What's your oldest woodworking machine?

[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,
Bandsaw.jpg

[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.