OSS 'finally' finished

Jeff Horton

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The Heart of Dixie
Remember a few months ago me posting photos of this?

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No. 2 Jewel Grinder
Motor City Machine
Detroit Michigan.
with a Howell Electric R/I motor.

Well I have had it cosmetically restored for a while but was having trouble with spindles for it. Finally found a way to adapt a set of Lee Valley long (drill press) spindles to it. Today I got the wiring finished up and fired it up and put it use. Works like a champ!

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I think was originally a metal working machine. Someone suggested it was a profile grinder.

Boyar Schultz made two or three different sizes of profile grinder. I owned a small size No. 1, which was a bench model. They have tilting tables and a spindle that holds 1/4" shank mounted wheels or carbide burs. I believe they were used to make sheet metal blanking dies and punches. They have adjustable travel above the table, so they can also do work in molding cavities.

Now it will be sanding wood for me in my shop!
 
looks good jeff ,good thing you posted this cause i had alrady spied it in your shop tour and mentioned it not being properly introduced,,, now it has been fine job there..you mentioned sanding molds like in a pattern shop?
 
Thanks Ned.

Larry, I know nothing about this machine. Can't find the first thing on it anywhere. Someone said it was probably a Profile Grinder but that is the extent of my knowledge of it. I got it from Ann Arbor and it was made in Detroit probably in the 30's or 40's due to the R/I motor on it.

It had a stone on it so it makes sense it was a metal working machine, but past that I am just guessing.

I noticed your comment about it on the Shop tour, but I knew I was about to finally finish it up. Used it several times today and my favorite part of using it is the smell of Ozone. :D Reminds me of model trains I had as a kid.
 
I saw this pic...


...and thought "Wow! It sands! It slices! It cuts and peels! It's the new...oh wait...the saw blade is not attached to the machine. Never mind."

Great resto job. Looks like it's ready for another 60 or 70 years of service, Jeff. :thumb:
 
I'm glad someone finally finished that thing. It got passed around up here in Michigan between several people before somehow ending up down south with Jeff.
 
Nice restore Jeff! It ought to provide many more years of dependable service now. Any pics of the restore and innards?

It looks like you have a 4 1/2' drum on it, do you have 9" spindles too or have plans to add a set? I recently finished up a Boice Crane OSS restore and had a hard time finding reasonably priced 9" drums. I've got quite a bit of info on sources if you need it. But be fore warned, if you haven't looked into 9" spindles, be ready for some sticker shock:eek:. they ain't cheap!

Mike
 
That's just too cool for words. I get a kick out of the little oscillating motor hanging off the back. I bet it is going to be one of those "How did I live without this" type of machines.:D

Wes
 
Thanks everyone. It is an odd ball machine for sure! I am guessing it had a specific use and was very purpose driven. One really odd thing I forgot to mention is the oscillating method. The motor is a Repulsion/Induction motor so it uses brushes. What is odd is that the whole armature is what oscilates! The little Dumoore gear motor drives a cam. The motor armature sits on that cam and the it lifts the armature INSIDE the motor. Not the whole motor! Very odd arrangement indeed. No replacement parts for this thing.

I have yet to find any reference to Motor City Machine Co. or another machine of any kind they made. I am sure there are other out there if I knew what industry it was aimed at that might help. But as it stands, it is literally one of kind.

And yes the table will tilt. If it was a profile grinder and used in tool and die work that would make sense. Molds and punch dies often have small draft angles of 1/2 to maybe 3 degrees. This has what appears to be pretty fine scale on the side, but no numbers, just tick marks.

Mark, I can't find any spindles for 9" drums. I would have to fabricate them myself. It just has a 1/2 collect machined into the motor shaft so I can't replace it. I just had the idea of putting a drill chuck on there using a custom made shaft, but I don't know if the table will lift high enough, I doubt it. But I think these spindles will do most of what I do, at least for a while.
 
I can't find any spindles for 9" drums. I would have to fabricate them myself. It just has a 1/2 collect machined into the motor shaft so I can't replace it. I just had the idea of putting a drill chuck on there using a custom made shaft, but I don't know if the table will lift high enough, I doubt it.

The oscillation mechanism sounds neat, sure is a strange arrangement. Kinda makes you wonder why they made it so complicated???

As far as spindles; if it's a collet arrangement, could you have a new spindle machined from 3/4" dia rod with a 1/2" shoulder on the end? All the 9" drums I found are all 3/4" dia bored.

Mike
 
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