Photo Index - Tenn.-Acme Machine Co. - Power-Mart "12" Thickness Planer 12 1/2" x 6" Capacity

Machinery Photo Index

Manufactured/Badged by:
Tenn.-Acme Machine Co.
McMinnville, TN

Machine Specifications
Machine Class:	Wood Working Machinery
Machine Type:	Planer, Wood
Machine Size:	12 1/2" x 6"
Submitted By:	John Eaton

Machine Specifications
Description/Model:	Power-Mart "12" Thickness Planer 12 1/2" x 6" Capacity
Date of Manufacturer:	1954
Serial Number:	540xx
Last Updated	7/30/2008 7:57:46 AM

Comments:

I have dirty paper on this planer including an "Operating Insructions and Parts List" dated 1954 and a sales brochure "Power-Mart "12"" My planer came with a 1.5 HP RI motor and looked to have very little use and doesn't appear to have any broken parts - the belts were original and dry-rotted. It shouldn't take much to get this one going. Note the original welded sheet metal stand - it's fairly thick gage (edge stock in the 1/4" range). This guy weighs a bit over 400-500 LBs and was a lot of fun trying to get to the basement - it fell off the hand-truck 3 times (I didn't have any help) and gouged the ground each time - no damage at all to this tank. I ended up needing a tubafor as a prybar to get it back erect as it's very top-heavy (as expected) even with the motor removed. Serial number was taken as the prefix from the dirty paper - no numbers are found on the unit - there's a barely discernable decal on the belt-cover end where the number may have been (if printed).

I purchased this from the son of the original owner - guy was retired (probably in his early 70's). Turns out his father sold woodworking equipment during the 40's-70's and two of his lines were Atlas and Tenn.-Acme - looks like his father owned several pieces of equipment - the shop contained an original Atlas floor-standing drill press and table saw with Atlas branded motors. He also told me he had a small Atlas metal lathe with a bunch of tooling that had gone to his son in Texas.

The sales literature states "...Thickness Planer has been personally designed and engineered by the former owner and manufacturer of a prominent line of Thickness Planers and Woodworking Machinery. Twenty-five years of Machine Designing plus Twenty-five years of Manufacturing has been incorporated into the many extra features now offered in the new Power-Mart "12" Planer." From asking around it appears that this was part of the family that started the Powermatic company and at some point there was a falling-out, and some members plus employees started Tenn.-Acme - note the location of the company was still McMinnville TN.

Photo 1:

Comments: Planer Front
Source: John Eaton

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Photo 2:

Comments: 1.5 HP RI Motor
Source: John Eaton

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Photo 3:

Comments: Planer Back with Motor Removed
Source: John Eaton

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