Old made us USA tools

Geo-TH,In

Well-known Member
In 1979 I purchased a craftsman drill press, floor model, and a craftsman bench grinder. They were old then. Still good working tools. Wish I could buy things like this today.

FYI, A few years ago, after putting up a pole barn in the south end of the county, I moved these from my other workshop and bought new drill press and 8 inch grinder. All the drill presses in the stores in TH were made in china, even the craftsman. Lowes had a $400 new delta that look like a clone of my old craftsman with a bigger table. Not to disappoint some of my cheap fans, I got it for $200 because there was a 2x2 inch piece of wood missing in center of the table, an improvement over my old one. And the chuck key was missing, which I had extras.

I don't want to raise someone's blood pressure and have him bleeding out his eyes, so I won't mention the ?D? word here. I'll just say my new bench grinder was a gift from my son. It's my favorite color, yellow.

I think what I can take away form this is, they don't make things like the used too. I even have craftsman sockets, made in the USA. Two Craftsman routers, made in the USA. Put a ball bearing in craftsman belt sander, made in the USA. I have an atlas lathe as old as I am, 1949, made in the USA. A 6 ft metal brake older, made in the USA, 1887, yep 1887. I even have 3 Milwaukee drills, back when they were made in the USA. Do you think Made In the USA meant something? If so why did most move off shore? Better not go there.

I'll never sell them. I know some people who can't wait to go to my estate sale, which I hope is no time real soon.
geo
a227318.jpg
 
Your estate sale is something I had not though of. How are you feeling? Maybe I should visit you more often?
 
I have a huge Monarch metal lathe that is WWI vintage. And I have a 100+ year old drill press that is tough as nails used to be. Use the lathe to make some machinery parts and use the drill press all the time. Both were originally run from overhead shaft, but have been converted to electric motor.
They will be here long after I am gone. Here is a photo of the drill press.
Richard in NW SC
a227340.jpg
 
Used to have a set of 5/8 drive sockets and breaker bar from snap-on. One of many things that walked off before our farm sale. Including my 3 ton floor jack.
 
I have an old Rockwell hand drill. It has a D handle with a large aluminum on/off button. I don't know how old it is but the data plate on the side has hand stamped numbers.

I also have a Niles lathe, about an 18", that was originally run off a line shaft. I found an old Niles catalog from 1904 that someone had scanned and uploaded and it showed an identical one. I don't know the exact year but the thing is over 100 years old.

Currently it is set up to run off an old repulsion start motor. The motor claims to be 1hp but it weighs about 150+ pounds. They obtained a line shaft pulley and rigged up brackets and an over-centering cam so you can change the belt to different steps. When they bolted all this stuff together they used cut thread bolts with square heads so even the conversion is old!

My other lathe I use for most stuff is a SB 10L that was made in '43. It conforms to standards of the "War Production Board" according to a tag near the tailstock end.
 
I know a man had a complete set of 5/8 sockets. When the company that made them found out, they gave him a complete set of new sockets plus $5000.
 
Richard, FYI, Bearings Inc in TH can make you a new flat belt if needed. Had a belt made for a man in Florida, his old metal lathe needed a new one.

Don't you wish they still made tools the way they did back then?
geo
 
Thanks. Yes I do wish they made tools like they used to.
I have more flat belt stuck back than I will ever use in my life.
Richard
 
I seem to recall that feeling with anything besides my fingers either resulted in a problematic situation and or marriage.
 
My place caters to industial needs and large equipment needs. Many hyd hoses, bearings, belts, even make bandsaw blades of all kinds for metal and wood. Some day I'll have them make me 1 inch blades for my USA metal bandsaw. I'm on my last blade. This is a very old saw too. geo
a227380.jpg
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top