Walked through an old furniture factory in New Hampshire and felt something shift

I was up in Nashua last month checking out a used planer someone was selling, and the guy let me walk through his old shop before he clears it out. The whole place still had that mix of sawdust and linseed oil smell, like my grandpa's workshop from the 80s. There was a beat up Oliver jointer from the 40s sitting in the corner, still hooked up to a line shaft. Made me wonder, how many of us even know how to set up a line shaft drive anymore? Has anyone else run across an old shop like that and felt like you were looking at a lost way of working?

2 comments

2 Comments

troy_palmer765d ago

That line about the Oliver joiner hooked to a line shaft really got me. A buddy of mine bought an old mill building in Vermont and found the whole drive system still in the ceiling, belts and all, but nobody he called knew how to get it running again. It's a shame, because those machines ran for decades with nothing but a leather belt and a bit of common sense.

anderson.gavin22h ago

Funny you mention Vermont, because I grew up near a place in New Hampshire that still had a water-powered line shaft running into the 1990s. The guy who owned it was this old timer named Hank, and he swore by it. He'd just slap a new belt on when it snapped and keep going, no fuss. The problem is the knowledge is dying out fast. Most people today don't know how to babbit a bearing or set the slack on a flat belt, so they just rip it all out and put in individual motors. I think your buddy should check with the local historical society or a mill museum in Lowell, Massachusetts. Those folks usually know someone who still runs that old stuff. Have you seen any of the original machines still in place, or just the drive system?