Powell planer rescued

So i closed the deal on on this baby and got it home.
It is not in operational condition as is but the care taken to protect the ways give some hope. But a minimum of disassembly and cleaning is needed and then an evaluation.
The DC Drive also need some tlc.

I would appreciate any and all info about it.
Got one handle with dial on it but think something is missing..

Lumberjack said:

So i closed the deal on on this baby and got it home.
It is not in operational condition as is but the care taken to protect the ways give some hope. But a minimum of disassembly and cleaning is needed and then an evaluation.
The DC Drive also need some tlc.

I would appreciate any and all info about it.
Got one handle with dial on it but think something is missing..

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Looks like a very nice machine, and appears somewhat modern, with the guards and electrical panels. Best of luck with your new machine !!!

Very nice. Now you'll have plenty of space to lay down things of less than immediate use in your shop.

Kidding - of course.

Ken Cope's book "American Planer, Shaper, and Slotter Builders" has about two pages on Albert Powell and his machine tool companies - one company in reality founded around Powell and his sons, but which went through "iterations."

Your planer appears to be the "second incarnation" which would be "Powell Planer Co. - Worcester, Mass"

Organized in 1887 by Albert M. Powell, Edward M. Woodward (a later planer builder himself) and George W. Fifield (of Lowell, MA Fifield Lathe fame) The firm reorganized as the Woodward & Powell Planer Co. in 1899.

Early production included a heavier design planer (Fig. 1) in 30" x 30" x "any length" which, by 1894 had been considerably improved (Fig. 2) and was available in lengths from 8' to 16'

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Fig. 2 appears to be your planer. Thus it would appear your planer might be from 1894 to perhaps 1899 when the company name changed into the Woodward & Powell Planer Co.

Hope this helps. The Ken Cope book is no longer in print, and used copies have been selling for considerable sums. Astragal Press has been bought out by Rowan & Littlefield with no announcement on continuing the book line. http://www.astragalpress.com/

Joe in NH

Cool congrats.

That's nice. I wonder what is the purpose of the 'horn' cast into the end of the sliding table?

Thanks for that info!

There is really not much to find online.

Its amazing its been around for 120 years+ and is not about to be retired yet.

I has been upgraded / modernized with the DC drive (ward-leonard type maybe) of ASEA, former ABB. Must have been Costly at the time. It also have a centralkubrication system installed from similar period of time as the electric drive stuff.

I will add some more pics as I get to work on it.

Peter. said:

That's nice. I wonder what is the purpose of the 'horn' cast into the end of the sliding table?

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Should be to give that extra punch in the thigh when walking by too close haha

More seriously i have no clue But it would be very Nice too use for lifting the table but i am not 100% sure if it is strong enough.

Peter. said:

That's nice. I wonder what is the purpose of the 'horn' cast into the end of the sliding table?

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I'm sure it was just cast in there to give a convenient lifting point for lifting and flipping the table while scraping.

The "horn" you see is a convention used to be sure the table doesn't "run off" the ways at the extreme end of travel. It has extension to the rack (of rack & pinion fame) such that the drive gear remains in mesh with the rack.

One of the design bug-a-boos with many planers was a tendency for the table to "get-away", possibly from over-running the gear or - more commonly - from an object placed on the table and position of the table at end of stroke making it fatally unbalanced. Such an occurrence was always "checked" prior to use, but sometimes the reverse motion of the object being planed and its height above the platen proper was enough to put it over the edge, when a static check seemed fine. Such an occurrence was fraught with some danger as even the vibration of the platen falling to the floor might be enough to "change" the platen flat-wise - causing a reason to "level" the entire platen surface by taking a skim-cut over the whole thing. This involves time - which then as now is in short supply.

And, of course the lost time to get everything apart, inspected for damage, hoisted back into place on the planer frame, and the work of set up A SECOND TIME trying to match tool path and level and finish the job without discernible inaccuracy - and doing so perhaps best without having to start the entire machining job again.

My circa 1860ish "No name" planer (poss. D. Chamberlain) has the horn AND "keepers" (gibs) under the platen to make sure this doesn't happen. I thought the incorporation of keepers quite advanced for 1860ish. You might wish to check this planer for this feature.

Joe in NH

Joe in NH said:

The "horn" you see is a convention used to be sure the table doesn't "run off" the ways at the extreme end of travel.
Joe in NH

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Not true for this planer.
It is for lifting the table.

Rob

Robert Lang said:

Not true for this planer.
It is for lifting the table.

Rob

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And a blessing when scrape fitting table to ways - which requires the table to be "flipped" each pass