Unusual Hobbies, yours or others

[LarryD]

I was in an old time fix it shop the other day.. alas without a camera... I will try to go back and get some pictures... the guy behind the counter had black hands and I seriously doubt they will ever come clean...

 Though he did have the part for my vacuum cleaner.

[grizzz]

Hi Dean. It is Craftsman badged but built by King Seeley. Sears doesn't really make anything and the crap they sell now they probably wouldn't want to claim. Back in the day Walker Turner, Dunlap, King Seeley and others made a good amount of their power tool line.

I have several old machines in the shop right now. Actually I am thinning the herd a little and just got rid of a Delta table saw that was a beast. Just didn't have the room for it. I have decided I am keeping a little 9 inch Homecraft table saw that is part of a table saw/jointer combo. The jointer on it is just a parts machine but I have a good one to go on it. I have it torn down now and should have it put back together soon. One more weekend of leaves/gutters/painting and the outside is done for the winter. Then I get to go into the basement

Larry, I have not found the nut yet but am using a smaller one that is working. The home centers don't carry it but I will find one at some point if I ever get in a real hardware store again.

Thanks, Griz.

[Dean Williams]

Thanks, Griz.

The Dunlap brand was another badge name, (actually, another Sears name).  I don't know of anything Dunlap actually made.  Herberts and King-Seeley made drill presses for them.  Double A made a little metal lathe for them.  Someone else made their wood lathes.  Power-King, or Parks, maybe. 

[LarryD]

Now here is one. This guy moves huge stones and buildings with only simple equipment. He is proving how 1 person could have built Stonehenge .

http://mysterytopia.com/2009/11/stonehenge-how-is-it-built-answer-is.html

[grizzz]

My favorite Dunlap tool. This one is not mine but I will own one of these some day. Not because it is a good lathe but the cool factor is just there for me. It's not a bad lathe though....

[sebastian toombs]

Now here is one. This guy moves huge stones and buildings with only simple equipment. He is proving how 1 person could have built Stonehenge .

http://mysterytopia.com/2009/11/stonehenge-how-is-it-built-answer-is.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xlf5ucFanpY

[LarryD]

I love that Movie.

[Dean Williams]

Griz, that's a pretty lathe, alright!  
I'd bet a dollar to a donut that it was made for Sears' price point by Atlas.  I'm not a wood lathe guy, but the Atlas family resemblance shows pretty prominently.  The bulbous head stock with the tip up top cover, for one thing.  Then, the tail stock is very Atlas like, down to the part number cast into the hollow where you tighten the lock.
It's probably a pretty good lathe for wood turning.  It doesn't take the cutting forces a metal lathe would, and by the shadows under the bed, I can see that it is well blocked.  Can't tell what it's got for a spindle, but if it's 3/4" or larger, should be just dandy.

Here's a shot of my 6" Atlas screw cutting lathe.  You can see the similarities.





Well, this got quite a ways out from bee keeping.  Hope you don't mind, Les.  There are a lot of non-photographic interests in this place, that's for sure!

Dean

[Len Robertson]

Larry - I hadn't watched the DIY Stonehenge vid in a couple of years. That guy is my hero. I have a fantasy someone will give me an old garage I can use as another shop, and I will somehow move it to my property. When I moved the G&E metal shaper into the back of my too-small shop, I used a fairly primitive method - I rolled it across the floor on 3/4" water pipe with a crowbar for the motive power. It worked amazingly well. As I mentioned before, it weighs 1200-1400 lbs.

Dean - Pretty little lathe. It looks way more quality than the AA 109 - cleaner castings or something. One of the larger Atlas lathes showed up on Craigslist a couple of days ago for $650. It may even have a quickchange gearbox. A great deal, if the ways aren't beat. I hope someone buys it soon before I'm tempted. I think it has the same spindle thread as my SB, so chucks would interchange. Longer bed and more swing than my SB. Yeah, I need it, don't I?

Since there seem to be some tool using animals watching this thread, here is a hand tool collector link:
http://home.comcast.net/~alloy-artifacts/index.html I'm not really a tool collector, but often old stuff follows me home from yard sales, and it is nice to find out what I bought. I suppose somewhere on the Web are sites for history and ID of woodworking power tools.

Len

[LarryD]

He now has it about 1/3rd complete I understand and it seems people are bringing him rocks to use.... So it is not all cast stone. He has also got things figured out farther and using logs and rough cut makes it faster he found.

[grizzz]

Dean, you are correct. Dunlap was a sears name and it was made by Atlas. I believe this was sold under many names. I seem to remember seeing a power king lathe that was identical. Also Atlas I believe did sell it under that name. They are all the same and I just think they are neat.

Here is TS I am parting with. It is absolutely in pristine shape for it's age but I don't have room for it:



Here is my keeper. It is a little 9 in TS/ 4 in jointer combo. It is currently in use but is about to get a nice restore done to it:

[wjgibson]

I had the opportunity to photograph a stamp collection being donated to my local museum recently.

the 1898 Canadian postage stamp is the first Christmas postage stamp issued in history.