bunch of 100+ year old hand tools, but those aren’t machines. Most sentimental is a 1/4” power drill which I have been unable to identify as to manufacturer. Belonged to my dad.

[Dave Lehnert]

Oldest I purchased new is my 1989 Shopsmith. Oldest purchased used is my 1950's Shopsmith jigsaw.
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[Ray Newman]

My oldest woodworking machine?? I'll be 75 in a few weeks. Does that count?

[David Kumm]

My olderst are either the Greenlee vertical borer or the Fay and Egan mortiser. both late 20's or early 30's.

Whitney 77 is 1932
Oliver 217 is 1936
Yates Y20 is 1938

Lots of stuff from 1950s and 1960s

The newer stuff has some benefits, and i have some of those machines. Even the high end machines are made much more cheaply than the old though. the 1930s stuff will outlast the 2000. Wish I could say the same for me. Dave

[Andrew Seemann]

The oldest machine I use actively is a circa 1948 Delta drill press. It is the floor model style, but with the bench base. My dad got it originally from 3M for $5 and spent more money than a new drill press to rehab it back in the early 70s. I spent more money than a new drill press overhauling it in the 90s. I'm not sure either of us came out ahead:). Although in its current state, it probably has less runout than the 90s vintage drill press he picked up when he gave the '48 to me, which I now have also.

I have older ones but I don't use them, like a '30s vintage 4" jointer and an ancient Y column drill press.

[Anuj Prateek]

I had a Delta 37-220 jointer. Original owner said he bought it from someone else in 80s. Interestingly, it had only one part (pull cover) missing which I found on eBay. Sold it an year ago when we moved from US.

Now the oldest tool is a Stanley #3. I guess from 60-70s.

[Doug Dawson]

My first thought was that the oldest machine in my shop was me. But then I remembered that I have a few type 11 Stanley planes that are older than me.

I have some wooden planes that were passed down to me from my ancestors, that are still functional. Their exact age would probably require carbon dating, and I’m unwilling to make that sacrifice, because it would probably be destructive. You people and your modern methods...

[Jim Fox]

Machine wise, the oldest are my Shopfox Cabinet Saw and Dust Collector, early 2000's. Tool wise, it's a 1931-1932 Stanley Bailey No 3 I just recently restored. Actually, now that I think about it, while not a fine WW tool, the oldest power tool that I have is my Milwaukee saw-z-all, late 90's.

[Steve Jenkins]

1949 Oliver 16” jointer

[George Yetka]

My sawstop dates back to 2016

My fathers tools which were all from the 80's were gifted to my grandfather because he had the time to use them. When I bought a house and my grandfather had passed I asked my grandmother if I can move them back to my house she said no they were the families tools. So I started buying new

[Bradley Gray]

Crescent 32" band saw. Not sure of mfg. date, 1898 on main casting. Still used daily.

[Roger Feeley]

I have an old Walker Turner jig saw that my brother gave me. The problem with that thing is that the cast iron bed is missing and has been replaced with a hand made aluminum plate. I think the CI was necessary to keep the vibration down. I may try to give it back to my brother.

[Matt Day]

All my stationary machines are vintage. Oldest is likely my Heston & Anderson 14” bandsaw. Not sure the date but likely 1920’s.

[Thomas L Carpenter]

Mid 50's Homecraft lathe. My father bought it new.

[Kevin Jenness]

I have a Crescent 36" bandsaw. The Carter wheels on it date it later than 1930, but details shown in later publications point to a late 30's-40's mfg date. I have yet to find the stamped serial #. It's the largest as well as the oldest in my shop- a beast.

[Will Boulware]

Oldest is my 24" Crescent jointer. The cutterhead has a 1915 patent date, but the castings only have a 4 digit serial number, which puts it possibly a decade earlier. (dating a Crescent based on these numbers can be fuzzy at best, and the castings often sat outside for several seasons before the machine was assembled and shipped.)

[Jon Endres]

1939 Walker-Turner drill press
1940 Delta-Milwaukee 14" bandsaw
1939 Delta 14" bandsaw (unfortunately, just parts at this point)
1939 Craftsman-Atlas 10" benchtop table saw
1950's Delta MX2 series 12-14" radial arm saw
1950's DeWalt MBF 9" radial arm saw
1940's Delta Homecraft 11" swing wood lathe
1940's Craftsman 24" scroll saw
1970's Powermatic benchtop spindle sander (might be 80's)
Everything else is newer but still 1990's.

[Andrew Seemann]

I have an old Walker Turner jig saw that my brother gave me. The problem with that thing is that the cast iron bed is missing and has been replaced with a hand made aluminum plate. I think the CI was necessary to keep the vibration down. I may try to give it back to my brother.

I had a blue Craftsman jig saw, so probably '30s based on the color and the decal fonts. The (pot?) metal head that held the top part of the up down mechanism had cracked so I replaced it with a block of aluminum that I machined up. It did not work as intended. Though it held the top cylinder securely, it caused the entire upper arm to vibrate terrifyingly. It may have been a fluke of mass & harmonics, or the aluminum may not have damped as well as the pot metal. Either way, it wasn't that great of a saw to begin with, so I eventually sold it for parts to a used tool shop.

Not every piece of USA-made old arn was well made and worthy of restoration.

[Alex Zeller]

Everything I own is mid 90s or newer. It's mainly because my neighbor has some real old stuff and while it's rock solid they tend to need more attention to keep them working. When I say old I'm talking babbitts. While I'm sure I could I don't want to deal with pouring a new babbitt or have to stop and clean wood shavings out of the start switch on a motor. Older equipment, while well made, is often heavier. Moving a jointer that weights over a ton into a shop can be an adventure for a hobbyist. However if something I want that's made 100 years ago turns up for a good price I wouldn't dismiss it.

[Bill Dufour]

My Dad's old drill press sits on a riser made form chunk of old growth redwood timber he found by the side of the road. So it is probably 500-1,500 years old. The Dp was made around 1940.
Bill D

[Osvaldo Cristo]

If you are referring to power tools, my oldest surviving power tool is a Dremel engraver from the end of 1980s or earlier part of 1990s. Around the same time I have, yet, a Sears/Craftsman belt sander. Both are just slightly used so never I looked for replace or upgrade them.

All the best.

[Randy Reitz]

My Delta Unisaw is from the original year, 1938, with a serial number in the 300's, but the original bullet motor has been replaced somewhere along the way. I still use it on most projects. I have several other Delta/Rockwell machines from the 1970's. For the longest time I bought and repaired old machines trying not spend more than I could get back out of them if I had to resell. Now I've given up the more expensive hobby of raising my kids so I've finally bought a couple of new machines. On the handtool side I mostly have bought, restored, and used tools from the 1860's through the 1920's, but likewise have finally broken down and bought a few new items to fill specific gaps. I'm to the point in my mind that I'd rather spend my remaining productive years using the machines and tools rather than rebuilding and restoring them.

[Mark Hennebury]

My oldest machine is from 1950 I have a couple of Robinson tables saws and a bandsaw and shaper all around that period; the Wadkin LQ may be older, not sure, and a few machines from the 70's,
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[Matt Day]

My Delta Unisaw is from the original year, 1938, with a serial number in the 300's, but the original bullet motor has been replaced somewhere along the way. I still use it on most projects. I have several other Delta/Rockwell machines from the 1970's. For the longest time I bought and repaired old machines trying not spend more than I could get back out of them if I had to resell. Now I've given up the more expensive hobby of raising my kids so I've finally bought a couple of new machines. On the handtool side I mostly have bought, restored, and used tools from the 1860's through the 1920's, but likewise have finally broken down and bought a few new items to fill specific gaps. I'm to the point in my mind that I'd rather spend my remaining productive years using the machines and tools rather than rebuilding and restoring them.

Earliest the unisaw was made is 1939. It would be a letter them 3 digit number of so.

[Chuck Saunders]

That would be my 1914 Baxter Whitney 30" planer
Chuck

[Charles Taylor]

My Northfield jointer is the oldest machine, made some time between 1921 and 1930. Like many others I have hand tools that are older.

[Bill Carey]

I have a Ryobi Compound Sliding miter box that I bought back in the late 70's, which I use it almost every day. And with all due respect to other posts in other threads, it still cuts dead nuts 90 degrees. And I have a type 1 Stanley 113 from 1877 that is still a fine user, even without the handle.

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[Randy Reitz]

Thanks, I learned something today. Years ago when I bought the saw I looked up a reference that said 1938 and there are still a few floating around on Google that still use that date. But I see the current information from VintageMachinery.org and elsewhere supports 1939. Still a hard working hobbyist saw despite a lot of use in an earlier life.

[Jim Allen]

Late 70s Craftsman Radial Arm Saw, that I still use today, when we retired and moved here in 2007 I got a real table saw, actually put an add for the RAS in the local throw away, I call it my brain fart moment, no one called, I removed the add and still love my old RAS.

[Tom Bender]

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Well this is only half a machine. It's the base from a Ben Franklin Trim O Saw, maybe from the 1800's. It had flat belt drive and a small clunky table and arbor. Scrapped that stuff and now have a great bench.

[Dick Strauss]

Oldest tool=me ;)

My oldest tool is probably either my workbench or a socket chisel. Well, this is kind of a cheat because they are tools made with old re-purposed material but are not truly old tools. The chisel has a wooden handle turned from a piece of barn wood that came from a barn built in the early 1800's. The chunk it came from has over 200 growth rings so it could pre-date the Revolutionary War depending on whether it came from the center or edge of the tree. Some of this beam material was used to build my workbench legs and stretchers as well.

[Dave Zellers]

Oldest is my 24" Crescent jointer. The cutterhead has a 1915 patent date, but the castings only have a 4 digit serial number, which puts it possibly a decade earlier.

Yeow.

Do you actually turn it on? I know since you posted about it that you do, but I think I would be afraid. Very afraid. I'm sure I would get over it, but I can't even contemplate a 24" jointer. WOW. I know others here have them, but... WHOA. :eek: I'll never forget using a tiny Delta 4" jointer for the first time as a ute- I was scared poopless that it would grab me and pull me in.
I've advanced since then but still... :confused:

[Dave Zellers]

Ooh- I forgot- The point of the thread!

My oldest machine is the first one I bought- a 1973-4 ish Craftsman Radial Arm Saw. To this day, it is the most used machine in my shop. I know I swim in a sea of RAS skeptics but I have it set up to cut perfect 15" 90º cuts and never change it. Can't imagine life without it.

But the truly oldest machine is a Walker Turner 24" scroll saw that I bought intending to fix it up. That won't be happening now but I have no clue how to move it to someone who would like to take a project like that on.

Anyhoo, this thread is a fun read. :)

[Will Boulware]

Yeow.

Do you actually turn it on? I know since you posted about it that you do, but I think I would be afraid. Very afraid. I'm sure I would get over it, but I can't even contemplate a 24" jointer. WOW. I know others here have them, but... WHOA. :eek: I'll never forget using a tiny Delta 4" jointer for the first time as a ute- I was scared poopless that it would grab me and pull me in.
I've advanced since then but still... :confused:

Use it? Oh yes! It gets a lot of use and is by far my favorite machine! It's basically as safe as any jointer you can buy today. It has a 4 knife "safety" cutterhead head that was so good that other machinery manufacturers used in some of their machines at the time, and it was a lot better off than the square head designs that were used in other machines back then. It also didn't have that nasty knife flinging habit that the clamshell heads of that era had. It weighs close to 1,800 pounds, so in that regard, it's worlds safer than the 6" model it replaced as this one doesn't threaten to tip over with a big chunk of 8/4 on it!

From a fear standpoint, I rarely use the whole cutterhead. Biggest single piece I've run over it was about 20". They get hard to push at a certain point. I keep the fence pulled as far forward as possible based on the given piece size, so I'm effectively working with a jointer that's the same size as the piece I'm flattening. Use some basic safety protocols and it's no worse off than the 6" model on the floor at your local retailer. Just don't stub your toe on it! :D

[Mark Woodmark]

My dilithium crystal powered warp drive phaser table

[Jon Snider]

1930’s ish Yates Y30 snowflake

[Phillip Mitchell]

1930’s ish Yates Y30 snowflake

We need photos Jon...I never tire of looking at Yates snowflake bandsaws.

[Jim Matthews]

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Your shop is much too tidy.

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

I have an old hand crank drill Press. I also have an old unlabeled wood lathe (12 x 44 inch) intended for one of those leather belts from the ceiling power shafts. Has wooden ways and legs. I had an old Sears Companion (before Dunlap) Drill press that I gave to a buddy. IIRC Sears switched from Companion to Dunlap in 1929.

[Ole Anderson]

Not old iron, but I have a Craftsman King Seeley 6" jointer probably from the 1950's.

[Dan Lambert]

I have a Diamond Tool Company lathe that was originally driven by leather belts from a layshaft system. Since I don't have a waterwheel, nor the layshaft system in my shop, I use an electric motor to drive it now. This one was made in the 1890-1910 time frame. I haven't been able to pin it down any closer than that yet.

When I bought it, it had a little 1/4 HP GE motor on it with a 3 gang sheave set. It didn't have any power, and changing speeds was a PITA. About 4 years ago, I pulled that motor off of it, and converted it to a variable speed 1.5 HP DC motor setup. I adapted the drive motor and speed control from an old treadmill to drive the headshaft, and have been using it like that ever since.

These are pictures I took of it right after I bought it and had it setup for the first time.

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[Ron Kellison]

1941 Walker-Turner 16" bandsaw, a 1946 Parks 12" planer, a 1948 Wheatley 8" short-bed jointer and a Canadian Buffalo 15" drill press from the 40s.

The planer and bandsaw are still waiting in the restoration queue. After they're done, I'm moving on to a 1950 Wadkin BXL lathe. That's the only old tool that's younger than me! :) My 5HP Unisaw must feel like a kid in that company!

[Kevin Jenness]

It has a 4 knife "safety" cutterhead head that was so good that other machinery manufacturers used in some of their machines at the time, and it was a lot better off than the square head designs that were used in other machines back then. It also didn't have that nasty knife flinging habit that the clamshell heads of that era had.

Speaking of which... my neighbor has a 12" Yates American w/clamshell head that threw a knife. Not a happy memory. He eventually got the table repaired by brazing and regrinding and the head replaced with a cut-down Powermatic planer unit. Beware.

[Brian Backner]

Famous-Standard (or is it a 'Standard-Famous'?) 27" band saw from the mid-1920s. Crescent P24 circa 1952.

[Dave Cav]

I have a Buffalo Forge and Blower post drill that probably dates to the beginning of the last century. My Millbury Tenoner was probably made in the late 30's or so, but they are difficult to date.

[Ben Helmich]

Dewalt RAS 1942ish

[Tony Romani]

1937 Delta Band Saw Model 890.
It had stamped steel wheels which I replaced with cast iron Delta wheels since one of the wheels was damaged.
It runs very smooth compared to my 1970 and 2008 Delta band saws.
http://wiki.vintagemachinery.org/GetFile.aspx?File=Delta14BSTypes%2f1938DeltaModel8 90WoodcuttingBandsaw.jpg