S.P. Wormwood Benchtop Metal Planer

Here is a Little planer I recently acquired... It has a very nice original patina but looks like some one over time has made a few changes. The handles were chromed at one time and is peeling... Does anyone know if the parts shown in my pics would have been originally nickle plated or not? Also the belt shifting mechanism has a few fabricated parts. I would love to borrow a casting to reproduce my missing parts or at least see some detailed photos of these parts from some one that owns one. Any help would be greatly appreciated to help me get this planer back to complete. Thanks George 717-495-7238

first off chrome plating did not come into general use untill 1930 approx. Second parts !! you probably have the only survivor. That one bit is crude fab job for sure.

It's so cute! i want one =D I've never seen another like it so you'll probably have to fabricate everything you need. Doubtful that the plating was original, usually they were just a fine polish on old machines.

Wormwood Planers

Google search actually works!

Another Wormwood planer

Sorry to dredge up an old thread, but I see you still own the planer and posted a picture of it in June '21
I am starting work on this- it seems to be nearly identical to yours

Did you ever find any information? I am trying to find out how the reversing mechanism and the tool feed worked and looked like.
There are no markings or nameplate or any trace of paint on this machine. I am assuming it is an S.P. Wormwood based on a few other hits on the Web. Any information you could point me to? Thanks.

Looking at it, that rod in yours behind the crossrail assembly compared to the rod in the other pics from the OP. In the other the rod has a loop, currently in the pic laying on the floor in front of the pulleys. There are two holes in the rod that look right for the shifting loop.

Yours has an eye fitting where I'd expect the belt shifter to be.

The loop would shift the belt between pulleys, potentially changing direction. It looks as if there are three, a fast, a loose in the middle, and another fast for reverse. I've seen that most old planers seem to have used that method.

I'm not even sure that the other original unit has the entire mechanism, but we don't have the view from below to know. There would need to be some mechanism to shift the belt by moving the rod and loop across the pulleys, working from a rotary action by the shift dog.

In the OPs pics, ther is a bent rod going up the side of the frame, I don't understand that rod at all, it does not seem to relate to the shifter or anything else.

The bent rod on the OP machine is part of the tool feed mechanism, there is a ratcheting rod and gear on the feed screw behind the manual handle.

These screenshots are from a google search that seems to be a ghost picture from a Korean (?) EBay sale- dead end when you try to open the page. Anyone recognize this machine? It is the most complete I have seen

Ah, makes sense. the reverse is connected elsewhere then, and may be missing on both .

Crossfeed is connected wrong on the OP's if the pics you have are right.

55pickup said:

The bent rod on the OP machine is part of the tool feed mechanism, there is a ratcheting rod and gear on the feed screw behind the manual handle.
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These screenshots are from a google search that seems to be a ghost picture from a Korean (?) EBay sale- dead end when you try to open the page. Anyone recognize this machine? It is the most complete I have seen

Click to expand...

That was sold on ebay in the USA not to long ago. My nephew bought it.
A fellow PM member and friend picked it up and is holding it for my nephew, who just left to go and pick it up.
Use the private messages and send me your email address and I can email you better pictures.

Rob

Finding these few pictures has helped me dig up a few more parts I did not know belonged to this machine
I also found two pulleys, one has the gear on it, so reversing on this machine is done by shifting the one belt back and forth- it looks like the eye shown in the pulley picture is the belt shifter. I seem to be missing the center idler pulley- I need to find out if it is just like the other "non gear" pulley

Also seen in the "small parts" pic is the lever and shifter arm the OP was asking about. Hopefully Hit & Miss will see this. I still need to see or understand how the belt shifter is controlled.

JST Thanks for your replies. Do you think this request for information would do better as a new thread?