I picked this up yesterday from a guy out in eastern Ohio, about 5 hours from my house. He bought an old elementary school building and the land it's on and is transforming it into a manufacturing/milling shop. He had bought a 16" Clement and *then* this 12", but realized he had no need (or the space in the wood shop section) for both. It's the heaviest thing I've carried so far in my utility trailer, but at ~900#, came in under the 1500# limit. Even so, I was still a bit nervous the whole way home!
It has the original fence, but has a replacement knob on the fence. It has an old Surty blade guard, which works great. The cutter head is a clam shell, so I'll try to source some *known* spec bolts to replace what's there. There's no telling how many times they've been torqued and how much they may have stretched over the years. I'll eventually replace it with a spiral carbide cutter, but that'll be many months down the road; they're expensive! The original babbitt bearings have been replaced with greased bearings; it appears to be a mass produced after market piece. I've seen it on other Clement jointers. I'll need to open it up to clean the bearings and repack them.
In the middle picture, on the upper left face of the left wedge, you can just make out a tag; the company the guy bought it from put it there. I forget what it says, but it's the company's name and a serial number of some sort. I haven't been able to find any other markings on the machine to denote its make or age. Based on pictures of other jointers from the era, I think it's a Frank H. Clement.
Motor is a 220/440V, 3hp, 3ph. I don't know what it's wired for and haven't been able to look closely enough to see whether there's a wiring diagram on the motor. Hopefully I can figure it out and ensure it's set up for 220V. I have a 3hp VFD in my shop that powers my planer, so that won't be an issue. If I can verify that it's 220V and that it runs, I'll replace the bearings in it before putting it into action. From the research of a member at OWWM, it appears that it was manufactured sometime in the 1930's.
The top is pretty rusted with some pitting, but not enough to inhibit its performance. The edges of the tables near the cutter have some slight damage, but again, nothing that will be problematic. The base and wedges need paint in a bad way, which is okay; I have to disassemble it to get it out of my trailer, so I'll (hopefully) be able to strip and paint it as I take it down.
I am *super* excited about this jointer. It'll replace the short bed 8" American Wood Worker machine I bought a few years ago. Unless I move and can build a larger shop, this will be the largest, and hopefully last, jointer I'll ever own. My next quest items are a shaper and a wide belt sander.
It has the original fence, but has a replacement knob on the fence. It has an old Surty blade guard, which works great. The cutter head is a clam shell, so I'll try to source some *known* spec bolts to replace what's there. There's no telling how many times they've been torqued and how much they may have stretched over the years. I'll eventually replace it with a spiral carbide cutter, but that'll be many months down the road; they're expensive! The original babbitt bearings have been replaced with greased bearings; it appears to be a mass produced after market piece. I've seen it on other Clement jointers. I'll need to open it up to clean the bearings and repack them.
In the middle picture, on the upper left face of the left wedge, you can just make out a tag; the company the guy bought it from put it there. I forget what it says, but it's the company's name and a serial number of some sort. I haven't been able to find any other markings on the machine to denote its make or age. Based on pictures of other jointers from the era, I think it's a Frank H. Clement.
Motor is a 220/440V, 3hp, 3ph. I don't know what it's wired for and haven't been able to look closely enough to see whether there's a wiring diagram on the motor. Hopefully I can figure it out and ensure it's set up for 220V. I have a 3hp VFD in my shop that powers my planer, so that won't be an issue. If I can verify that it's 220V and that it runs, I'll replace the bearings in it before putting it into action. From the research of a member at OWWM, it appears that it was manufactured sometime in the 1930's.
The top is pretty rusted with some pitting, but not enough to inhibit its performance. The edges of the tables near the cutter have some slight damage, but again, nothing that will be problematic. The base and wedges need paint in a bad way, which is okay; I have to disassemble it to get it out of my trailer, so I'll (hopefully) be able to strip and paint it as I take it down.
I am *super* excited about this jointer. It'll replace the short bed 8" American Wood Worker machine I bought a few years ago. Unless I move and can build a larger shop, this will be the largest, and hopefully last, jointer I'll ever own. My next quest items are a shaper and a wide belt sander.
Semper fi,
Brad
Brad
