Photo Index - Crescent Machine Co. - 36" Band Saw

Machinery Photo Index

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

Machine Specifications
Machine Class:	Wood Working Machinery
Machine Type:	Band Saw
Machine Size:	36"
Submitted By:	Phil Kezele

Machine Specifications
Description/Model:	36" Band Saw
Date of Manufacturer:	1906 - 1907
Serial Number:	8317 (View SN Registry Entry)
Last Updated	6/29/2009 10:49:59 PM

Comments:

1906-1907 Crescent 36” Band Saw Serial Nbr. 8317

When I first read about this saw in “Bring Out Your Dead” I knew I had to have this saw. This saw was located near Santa Cruz, CA in the small town of Felton, near Scotts Valley some 1,000 mi + from my shop on Camano Island, Washington state. I noticed right away that it had a very early serial number and it did not have the feathered feet of the earliest Crescent band saws. Also, the Crescent band saw style is one that I have sought after a few times before, having found a 20” in Priest River, Idaho, a 32” here in Seattle, and a 36” Ship Saw at Doug Westlind’s emporium/candy shop down in Alsea, OR :). As I would later learn in collaborative online research with Keith Rucker we knew that it was one of the earliest saws of its design and in fact it was the oldest in the Crescent machine registry.

The condition of the saw when I purchased was good with very few missing parts. I was looking for a saw in near original condition and this saw was very close. According to the seller here was his survey of the saw at time of sale: There are no guides or mounts, no belt shifter or pulleys, no front fender (guard), tables have surface rust but don't appear to have any pits, the wheels have weights on them like they were balanced professionally, and the tires were in good re-usable condition. Now the guides are replaceable and belt shifter or pulley can be replaced (I plan to go with a 12” sheave and 1 ½” bore bushing).

There are a couple of unique design issues that distinguish this saw from many of the others from this era: 1) it has a cap on the guide adjustment shaft, 2) the height adjust has a thumbscrew rather than the traditional “T” bar. Keith Rucker had some further survey comments for this saw: “I don't ever remember seeing a Crescent 36" saw with a cap on the guide adjustment shaft like that. It looks like a bearing cap! That is strange....OK, I just did some more homework and as it turns out, Crescent did use that kind of arrangement earlier. I just pulled a 1906 and 1907 catalog from my stash and sure enough, it shows the cap on the front! So, my initial guess as to a date for your machine would put it earlier - now I would say that it was made pre-1908. Also note that the 1907 catalog shows that the thumbscrew type height adjuster was used on the 36" and smaller saws. The close up that shows the longer T-bar must have been on the 38" saw - which the catalog cut of that size shows the longer arm. Again, by 1908, Crescent had started using the T-bar on the 36" saws as well. And to add even more confusion to the close up shot of the guide (from the 38" saw), the actual catalog cut of the 36" machine shows that the guard was attached to the frame and not to the guide adjustment bar.”

Not many will appreciate the history but it is historically rich from the Crescent perspective and I do appreciate Keith helping me with identification! Now on to the road trip details…

To get down to Felton from Seattle required a road trip and my wife was a little anxious about me driving down on my own, so reluctantly she went with me and decided to make it a weekend. The trip down included some stops in Battle Ground, WA to pickup a drill press table from John Snyder going to Livermore, CA and Roger VanMaren’s shop. We drove the first night to Eugene, OR; home of TJ Forrester, et al. The stop in OR was early in the trip since we didn’t get started to early in the afternoon. After a bit for dinner, we drove back to out hotel with trailer in tow. As we departed the pickup, my wife heard a hissing sound—uh oh, tires going flat. Yes indeed, we had a tire going flat on the trailer and that is when I realized we did not bring a spare I realized we could be stuck here a little while. Since it was already 8pm I did a quick search for a Les Schwab tire store and found one just a few blocks away. We dropped the trailer off their and secured it and returned back to the hotel. We were not off to a good start on the road trip but since the tire shop opened at 730am, I thought we had a decent chance of not loosing much time. Fortunately I was right and we got it repaired quickly and even purchased a spare tire before departing Eugene at 0830. Next stop is Livermore and Roger’s immaculate shop.

The drive through southern Oregon was uneventful and because we were on a schedule we didn’t have time to socialize even though I wanted to say hello to Tony Scalaro as we passed Rogue River. Mt. Shasta was a little obscured and the lake itself is still very low, did I say it was very low. We stopped there for a bite to eat at the local Subway and then continued our trip south. Into Redding then Red Bluff, through Williams passing field upon field of sunflowers in bloom and the antelope stalking the perimeter of the field. So we kept looking for that elusive I-505 turn off to the bay area. The temperature keep rising the further south we went, as the thermometer touched 97 we made the turn from I-505 to I-680 and I knew we were on the home stretch to Livermore, CA where we would be staying that night. We finally arrived at our hotel around 630pm and hit the shower while my wife looked for a spot to eat. We located a brew pub which we always look for when travelling and ordered dinner. While waiting for food and sipping my apricot hefeweizen, I dialed up Roger and arranged to meet him at his home a few minutes away.

After dinner we met Roger at his house, my first indication we were at the right address was the very large gantry in the driveway (doesn’t every OWWM’r have one of these at the entrance to their shop?). A great visit and tour with Roger was special. (If I can digress for a moment; Roger was the first OWWM’r who responded to one of my original posts in 2003 regarding band saw fences.) Back to Roger’s shop and how meticulous he is and my first question from my wife is “How come our shop doesn’t look like Roger’s?” Doh!
I don’t want to give the tour away, but make sure you ask to see the big Monarch lathe and his twin Delta variable speed drill presses and don’t drool on that 27” Northfield band saw that is honed to a mirror finish! My first completed Rucker, life is good!

The next day we rose and started the 1:15hr trip to Scotts Valley. I had arranged to pick up an arbor press I had sighted on our favorite auction site and it ended up being 5 minutes from where I was picking up the band saw. A little over an hour later and a white knuckled drive up and over the coastal range we were in Felton and at the agreed upon meeting place at the local church. I called the seller and they arrived with the band saw loaded in their trailer 5 minutes later. I knew I was in OWWM country, the local church had a garage just off the large parking lot and in front of it was parked a trailer which had a really old Fay & Egan band saw with the classic “C” frame, a 12” Oliver jointer and Powermatic saw and shaper—hee haw, life is good!

We introduced ourselves and also met the seller’s two fine sons which we later learned was just some of the family of nine! It took about an hour to hoist the saw over to my trailer and we were on the road home. We had decided to go through SFO on the return because neither one of us had been on the Golden Gate Bridge (even though the Tacoma Narrows bridge is designed very close to it and built in the same era).

The trip home was un-eventful except for the hourific rain and thunder storm at the base of Mt. Shasta--we felt like Moses was parting the Red Sea. We stayed the last night in Medford OR after starting the day early in Livermore and going nearly to Santa Cruz before turning back north. Overnight in Medford and the next day it was a quick hop back to Seattle up the I-5 corridor. The next morning I traveled the short 1 hour back to my shop up on Camano Island and unloaded the band saw. Life is so good!

Cheers … PK

Photo 1:

Comments: Just unloaded and into the shop
Source: My Canon PowerShot SD1000

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Photo 2:

Comments: Loading onto my trailer in Scotts Valley
Source: My Canon PowerShot SD1000

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Photo 3:

Comments: Approved for unloading according to shop dog Sofie
Source: My Canon PowerShot SD1000

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Photo 4:

Comments: Close up up of some of the unique features of this saw.
Source: My Canon PowerShot SD1000

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Photo 5:

Comments: Matching serial numbers; stamped on the axel and the wheel
Source: My Canon PowerShot SD1000

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Photo 6:

Comments: Details of the original blade guard bracket
Source: My Canon PowerShot SD1000

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