Photo Index - Oliver Machinery Co. - Oliver 181 spindle sander

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Manufactured/Badged by:
Oliver Machinery Co.
Grand Rapids, MI

Machine Specifications
Machine Class:	Wood Working Machinery
Machine Type:	Sander
Machine Size:	9" spindle various diameters
Submitted By:	Doug Westlind

Machine Specifications
Description/Model:	Oliver 181 spindle sander
Date of Manufacturer:	approximately 1918 or later
Serial Number:
Last Updated	6/26/2005 1:21:25 PM

Comments:

While this OSS has an Oliver badge it was actually made by the Syracuse sander company bought out by Porter in 1922. It was originally sold to the Navy as can be seen by the stamps in the badge. I acquired this a few years ago while helping a retired shop teacher friend (Ivan) clean out his shop. He and his wife were moving to a retirement home and he had a 32 by 48 shop that had 2 walkways barely wide enough to squeeze through and the rest was full of wood and machines. I ended up buying from his daughter this sander along with a couple other machines. All in all it was a very sad sobering experience as Ivan would just about be in tears telling the story of how he had acquired or used each item in the shop. I think the only solace he had was knowing that some of them were going to wood worker friends. The sander had grease in the gear box that was hard and dried that I cleaned up and replaced with new. It also had the motor replaced with a modern Dayton motor that didn't fit and had a cobbled up mount to make it work. I soon found out that the big drawback to this sander is the solid 7/8" diameter spindle. No drums made today that I could find would fit it. I got a 3" drum and reamed it out to 7/8" and used it for a while as it was. About 3 years ago I was given a box of #2 MT spindles and 3/4" bore drums from an unkown OSS so I decided I would tear this machine down and have the spindle cut off and machined to accept the #2 taper. Well as so often happens I got interested in other projects and the parts went into a box and the whole project ended up hidden in the corner. Somewhere along the line I bought a metal lathe and restored it and started learning how to use it. The spindle of this OSS seemed to be a perfect starter project so I pulled it out and turned it down to about .745 to accept the 3/4" drums and threaded the end. Then finally the planets aligned when my neighbor came over with a compressor pump and a motor that he had stored for the last 20 years and he asked me if I wanted them. The motor was a somewhat odd frame 204 which was just the one I needed. Now I have the sander all put back together the spindle turned out fine and I have 1", 1.5", 2", and 3" drums which I think is enough for anything I'll need.

Photo 1:

Comments: Everything's just "Ducky"
Source: Doug Westlind

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Photo 2:

Comments: closer in
Source: Doug Westlind

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Photo 3:

Comments: badge "sold by Oliver"
Source: Doug Westlind

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