Wednesday, May 6, 2026

Hartness Flat Turret Lathe


  Jones & Lamson grew out of the gun-manufacturing company Robbins & Lawrence. Jones & Lamson was formed in 1869 and continued in the gun business also manufacturing machine tools for making guns and sewing machines along with engine-lathes, screw-milling machines and drill presses. In 1888 James Hartness became the superintendent at Jones & Lamson and began development of a flat-turret lathe of his own design. He obtained patent 457,967 in 1891 and the company changed its focus to the production of the machine. The undated bottom picture looks like the machine in the 1911 article here.

 Machine description here.   

Manual for Flat-Turret Lathe by James Hartness here

 

Reeving a Two Fold Purchase (a lost language)

Boatswain, Royal Canadian Navy, Trade Group One, 1960

 








Rover P5B Coupe


  Rather an unusually styled car with 50s styling and a radically lowered roofline, making it a tough-looking ride. The Rover P5 was introduced in 1958. the P5B Coupe variant was produced from 1962 till the end of production in 1973, by which time it was definitely an anachronism. 

Tuesday, May 5, 2026

One of my vices is vise/anvils, an abused Rock Island Manufacturing anvil/vise


   Interesting and very abused Rock Island Manufacturing anvil/vise. It looks like there is a quick adjust feature, in that the screw block slides on the same track that the jaw does, that track appears to have been replaced. The anvil portion has seen a lot of use, and it appears someone has broken and welded the jaw to the anvil. It's for sale in Winnipeg here
Previous Rock Island post here.

US patent 1,111,103



Monday, May 4, 2026

AC Sparkplug cleaner


Sandblast and save gas!



 

Suzuki with actress

 

Posted only because this is another picture of the rare fat-tired RV90... Oh, the actress who is blocking the view is Uschi Obermaier.

Sunday, May 3, 2026

The cheapest oil filter wrench

Three stamped pieces of maybe .080" or .100" thick steel, a coupla rivets and we have a simple and effective oil filter wrench, the maker didn't even put their name on it.

 Second thought, maybe its just a kitchen can opener?



 

Sidecar Sardine Sunday

 

  An illustration for the artisan sardine cannery La Quiberonnaise, by comic book artist Frank Margerin.

Saturday, May 2, 2026

Zubian sealing wax


 Sealing wax for sealing lids while canning fruits and vegetables, when that was a normal part of life, not sure where the seemingly exotic name "Zubian" came from. 

The Dicks- Pontius company didn't disappear as canning became less popular, they branched out into calks and sealants after WW2, merging with Armstrong and changing their name to a name you might recognize- DAP Global, and are thriving today.

 


One of my vices is vises, Peter Wright

Thanks, Arthur!

  British manufacturer Peter Wright was known for their innovative solid-screwbox post/leg vises for blacksmith use.  Up to that point the thread was usually coiled and brazed, a much less strong process. The leg transferred the shock of hammering directly to the ground.

They were introduced in about 1848 and made into the early 20th century and were often stamped with "Peter Wright", "Solid Box" or "Patent" on the back part of the screwbox.