Thread: dumb, stupid or great idea

Originally Posted by Mobyturns

The more I look at 1970's Aussie made wood working machinery, the more I'm convinced that we have been ripped off by the current offerings.

That's a bit of a tricky one, Moby, I remember lusting after a Durden combo machine in the late 60s. It was an 8" saw combined with a 4" buzzer driven by a common spindle. The price of a new one was simply out of reach for a penurious graduate student, so I had to get by with a cheap Skilsaw & some pretty indifferent hand saws (my saw sharpening wouldn't have been described as "rudimentary"; "non-existent" would be more accurate). The Durden sure was/is a solid little chunk of cast iron, but rather crude by today's standards - no blade tilt of course, thanks to the common shaft, & no 'refinements' like a riving knife or option to fit one. Given I find my current 10" saw frustratingly limiting at times (sheds, fridges, tablesaws - they're always a size too small!), I think I would have soon gotten fed-up with the limited capacity of an 8" saw that had about a 2" depth of cut due to the thick table & heavy bearings. I guess it was useful on building sites, (just) small enough to transport & rugged enough to cop abuse (I remember the chippies using something very similar, if not the same, when our country school was being extended in the 50s).

When I left for Canada in the mid 70s, woodworking machines were still very pricey here - I was overjoyed to find prices were about 1/3rd what they were here. The choice was limited, but much moreso here than in Canada. What a difference by the time I came home in 1990! There was heaps of choice over a wide price range - some of the stuff on offer was a bit too cheap & cheerful, but there was some reasonable gear that someone like myself, supporting a family & paying a mortgage etc. could aspire to own. What I ended up with is by no means "industrial quality" but it is adequate for my needs, and I can assure you it's far better than none - I would never have managed to cobble together a quarter of what I did without the help of my machines.

Of course, time moves on & I have reverted to mainly hand-tool work in retirement, but I have better hand tools, way more time, & far less pressure. My tablesaw still gets daily use, but the planer/thicknesser sits idle for months on end, & I can't remember when I last used the mortiser.

If I had to choose between a couple of crude but very solid machines & what I have now, I don't think I'd have too much trouble deciding which way to go. When I came back I managed to score a 2nd hand Woodfast lathe at a good price. The low price was because it had been used for a lot of heavy bowl-turning and the headstock bearings were in poor shape, but a quick visit to a bearing shop & a few paltry dollars & it was as good as new. Eventually, the pulley drive started to annoy me - I tended to do everything at the one speed rather than go to the bother of changing to a more appropriate one. A chance to buy a Laguna at a very attractive price was too good to miss so the old draught-horse went to a new home. The ways on the new machine are lighter in proportion to the Woodfast, but the headstock is a very solid affair & as I do 99% spindle turning, it's quite up to the job - I've done bed legs & large table legs on it very comfortably, and the continuously-variable speed at the turn of a dial, is even better than I expected - I'd not realised how good life can be!

As a good friend of mine likes to say "The good old days when things weren't as good as we remember..."

Cheers,
Ian

Originally Posted by IanW

...............

but a quick visit to a bearing shop & a few paltry dollars & it was as good as new. .............

As a good friend of mine likes to say "The good old days when things weren't as good as we remember..."

Cheers,
Ian

Machinery is certainly more affordable these days, is it better quality????

At least we could get parts, and mostly still can, for Aussie made machines from that era. Even early Woodman & Carbatec machines seem far more robust than many of the generic offerings available now.

Wholeheartedly agree with your closing statement.