My Old Beaver Tools

Nah! Ya gotta spend $6,000,000 on a complete new shop with everything.
Now, having said that stupid remark, work with what you’ve got.
I worked for years with a RAS without exploding any walls or fingers.
I have an issue with those who want to spend their way into excellence. Native guys/gals lived for centuries with good sticks and sharp rocks.
Now I’ll go back to cleaning my dust collector.
Not tryin’ to be a smart a$$. I just want to use what I have to the max.
Great job on the resto.
Bill

-- [email protected]

thx bill, all three saws were unusable for various reasons when i got them, just combined the best of all three into two, built a nice cabinet for one, the other is on a cheapie modern stand(the work truck one)
both are used everyday
no warrentees, no service agreements, no waiting for repair guys, no crappy aluminum extrusions, no plastic bits to break, just plain old north american quality and knowhow
after 60 years all i had to replace was the arbour bearings for a total cost of 20 bucks per saw, one of them needed a new drive belt, cant remember which one, even the motors are 60 yrs old

wait till you see the bandsaws!!

-- My Shop is a Beaver Lodge

and my two old bandsaws, a beaver 15 inch and a craftmaster 12 inch

both were sold by MW stateside and the craftmaster was also sold as a portercable

the beaver is unique with its one piece aluminum body casting, and i mean one piece, four feet tall, the door is a three piece aluminum part, the wheels are lathe turned aluminum also, heavy as hell, lots of good aluminum in there. resaw capacity is 7 inches and it will do it easily in hard maple

the little henry/craftmaster was made in london ontario and also sold by portercable, almost jewellike in its details, great little saw for fine work, mostly cast iron, some details are aluminum not “pot metal”

both are powered by “period” motors, the beaver with a 3/4 hp leyland, the henry with a delco RI 1/4 hp

both date from the late 40’s

the jointers are next as long as there is interest

-- My Shop is a Beaver Lodge

These are all beautiful machines. Good job on the restorations.

-- --Tyrone - BC, Canada "Nothing is ever perfect, we just run out of time."

Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest, Interest.

I just HOPE that I showed enough interest! Those machines are gorgeous, beautiful, sexy, awesome, amazing!

Yes, please post more photos & info!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-- Randy-- I may not be good...but I am slow! If good things come to those who wait.... Why is procrastination a bad thing?

Definitely want to see the rest of your tools. There’s nothing like the old stuff. Glad to see someone that appreciates them and spends the time to save them. Great stuff!!!

-- Every day above ground is a good day!!!

okay, here’s the lathe, again late 40’s. like the rest of the beaver tools, designed and built by the callander foundry(beaver), this machine was made for decades, there are many of them in use still up here in canada

all cast iron, shopbuilt stand, modern tefc motor, added a beaver/rockwell 2 speed jackshaft for 8 speed

done a lot of turning on the old machine, this is an older pic before some upgrades were done recently

-- My Shop is a Beaver Lodge

a couple more shots, a more recent overall view and the two speed jackshaft, the jackshaft pieces are old rockwell parts, available at the time

the outboard turning setup, is just an extra bed cut off and bolted to the stand

the stand is solid white oak, plenty stiff enough for outboard turning

-- My Shop is a Beaver Lodge

I have a flare for the old tools myself.after i did my big band, i have been looking for a old oliver table saw to redo…no luck yet…...you did a great job!

-- IF YOUR NOT MAKING DUST...YOU ARE COLLECTING IT! SOUTH CAROLINA.

I clicked on the “watch” button to follow this topic. As I was checking e-mail today and reading replies, I open one and find a young girl, 24 years old, looking for “love”. When I clicked the link to go to this site, her post is not there. Was this deleted by those that run the site and this slipped through to my e-mail, or did I get contacted by someone not throught this site? First time I’ve seen anything like this on this site.

-- Every day above ground is a good day!!!

stevemorris,

MMmmm… Old Iron & saw dust….go ahead, fead the addiction!

Thanks, for more pics & info!

-- Randy-- I may not be good...but I am slow! If good things come to those who wait.... Why is procrastination a bad thing?

A wonderful refurbish and welcome to the site. You have done a very nice job. And your thread has produced some wonderful pictures. Thanks for posting.

-- Superdav "No matter where you go - there you are." http://chiselandforge.com

Nice that you have restored these fine old tools. The bandsaw looks like a really unique design.

-- Mike, an American living in Norway.

You obviously spend time over at OWWM. I love to go there and just look through the photo archives. I have mostly old Craftsman and Delta stuff, and a DeWalt MBF RAS. I was using a friends brand new RIDGID table saw and hated the plastic wheels and aluminum top. Nothing like a nice polished cast iron surface and a capacitor start motor. And the best part is that you can sometimes find the old stuff for a song. People look at it and scratch their heads and think new is better.

gee i got one of those emails, “looking for love too”, and i thought i was the special one, my hopes are crushed!!. the mods must have deleted the posting after the emails went out, rats

a little history next.

the callander foundry started way back in guelph ontario, canada before the second world war. during the war they made war stuff, tank and truck parts etc etc. after the war ended, they developed the beaver power tools line. in 1954, rockwell purchased the foundry and the beaver line and continued making the tools for several years. the lathe survived the longest, well into the eighties. rockwell also made many of the rockwell designs in canada, most famous of which was the unisaw and 37-220 jointer at the guelph facility. rockwell already owned delta, so many delta tools were made there too. unfortunately its all gone now

-- My Shop is a Beaver Lodge