Early 19th Century 'Barn Beam Boring Machine'

[Graham Orm]

Beautiful piece of kit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twKmI-BCXhA

 

[AndyT]

I like old tools most when they are in usable condition and belong to someone who can use and fully appreciate them. This tool certainly seems to have found its proper owner!

 

[Graham Orm]

Thought you might like it Andy.

 

[bugbear]

Roy Underhill uses one of those, with great enthusiasm and every sign of pleasure.

BugBear

 

[Paddy Roxburgh]

Am I the only one who thinks that machine is just a bit boring

 

[Bigdanny]

Seems a good tool for the right guy. But he did seem to be getting a bit over excited when he was oiling the machine up. I thought he was going to have an accident. :wink:

 

[bugbear]

Am I the only one who thinks that machine is just a bit boring

You're not the first, and you won't be the last ...




... to do that joke. :lol:

BugBear

 

[Racers]

In the kitchen garden at Hampton Court the head gardeners office there is one in the window, I came really close to breaking the window and liberating it.

Pete

 

[Graham Orm]

Am I the only one who thinks that machine is just a bit boring

You're not the first, and you won't be the last ...




... to do that joke. :lol:

BugBear

OK that's funny :lol:

 

[AndyT]

Watching the machine in use, it's clear that the framework is far from rigid. It wobbles about quite entertainingly. I think we can learn from that and link to the long recent thread about the quest for a perfect drilling jig.
I suggest that the designers were smart enough to see that, since the auger bit is self guiding, the frame needs to position it not always in the absolutely dead centre correct position, but to align it, on average, around that position.
The resultant slop in the mechanism allows for local variation in the wood (knots, wavy grain) without risk of breaking the machine or the bit. Clever!