Photo Index - J. D. Wallace & Co. - 6" Wallace Portable Bench Jointer

Machinery Photo Index

Manufactured/Badged by:
J. D. Wallace & Co.
Chicago, IL

True Manufacturer:
J. D. Wallace & Co., Chicago, IL

Machine Specifications
Machine Class:	Wood Working Machinery
Machine Type:	Jointer
Machine Size:	6"
Submitted By:	Nick Bennett

Machine Specifications
Description/Model:	6" Wallace Portable Bench Jointer
Date of Manufacturer:	1919
Serial Number:	111
Last Updated	7/14/2014 5:21:34 PM

Comments:

I'm the owner of a cosmetically restored AC powered 6" Wallace jointer with the serial number 111. I found the VM/OWWM web site because I was trying to learn more about these revolutionary machines and the company that made them.

The maker's plate on my jointer reads differently than the examples given on the VM web site to help date these jointers, lacking any street address and reading simply "Made in Chicago, U.S.A. by J. D. Wallace & Co." Between the unique wording and the low serial number, I think it's reasonable to conclude that this machine dates to the original production run of these jointers in 1919. It could be the earliest surviving example of an AC powered 6" Wallace jointer, if not the sole survivor from the class of 1919. I wouldn't be at all surprised if nos. 1 through 110, not to mention most of the rest of the three-digit serial numbers, went into the collection piles at scrap metal drives during World War II and were melted down long ago. Machines that survived the boom years of the 1920s would've been nursed through the Great Depression because nobody could afford to replace them, but when the money from War Department contracts started flowing...

Anyway, to answer the obvious question, I found it on Craigslist here in Portland, Oregon, three or four years ago. The guy I bought it from was not the guy who restored it, so I don't know anything about where it came from or the restoration process. I was hoping it could be put back into service with a new blade guard and spend its 100th birthday in my shop, but the bearing surfaces are simply worn out from use, and it would cost me north of $1000 to have them trued up at the machine shop that fixes the big iron. Doing so would also entail grinding off a lot of metal, possibly enough to appreciably alter the profile of the machine, and I wasn't sure I wanted to mess with industrial design this good.

I've looked into the history of Wallace jointers before, but I'm just a clueless hobbyist woodworker, not a tool guy, so it wasn't until last week that I finally put it all together and realized what I had.

Here are some pics so you guys can see for yourselves. If anybody wants close-ups of some particular part, LMK and I'll try to oblige.

Photo 1:

Comments: 6" Wallace benchtop jointer
Source: Nick Bennett

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Photo 2:

Comments: 6" Wallace jointer 3/4 overhead view
Source: Nick Bennett

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Photo 3:

Comments: 6" Wallace jointer AC motor 3/4 overhead view
Source: Nick Bennett

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Photo 4:

Comments: 6" Wallace jointer maker's plate
Source: Nick Bennett

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Photo 5:

Comments: ECU of Wallace maker's plate in high relief
Source: Nick Bennett

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