boice crane joiner

[bseant]

Hi all i have an opportunity to buy a joiner by boice crane. I believe it be an early 60's model. the person im going to be buying from says the motor is strong and the cutters are sharp. Anybody have any input, reasons to stay away or should i purchase it? thanks for any input.

 

[Zrexxer]

Can't tell you much without knowing a whole lot more than that, but Boice Crane was good quality machinery. What kind of condition it's in NOW is what you have to determine.

Check the infeed and outfeed tables for damage and use a straightedge to tell if they've warped. Cutterhead bearings can be another issue that may need service on older jointers, but I've changed several sets of them on other brands, they're usually not hard to do.

Look for missing parts. The fence and all the adjustment mechanisms need to be there. There aren't many Boice Crane parts floating around these days.

 

[jackfork]

Not enough information to give any opinion. Do you have pictures? Size? Table OK? Cost? If you can come up with more info please post it. However, the best forum for old equipment such as this would be owwm.org.

 

[woody 73]

I can give you a few good pointers but without much info to go on it is somewhat hard.
First off Boice Crane made very nice machines so you are ok with that Machine.

Parts are going to be somewhat hard to get because they are no longer made.

If anything is missing or broken you might have to fab your own part or see if you can buy the part/parts from the web.

You will need a manual and you can also pick one up from the Web or maybe download one for free.

Hope that helps you out, if you can get a model number or a picture that helps us by providing more informatuion about your machine.

 

[bseant]

thanks for the quick reply guys. the guy is asking 60 bucks. 7x36 table it looks rusty from the pics ive seen but only surface rust. it has an enclosed metal base everything is the original blue paint. Im prob going to be looking at it tomorrow in person but it's a bit of a drive so i'm either going to be purchasing or leaving it alone. thanks again guys.

 

[bseant]

hope this ones better

 

[rippered]

I have the same jointer. Its a good 1940's machine. I'm sure yours will need new bearings like mine. Machine gray is the original color.

 

[woody 73]

For a first machine you can not go wrong with $60.00 dollars. As you get into bigger projects you will one day want a larger width; mine is an 8inch width. If only I had the Money I would like a 12inch width table, but alas that would cost three arms and fifty yard line tickets to all ohio state games for the next three hundred years plus my first born son and the wife

 

[zkling]

For $60 go get it . They were a pretty close copy of the delta 6" jointers, especially in the fence area.

One thing to watch out for is warped tables. Take a straight edge and check the tables. Pretty challenging to fix warped / sagging tables on a jointer.

 

[bseant]

yeah i would love to have a wider joiner as well. i figured for 60.00 i cant go wrong, but i can also wait until i can afford a good joiner as well. not really looking for a project on this machine i just need it to work. Right now i have to joint all my boards by hand using my hand planes so if this works out it will be nice to having to do that but if you need a good upper body work out cant beat elbow grease.lol

 

[bseant]

one more thing are the bearings one of those parts that im going to have search all over the globe for, and how much do they go for if you do find it.

 

[Zrexxer]

Should be available at any bearing supply house.

 

[bungy42]

Bearing might still be available, but they might not. You'll find the answers at owwm.org I bet. That's where I usually go with these sorts of problems.

 

[bseant]

well i got to ask the guy selling it some more questions. he says the table was his working machine he just got a new one with bigger table. he say it works good the only thing is the adjustment on the table height isn't working due to what he says is rusty bolts but he never adjusted after he set it. No pitting on the table and everything cuts accurate.

 

[bseant]

I have the same jointer. Its a good 1940's machine. I'm sure yours will need new bearings like mine. Machine gray is the original color.

well i ended up getting it for 45 bucks. do you think you can put up some pics of yours. Mine is missing a couple of the knobs that move the table also would like to see what it supposed to look like. The bearings seem like their in good condition and don't need replacing. the table is a little more pitted than i was hoping but nothing a little sanding and top conditioning can't take care of (most of it anyways). What size belt do you use? Would love to see yours so i can have some sort of reference. Prob going to tear it apart and just restore it back to it's glory days. thanks for any tips.

 

[bseant]

well im almost done with puttin it back together. Everything was taken off and sandblasted and painted (except the fence, couldn't fit in cabinet). just waiting for the knives to get sharpened and it'll be ready to go. Put in new bearings on the cutter head and a new pulley on the motor. Altogether i have 55 bucks into the whole thing(45 for jointer and 10 for parts).

 

[woody 73]

Good job You will get many years of enjoyment out of that machine.

 

[bseant]

Good job You will get many years of enjoyment out of that machine.

thanks woody. i was just going to use it as is but i felt it deserved better.lol

 

[TheGrooveking]

Very nice work, they don't make them like that anymore, great to see an older machine brought back to life.

TheGrooveking

 

[rsanter]

Good deal....enjoy the machine

Bob