No, I did not find an old Ferrari in a barn. Much more mundane than that. I helped a friend move his machine shop, and as his new digs are much cozier than the old ones, He generously gifted me with a doorstop.
This is a 24 stage rotary feed table, with 7 "stations" and one empty. Not shown is the big brass air cylinder which normally attaches to the right hand side of the thing and causes the upper part to rotate when activated. So far I have been unable to get the cylinder to move at all except by pushing it in and out manually. The valve attached to it is a marvel to behold, and possibly an even bigger marvel to make work. I've removed the cylinder and disassembled the valve. I may sent it to the Smithsonian with my blessing as long as they promise not to send it back.
The Table is a product of the Bellows Company, which seems to have vanished from the face of the earth unless the Schraeder/Bellows/Parker company is the corporate descendant of it. Anyone in Akron know anything? That's where the thing was reputedly made. There's even a Bellows St in Akron so there's a possibility there are drawings for this thing there.
Having removed the recalcitrant air cylinder and soaked the underpinnings in gasoline, I'm seeing some movement of the upper part, however reluctant.
I'm thinking of trying to make a fully functional reloading press out of this at some point, but having something this steampunk ker-chunking about might serve even as a piece of art. No one has any idea what this thing was used for originally.
3 comments:
If you get it working, be sure to watch your fingers.... :)
Been there, done that, missing a bit of one finger.
That sucks! Years ago I nearly amputated the tip of my trigger finger, and told the Doc he had to save it. He did, but I got a nasty scar out of it, and it's pretty much numb.
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