Photo Index - Oliver Machinery Co. - No. 166-ED - Hand Planer and Jointer

Machinery Photo Index

Manufactured/Badged by:
Oliver Machinery Co.
Grand Rapids, MI

Machine Specifications
Machine Class:	Wood Working Machinery
Machine Type:	Jointer
Machine Size:	24"
Submitted By:	Phil Kezele

Machine Specifications
Description/Model:	No. 166-ED - Hand Planer and Jointer
Date of Manufacturer:	Dec. 1943 - May 1944
Serial Number:	59813 (View SN Registry Entry)
Last Updated	1/13/2010 8:48:57 PM

Comments:

I bought this saw from a machinery dealer in Cleveland, OH area. I had been looking for a 166 in the 12-16" size for some time. I was looking for one in plug and play condition; meaning that it was ready to go to work. I spoke with the company and asked lots of questions; however, the pictures did not look like a 16" jointer as they advertised--it looked bigger. I asked the sales guy to go measure the length of the cutter head for me and he said 24". I got a little excited at that point and knew I had to have that jointer. I always sleep overnight on these bigger machinery purchases and the next day before I contacted him, he called me and told me that another salesman has a deal going on right now with a customer (ya sure) and told me that if I wanted to purchase the machine, it would need to be done real quick. I told him subject to them shipping the saw with my specified freight line and I also wanted them to crate the jointer--the sales guy said they don't do that! What in the world is a machinery dealer doing selling on the web and telling me they don't crate--I told them unacceptable and at the very least they would have to build a special skid for it--they finally relented and the deal was done.

I arranged with “Freightquote.com” and got a very reasonable shipment price FOB to Seattle. I scheduled the pickup for a Wednesday and the forwarder (FED Ex National LTL) had a 4-day delivery from Cleveland. Wednesday came and later in the day I checked with the dealer and they told me, yes, confirmed pickup at 2pm! Yaw baby, its on its way--but I work in the freight business and I know better, there are lots of miles to travel from Columbus to Seattle, and I knew that this piece was going to be cross-docked at least a couple of times (ended up being 4!). I really didn't worry too much about the shipping on this jointer; they had made a skid using two standard 4' skids with 5 - 2X6 planks holding them both together. The shipper sent picks of the jointer, ready for shipment—ready to go!

Since it was a Wednesday pickup, the shipment would come in to Seattle on a Tuesday--right on time it was. I had it shipped to my dock at work and one of our supervisors took the lead on the Hyster forklift ... one small problem is that they placed the jointer in lengthwise versus sideways and there was no way to maneuver with the forks to get a straight lift on the 2516 pound load. Luckily I had a couple of chains with me since I knew I was going to trailer it back to my shop. In the end they had to tie the chain around the skid and pull it across the trailer floor onto the dock, then they could face off square to the jointer and move it over to my trailer...all good.

I did not inspect the jointer as it was completely shrink wrapped but I did not notice some fork lift scrapes on the side and some of the shrink wrap was torn--I figured it was just normal movement; besides I couldn’t see anything under the miles of shrink wrap anyway. But, what alarmed me even more was the fact that the jointer was almost falling off the skid and as I was about to learn, the fine warehouse guys at the machinery dealer neglected to bolt the jointer to the skid--a huge mistake as I would soon learn!

Today I drove the jointer to my shop and because I am leaving on holiday Saturday. I did not bother to remove the jointer from the trailer but I did a complete survey of the machine stripping off all the plastic shrink wrap and inspecting every nook and cranny.

1. First off I noticed there was a hand wheel on the top of the jointer bed, not a good sign since it left Cleveland with one on each table (these are the table height adjustment hand wheels)--see photos for damage.
2. I found the matching machine nut on the skid, which had held the hand wheel in place. I wish it was not the in feed which had this problem, but hey that's life.
3. I found the AB motor starter cover crushed ... this is where I really became worried of shipment damage and the cover is not repairable but replaceable.
4. And the big issue was it came in as 440 volts and I spent a great deal of time making sure that it was definitely 220 volts. I had two different people look at the motor and the starter to verify 3 phase 220! @#$! It looks like I will be pursuing a 220-440, 6KVA transformer for this piece of equipment.
5. No other issues, it was exactly as I had expected, actually even better, the tables were in mirror shape and absolutely no issues with any more damage whatsoever. The items that were damaged are repairable.

It's kind of befitting an aircraft carrier to have its new home just across Saratoga passage here on Puget Sound right across from NAS Whidbey Island, its new homeport. I'll update new pics when I move it into its new berth in the shop.

Photo 1:

Comments: Still on the skid and trailer (fence removed)
Source: My Canon

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Photo 2:

Comments: Rear view; notice more damage to the conduit--no issues
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Photo 3:

Comments: 24" Table, a true aircraft carrier, eh!
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Photo 4:

Comments: Can anyone see 440 volts on this motor, you have to be blind not to.
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Photo 5:

Comments: Damage to the infeed handwheel--there should be a threaded end to keep the handwheel from falling off.
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Photo 6:

Comments: Dec-09: Starting to pull and replace the open face bearings and exchanging 440v stator for a 220v stator; note tables are pulled apart for the removal operation.
Source: My Canon

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