I need help identifying this machine, and sadly I have VERY little to go by. (Pics, below)
I have first crack at it, if I want it, but it's 2 hours away, the pics are dismal, and the seller just had knee surgery so he can't get me more pics right now. (He says it's buried with a ton of other tools.) He says there's no name tag.
It's a vintage (1940's?) 8" jointer with a super-long bed (probably 72") but the table is VERY thin on the outer thirds. (This, I think, is the main clue.)
The cutterhead appears to have a nice diameter to it.
The motor looks ancient, and is only 1 HP, but luckily it's belt drive, not direct, and I have a spare 1.5 HP Leeson that I can retrofit.
The adjustment wheel, if that's what it is, looks cheap, kind of like a Craftsman type, which bothers me a bit. The fence also looks pretty cheap, but serviceable, I guess.
The owner says it belonged to his great uncle, who was a professional carpenter. He also say he ran it a few years ago and "everything worked" so at least the bearings aren't seized, and "everything that should move, moves." so the keyways aren't rusted or damaged.
So:
8%22 jointer - main .jpg 8%22 jointer - cutterhead.jpg 8%22 jointer - motor.jpg 8%22 underneath.jpg
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I'm thinking maybe a JD Wallace, except it's belt-drive, and also the knives aren't skewed like most Wallace's I've seen.
Also, most Wallaces had fences with curved edges, but not all of them.
But that guard just SCREAMS "Wallace."
It's far too old to be some import junk, but that adjustment wheel & fence don't exactly imply "industrial quality."
The price is "pretty good," but not free, and it's a looong drive. It will need a new motor, and I'm worried that the bearings might be some odd type that's hard to replace. I'm worried that the adjusters might be hard to deal with. - But if I can make it work, that would be LOVELY.
Whadayya' think?