Oliver machines

[Ken Hensley]

Does anyone have any experience with the new Oliver machines? I'm looking to add a new drill press and jointer and woodcraft now has Oliver, but I can't find anything about the newer machines.

[Ray Newman]

The 68 lbs 'portable' 12.5 X 5" planer looks interesting with the Wixey height/cutting gauge and Byrd Shelix cutter head. Would even be better if it had two speeds.

[Robert Hayward]

I have the Oliver 4240 10" jointer with a Byrd head. Baldor 5HP 3 phase motor on mine through a VFD from Jack Fossberg. I am the third owner. The first two were commercial shops in Miami doing cabinet work on yachts. Beautiful machine. Heavy duty throughout.

Just a hobby and craft woodworker here so I have not run thousands of board feet through it. A 10" wide piece of live oak does not even slow down the machine though. Went from a 4" Delta Homecraft to this. Talk about floating on cloud nine.

[Tony Joyce]

Steve Wall Lumber(Mayodan,NC) was a dealer(may still be) for Oliver machines.
When I worked for him, we had a 25" Dbl surfacer, shaper, band saw, & Straight line rip in the shop.
All are well built and reasonable fit and finish. I don't recall why but, the lathe seemed to be dud.
Call Clint Dillon(new owner) at Wall I'm sure he'll be happy to answer any questions.

[Jim Becker]

One or more folks I follow on the 'Tube, including Andy Rawls, are using some new Oliver machinery which is pretty impressive.

[Mel Fulks]

[QUOTE=Tony Joyce;3224948]Steve Wall Lumber(Mayodan,NC) was a dealer(may still be) for Oliver machines.
When I worked for him, we had a 25" Dbl surfacer, shaper, band saw, & Straight line rip in the shop.
All are well built and reasonable fit and finish. I don't recall why but, the lathe seemed to be a dud.

I’m guessing it was of those old ones that the big wheel on it that had to be turned by an apprentice

[Andrew Hughes]

I had a blue Oliver jointer 8 inch with the Carbide insert head.
I bought one when the insert heads just came out on the market. I thought it was going to be a forever machine it didn’t take long for me to find it was a bad choice.
I did sell it fairly easily.

[Joel Gelman]

When I hear "Oliver" I always think of their vintage 217 bandsaws and their super heavy duty machinery of yesteryear. Similar with Yates and Kindt-Collins. I am about to get a Yates bandsaw. I do not think I or anyone can get a better bandsaw new. They just do not make them like they used to. I once saw a vintage Oliver Oscillating Spindle sander. Impressive! Way nicer than my Ridgid. The new ones just can't compare. So interesting seeing the newer Oliver machinery. Seems wrong that the name "Oliver" is on it. Just my 0.02

[Mel Fulks]

Joel , you need to see the film Oliver! Then you’ll be singing “ Consider yourself at home , consider yourself one of the family!” Think of it
as “Behavior Modification, with lots of sharp teeth !”

[Warren Lake]

When I hear Oliver, Green Acres comes to mind.

[Tony Joyce]

I’m guessing it was of those old ones that the big wheel on it that had to be turned by an apprentice

No all Oliver equipment we used and sold was new.

[Andrew More]

When I hear "Oliver" I always think of their vintage 217 bandsaws and their super heavy duty machinery of yesteryear. I do not think I or anyone can get a better bandsaw new. They just do not make them like they used to.

Perhaps, but it would be interesting to see if the old cast iron works better or worse than the new steel beam band saws from a rigidity perspective. I love old equipment, but sometimes things do improve, and not just from a cost cutting perspective.

[Warren Lake]

over years of auctions only saw one Oliver machine. This table saw, very high quality. Same place had towards 10 bandsaws, all italian and one Tannewitz. Only one id ever seen at an auction. hard to walk away from.


490250

[Richard Coers]

When just the brand was sold to the new importing company, I was concerned with their strong linking to the vintage company. It even used pictures of old factory buildings in Grand Rapids that were basically deserted. And checking their site they use a picture of a Grand Rapids building that burnt down in 2015. All the while the new corporation was located in Seattle, Wa,. Sure the brand was purchased, but their marketing put me off. No idea about the machinery, but all is made overseas at factories that build machinery for so many other companies.
490253

[Jared Sankovich]

When just the brand was sold to the new importing company, I was concerned with their strong linking to the vintage company. It even used pictures of old factory buildings in Grand Rapids that were basically deserted. And checking their site they use a picture of a Grand Rapids building that burnt down in 2015. All the while the new corporation was located in Seattle, Wa,. Sure the brand was purchased, but their marketing put me off. No idea about the machinery, but all is made overseas at factories that build machinery for so many other companies.
490253


The (original) oliver parts and records went to eagle machine, which was recently sold to https://straitoplane.com/

[Richard Coers]

The (original) oliver parts and records went to eagle machine, which was recently sold to https://straitoplane.com/
Happy to hear that news!

[Matt Day]

I’ve got a 1950’s Oliver 399 18” planer - it would chew up and spit out the new Oliver’s.

[Joe Calhoon]

I have 3 vintage Oliver machines and a new Oliver straight line rip I bought 16 years ago. The old vintage and the new imported ones have absolutely nothing in common. Only the name tag. I will say the SLR has been a good machine and they were quick to fix a couple small issues I had with it. The SLR is a simple machine but buying any Far East jointer I would be concerned if the casting are flat, fence squareness and twist etc. on the drill press would want to make sure no runout.

[Robert London]

The new Oliver has nothing to do with vintage Oliver machines. They are on par with Jet, Powermatic, Grizzly, Baleigh, Laguna and others.

Most machines in this price range are made in similar factories in Taiwan or China, so not much that moves the needle to buy one over the other.

Some of their machines have USA Baldor motors and Byrd cutters.

[Scott T Smith]

Steve Wall Lumber(Mayodan,NC) was a dealer(may still be) for Oliver machines.
When I worked for him, we had a 25" Dbl surfacer, shaper, band saw, & Straight line rip in the shop.
All are well built and reasonable fit and finish. I don't recall why but, the lathe seemed to be dud.
Call Clint Dillon(new owner) at Wall I'm sure he'll be happy to answer any questions.

I actually bought one of Steve Wall's used 25" Oliver double surfacers in 2009. I still use that machine today; it's been a real workhorse. Steve replaced it with the exact same model.

Below is SMC member Maurice Ungaro offbearing a wide quartersawn oak plank from my Oliver. He used it to make a Roubo style workbench.

490359

Here I am in the process of feeding several thousand board feet of lumber through it.

https://sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=490358&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1669163125

I would not hesitate to buy any of the newer Oliver machines. To me, they are a step up from most of the Taiwanese machines in terms of mass and durability.