Photo Index - J. W. Majek Manufacturing Co. - Portable / The Majek

Machinery Photo Index

Manufactured/Badged by:
J. W. Majek Manufacturing Co.
Portland, OR

Machine Specifications
Machine Class:	Wood Working Machinery
Machine Type:	Band Saw
Machine Size:	14”
Submitted By:	Reuben Deumling

Machine Specifications
Description/Model:	Portable / The Majek
Date of Manufacturer:	1928
Serial Number:	none
Last Updated	1/28/2022 10:56:06 PM

Comments:

This is the third of these saws to cross our radar, and the first I have had the good fortune to lay eyes on.
The person I bought it from yesterday had picked it up at a local ReStore several years ago but never fixed it up as he had planned. It doesn’t seem to have ever strayed too far from its birthplace. While several original appearing wooden parts are present and in good condition (blade guard, auxiliary table, possibly also the motor pulley), the guides appear beyond repair and probably not very good to begin with, and the tires have deteriorated well beyond anything I’ve seen. The bronze upper wheel mount and tensioning mechanism are not constructed with as much care as some other parts of the saw. Both wheels appear to run on bronze bushings.
The saw is noticeably lighter than the ‘prototype’* made by Elmer L Knight at Benson Polytechnic HS here in town several years prior to this one, which we know to have been advertised once in Popular Mechanics in 1928. The frame on this saw carries over the unusual and unmistakeable foot that supports the motor which the Knight saw introduced. I will add information here as I learn more.

* http://www.vintagemachinery.org/photoindex/detail.aspx?id=13876
I somewhat jokingly wrote prototype because it is my contention that Majek copied Knight’s design, whether by purchasing the rights to it, or ? There are too many similarities to be a coincidence, and Portland nearly a century ago was a pretty small place when it came to patternmakers and woodworking machinery production.

Photo 1:

Comments: front view
Source: own

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Photo 2:

Comments: rear view
Source: own

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Photo 3:

Comments: 3/4 view
Source: own

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Photo 4:

Comments: 3/4 rear view
Source: own

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Photo 5:

Comments: trunnion
Source: own

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Photo 6:

Comments: upper wheel
Source: own

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