Photo Index - General Electric Co. - GE Workshop

Machinery Photo Index

Manufactured/Badged by:
General Electric Co.
Schenectady, NY

Machine Specifications
Machine Class:	Wood Working Machinery
Machine Type:	Combo Machine
Machine Size:	Bench model with stand
Submitted By:	John Fassbender

Machine Specifications
Description/Model:	GE Workshop
Date of Manufacturer:	40s or 50s
Serial Number:	None stamped
Last Updated	4/11/2020 9:08:57 PM

Comments:

My daughter and son-in-law bought a house from the estate of an elderly lady who was in her high 90s when she passed away. In the basement and garage there was a variety of woodworking tools the lady's husband had used before he had passed away in the mid 1990s. Most of the tools were hobby shop size as he was into making crafts such light wood and and some small metal projects. He had abandoned some of the old tools in favor of more recent equipment he had bought. In the corner of the lower garage was this old GE Workshop. It was mostly disassembled and both dirty and surface rusted on the exposed metal surfaces. It appeared he moved it from his basement workshop to the lower attached garage when he purchased newer equipment that suited him better. My son-in-law found no use for this old machine and was going to scrap it out. In seeing a piece of American history at hand, I decided to rescue it from the salvage yard. I found some brief historical information on the internet and other photos on Vintage Machinery. I spent many hours completely disassembling the old machine and refurbishing it to good running condition. Because of it's small size and low HP motor, it is best suited for light hobby work which I believe was GE's original intention. The machine had a table saw, grinding wheel, chuck for drilling, wood lathe plus lathe extension shaft, scroll saw, metal cutting blade to be operated on motor shaft opposite of the saw table, and sanding disk.The single double shaft motor powers all attachments easily moved into operation. From the information I have it was built in the Specialty Appliance Department of the Nela Park, Cleveland Ohio General Electric Plant. It utilizes a small frame AC single phase double shaft motor made in GE's Schenectady, NY plant. Popular science ads take this product back to the early 30s. While no serial number is stamped on this machine, I am guessing to estimate the vintage of this machine could be in either the late 40's or early 50's. In it's day, this must have been a hobby shop dream machine.

Photo 1:

Comments: Front view with factory stand
Source: This is a photo of my machine

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Photo 2:

Comments: This is a front view closeup
Source: My photograph

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Photo 3:

Comments: This is a rear view
Source: My photograph

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Photo 4:

Comments: This is a rear view of the saw table
Source: My photograph

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Photo 5:

Comments: This is a front view of the saw and attached grinding wheel
Source: My photograph

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Photo 6:

Comments: This is a front view of the scroll saw and tail stock of the wood lathe
Source: My photograph

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