So last night I dug through the classifieds, scoping out garage sales.
I was determined to finally find some inexpensive worker planes, and maybe
some odds and ends. Launched my quest this morning full of hope and coffee.
After slogging though countless sales with nary a sniff of anything
interesting, my optimism was failing. Then, I happened on a sale with
some promise. Actual tools. Tools that had been used by someone that cared
for them and knew what he was doing. Most of the stuff was for plumbing
and metalworking (some nice stuff, though), but there was this largish
hunk of iron that caught my eye. It's the biggest darned scroll saw that
I've ever seen. It's a Craftsman, but was clearly made before all quality
and sense left the line. I poke at it a little, then look around some
more.
I'm not really a scroll saw kinda guy. I mean, those are for making
frilly gingerbread and stuff, right? Not the kind of he-man wood
butchering that I'm into.
Thankfully, common sense tapped me on the shoulder and said "If you don't
buy this now, you will regret it. You'll never get this chance again."
Actually, common sense said several more things, but I've edited them out
so as not to offend those with delicate sensibilities.
So I look at it some more and fiddle with it a bit. It seems a solid
enough machine. The kind lady running the sale tells me that I can plug it
in and fire it up, if I'd like. It purrs. It actually *purrs*. The lady
confers with her mother and she tells me that it belonged to her father
when he was a kid. She has $65 on it, I offer $50. Sold. I tell them that
it's going to a good home. That I'll clean it up and put it back to good
use.
I unbolt it from it's stand (did I mention that it came with a seriously
heavy-duty roll around stand?) and load it into the truck. Get home, put
it in the shop and start looking for info. What I know is it's a 24"
Craftsman 4-speed scroll saw. What I don't know is vintage or
manufacturer. I didn't see too much on OWWM. Looks very similar to the
1940 model from Walker-Turner, but there are significant differences. I'm
guessing that it's late 30's, but I could be way off. I haven't found a
Craftsman model number yet. If anyone would like to help me identify this
guy, I've posted pics at a.b.p.w.
--
Thanks for listening,
Joe Wells
In article <[email protected]>, Joe Wells
<[email protected]> wrote:
> Thanks for all of your help! That was great! Did you actually go rooting
> through old catalogs, or do you have an electronic source for this?
Common belief is that Keeter is actually a multiprocessor OWWM
database, or at least wireheaded into one.
djb
--
"We have become too civilised to grasp the obvious. For the truth is very
simple. To survive you often have to fight, and to fight you have to dirty
yourself. War is evil, and it is often the lesser evil." -- George Orwell
Joe Wells wrote:
snippage of a tale of stick-to-it-ness (and a tale well told
I will add)...
>Thankfully, common sense tapped me on the shoulder and said "If you don't
>buy this now, you will regret it. You'll never get this chance again."
>Actually, common sense said several more things, but I've edited them out
>so as not to offend those with delicate sensibilities.
It's pretty common to hear someone be more apt to report
"non-buyer's remorse" than "buyer's remorse". In other
words, the crying usually gets done over the one that got
away, 'specially considering the one who let it get away
was/is usually the one doing the crying.
>So I look at it some more and fiddle with it a bit. It seems a solid
>enough machine. The kind lady running the sale tells me that I can plug it
>in and fire it up, if I'd like. It purrs. It actually *purrs*. The lady
>confers with her mother and she tells me that it belonged to her father
>when he was a kid. She has $65 on it, I offer $50. Sold. I tell them that
>it's going to a good home. That I'll clean it up and put it back to good
>use.
You actually paid $17.75 more than her father did, if he
bought it new. But that's OK. I paid three times what my
Unisaw sold for when it was first bought.
>I unbolt it from it's stand (did I mention that it came with a seriously
>heavy-duty roll around stand?) and load it into the truck. Get home, put
>it in the shop and start looking for info. What I know is it's a 24"
>Craftsman 4-speed scroll saw. What I don't know is vintage or
>manufacturer. I didn't see too much on OWWM. Looks very similar to the
>1940 model from Walker-Turner, but there are significant differences. I'm
>guessing that it's late 30's, but I could be way off.
You've not done too awful bad. In fact you're way on top of
it. It does show up in the 1937 Craftsman catalog but in
1938 they (Sears) opted out for a 24" scrollie with not even
have the prettiness of the one you got.
The 1938 Walker-Turner catalog doesn't show it but does show
the next step in the evolution of this model. And yes the
spring tube attached to the upper arm was semi-radically
different from your saw.
>I haven't found a Craftsman model number yet. If anyone would like
>to help me identify this guy, I've posted pics at a.b.p.w.
The catalog number from the Craftsman catalog is 99 PM 2267.
This catalog number will not appear on the saw, it's just a
paper catalog number. "If" you find a number on the saw it
will more than likely start with a three-digit prefix
followed by another set of numbers. Normally these tags
were pretty prominent so if you haven't found it you'll more
than likely not find it.
What you may find is numbers cast into the parts. These
were Walker-Turner's part numbers.
Your model as it was sold by Walker-Turner was a J740. You
might be able to dredge up a Walker-Turner catalog on eBay.
Look for catalogs from 1935(ish) to 1937. Also look for the
same from Craftsman.
Something else to watch for on eBay is the
6"(ish) X 9" (ish) booklet put out for the scroll saw by
Walker-Turner. This will more than likely be the closest
you'll ever come to an operator's manual.
You might be able to get more info from the King of
Walker-Turner, Jeff Hoffman.
Jeff D Hoffman <[email protected]>
Good luck.
UA100
On Sun, 16 May 2004 02:36:12 +0000, Unisaw A100 wrote:
> You've not done too awful bad. In fact you're way on top of it. It does
> show up in the 1937 Craftsman catalog but in 1938 they (Sears) opted out
> for a 24" scrollie with not even have the prettiness of the one you got.
>
> The 1938 Walker-Turner catalog doesn't show it but does show the next step
> in the evolution of this model. And yes the spring tube attached to the
> upper arm was semi-radically different from your saw.
Yup, I'm seeing that '38+ model (J782) a bunch. There's even one on eBay
now. $299 opening bid, but no one has bitten yet.
> The catalog number from the Craftsman catalog is 99 PM 2267. This catalog
> number will not appear on the saw, it's just a paper catalog number. "If"
> you find a number on the saw it will more than likely start with a
> three-digit prefix followed by another set of numbers. Normally these
> tags were pretty prominent so if you haven't found it you'll more than
> likely not find it.
There doesn't seem to be a plate missing anywhere. Guess I'll have to wing
it. On OWWM there's an exploded parts diagram for the Craftsman
103.0403/0404. It looks similar, but it isn't very clear.
> Your model as it was sold by Walker-Turner was a J740. You might be
> able to dredge up a Walker-Turner catalog on eBay. Look for catalogs
> from 1935(ish) to 1937. Also look for the same from Craftsman.
Digging further on OWWM, the WT '35 Driver catalog lists the J724 in this
role. Not what I have, either, but the tensioner looks the same. Looks
like mine is narrowed down to '36 or '37.
> Something else to watch for on eBay is the 6"(ish) X 9" (ish) booklet
> put out for the scroll saw by Walker-Turner. This will more than likely
> be the closest you'll ever come to an operator's manual.
>
> You might be able to get more info from the King of Walker-Turner, Jeff
> Hoffman.
>
> Jeff D Hoffman <[email protected]>
Thanks for all of your help! That was great! Did you actually go rooting
through old catalogs, or do you have an electronic source for this?
--
Thanks again,
Joe Wells
Joe Wells wrote:
>Thanks for all of your help! That was great! Did you actually go rooting
>through old catalogs, or do you have an electronic source for this?
I went rooting though there was not much to root on this
one. You gave me a general idea of the vintage and
maker/seller. I have the ancient text arranged by
manufacturer/seller. Your own leg work cut way
down on what I had to do. Something I'm not
used to, so, thank you.
UA100