What I Found Today

[Walt in Jaxn Tn.]

I had to move some parts and peices today (magnetos nuts bolts old tools ect.) when I found this special tool. I was using a old barn that belongs to a friend of mine to store old tractor parts, old tools, old spark plugs whatever. The story about this tool goes back about 20 years when my baby brother Paul Ferguson was attending a farm sale in north central Missouri. He bought this tool along with some other things in a pile and called it a whatzit and gave it to me just to see if I could name it. I turned it over and over and tried all the levers and turned all the adjustments and came up with a "tool for rebuilding distributor bushings" I wasn't far off when I borrowed a dealers shop book on "John Deere Electrical Systems" from a friend and found what it was really used for. It is a little hand lathe. There are some extra steel bushings to hold a steel shaft in the hollow part. the lever is turned and the shaft rotates against the cutting edge. Another shaft slides a small piece of hack saw blade length wise with the shaft. See if you can guess what it is for. Your clue is "Electrical Systems"

 

[Walt in Jaxn Tn.]

It was made by Johnson Engineering Co. in Ferguson Mo. who knows how many years ago.

 

[Walt in Jaxn Tn.]

This is looking down the end where the steel shaft goes.
The block of pot metal upper right is for holding it in a vise.

 

[Walt in Jaxn Tn.]

Another shot of the device. I need to clean it up. I used it once when I found out what it was for, on a piece of equipment that was trashed that I could not damage beyond repair. It worked and was easy to use.

 

[RonMC]

Looks like a hand lathe for refinishing generator/starter armatures.

 

[Hotflashjr]

I was going to say a tool for cutting/cleaning comm shafts or armatures as well.

 

[ET]

I have an armature lathe of simalar design but a little newer. I use it all the time.

 

[ET]

I have an armature lathe of simalar design but a little newer. I use it all the time.

 

[Walt in Jaxn Tn.]

Correct, It is for cutting armatures commutators on generators and starters to bring them back to round,and the little saw piece is for under cutting the mica strips between the copper bars on which ever one is supposed to be under cut ( I forget) A friend of mine, Lloyd Speer, who used to run a small engine shop and who also rebuilt starters and generators and alternators, had a larger version that had an electric motor on it. Lloyd also collects antique gas engines.

 

[Harley Eaves]

I would never have guessed what it was. I have some old tools hanging on the wall of a cabin in the back yard that I have no idea what they were used for. Some of them belonged to my Grandfather who died when I was very young. It is very interesting to see how they came up with ways to make life simple. Thanks for sharing the pic. Harley

 

[Machinery-Man]

"corn shucker"?