Thanks for your tour of these lovely restored old flat-belt driven machine tools, circa 1900. I started selling custom gears in 1970 and well recall the oldest shops still with line shaft driven equipment such as Belding Corticelli lace weaving. I also recall the old Cadieux machine shop, a curiosity at that time too. Also line shafts. We mage to acquire quite a few older wood laminated flat belt pulleys in our collection. but need line shaft hangers, bearings etc. Our goal is to maybe create a museum called "Centre Interpretation Industriel de Montreal" ("Montreal Industrial History Interpretation Center) featuring similar machines- all operational. So far we managed to find flat-belt driven: punch press (1880, 2 lathes, 1895, iron worker, 1912, helve=hammer-1905, column drill, 1893 and seek more.
Again you've brought back my childhood memories! At 9 years, I spent my first entire summer staying with my grandparents and working in my grandpa's blacksmith and machine shop. Plus some farming. My first job when I got there was spring cleaning for grandma, then I went into the rafters to oil, grease, and clean the old machines in his shop. I recall my grandma bringing us our dinner meal and spotting me up in the rafters and running shafts, covered in grease and soot. I learned that grandma could tell out words I'd never have dreamed she even knew, much less would use!
My Dad worked at a flour mill, line shaft belt drive electric motor power. The building was five stories. At the end of the building was a large flat belt that went through all five floors. It had handle and a platform to stand on. This ran all the time, the motor was running. You just steped on the platform and grabed the handle, and zipped up or down. Just step off on the floor you wanted. What a time saver. I don't remember my Dad talking about grease monkeys. This was before OSHA, LOL. Thanks for the videos. Please give us an update on your health.
That was great Lyle! Thank you for that fascinating insight to a line shop machine shop. In 1970 when I was an apprentice my firm of church organ builders owned another company who turned ivory for stop knobs and thumb pistons for organ consoles in North West London here in the UK. The factory was going to be redeveloped and the turning shop was being relocated to the console shop around the corner in Bethnal Green East London. The original turning shop was all line shafting throughout the building which consisted of a number of different businesses including engineering firms as well. The turning shop had been in operation from the early 1890's apart from war work in the first and second world wars, at that location. It was fascinating to see all the line shafting up above the machines. Only the tooling was retained. The line shafting went to scrap as far as I can remember. Think of all that bar stock I could have had lol. I'd love to see more of the museum AND the river museum and aquarium, because I too am a river enthusiast and angler!
Thanks Lyle...We had a local line-shaft shop when I was 18yrs old {1950} which I visited many times It was a pretty large shop and they specialized in large boat shafts, propellers, etc. They were situated right on the water's edge, on Tampa bay, next to a boat yard..It was diesel powered IIRC.....I was working in a more modern machine shop at the time..I remember the wood floors shaking and the belts slapping when they were in full operation. Your video brings back some good old memories...
That is one of the best restoration/reproduction line shaft displays I've seen. I did not see any steam leaks or water droplets Mr. Pete so I believe you're right on the compressed air. Thanks!
As a young man I use to take parts to have boring, keying and lathe work done in a old shop like this. It had thick large wooden planking for flooring. I was always fascinated by the large wooden pulleys which sometime slapped the leather belts together here and there. The working machinists were at the time, seemed to be dressed in a a pin-stripe railroad-like uniform and hat. Also pyramid-like piles of metal shavings were under all the machines. Many years later the shop closed and I was lucky enough to acquire some various sizes of old wooden pulleys and glass oilers. I treasure them today. Thank you so much for your video and reminding me of those by-gone days.
As a child in the 1950's I would walk past this large building everyday on my way to school. I went thru all the grades K thru 6th. at the same school. The building was very noisy and was setback from the street, so I never saw any kind of sign for the building. Jump forward to the late 1970's when I was working for my friend of 55 years as of now. He has a antique car wrecking yard / scrap metal busines he has been running since 1953 and still does today 70 years later. We got a call to go to this same place that I had walked past everyday as a child to pick up a lot of scrap metal. It turns out it was a machine shop and all the machines were run by line shafts. This is the first time I had ever seen a shop with this type machines that were belt powered. Outside the building half covered up was a hit & miss engine about the size of a VW Bug car that was also for sale. The man who was selling everything show us a very large electric motor that replaced the hit & miss engine to power the shop. The name of the shop was I believe a French name Fontineers and this was in the town of Napa California.
Hi Mr Pete, good to have you back to your old self again. I always look forward to your videos, I never miss one. Thanks again for being there. Please take good care of your self. From Sydney Australia..
So happy to see you well again! Thank you for taking us along on your visit. That is a really cool shop/museum! Thanks also for the origin of the term "grease monkey". I had no idea, although I've heard it and used it for most of my 60 years.
Thanks Mr. Pete for taking me a long. I remember as a child the black smith shop in Tiptonville Tn. Has a lot of machine that were line belt driven. The steam engine was gone and replace by the largest electric motor that I has seen at the time. Thanks for taking the time to do these video, always enjoyable.
That was my first "job" as an oil monkey in a line shaft shop, Ros Brothers Machine Works. It had a big DC motor that ran the shop and a steam engine that ran the shaft and turned the motor for lights for when the power went out! Your video brings back a lot of good memories .
Great video. Enjoy seeing how machine work was done over One Hundred years ago. What some call primitive. But was made very Precious. Some still running today. Thank You for the pictures including your Lovely Young Wife.
Great video Mr. Pete. The building that our home decor and gift shop is in was built in 1900 in Estherville, IA. It was a line shaft driven "planing mill". This was a wood working business that among other things milled wood for architectural trim. It was powered with a 5 HP Dayton engine located in the back room. When my Dad bought the building it was then used as a Western Union office but all the heavy timbers with huge bolts were still in place on the 12 foot high ceilings. The motor base was a concrete pad in a corner and I found a news article that mentioned a fire behind the building when lightening struck the fuel tank.
Don't give up on the faded slides. There are a couple of programmes that were made specifically to restore Ektachrome and the like. They work quite well.
Back in 1965 I started my apprenticeship in a small shop in Rochester ny ,Monroe tool and die ,they had over head belt running some Of the machine ,my job once a week was to oil the bearings on the line shaft the older men would get mad because I use to much Oil and it would drip on the floor.thanks mike
Fascinating stuff indeed. Thank you. Southwest of my home town of Bolton lies Manchester that was a huge innovator of machine tools in the early 19th century onwards. Greater Manchester Museum of Science and Industry has a wealth of exhibits that your viewers might find interesting if visiting the UK. It’s part of the National ‘Science Museum Group’ (aligned with the Science Museum, London) and has exhibits connected with Henry Maudsley, Richard Roberts and the giant of engineering, Joseph Whitworth. Who hasn’t heard of ‘Whitworth threads’? The museum is full of historic stuff, too much to mention here, but some available ‘online’. I find your videos give me a warm feeling inside, that traditional engineering is still alive in many parts of the world - especially both sides of the Pond!! 👍🇬🇧👍🇺🇸👍
Lyle: thank goodness you are feeling better. This reminds me of my grandad's old shop. I was too young to appreciate it at the time. He used a old single lung hit and miss to power it. Also, I bought a copy of Bull of the woods. Its a HOOT!
Wonderful video, and audio seemed great to me. Reminds mew of recent visit to my cousin's shop in southern VT - both of us near your age, he still running shop with a few machines still on line shaft. History in every corner there too but still a working place.
Thanks Lyle, You added another stop to my bucket list. The bottom mounted rack on the lathe must have been a real pain requiring chips to be constantly swept out in order for the carriage not to bind up.
There was still an active metal shop powered by line drive system in Dubuque down in the south end of the mill work district. Had them fix a number of things when I lived there.
Super video Lyle. Love the machine shop. I was lucky enough to work in a machin shop that had a VBM that came from that era over head belt drive with a 48" table she ran at one speed but did the boring and turning on giant cast bearing blocks for the steel mill. I had about six indicators on every axis to control accuracy . She could still do it too. Its been about fifty yrs ago now.
Good day to you Mr. Pete, that was a wonderful tour of an old belt driven machine shop.i too am very appreciative of old machinery which were cast instead of weldments that we mostly have nowadays.makes a fellow really appreciate those old pattern makers & foundry men.
Mr. Pete I hope you are feeling better. I love how the creator of theses machines took great pride in their creations. Taking the extra time out and going the extra mile to make it not only functional but beautiful to the eye.
Fantastic museum setup!!! ‘Bout the only thing missing in that shop, would’ve been several many layers of caked on oily soot, grime, hardened grease, heavily oiled wooden floor slats &, many MANY random metal shavings strewn about! Now granted, not ALL machine shops from way back in the day weren’t allowed to get filthy dirty but, 9 x’s out of 10, yeah… at least for the shops like that, that I’ve personally been in & experienced firsthand, back in the ‘80’s thru early 2000’s, of which only a couple still exist (😭), they very much had LAYERS UPON LAYERS of “stories” to tell! Great filiming & glad you caught that bit of overhead clutch engagement/disengagement operation! TY Mr Pete!!
That was very interesting thanks. Some day I'll put a small line shaft behind one of my workbenches to run a a jewellers lathe and a variety of other small machines. It seems like a good idea anyway, but who knows.
Rough and Tumble museum and historical society has a machine shop that is recreated, and fully functional. I've sold machinable plastics to at least one of the machinists there for projects on the property, and this area is in close proximity to the blacksmith shop, and they have a smithing school, where one of the past students was a 12 year old girl.
Delightful. Yes, the castings are really nice. I may have told you there was a little in line shop a guy had in his house (two story, maybe 20 x 20) that went up for auction. He had shaper, lathes, drill presses and even a bridgeport. I think it was all bought by some Amish guys. I always marvel at the old machine and it truly shows the skill of the guys who worked them. Even the foot tredle wood lathes, just make me marvel.
Thank You, Mr. Pete, always fascinated with our ancestral technology. I've been in shops where the remnants of the line shaft are still hanging from the ceiling, long displaced by the electric motor.
Very nice video Lyle. I assume we like the river so much because it's calming. No hustle and bustle of the world. A person just sits back and watches the world go by. Nice "line shop".
Those old line shaft shops are fascinating! And the old machinery was indeed eye appealing, people took pride in their work once upon a time. Today it would be much easier to make decorative machinery with the technology we have available, but no one cares to. Thanks for taking us along Mr. Pete! Glad you are over to covid and feeling yourself again. God Bless
Those line shaft factories are always interesting; but even more interesting is the origin of "grease monkey".... I always wondered and now I know. I'm a Brit now retired and living in Malaysia. Over here we still have monkeys trained to pluck coconuts from the very tall palms. Just like people, after they have harvested what they think is enough coconuts, they go on strike and refuse to do any more work for the day. Thanks Mr. Pete. Ian.
It looks like a lovely museum, as many have said it is a really nice reproduction. Another one for my list. I remember you telling us the story and even showing us a photo taken from a news clipping, but I would still be very interested in hearing more about your adventures!
That is a sweet musuem and display of belt driven equipment, you are right Tubalcain they definitely made works of art when they built those antique machines. Spectacular video.
That was a very interesting video, nice to see how thing were made in the early days, thanks for sharing mrpete222, really enjoyed it, cheers from me. 😷👍👍👍👍👍
Great video, I much enjoyed the machine shop tour! I used to watch an older gentleman that ran his shop on steam, loved his videos, but unfortunately, I no longer see any, old or new, in my feed. Keep up the great videos.
It is nice to see a museum put together to try to give a sense of what an old machine shop would have been like. Thank you for taking us along with you! 😁👍😁
Another interesting video. Really amazing how far electricity has taken us. Kudos for calling out your wife in the video. I always thought it was a cool relationship you two had . Every auction I ever saw you at she was right there with you. Awesome. Hope to see you at auction soon.
Very interesting! I have never considered how early manufacturers (pre electrical) powered ALL the machines in their factory or how each machine was disconnected from that power source. And no, I didn't know the term "grease monkey" started there but it certainly makes sense. Now it's clear as can be how incredibly dangerous it was for everyone working in those early days of the industrial revolution. The ornamental features made into the machine castings are a reminder to us all to do our very best and take pride in one's work. Hopefully it will be here for all the world to see and appreciate long after we're gone. (Plus, it distinguished one brand from all others) Thanks for the field trip Mr. Pete! As always I learned something and had fun doing it. And, God bless your Captain! She's obviously a special lady.
Great Video Lyle, I get real euphoric when You do these Field trips... I'll have to make a Road trip down there, 230 Miles for Me... Much Thanks, Mike M.
Really enjoyed seeing this shop. Even though workers would try and be careful, they had to experienced accidents on a regular basis. No workers comp back then!
Hi Lyle, it was great seeing you at Arnfest. I love this museum, the last time I was there was about 7 years ago and they had not set up the machine shop exhibit yet. Were you able to go aboard the dredging ship, I love the machine shop it has.
Thanks Mr. Pete. This is an incredible shop. No, I cannot imagine working in a facility like this. I wonder if it was a lot of noise when people were working there or not as much as one might think? On question, did your high school power Marvel power hacksaw require Marvel Mystery Oil? (rim shot)
Good healthier morning, Lyle! Guess what I have in my kitchen? An antique wooden pulley wheel that might from some Northern NY factory... thanks for sharing your adventure! Hope you are feeling better!
I read somewhere a lot of artisan wood carvers were hired on as pattern makers in the foundry years ago....And it shows. My Dad would buy and sell used machinery when I was a kid We were looking over a fire pump every thing on it was ornate. When i asked him why they dont make stuff like that now he said because back then people took pride in there work. Nice video I can smell the steam and oil
You mentioned the "Bull of The Woods" cartoons, this was one of my favorites as a young lad. I have you bested by about 6 years. My uncle was a machinist and always had a BOTW calendar or two laying around. In fact, one of my favorite answers when someone asks me what school I graduate from. EG & MT I say proudly. No one has ever asked me what EG & MT stands for or any more about the school. It comes from a BOTW cartoon where a young engineer is trying to explain his drawing to one of the old timers in the shop and some on lookers saying aside, I bet EG&MT stands for Eight Grade Manual Training. Hang in there youngen, it's all downhill from here on.
Amazing to see this, thank you for capturing it for all of us to see. There was a fabulous if eccentric man here in England named Fred Dibnah who was a national treasure, who built a stream engine powered workshop in his garden. Astonishingly, after he died, it was not preserved and turned into a museum. Very sad.
A lot of old belt drive machines were converted to electric motor using truck transmissions.The trannys were usually perched atop or beside the headstock.This was a favorite trick by the "in" crowd.Maybe one day Mr, Pete will do a video on these machines
Very neat shop. Wonderful piece of history. Could you just imagine working in that shop for 10-12 hours a day, it would have been very hot in there too I’d imagine. Loud, dirty, dangerous.. checked all the boxes for me ! Sign me up ! Haha
Thanks again Mr. Pete! Love those old flat belt machines. At 9:29 you have the "Red Top Engine". Some of the best Ferrari engines were named Testa Rossa, or Testarossa, red head in Italian, for their red cam covers. Unfortunately I can see no connection between the two.
What a great tour! My only lathe is a WF Barnes #6 with patent date 1880 cast in the bed, it would fit right in there. I still use it for the occasional project.
Very interesting I too like history and am amazed how ornate items were. I guess it’s the pride of workmanship. Where today it’s all about the bottom line.
As a boy and young man (I am now 75 years old) I can remember a shop on my uncle's farm with overhead shaft driven machines. The farm has long been out of my family after passing to a grandchild of my uncle. I never knew what happened to the machines but I expect they went to the scrap yard. I have in my shop a shaper that was build in Cincinnati Ohio in the 1880's that has been converted to electric motor with a mechanical variable speed control.
Another nice video…. Thank you. The line shafts don’t have the cardboard disks on them, like they do at greenfield village… to keep the shafts corrosion free…. I hope you are feeling better. All the best. Chuck
OSHA would have a field day in that place.Manufacturers added decorative touches to machines cuz it was thought it helped sales,not because some were closet interior decorators.They also added pinstripes to machines.I once saw a Indian Motocycle salesroom from the early 1950s that had floral arrangements all over the place.They actually thought it would help sales
Nice videp. This summer I saw a lathe and a drill press, both belt driven and still used! The power source was an electric motor. The place was an old locomotive shop in a round house.
That rack must have really been a great catch for chips! Cincinnati was a big builder of steamboat engines back in the day. Most of the places that built them have been wiped out by the ball fields these days.
Thats was awesome mr pete. They have a similar setup at the vista steam museum in vista ca about a hour and a half from where i live i always enjoy going there 😊
I had a summer job at a steel mill in PA. There was a shaft driven nail mill that was retired in place but had to be exercised periodically to keep the belts supple. When running it sounded like a machine gun battle.
Nice Job Mr Pete. I love most of your museum trips. If I am ever out that way again I will have to plan a stop in Dubuque. I was in Chicago last week and unfortunately did not have time to stop at the Museum of industry. One day maybe. Cheers
Thanks. Nice. I guess some shops - maybe this one too - were powered by waterforce whenever possible. Once I have visited one like that totally on waterpower, still beeing used but less intensive; I think in Belgium. It is so nice to have it all working and no noises from any engine. Of course the belts, gears and tools make noises but those make a totally different sound. Of course I also like the sound of youth whenever the old lathe was starting in 2 steps and slowly came to speed.
Thanks for your tour of these lovely restored old flat-belt driven machine tools, circa 1900. I started selling custom gears in 1970 and well recall the oldest shops still with line shaft driven equipment such as Belding Corticelli lace weaving. I also recall the old Cadieux machine shop, a curiosity at that time too. Also line shafts. We mage to acquire quite a few older wood laminated flat belt pulleys in our collection. but need line shaft hangers, bearings etc. Our goal is to maybe create a museum called "Centre Interpretation Industriel de Montreal" ("Montreal Industrial History Interpretation Center) featuring similar machines- all operational. So far we managed to find flat-belt driven: punch press (1880, 2 lathes, 1895, iron worker, 1912, helve=hammer-1905, column drill, 1893 and seek more.
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Love line shaft shops , thanks for the video 👍🏻🇬🇧
Again you've brought back my childhood memories! At 9 years, I spent my first entire summer staying with my grandparents and working in my grandpa's blacksmith and machine shop. Plus some farming. My first job when I got there was spring cleaning for grandma, then I went into the rafters to oil, grease, and clean the old machines in his shop. I recall my grandma bringing us our dinner meal and spotting me up in the rafters and running shafts, covered in grease and soot. I learned that grandma could tell out words I'd never have dreamed she even knew, much less would use!
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My Dad worked at a flour mill, line shaft belt drive electric motor power. The building was five stories.
At the end of the building was a large flat belt that went through all five floors. It had handle and a platform to stand on. This ran all the time, the motor was running. You just steped on the platform and grabed the handle, and zipped up or down. Just step off on the floor you wanted. What a time saver. I don't remember my Dad talking about grease monkeys. This was before OSHA, LOL.
Thanks for the videos. Please give us an update on your health.
That was great Lyle! Thank you for that fascinating insight to a line shop machine shop. In 1970 when I was an apprentice my firm of church organ builders owned another company who turned ivory for stop knobs and thumb pistons for organ consoles in North West London here in the UK. The factory was going to be redeveloped and the turning shop was being relocated to the console shop around the corner in Bethnal Green East London. The original turning shop was all line shafting throughout the building which consisted of a number of different businesses including engineering firms as well. The turning shop had been in operation from the early 1890's apart from war work in the first and second world wars, at that location. It was fascinating to see all the line shafting up above the machines. Only the tooling was retained. The line shafting went to scrap as far as I can remember. Think of all that bar stock I could have had lol. I'd love to see more of the museum AND the river museum and aquarium, because I too am a river enthusiast and angler!
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Thanks Lyle...We had a local line-shaft shop when I was 18yrs old {1950} which I visited many times It was a pretty large shop and they specialized in large boat shafts, propellers, etc. They were situated right on the water's edge, on Tampa bay, next to a boat yard..It was diesel powered IIRC.....I was working in a more modern machine shop at the time..I remember the wood floors shaking and the belts slapping when they were in full operation. Your video brings back some good old memories...
That is one of the best restoration/reproduction line shaft displays I've seen. I did not see any steam leaks or water droplets Mr. Pete so I believe you're right on the compressed air. Thanks!
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As a young man I use to take parts to have boring, keying and lathe work done in a old shop like this. It had thick large wooden planking for flooring. I was always fascinated by the large wooden pulleys which sometime slapped the leather belts together here and there. The working machinists were at the time, seemed to be dressed in a a pin-stripe railroad-like uniform and hat. Also pyramid-like piles of metal shavings were under all the machines. Many years later the shop closed and I was lucky enough to acquire some various sizes of old wooden pulleys and glass oilers. I treasure them today. Thank you so much for your video and reminding me of those by-gone days.
As a child in the 1950's I would walk past this large building everyday on my way to school. I went thru all the grades K thru 6th. at the same school. The building was very noisy and was setback from the street, so I never saw any kind of sign for the building. Jump forward to the late 1970's when I was working for my friend of 55 years as of now. He has a antique car wrecking yard / scrap metal busines he has been running since 1953 and still does today 70 years later. We got a call to go to this same place that I had walked past everyday as a child to pick up a lot of scrap metal. It turns out it was a machine shop and all the machines were run by line shafts. This is the first time I had ever seen a shop with this type machines that were belt powered. Outside the building half covered up was a hit & miss engine about the size of a VW Bug car that was also for sale. The man who was selling everything show us a very large electric motor that replaced the hit & miss engine to power the shop. The name of the shop was I believe a French name Fontineers and this was in the town of Napa California.
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Hi Mr Pete, good to have you back to your old self again. I always look forward to your videos, I never miss one. Thanks again for being there. Please take good care of your self. From Sydney Australia..
So happy to see you well again! Thank you for taking us along on your visit. That is a really cool shop/museum! Thanks also for the origin of the term "grease monkey". I had no idea, although I've heard it and used it for most of my 60 years.
Thanks Mr. Pete for taking me a long. I remember as a child the black smith shop in Tiptonville Tn. Has a lot of machine that were line belt driven. The steam engine was gone and replace by the largest electric motor that I has seen at the time. Thanks for taking the time to do these video, always enjoyable.
That was my first "job" as an oil monkey in a line shaft shop, Ros Brothers Machine Works.
It had a big DC motor that ran the shop and a steam engine that ran the shaft and turned the motor for lights for when the power went out!
Your video brings back a lot of good memories .
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Incredible tour, Mr Pete. These old machines really strike a chord in my soul.
Thank you for sharing some of the manufacturing history with us ! 👍
Absolutely fascinating!
I love a machine shop, in any of its forms.
Thank you for sharing. I, for one, really appreciate your efforts.
Great video. Enjoy seeing how machine work was done over One Hundred years ago. What some call primitive. But was made very Precious. Some still running today. Thank You for the pictures including your Lovely Young Wife.
Great video Mr. Pete. The building that our home decor and gift shop is in was built in 1900 in Estherville, IA. It was a line shaft driven "planing mill". This was a wood working business that among other things milled wood for architectural trim. It was powered with a 5 HP Dayton engine located in the back room. When my Dad bought the building it was then used as a Western Union office but all the heavy timbers with huge bolts were still in place on the 12 foot high ceilings. The motor base was a concrete pad in a corner and I found a news article that mentioned a fire behind the building when lightening struck the fuel tank.
Don't give up on the faded slides. There are a couple of programmes that were made specifically to restore Ektachrome and the like. They work quite well.
Back in 1965 I started my apprenticeship in a small shop in Rochester ny ,Monroe tool and die ,they had over head belt running some
Of the machine ,my job once a week was to oil the bearings on the line shaft the older men would get mad because I use to much
Oil and it would drip on the floor.thanks mike
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Fascinating stuff indeed. Thank you.
Southwest of my home town of Bolton lies Manchester that was a huge innovator of machine tools in the early 19th century onwards.
Greater Manchester Museum of Science and Industry has a wealth of exhibits that your viewers might find interesting if visiting the UK. It’s part of the National ‘Science Museum Group’ (aligned with the Science Museum, London) and has exhibits connected with Henry Maudsley, Richard Roberts and the giant of engineering, Joseph Whitworth. Who hasn’t heard of ‘Whitworth threads’? The museum is full of historic stuff, too much to mention here, but some available ‘online’.
I find your videos give me a warm feeling inside, that traditional engineering is still alive in many parts of the world - especially both sides of the Pond!!
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PS
Hope you are feeling better. 👍
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I love to see the old machinery running from overhead line shafts.
How smoothly and quietly.
Thanks, Mr Pete!
Very beautiful images,mrpete.Thank you.
Lyle: thank goodness you are feeling better. This reminds me of my grandad's old shop. I was too young to appreciate it at the time. He used a old single lung hit and miss to power it. Also, I bought a copy of Bull of the woods. Its a HOOT!
Wonderful video, and audio seemed great to me. Reminds mew of recent visit to my cousin's shop in southern VT - both of us near your age, he still running shop with a few machines still on line shaft. History in every corner there too but still a working place.
Thanks Lyle, You added another stop to my bucket list. The bottom mounted rack on the lathe must have been a real pain requiring chips to be constantly swept out in order for the carriage not to bind up.
There was still an active metal shop powered by line drive system in Dubuque down in the south end of the mill work district. Had them fix a number of things when I lived there.
Super video Lyle. Love the machine shop. I was lucky enough to work in a machin shop that had a VBM that came from that era over head belt drive with a 48" table she ran at one speed but did the boring and turning on giant cast bearing blocks for the steel mill. I had about six indicators on every axis to control accuracy . She could still do it too. Its been about fifty yrs ago now.
Good day to you Mr. Pete, that was a wonderful tour of an old belt driven machine shop.i too am very appreciative of old machinery which were cast instead of weldments that we mostly have nowadays.makes a fellow really appreciate those old pattern makers & foundry men.
Mr. Pete I hope you are feeling better. I love how the creator of theses machines took great pride in their creations. Taking the extra time out and going the extra mile to make it not only functional but beautiful to the eye.
Fantastic museum setup!!! ‘Bout the only thing missing in that shop, would’ve been several many layers of caked on oily soot, grime, hardened grease, heavily oiled wooden floor slats &, many MANY random metal shavings strewn about! Now granted, not ALL machine shops from way back in the day weren’t allowed to get filthy dirty but, 9 x’s out of 10, yeah… at least for the shops like that, that I’ve personally been in & experienced firsthand, back in the ‘80’s thru early 2000’s, of which only a couple still exist (😭), they very much had LAYERS UPON LAYERS of “stories” to tell! Great filiming & glad you caught that bit of overhead clutch engagement/disengagement operation! TY Mr Pete!!
Very
Interesting I love old line shaft shops like that.
That was very interesting thanks. Some day I'll put a small line shaft behind one of my workbenches to run a a jewellers lathe and a variety of other small machines. It seems like a good idea anyway, but who knows.
What a great tour of the machine shop. Nice river boat ride.
Rough and Tumble museum and historical society has a machine shop that is recreated, and fully functional. I've sold machinable plastics to at least one of the machinists there for projects on the property, and this area is in close proximity to the blacksmith shop, and they have a smithing school, where one of the past students was a 12 year old girl.
Thank you for taking us along. They certainly did cast some beauty into some of those old machines.
Delightful. Yes, the castings are really nice. I may have told you there was a little in line shop a guy had in his house (two story, maybe 20 x 20) that went up for auction. He had shaper, lathes, drill presses and even a bridgeport. I think it was all bought by some Amish guys. I always marvel at the old machine and it truly shows the skill of the guys who worked them. Even the foot tredle wood lathes, just make me marvel.
Wonderfully made video on a fascinating topic. Brevity is the soul of wit. And UA-cams.
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You certainly are doing a lot of traveling. And making a lot of interesting videos. Thanks for the video keep on keeping on.
Thank You, Mr. Pete, always fascinated with our ancestral technology. I've been in shops where the remnants of the line shaft are still hanging from the ceiling, long displaced by the electric motor.
Aloha Lyle, I enjoyed the line shaft driven machines very much. So happy you are up and about again.
Very nice video Lyle. I assume we like the river so much because it's calming. No hustle and bustle of the world. A person just sits back and watches the world go by. Nice "line shop".
Those old line shaft shops are fascinating! And the old machinery was indeed eye appealing, people took pride in their work once upon a time.
Today it would be much easier to make decorative machinery with the technology we have available, but no one cares to.
Thanks for taking us along Mr. Pete! Glad you are over to covid and feeling yourself again. God Bless
Those line shaft factories are always interesting; but even more interesting is the origin of "grease monkey".... I always wondered and now I know. I'm a Brit now retired and living in Malaysia. Over here we still have monkeys trained to pluck coconuts from the very tall palms. Just like people, after they have harvested what they think is enough coconuts, they go on strike and refuse to do any more work for the day. Thanks Mr. Pete. Ian.
lol
Thanks for the tour. People poke fun of Illinois a lot, but there is a heck of a lot of history to enjoy, not to mention some fine scenery.
That was really neat,Mr Pete. Thanks for sharing your trip with us
It looks like a lovely museum, as many have said it is a really nice reproduction. Another one for my list. I remember you telling us the story and even showing us a photo taken from a news clipping, but I would still be very interested in hearing more about your adventures!
That is a sweet musuem and display of belt driven equipment, you are right Tubalcain they definitely made works of art when they built those antique machines. Spectacular video.
That was a very interesting video, nice to see how thing were made in the early days, thanks for sharing mrpete222, really enjoyed it, cheers from me. 😷👍👍👍👍👍
Great video, I much enjoyed the machine shop tour! I used to watch an older gentleman that ran his shop on steam, loved his videos, but unfortunately, I no longer see any, old or new, in my feed. Keep up the great videos.
Thanks for sharing .... Glad you are doing better ... Stay safe and well ...
It is nice to see a museum put together to try to give a sense of what an old machine shop would have been like. Thank you for taking us along with you! 😁👍😁
Awesome !! thanks! I'm glad to see you back at it!! stay well my friend.
Another interesting video. Really amazing how far electricity has taken us. Kudos for calling out your wife in the video. I always thought it was a cool relationship you two had . Every auction I ever saw you at she was right there with you. Awesome. Hope to see you at auction soon.
Mr. Pete tell us about the woman on the picture behind your workbench. I've noticed she is always there. Not by accident?
Thank You, Mr. Pete, always fascinated with your videos!!!
Thank you Mr Pete. That was fascinating.
Very interesting! I have never considered how early manufacturers (pre electrical) powered ALL the machines in their factory or how each machine was disconnected from that power source. And no, I didn't know the term "grease monkey" started there but it certainly makes sense. Now it's clear as can be how incredibly dangerous it was for everyone working in those early days of the industrial revolution.
The ornamental features made into the machine castings are a reminder to us all to do our very best and take pride in one's work. Hopefully it will be here for all the world to see and appreciate long after we're gone. (Plus, it distinguished one brand from all others)
Thanks for the field trip Mr. Pete! As always I learned something and had fun doing it. And, God bless your Captain! She's obviously a special lady.
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Great Video Lyle,
I get real euphoric when You do these Field trips...
I'll have to make a Road trip down there, 230 Miles for Me...
Much Thanks, Mike M.
Really enjoyed seeing this shop. Even though workers would try and be careful, they had to experienced accidents on a regular basis.
No workers comp back then!
Hello to Mrs mrpete. Good for you for giving your sweetheart a shoutout.
Cool! Thanks Mr Pete, and I look forward to the follow-ups.
Good video Mr. Pete. That big drill press with the round table caught my eye. Thanks
Great field trip Mr Pete. Thank you sir. 🖖
Thanks for another interesting video MrPete.
Good Sunday Morning Mr Pete!!!
The Tennessee Mole Man
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Hi Lyle, it was great seeing you at Arnfest. I love this museum, the last time I was there was about 7 years ago and they had not set up the machine shop exhibit yet. Were you able to go aboard the dredging ship, I love the machine shop it has.
Yes, I took some footage
Thanks Mr. Pete. This is an incredible shop. No, I cannot imagine working in a facility like this. I wonder if it was a lot of noise when people were working there or not as much as one might think? On question, did your high school power Marvel power hacksaw require Marvel Mystery Oil? (rim shot)
Good healthier morning, Lyle! Guess what I have in my kitchen? An antique wooden pulley wheel that might from some Northern NY factory... thanks for sharing your adventure! Hope you are feeling better!
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Thanks Mr. Pete, enjoyed seeing this video
I read somewhere a lot of artisan wood carvers were hired on as pattern makers in the foundry years ago....And it shows. My Dad would buy and sell used machinery when I was a kid We were looking over a fire pump every thing on it was ornate. When i asked him why they dont make stuff like that now he said because back then people took pride in there work. Nice video I can smell the steam and oil
Great video. I love looking at these old machines.
Really enjoyed this Mrpete 👍👍 that sounds like a great day out.
🗿thanks for sharing MrPete💯👍 enjoyed
I love the aesthetic of these old machines. They just don't put the same kind of character in the machines made in the last half century.
You mentioned the "Bull of The Woods" cartoons, this was one of my favorites as a young lad. I have you bested by about 6 years. My uncle was a machinist and always had a BOTW calendar or two laying around. In fact, one of my favorite answers when someone asks me what school I graduate from. EG & MT I say proudly. No one has ever asked me what EG & MT stands for or any more about the school. It comes from a BOTW cartoon where a young engineer is trying to explain his drawing to one of the old timers in the shop and some on lookers saying aside, I bet EG&MT stands for Eight Grade Manual Training.
Hang in there youngen, it's all downhill from here on.
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Amazing to see this, thank you for capturing it for all of us to see.
There was a fabulous if eccentric man here in England named Fred Dibnah who was a national treasure, who built a stream engine powered workshop in his garden.
Astonishingly, after he died, it was not preserved and turned into a museum.
Very sad.
I have watched all of his videos
I have a Marvel belt driven hacksaw on my demonstration trailer. You don't see many these days. Thanks for the tour Mr. Pete!
A lot of old belt drive machines were converted to electric motor using truck transmissions.The trannys were usually perched atop or beside the headstock.This was a favorite trick by the "in" crowd.Maybe one day Mr, Pete will do a video on these machines
I had two older south bend machines that were converted just as you described. This was at the high school.
Very neat shop. Wonderful piece of history. Could you just imagine working in that shop for 10-12 hours a day, it would have been very hot in there too I’d imagine. Loud, dirty, dangerous.. checked all the boxes for me ! Sign me up ! Haha
Thanks again Mr. Pete! Love those old flat belt machines.
At 9:29 you have the "Red Top Engine". Some of the best Ferrari engines were named Testa Rossa, or Testarossa, red head in Italian, for their red cam covers. Unfortunately I can see no connection between the two.
Thanks for the great video.
What a great tour! My only lathe is a WF Barnes #6 with patent date 1880 cast in the bed, it would fit right in there. I still use it for the occasional project.
Very interesting I too like history and am amazed how ornate items were. I guess it’s the pride of workmanship. Where today it’s all about the bottom line.
Nice look back in time thanks Mr pete
Enjoyed this video a lot.
As a boy and young man (I am now 75 years old) I can remember a shop on my uncle's farm with overhead shaft driven machines. The farm has long been out of my family after passing to a grandchild of my uncle. I never knew what happened to the machines but I expect they went to the scrap yard. I have in my shop a shaper that was build in Cincinnati Ohio in the 1880's that has been converted to electric motor with a mechanical variable speed control.
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Another nice video…. Thank you. The line shafts don’t have the cardboard disks on them, like they do at greenfield village… to keep the shafts corrosion free…. I hope you are feeling better. All the best. Chuck
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Very interesting.
OSHA would have a field day in that place.Manufacturers added decorative touches to machines cuz it was thought it helped sales,not because some were closet interior decorators.They also added pinstripes to machines.I once saw a Indian Motocycle salesroom from the early 1950s that had floral arrangements all over the place.They actually thought it would help sales
Nice videp.
This summer I saw a lathe and a drill press, both belt driven and still used! The power source was an electric motor. The place was an old locomotive shop in a round house.
Very interesting. Thank you
Great video. Thanks!
Thanks Mr Pete great stuff we hope you’re doing well
That rack must have really been a great catch for chips! Cincinnati was a big builder of steamboat engines back in the day. Most of the places that built them have been wiped out by the ball fields these days.
Thats was awesome mr pete. They have a similar setup at the vista steam museum in vista ca about a hour and a half from where i live i always enjoy going there 😊
I had a summer job at a steel mill in PA. There was a shaft driven nail mill that was retired in place but had to be exercised periodically to keep the belts supple. When running it sounded like a machine gun battle.
Nice Job Mr Pete. I love most of your museum trips. If I am ever out that way again I will have to plan a stop in Dubuque. I was in Chicago last week and unfortunately did not have time to stop at the Museum of industry. One day maybe. Cheers
Enjoyed, enjoyed, enjoyed.
Thanks. Nice.
I guess some shops - maybe this one too - were powered by waterforce whenever possible.
Once I have visited one like that totally on waterpower, still beeing used but less intensive; I think in Belgium. It is so nice to have it all working and no noises from any engine. Of course the belts, gears and tools make noises but those make a totally different sound. Of course I also like the sound of youth whenever the old lathe was starting in 2 steps and slowly came to speed.