I recently got my hands on what I believe is a crescent machine co universal woodworker. It sort of runs, but could use a lot of TLC. I want to spend some time cleaning it up myself, but I dont have a ton of free time and I am not exactly sure how everything is supposed to be set on the machine. I also would really like to use it as my jointer soon.

 

I am coming here to ask if anyone knows any reputable members/shops around Louisville, KY that work on antique machinery?

 

After I came across this post on here, I am very excited to get my machine back in shape!

 

https://thepatriotwoodworker.com/forums/topic/13311-1923-crescent-universal-wood-worker-no-108-restoration-complete-tons-of-pics/

Edited January 11, 20224 yr by Louisville13

Welcome to the forum! No advice on your machine to offer, but I am interested in how things go with it. That one that Shane restored is a thing of beauty....that is one of the things he does for a living.

Thank you! I'll see if i can get some pictures uploaded. My machine looks a bit different. It's missing the table saw and the jointer is smaller i believe. I also can't find any markings on it to indicate manufacturer or model.

Here are a couple pictures. I know the motor isn't original and probably needs replaced.

What a cool old tool ! 
Paul

Quite a bit of iron right there.  Good luck with it.

I've been contacting some dry ice blasting places around town. Im thinking that would be better than sand blasting for the machined surfaces. Anyone have any thoughts? The machine is covered in a thick layer of dust/grease.

1 hour ago, Louisville13 said:

I've been contacting some dry ice blasting places around town. Im thinking that would be better than sand blasting for the machined surfaces. Anyone have any thoughts? The machine is covered in a thick layer of dust/grease.

Not familiar with dry ice blasting process. I've seen and heard great results with soda blasting...less chance of damaging bearings and stretching sheet metal. Having said that, usually want a clean as possible surface before i.e. steam or hot water pressure wash to remove dirt, oil and caked on grease. My $.02

We used dry ice blasters to remove the inner linings of storage tanks when you couldn't risk leaving any residue from the blast media behind. It was expensive (extremely expensive) and I'm not sure it would benefit you in this case. It does less damage to the surface (the scratching thing) than sand, but there are other media choices that have that benefit as well (baking soda, maybe?).

Edited January 15, 20224 yr by Fred W. Hargis Jr

Welcome aboard, mighty glad to have you here.

What type of paint will you give this once it is cleaned up?  If that large curved main piece is cast iron, how smooth is it?  I think most of the machine could be sandblasted without any problems.  In this area several of the welding shops offer sandblasting services.

For a project like this I like Rustoleum Hammered Paints.  I would brush on two coats and it would look great.  I will add, though, the black rhp is not really "black", it might have some gray in it.  It does look good though and is tough as nails.

Thanks for all the info. I guess i will pressure wash it to clean it up a bit and see what im working with. Then i will start disassembling it and see what I am working with.

 

I have seen some different epoxy based and marine paints that I heard were pretty tough, but expensive. I will take a look at the Rust-Oleum.

On 1/12/2022 at 5:47 AM, Fred W. Hargis Jr said:

Welcome to the forum! No advice on your machine to offer, but I am interested in how things go with it. That one that Shane restored is a thing of beauty....that is one of the things he does for a living.

From what I was told Shane sold off his machines and shop and is concentrating on his photography. 

The one Shane restored I believe ended up as a display piece. 

@Louisville13

Welcome to The Patriot Woodworker. 

Certainly, looks like a Crescent Universal Wood Worker. 

If you can tell me the Band Saw and Jointer sizes, I'll see if I can ID it and find a manual.

 

1 hour ago, Larry Buskirk said:

From what I was told Shane sold off his machines and shop and is concentrating on his photography. 

The one Shane restored I believe ended up as a display piece. 

It was definitely a work of art. I would have felt bad using something that beautiful!

 

1 hour ago, Larry Buskirk said:

@Louisville13

Welcome to The Patriot Woodworker. 

Certainly, looks like a Crescent Universal Wood Worker. 

If you can tell me the Band Saw and Jointer sizes, I'll see if I can ID it and find a manual.

 

Thank you! I'll get some measurements this week when I head back to my shop.

Also, if it is a universal woodworker i would like for it to be complete. Does anyone know where I could get the table saw part from?

On 1/15/2022 at 5:06 PM, Larry Buskirk said:

@Louisville13

Welcome to The Patriot Woodworker. 

Certainly, looks like a Crescent Universal Wood Worker. 

If you can tell me the Band Saw and Jointer sizes, I'll see if I can ID it and find a manual.

 

 

So I'm not exactly sure how to measure the bandsaw. Its about 69" from the top of the wheel to the bottom and somewhere around 166" around for the blade. The jointer has an 8" blade.

9 minutes ago, Louisville13 said:

So I'm not exactly sure how to measure the bandsaw

What is the cutting width capacity? re: from center line of the blade to inside edge (distance) of support column.

18 hours ago, Grandpadave52 said:

What is the cutting width capacity? re: from center line of the blade to inside edge (distance) of support column.

 

Ok it looks like 26". I got the jointer running, just need to clean up the surface of all the grim to get a board to slide. The bandsaw spins free, but when I try to run it under power it hardly moves. I'm thinking its just a worn out belt.

5 hours ago, Louisville13 said:

 

Ok it looks like 26". I got the jointer running, just need to clean up the surface of all the grim to get a board to slide. The bandsaw spins free, but when I try to run it under power it hardly moves. I'm thinking its just a worn out belt.

Cool beans. Hopefully it is just the belts. Make sure the blade is not over-tensioned too. Looking forward to more updates as you progress.

I took the jointer apart and cleaned/greased all the parts so that is working well. The belt might be a little worn but it still works better than expected. I took the bandsaw blade off and it still wont spin. It spins maybe a quarter turn then stops. I don't know what is wrong with it, i am assuming it is the belt. Aside from that ive wire brushed and scraped almost the entire surface of the machine. It has a nice patina and seems pretty rust free now so i am going to hold off on paint until i can get it fully operational. If you come across that manual i would greatly appreciate it.