The Story of Foot Powered Machinery
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ส.ค. 2017
- Foot powered machinery was a relatively short lived form of wood and metal working equipment that played a very important role in the growth of America around the Victorian time period. Both commercial grade machines designed for the carpenter, builder and blacksmith and amateur grade machines designed for kids and hobbyist were sold. When electricity became available, most of these machines were no longer desired and were scraped. This video chronicles how all this happened.
Due to major world events I'm looking for these types of machines.
you are right to do so. And if you dont find them, you will find people ready to make them for you. They are not very difficult to make for a steel craftsman. Many youngsters are picking up the crafts of our grandfathers again, and for good reason.
it's good for a business to have a back up plan in case a temporary thing might happen to these modern electricity driven machinery
I like the way you think
Great info. Thanks for putting this together!
Thank you this was very informative. I had always wondered what happened to them. Of course, the scrap drives during the war effort. My parents talked about memories of that but I just hadn't put it together.
I have worked in moulding mills, cabinet shops, residential construction and antique restoration over the last 25 years. One of the things that has always driven me out of my gourd is the noise. That was the start of my love for foot powered machines.
A pleasure to watch! Great info
thanks for your time in putting this vid together...
i've seen the video about 20 times. i love it thanks.!
In countries facing economic crisis due to internal factors (corruption) and/or external factors (high electricity bills due to surging fuel prices) these machines are the "go to" for a home shop . . some machines don't die and I am really surprised of how much energy a foot powered fly wheel can generate to turn a spindle with enough torque to machine steel.
Thank you for the awesome video . . it is a shame that many such machines were melted for WWI effort.
Comprehensive and fascinating. Thank you!
Thank you for this.
As a carpenter in Toronto I approve this video!
Very good information. Much appreciated. Those machines are the prettiest thing in the world amongst tools. The quality is very fine, they work well and are...Totally enviromentally friendly!
Very interesting. Thanks. I'm a retired upholsterer with several including my grandmother 's treadle machine that was converted to electric just before Grandma went to work building planes at Douglas in WW2.
That was very interesting and helpful video. Thank you for your work here, cheers from Poland 🍻
I was/am always fascinated by treadle powered sewing machines. I once converted an old lathe to treadle power by removing the singer and replacing it with the treadle. I ha e an idea of doing the same thing with a bandsaw that i have. A lot of potential there and no need for electricity.
In India there are foot powered knife sharpening wheel still in use. Mostly they are found in villages.
Well done!!
Interesting video. I do voluntary restoration work for a major museum in England, but usually of more modern items.
Hello,
Great vidéo, good job, congratulations.
God bless you.
Woooow!
Beutyfull machines!
Thank's, excelent vidio!
Fascinating
fan-tas-tic. We should use em again. they are very eficient, dont cost electricity, so cheap and good for the environment!!
Hi grate video very informative thank you.
Moggy Mark.
Excelente! 👍
Adorei as máquinas antigas.
Foot power! There are more than 500 of these machines in existence since Singer sewing machines with foot treadles can still be found
Excelente vídeo ótimo conteúdo que tenho procurado, tenho um torno elétrico para madeira mas gostaria muito de ter um desses antigos ,ver se era possível eu fazer uma peça torneadas como faço no meu torno ,obrigado por partilhar o video ,Parabéns 💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯👌👍🤝
If someone were to desgin and build new foot powered machines like this, There could be a small market for them. I can think of a dozen or so people who could and would use something like this.
There was a person who reproduced the Barnes #2 a number of years ago based on original casting but in aluminum. From what I understand, only a few were sold and the effort was stopped. Have seen a couple of these and one person who had one said they were too light in weight and wanted to "bounce around." Casting things in cast iron involves a lot of effort, machining, time and cost. Not sure it would be viable.
If you re doing it for the love of it, well that is a different story!! That is why I like restoring them. You also get to meet some very interesting people.
As they say, that is my story and i am sticking to it!! Thanks Ed
@@edhobbs9802 That is cool. These are very awesome machines. I would not mind having one of these.
i think, by now, there will be more then `a dozen`....
Exelente
Would you be interested in being interviewed about these machines, their use, and their history on our appropriate technology podcast?
i have buiilt a foot powered machine myself, but i'm not sure how i fix the "jamming-and-reversing" issue. Does the spinning shaft maybe need a counter weight parralel to the flying wheel? Or is the flying wheel too light?
One foot powered machine is still very much in production and use World wide; the bicycle.
excellent, indeed!! The wheel truly was and still is the major invention of humankind...
Just to be clear, they could machine steel and not just softer metals?
I'm curious as to how you came up with the figures at the end. 500 seems rather low.
Glad you have an interest in this type of "old iron" and thank you for taking the time to comment. In listening to the video at the 6 minute mark and checking the script that I used, the number 200,000 was used. This is little more than an educated guess as only one major maker, WF & John Barnes routinely stamped a serial number in the machines.
There are some partial records that exist from Barnes for wood working machines. All the rest of the makers only make mention of just how many they made and it was in very general terms and in their ads - not sure how valid advertising numbers are.
If you picked up the "500" number somewhere else or have any other thoughts or comments, please let me know.
Thanks Ed
You state after quoting the 200 k number that there might be "500" complete machines extant. Some confusion is due to your only implying, I believe, that this number refers only to Barnes machines. Perhaps you can clarify what you mean by complete machines. and how you have come up with this number.
I'm also very curious about the numbers, I have a pretty complete Barnes No.4 here so that's 1
Should have been clearer on this. I was primarily referring to complete commercial grade machinery like those made by Barnes and Seneca Falls. You will see these types for sale in various stages of completeness from time to time on various internet sites mostly missing parts or converted to electric power. Hobby grade machines of the "sewing machine style", while interesting and yes, may have been used occasionally in a commercial environment, only contributed in limited ways and primarily benefited the maker through sales.
Have been involved in collecting and using foot powered machinery since the late 1980's and have been fortunate to know many of the early collectors and what they had in their collections. Also through my involvement with Mid West Tool Collectors Association, www.mwtca.org, have known about and been involved in a good number of transactions. Have visited many, many tractor/engine shows, antique shows/sales and similar places where I hunted these machines - Mostly hunted. My website, www.footpoweredmachinery.com and from those contacting me because of these videos, feel I have an overall good background to offer an educated guess.
Hope this helps! Been on other projects so have not kept up with all these comments. Thanks Ed
I'm going to try converting a sewing machine base and cabinet into a metal lathe.
Lee, keep in mind sewing machines are very light duty when compared to a metal lathe unless maybe some sort of watchmakers lathe. The round belt slips much more than flat belts and a sewing machine has the flywheel on the right end, not the left. Just some thoughts to consider!! Good luck!
Now this is what I call real green energy.
glad you said it
Industrialists made our life depends on them. We want to get free. So, we need your information.
the young generation is on to it. Brava!!! Go beat the industrialists/kapitalists! It `s not our future