davewyo Posted October 7, 2015 Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 I recently visited my childhood home in New England and while there visited a couple of interesting tourist attractions. The workshop at the Wilkinson Mill which is located at the "Old Slater Mill" in Pawtucket, Rhode Island was fascinating.The Slater Mill produced cotton thread from raw cotton. On the second floor of the nearby Wilkinson Mill is a woodshop which is powered by water from the Blackstone River. The purpose of the mill was to manufacture the molds which were used to cast the metal which in turn was used to produce more machine parts for cotton weaving.Here is the table saw (circa 1850):http://The band saw (c. 1907):http://A poor shot of the planer:http://Drill Press:http://The spring of the drill press:http:// I should add that these machines are still operated for demonstration purposes. The water wheel spins and the belts whirl. The noise is significant.Lathe:http://Drum Sander:http://The innards of the drum sander:http://Mortising Machine with two bits (c. 1875). First it drills a round hole and then it stamps down a square bit.http://Jig Saw:http:// 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted October 7, 2015 Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 Great insight - thanks for posting Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted October 7, 2015 Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 Seems like some mighty fine teeth on that table saw! Cool photos, thanks for sharing them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted October 7, 2015 Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 Thanks for sharing Dave. I enjoy looking at old equipment like this, imagining that at one time this was the highest of high tech. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davewyo Posted October 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 Seems like some mighty fine teeth on that table saw! Cool photos, thanks for sharing them.The blade has a plastic sheath on it to keep the school children on field trips from touching it.Thanks for sharing Dave. I enjoy looking at old equipment like this, imagining that at one time this was the highest of high tech.Yeah, it was pretty wild to see the way they did things back then. The tour guide said that all the machines would be running continually. There were close to 30 men using the workshop, with most being apprentices and only a few master craftsmen.They used shark's skin on the drum sander if they could get it. Otherwise they used sand impregnated damp cloth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted October 7, 2015 Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 That's a trip man. Thanks for sharing. Imagine walking into that shop 120 years ago. So cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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