Photo Index - Crescent Machine Co. - Dual Disk Sander

Machinery Photo Index

Manufactured/Badged by:
Crescent Machine Co.
Leetonia, OH

Machine Specifications
Machine Class:	Wood Working Machinery
Machine Type:	Sander
Machine Size:	24-inch
Submitted By:	Karl J. Shields

Machine Specifications
Description/Model:	Dual Disk Sander
Date of Manufacturer:	1930s
Serial Number:
Last Updated	11/2/2018 10:54:35 AM

Comments:

The auction company described the machine as follows:

"Greenlee 24 in. Double End Disc Sander, Tilting Work Tables (one missing)"

...and off to the Vintage Photo Index to look up a Greenlee dual disk sander. I'd never heard of, nor seen, a Greenlee disk sander, let alone a dual disk machine. It turns out, there was no documentation to suggest that Greenlee ever had built a dual disk sander. Still, it seemed hard to imagine that the auction company would invent one--Greenlee is not exactly a common place name.

Yet this is exactly where OWWM Rule No. 1 comes in: "The seller, standing in front of the machine with access to all sides and in full daylight, will not/cannot describe the machine correctly."

I'll come back to that in a minute.

So, having never seen a Greenlee disk sander, I, of course had to have it, even as I had an inkling that it was a different manufacturer.

After winning the machine, Jim Page agreed to pick it up on his way to Eric Lavelle's where he had other stuff to deliver/pick up/move. Eric was kind enough to store the sander, and we scheduled a day where we could meet up with Panda Dan, as I had a mill tat he was to deliver, and he had other stuff to deliver/pick up/move at Eric's.

It rained a lot that day.

All day.

Butch Jones and my son John had accompanied me down to Eric's, and Kirk Poore also joined the festivities, as did Eric's daughter. We worked all day loading and moving machines in pouring rain, punctuated by a stuck truck and trailer (not mine!) and a broken tow chain. By that evening, we were all soaked to the bone, weary and happy. What a great, fun day!

When we were able to take a good look at the sander, several things became apparent:

- "Greenlee"............................nope, it's a Crescent
- "Tilting Work Tables (one missing)"...no, both tables were present
- "Double End Disc Sander"..............not exactly--one of the DISCS was missing.

Even so, the sander was otherwise in good shape overall,and I thought for certain that a new disk was actually easier to find or manufacture than a missing table.

A much, much longer story, cut short: Neal and Panda Dan Warner started working on the a new disk at the 2017 WamFest--it ook a bit longer than anyone anticipated. Turned from steel plate, the replacement disk runs very true. A HUGE debt of gratitiude to Neal and Dan!

Other details:

* I can find no evidence of a serial number, but given some of the degn details, I would assume that this is an early machine, dating most probably from the 1930s.
* The motor is a 3-phase 3-horsepower Master motor, turning at 1200 RPM.
* According to the documentation here, http://www.vintagemachinery.org/pubs/224/52.pdf, the 3-phase, 3-HP machine has a telegraph code/designation of NECEI, and weighs 1100 pounds.
* The paint is Sherwin Williams Industrial Enamel in Graphite.

This sander had been heavily modified before my custodianship began. The original motor spec lists 1750 RPM, but the motor tag indicates that it has been modified to run at 1200 rpm. The original grease-fed bearings have been replaced with sealed. The original table locking mechanisms have been upgraded, as this iteration of the Crescent sander pre-dates the addition of the crank and rack for table angle adjustment. In stead, and under-table screw adjustment had been installed, which can be seen in the "Before" photo below. I have elected, for the time being, to not re-install them.

Thanks to all who had a part in getting this "Greenlee" running!

Photo 1:

Comments: "Before"
Source: My iPhone 8+

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Photo 2:

Comments: "AFTER"
Source: My iPhone 8+

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Photo 3:

Comments: Rear quarter
Source: My iPhone 8+

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Photo 4:

Comments: Furnas Starter
Source: My iPhone 8+

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Photo 5:

Comments: Titlt scale and mech
Source: My iPhone 8+

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Photo 6:

Comments: Badges!
Source: My iPhone 8+

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