Oliver machines

[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.

Maurice slab.jpg

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



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.