Photo Index - Mattison Machine Works - No. 183 "Bicycle" Sander

Machinery Photo Index

Manufactured/Badged by:
Mattison Machine Works
Beloit, WI and Rockford, IL

True Manufacturer:
Mattison Machine Works, Beloit, WI and Rockford, IL

Machine Specifications
Machine Class:	Wood Working Machinery
Machine Type:	Sander
Machine Size:	6 to 8-inch wide
Submitted By:	Karl J. Shields

Machine Specifications
Description/Model:	No. 183 "Bicycle" Sander
Date of Manufacturer:	pre-1917
Serial Number:	8494
Last Updated	2/10/2015 2:19:07 AM

Comments:

My friend Doug from Minnesota, knows I'm a sucker for kind-of odd-ball machines, along with abrasives machines, and anything from near my hometown. Well, he hit the trifecta with this Mattison 183 belt sander.

Mattison moved their works from Beloit, WI to Rockford in 1917/18. Though the serial number does not align with the list given in the Mattison overview, it is abundantly clear that this machine was made in Beloit, and therefore, prior to 1918.

This sort of belt sander is colloquially known as a "bicycle sander." It runs a long, though relatively narrow, belt at a very high velocity. You'll note the remnants of a table trunnion, as well as a kind of rotating turret affair that positively indexes 4 different sanding forms in place behind the belt.

There is precious little data on this machine, though there exists an entire 1915 patent seemingly devoted to it: US Patent 1,124,311, "Belt Sanding-Machine," which can be accessed here: http://www.datamp.org/patents/displayPatent.php?id=18900 and following links to the USPTO.

Advertizements for rebuilt Mattison No. 183 sanders appear as early as 1921 from Frank Toomey, Inc. in Philadelphia.

Photo 1:

Comments: In Minnesota
Source: Doug Broberg

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Photo 2:

Comments: The requisite garage door shot
Source: KJS

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Photo 3:

Comments: Cast iron badge
Source: KJS

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Photo 4:

Comments: Serial number badge
Source: KJS

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Photo 5:

Comments: Mattison decal
Source: KJS

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