Parks Woodworking machinery

[Michael Hammers]

I went and looked at some older but nice condition machinery by the name of Parks Woodworking Machinery, has anyone ever heard of these machines? These particular machines look to be from sometime maybe in the 1950's.

[Jim Becker]

I've always thought that Parks machines were pretty well respected. Every once in awhile someone posts about a Parks planer, for example.

[Tom Hamilton]

Michael, check out OWWM.org and OWWM.com. The former is the forum the latter the archives, pics, history etc.

Parks are pretty highly regarded among the collectors and uses of old iron.

Tom, in Houston, thinking you will be surprised by what you see on OWWM....

[Michael Hammers]

Wow, that is a great site. One of the machines was a face joiner that was 12" wide but maybe less than 32" long. Similar looking to the pic in Krenov's book of the one in his shop. Also a large 16" bandsaw, a lathe and drill press...all Parks Machinery.
I should have taken a pic. They have not been run in over 9 years but are in a heated dry building so they look like they are in great shape. Thanks for the info on the website, I will poke around some more.

[Rollie Meyers]

Parks made planers under the Craftsman label also. Was one on the local C-list for $100.00, a while back.(Parks model).

[George Sanders]

I have a 12" Parks Planer. This cast iron beast weighs about 250 pounds and will take 1/8" off a 12" oak board in one pass. I have had benchtop planers in the past and there is no comparison to what this machine can do. I paid $250 for mine and added the proper sized dual belt sheaves and pulleys, plus belts and a 2HP Leeson motor.
If you have a chance to get one of these; jump on it. You won't regret it.

[Michael Hammers]

Hi,
I ended up buying the Parks machinery and getting it back to the shop Saturday. NO RUST!!!! I will post some pics tonight. I am astounded at how heavy these machines are.
First up is a interesting combo machine. It is a 12" planer and joiner. It has a 1 HP 115/230 motor. that is the size of a large ham. I work for an industrial supplier and sell motors and looked at this one and thought it was at least 2 hp or above. It is a monster. I found this link to the machine, this was nice to find. Mine appears to be a model 11.

http://wiki.owwm.com/(X(1)S(ng5p4s2eina0ad45evlm0myn))/Default.aspx?Page=Parks%20Heavy%20Duty%2012%e2%80% 9d%20x%204%e2%80%9d%20Planer&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1


Also a Parks 19" bandsaw. It looks to be the same motor as on the joiner/planer. Again in great shape. Even the rubber on the wheels is still in tact. I could not find anything on the 'net about the bandsaw though :( It is also wired for 230.

Next is a Parks large floor standing disc sander. It looks to be like a 12" disc. Again in great shape.
Next is a very large and heavy Parks floor standing scroll saw.
Also not Parks machines I got in this deal...a Rockwell drill press and full size Delta/Rockwell (I believe) lathe and a box full of turning tools and face plates, chucks, centers, and alot of misc. other items.
An older Dewalt radial arm saw...now I do want to post a pic of this hopefully tonight, it is not a huge radial arm saw, the blade looks about 10". It looks new, but is probbly around 1960's or '70's. Personally I hate radial arm saws and can see this one going bye bye.
I also got a Gerstner Journeyman 51 (I looked at Gerstners site) box. It is in perfect shape and chocked full of tools. I think this craftsman must have also been a machinist. Plus another craftsman made tools box with a couple hand planes (nice score) and a set of older Buck Bros. chisels. Mostly crank necked gouges but some longer paring styles also. More Starret and Lufkin machinist tools than I can shake a stick at. I have still yet to go through everything, it was brutal heat and humidity Saturday and I rested on Sunday. I am thankful I had some great friends come and help with this! :D
I never saw myself as an old "arn" user, but this was such a gift, this was pretty much all of a former craftsman's shop who has left this world, so I will not use the word "gloat".
A real blessing this sale was...all for $1,000.00
I will get some pics up after work tonight.
MSH

On a side not we found a newspaper dated 1990. So I am sure these machines have not been used since then!

[Kirk Poore]

Excellent score, Michael. One word of caution: The bearings on all those machines are old. You should give strong consideration to changing them sooner rather than later. Bearings are cheap. Try taking apart the simplest machine, change the bearings, and educate yourself as you go along. That way you won't get scored shafts, wallowed housings, or other problems that make things much more difficult to fix. Don't forget the motor bearings, either.

In the mean time, when you run the machines, check for excessive heating on the bearings when you shut them down. Even if they aren't squealing, bad bearings will heat up. You might want to run each machine for a few minutes just to check for this before you do any work with them.

Kirk

[Charles Lent]

Congratulations. You got a nearly complete shop for less than the price of a good cabinet saw. I wanted my uncle's cabinet shop, but missed out on inheriting or buying it. My aunt kept the doors locked and never went in there until her death 30 years later, and by then everything was so rusty it was just junk.

Do what the others have said and closely watch the bearings for heating, or just replace them. The belts and bandsaw tires and possibly the electric wiring insulation won't likely last very long, if at all, even if they look OK now so you should also plan on replacing them in the near future. With these low cost replacements they should all last you your lifetime. Also consider improving the belt and blade guards as machine tools of that era were considerably lacking in safety guards.

Charley

[Michael Hammers]

Kirk,
Thank you for the tip. I will do exactly as you say. We sell alot of bearings and such so It will maybe make it easier. I know all the machines do run and are well kept. It will be interesting and a learning experience thats for sure, and most likely well worth it in the end...

I am curious about the motor, I could not see what the amp draw is but am wondering how strong an older motor like that at 1 hp running 230v will be?

[Peter Quadarella]

Amazing Michael. You pretty much got a whole shop for free. The hand tools alone might have ended up costing more than $1000. I wish you lots of luck with it :). Get us some pics when you get a chance :)

[jerry cousins]

i had a parks planer for many years. used to be able to call the company in cincinnati, ohio and get the history of the machine (based on serial number) and parts - but not sure if they are still around and/or another company took them over. the only down side was the babbitt bearings - at least it was for me - keep them greased and look for wear.
jerry

[Peter Quadarella]

It's funny that should come up. I just read an article last night in FWW issue #38 about repouring Babbitt bearings. In case you ever need to do that :)

[Michael Hammers]

Ok, not a great picture but here is one shot. I will post a pic of the hand tools in the "basement".

[Mike Wilkins]

Had a Parks 12" planer for years. The only thing on the machine that was not cast iron or steel was the drive belt and power cord. Very heavy beast that was sold in various set-ups: with or without a stand, direct drive or belt drive.
Sears sold this machine for a lot of years. Since I sold mine to get a J/P, all of the info I had went with the machine, including a parts source.
As other have stated, you will need to visit OWWM.com

[Jim Becker]

That's going to be some nice gear for your shop, Michael. Congrats on the buy.

[Wilbur Pan]

First up is a interesting combo machine. It is a 12" planer and joiner. It has a 1 HP 115/230 motor. that is the size of a large ham. I work for an industrial supplier and sell motors and looked at this one and thought it was at least 2 hp or above. It is a monster. I found this link to the machine, this was nice to find. Mine appears to be a model 11.

Boy, you suck!

Regarding your question on the motors, they will probably run just fine. The old motors were really well made. I have a 1940's era bandsaw with a 1/2 HP motor, and can resaw 8" of oak on it.

How long is the jointer bed on that Model 11?

[Michael Hammers]

Wilbur,
The bed is rather short on the J\P, very shory. But for face joining it should be fine, I will keep the 6" Ridgid for edges, maybe. I am sure I will have to make an extension for it at some time though. And yes, that motor is beastly. It took 5 men to move everything and we were whooped. The heat was miserable. I will have more pics of the other tools later in the week. The lathe is really nice too. Not sure what to do with that big scroll saw or the radial arm saw though. I really dislike RAS's.

[Ken Smith]

I have one of these planers if anyone is interested. Selling locally on Craigslist Seattle (10/25/09), but I can arrange freight if anyone on SMC is interested.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/tls/1436960861.html

Ken

[george wilson]

When I was young,the Belsaw and the Parks were about the only machines for small shops. The Parks were notorious for their power feed gearboxes breaking down. I have seen several with makeshift power feeds cobbled together,including 1 I owned in the 60's. I saw one with a 3 speed floor shift old truck transmission built into a substitute power feed!!. That planer took up a LOT of space for a 12" unit.

They are nice looking machines,and heavier that the new imports,true,but do be careful of the gearboxes and bearings. I do not think you can get parts now. Having a machine shop,I think I probably could keep 1 running now.

Several months ago,a near mint 12" Parks was for sale in Richmond. I was tempted to buy it it was so nice,but I don't have space for collecting extra machines that I don't really need. It was only $250.00. My 15" Bridgewood planes a great deal smoother than I ever got my old Parks to plane.

[Ben Martin]

Great looking machines, if I didn't get the smokin' deal on the DW735 I would have had a Parks planer. Didn't know they made a J/P variant though...

[Darrin Davis]

We used to have a 1948 Model 20 Parks 20" planer in our shop. We decided to get rid of it and put a second table saw in it's place and get a 15" delta x5 on a mobile base. I can't say that I miss the Parks planer but I can't find anything negative to say about it either. Just wish I had an owners manual for it when changing the knives. The only thing else I can say is that I think I've owned 2 cars that didn't weigh as much as the planer did. Good luck with your purchases.

[george wilson]

I never used a 20" Parks.The broken gearboxes I saw were on the 12" ones,including mine!! Someone had rigged up a very strung out bunch of gears and an old gearhead motor to run the feed rollers. It fed VERY slowly. It was all I could afford at the time,though,and I was lucky to have had it.

Back then we didn't have much extra money,and no cheap imports.

One planer I had for a short time was a little open sided Sears 6" thickness planer. You pushed the wood through,and there were no rollers on the bed. Two wide sheetmetal spring hold downs held the wood down. That little planer did the most excellent job of planing guitar sides!! There was no vibration at all,since the wood rested flat on the bed. It was taken on a trade,then the owner backed out,so I had to give it up. Really hated losing it. It was made by Seely(sp?) thermos bottle co.