matto Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 hey all this morning i got a call from a retired farmer. i have been talking withhis wife off and on for a month now. i had heared that they had an old machine shop and was thinking that they might have something for me to put back into use. well they called this morning and said to come out and get the line shaft that was still in the rafters. i was looking for a line shaft for the museum shop i am building. so we got there and they said look around there might be something else you need or want. well there was, i came home with an edwards shear #10b, a pedistal grinder, 30' of line shaft with 6 good wood pullies, a weaver 4' long jack that you can steer by turning the t handle, a step riveter, and a canedy otto new #10 post drill with around a 150 bits. i asked the farmer when this shop was built he said about 1890 to 1895, the shop had a forge, tongs, post vise and anvil in it but he said it has come up missing. the original owners used the shop for their farm and to help some of the neighbors. they had a steam tractor and thresher. as i kept talking with the farmer he would not tell me who the original owners where. come to find out it was the farm sted of my wifes family. they all had thought that the owners now had dozed everything down for the center pivit to run around. great find kind of crazy how the history of the shop worked out. one other crazy thing was everything still works and nothing is frozen from rust and age, the farmer said no one has used any of the stuff for at least 30 years or more. and not one bolt broke taking it all out. all nuts where tight but came right off, did not have to spray one nut. will have pics need to get them off my camera, bad thing is i should of taken pics when we got there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto Posted May 20, 2012 Author Share Posted May 20, 2012 here are the pics from my barn find in buffalo county nebraska, everything is wire brushed and all lettering marked with yellow paint so it will stand out better. here is a pic of the barn it was a 20x30 foot shop omaha iron store pedistal grinder there are 5 grinding wheels also edwards shear # 10 b the handle is 5 or 6 foot long step rivit punch weaver jack the t handle steers the front wheels last up a canedy otto new 16 post drill in my last post on this find i listed it as a new 10 went at it with a wire brush and it is a new 16 all the bits in the picture where hanging behind the drill just missing 14. now does anyone know anything about or know where i can look for info on the riviter, the pedistal grinder or the shear, there was also 40ft of line shaft still on the ceiling with extra maple pulleys and leather belts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto Posted May 20, 2012 Author Share Posted May 20, 2012 sorry the pics load huge. the pics of the post drill are after i got it mounted. i think it is alittle high, it sucks mounting a 350lb 6 foot drill by yourself. guess i will make a step box to slide out from under it when using it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dablacksmith Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 edward shears are nice the only problem i had with um is it takes 2 people to run um one to hold the metal and the other to run the lever ... i believe the capacity on that is 1/2 X4 flat stock i know i could shear several 3/8 bars at once on the one i had... great find ! the riviter i think was probably for leather (at least that what it looks like to me). never heard of the brand name of the pedistal grinder but there were many companys making them around 1900-1920.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto Posted May 20, 2012 Author Share Posted May 20, 2012 dablcksmith thanks for the info the i think the riviter was for leather also, the original owners built the shop around 1890 give or take, the home stedders son had a big steam tractor and did custom thrashing. they worked on their own equipment and the neighbors. all i know on the grinder is what is on it. on the base the side opposite the omaha iron store co is cast omaha nebr. with the edwards do you mount it on the floor or can you make a stand to mount it onto? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Nice find! You can mount the edwards shear on a large baulk of lumber say 4 RR ties stacked two on two and bound together. Most folks use them on the f=ground for heavy shearing as they then don't have to do much in the way of supporting the stock. I know I don't need to warn you about the extreme danger of using old grinding wheels *especially* if the grinder is being run off a modern much higher rpm motor than the old ones were. Pity as large new grinding wheels are quite pricy---however when an ER visit or grave plot is factored in they end up quite cheap really! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto Posted May 22, 2012 Author Share Posted May 22, 2012 thomas how do i know if the new old wheels are ok. i found them in a work bench. as for the edwards i am thinking along the same lines for mounting it. someone told me the saw one that was ran with a hydro cylinderand a foot plate. would beat standing behind it with that 6' handle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 We have/had a jack like that back home. The steering wheels are a nice feature. I don't know if my brothers sold it or not after the folks passed. It was fine for the trucks, but coming in from the front of cars it required too much handle motion to operate. The handle would hit the bumper before the ratchet would do its thing. To test grinding wheels for cracks, put a loose fittimg rod through the center hole, and tap the suspended wheel with a hammer. It should give a ring, if it sounds dull it may have a crack somewhere. Always use the paper shims when mounting the wheels, always stand to the side when first starting up, and let it run free for a couple of mintues before using. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 And *really* watch the RPM! Old wheels can be weaker than when they were new too. A wheel explosion is NOT a pretty sight---especially on large high powered un guarded grinders! I'd give serious thought to what I wanted to accomplish with such a grinder and figure if there is a better way out there---like using grinding disks on an angle grinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto Posted May 23, 2012 Author Share Posted May 23, 2012 the hopes are to have it running off the line shaft at the museum as it sounds we may buy one new wheel. what do you us to relaminate the buffing wheels? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 I generally use new buffs as old ones are usually contaminated past resurrecting if they's gotten that bad and when I buff I'm going for *no* scratches---knives and jewelry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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