Photo Index - Yates-American Machine Co., Inc. - J-131

Machinery Photo Index

Manufactured/Badged by:
Yates-American Machine Co., Inc.
Beloit, WI; Roscoe, IL; Liberty, NC

Machine Specifications
Machine Class:	Wood Working Machinery
Machine Type:	Jointer
Machine Size:	8"
Submitted By:	Tony S

Machine Specifications
Description/Model:	J-131
Date of Manufacturer:	1950's
Serial Number:	J-131-274
Last Updated	5/19/2007 2:36:14 AM

Comments:

Won this guy on eBay from a technical college that was clearing out some older machinery. I already had an 8" Delta on a cast iron base (seen in picture), but felt compelled to pick this guy up. The first thing that surprised me was its size. I had only seen them in pictures before and for whatever reason, they always seemed to be kind of dinky. As you can see in the first image, it's actually just as big as the Delta. A surprising fact is that they both weigh the same.

A couple interesting features include the 3-point adjustible table mount (for table alignment) and what appear to be steel plate ways (replacable if they ever become damaged).

Of course I'm not sure of the exact date of manufacture, but that's pretty much par for the course on J-Line machines. Yates-American lost all record of the entire J-Line when they sold it off to Broadhead Garrett in the 60's. Best guesses would place it in the mid to later years of the line. The unique crank-operated fence appears in what appears to be a later version of the J-Line catalog. The bed is also longer than spec'ed in the catalogs (60" instead of 50"). I suspect they were trying to compete with Delta's longer bed model.

You can read more about this machine here:
http://owwm.org/viewtopic.php?t=22258

Photo 1:

Comments: Side-by-side comparison with the Delta 8"
Source:

Direct Link
IMG Code

Photo 2:

Comments: Fence adjustment mechanism
Source:

Direct Link
IMG Code

Photo 3:

Comments: Detail of the table mechanism (note the adjustment bolt for table alignment)
Source:

Direct Link
IMG Code