The Craftsman Crown Garage

[bluebolt]

So I figured I would document my garage renovation. It's a 22'" wide by 21' 6" deep with 8" ceilings attached garage.

I like the older Craftsman tools with the Crown logo that was used from late 50's to early 70's. Although this is my preference If I find a good Craftsman power tool ouside this era I will pick it up and use it! I already have some of the older 50's power tools.

My goal is to have a house garage that will hold two cars and will be useful for woodworking and light general work.

First thing is to get it cleaned out and organized. I have stuff I don't need that needs to get sold or tossed out/

So first some before pics from a few days ago.

The yellow Mustang is my roommates 1998 Cobra with a complete 2003 Cobra Termninator engine, trans, wiring, gas tank, dash, interior panels and seats and AC.

The Coca Cola machine is a 1950's Vendo Six Case Vertical. It holds cans or bottles (including beer LOL) and was restored by a local guy about ten years ago. Sadly I no longer have room for this.

 

[dittle fart around]

That Coke machine will help finance the garage project. Put in the classified section here, you shouldn't have a problem selling it.

 

[bluebolt]

So my buddy comes over yesterday to help me clean out the garage. We take turns helping each other on weekends, last Sunday we trimmed some huge branches off of a large tree overhanging his house.

Basically this was clean out and reorganize.

The first pic is some of my Craftsman power tools, mostly late 50's era. Drill press with Dunlap Motor and Dunlap vise, 10" table saw with two wings, Craftsman stand and Powr Pak, another identical 10" table saw, Craftsman 3 wheel bandsaw and the orange bandsaw is a 1930's Craftsman. The drill press, table saw on stand and 3 wheel bandsaw are in working condition although I need to build a stand for the bandsaw.

The second pic shows the Coke machine and a mid 70's Craftsman intermediate box on top of a later Craftsman roller cabinet. The roller is rough but worth the $15 I paid for it for the casters. Will probably become a base for one of the bandsaws.

Third pic with pegboard and white cabinet is where my workbench will go. Still needs cleaning up.

Fourth and fith pic is some of my vintage Craftsman collection.

Sixth pic is more storage. The vintage green fan on the shelf I just picked up for a $1, works fine. The Emerson fan on the floor I paid $16 for, it works too.

Seventh pic is storage for some of my vintage car toys.

 

[bluebolt]

Picked up some more mid 60's vintage Craftsman power tools yesterday. $300 for all three about 100 miles away. Back roads of NE Texas, would have been a nice drive if it wasn't cold and raining LOL.

Craftsman 113.24261 bandsaw, complete including original accessory stand, 3/4 HP 1725 Craftsman Crown label motor. Tried to plug it in and realized it was set up for 220, need to rewire it for 110.

Craftsman 113.22541 9" disc / 6" x 48" belt sander. Has the pedestal stand upper part still bolted on and the motor mount for the post but no base or post. The fence is missing, I can still get a new one from Sear Parts but will probably make my own. Motor is a Craftsman 1/2 hp 3450 rpm motor. I have the sanding disc but it is not in the picture.

Craftsman 6 1/8" jointer / planer. The data palte is missing but I believe it's 113.20621. Missing the blade guard. The pedestal base has an entire corner cracked off. The motor is a Craftsman Crown label but the ID plate is gone, looks identical to the 1/2 HP motor on the sander.The motor feels kinda "rough" too when you spin it.

Alright I have enough projects time to stay home and get some work done and quit going to flea markets and estate sales for awhile!

 

[tinbender 66]

Nice tool collection. Red Leader should dig those! I seem to have been bitten by the old tool bug too. So far just Delta Milwaukee stuff.

 

[Nighttrain]

Real nice. Red Leader is going to have to have some quiet time with this thread!

 

[bluebolt]

I have a long way to go to be up to Red Leader's garage!

Working on my buddys garage today, back to work on this one next week.

 

[bluebolt]

Havn't had time to work on the garage but did pick up a few more pieces.

Picked up a early 70's Craftsman bottom roller toolbox along with a later 1990's top for $60 for both at local garage sale. Sold top for $40 on Craigslist . Repaint in the future.

Picked up this early 80's USA made Craftsman 12" band saw model 113.243310. Now I don't really need another bandsaw since this makes #4 BUT this one has the factory speed reducer accessory model #113238961. Reduces blade speed approximately 22 to 1! Has two belts and a chain to reduce speed. Current plan is to use the speed reducer for my 60's bandsaw so I can do metal and sell the 80's saw.

 

[tinbender 66]

Cool. I'd like to see the inside of that speed reducer. I want to make/buy something for my 1947 Delta Milwaukee 14" band saw so I can use it for metal.

 

[bluebolt]

Cool. I'd like to see the inside of that speed reducer. I want to make/buy something for my 1947 Delta Milwaukee 14" band saw so I can use it for metal.

Here's a pic of the parts breakdown.

 

[Bib Overalls]

That speed reducer is ****!

 

[bluebolt]

The 22/1 reduction drops this machine down to 131 FPM from 2900 FPM with a 2 1/2" bottom pulley and a 5" top pulley. Anybody have a 1980's catalog that can tell me what the reduction is supposed to be?

 

[Red Leader]

Very nice garage, and GREAT collection of Craftsman tools!

While my 'collection' habits tend to focus on some of the more early Craftsman offerings (1930s-1950s), Craftsman made some great tools on into the 1960s and I do believe that was the last great era for Craftsman. A few examples are the '150' model drill press and the 113.2245x cabinet saw that continued to be built by Emerson until around 1966. A finer table saw from Craftsman you probably won't find. I myself have a Craftsman crown era (1960s) circular saw and router - which have both been used extensively in my garage build.

Depending on where you live, if you keep an eye out on Craigslist, it is usually loaded with this older Craftsman stuff. A little less from the 1930s-1940s, but once you get into the 1950s-1960s there is a healthy supply.

Good luck with the project! I'll have to keep a close eye on this one

 

[Red Leader]

Cool. I'd like to see the inside of that speed reducer. I want to make/buy something for my 1947 Delta Milwaukee 14" band saw so I can use it for metal.

Paul,

Delta did make a slow speed pulley kit for that bandsaw. However, it tends to be one of those things that costs as much or more than the saw. I guess in your case as long as it wasn't too much more than the saw you'd be okay with it, right?

 

[bluebolt]

Paul,

Delta did make a slow speed pulley kit for that bandsaw. However, it tends to be one of those things that costs as much or more than the saw. I guess in your case as long as it wasn't too much more than the saw you'd be okay with it, right?

The slow speed stuff is why I picked up this bandsaw for $75, I couldn't build one anywheres that cheap!

 

[colo crawler]

Very nice garage, and GREAT collection of Craftsman tools!

While my 'collection' habits tend to focus on some of the more early Craftsman offerings (1930s-1950s), Craftsman made some great tools on into the 1960s and I do believe that was the last great era for Craftsman. A few examples are the '150' model drill press and the 113.2245x cabinet saw that continued to be built by Emerson until around 1966. A finer table saw from Craftsman you probably won't find. I myself have a Craftsman crown era (1960s) circular saw and router - which have both been used extensively in my garage build.

Depending on where you live, if you keep an eye out on Craigslist, it is usually loaded with this older Craftsman stuff. A little less from the 1930s-1940s, but once you get into the 1950s-1960s there is a healthy supply.

Good luck with the project! I'll have to keep a close eye on this one

Is there a lot of this older stuff in denver? I would love to get a few older tools like those.

-Tom

 

[jeffmoss26]

Very cool garage and nice tools!

 

[Jagmandave]

My dad engineered most of the insides of that coke machine, he started as a mechanical engineer for Vendo in 1939 and was with them till he retired as head of engineering in the 90's.....he designed the coin rejector, and the serpentines that allow the machine to hold more coke in the same size shell in later years, among other things. In that era Vendo made the best machines on the market.

Wish he was still here....

 

[JC23]

My dad engineered most of the insides of that coke machine, he started as a mechanical engineer for Vendo in 1939 and was with them till he retired as head of engineering in the 90's.....he designed the coin rejector, and the serpentines that allow the machine to hold more coke in the same size shell in later years, among other things. In that era Vendo made the best machines on the market.

Wish he was still here....

That's a great legacy. You should be proud!

 

[Red Leader]

Is there a lot of this older stuff in denver? I would love to get a few older tools like those.

-Tom

Tom,

If you are interested in being a part of our active 'old tool' community, I can get you on a 'C/L email alert' list that passes out the good deals to the email subscribers. At this point there aren't really any requirements, but what would be of help would be for you to be willing to pay it forward (i.e. post up cool vintage tool finds that you find that you want to pass on to the group), and, oh, yeah, don't try and steal TOO much Craftsman stuff from me

We find LOTS of neat stuff every week. PM if interested.

-Dave

 

[bluebolt]

My dad engineered most of the insides of that coke machine, he started as a mechanical engineer for Vendo in 1939 and was with them till he retired as head of engineering in the 90's.....he designed the coin rejector, and the serpentines that allow the machine to hold more coke in the same size shell in later years, among other things. In that era Vendo made the best machines on the market.

Wish he was still here....

I have had a few Vendo's in the past, they were well built. This particular machine has no coin mechanism, it was used inside a store and has wire shelves the bottles simply roll down. Allows it to hold bottles or cans. Wasn't designed for cans and they are a little harder to get out. That's why I always put bottle beer in it LOL.

 

[bluebolt]

What a great Thanksgiving! The gentleman I got the newer bandsaw from called and said he found the manual for the speed reducer! He scanned it and emailed it to me, will be a big help! Since I know there was some interest in this speed reducer I have added the 7 pertinet pages.

 

[bluebolt]

The 22/1 reduction drops this machine down to 131 FPM from 2900 FPM with a 2 1/2" bottom pulley and a 5" top pulley. Anybody have a 1980's catalog that can tell me what the reduction is supposed to be?

I was really close on my approximation of 131 FPM, it is actually 135 FPM.

 

[bluebolt]

Found some "quest" stuff today! Super nice condition! Unloading now, pics in a few hours!

 

[Red Leader]

Pictures Pictures Pictures!!!!

I figure I should be excited since our garages are virtual siblings

 

[bluebolt]

So one of my "quest" items was a late 60's early 70's Craftsman roller cabinet and top chest. I had picked up a 5 drawer lower roller in decent shape but it has overspray and rust and could use a repaint. So today I was doing my usual Friday morning garage sale and estate sale hunt. I had planned the route the night before and there were only two estate sales and no garage sales with tools listed. First estate sale had a couple of Craftsman =V= wrenches in nice shape but not much else interesting for me. The same company was running the other estate sale and the check out lady called an asked if they had any tools, very little. Was going to stop in anyways since it was on my way home. Decided to check my Friday newspaper and there was an estate sale listed I hadn't seen before. It was close by and hadn't even opened yet. So I headed there and waited for it to open up, when they said 9 they meant 9! Headed to the back and started checking it out, saw a NICE early 70's Craftsman box and top chest. $125, tools not included. Higher than I wanted to pay but the condition was unbelievable. Lots of Craftsman and other tools inside but all priced individually which adds up real fast. Asked the guy in the back what they would take for everything in box and he said $225. I said how about $200. He didn't want to take it and I said I would just buy what I actually needed and where should I put the tools I didn't want? Well then he agreed to $200, probably didn't want that mess all over LOL.

So anyways the 3 drawer roller box is model number 65033 with a date of 10 1974 and the top is 65272. As far as condition they are as I said super nice. One small dsrawer in the top has rust from what appears to be a corrosive chemical spill. The casters are the wrong ones and smaller than original. It came with all the keys and two owners manuals. All the drawers work great, no signs of overloading. The emblems are in gorgeous shape. This should be a fairly simple clean, treat the rust in the one drawer and wax it.

I have some of the tools in the pictures. Most are in very nice shape, early Craftsman =V= without a part number, some later V and VV. The 1/2" breaker bar is the slightly longer 18" one which will be a nice addition to my 15" one.

 

[bluebolt]

Hey Red Leader, usually I am salivating over your next update, nice to have you waiting on mine! Yeah I have the "younger brother" of your garage LOL. Here's some more pics.

 

[Red Leader]

Wow, that tool chest combo is KILLER!!! And at $125 for the combo (no tools) the price is amazing. You did great. You said that was more than you wanted to pay...and I thought I was the world's biggest bottom feeder

What is so cool about your update is that I may also have an extremely...similar...update.

Tomorrow.

That's all I'm sayin' for now!

 

[bluebolt]

Wow, that tool chest combo is KILLER!!! And at $125 for the combo (no tools) the price is amazing. You did great. You said that was more than you wanted to pay...and I thought I was the world's biggest bottom feeder

It's not that I had a problem with the price for something in such nice shape, my budget was $60 and I ended up spending $300 total! This particular estate sale company luckily took a credit card! time to sell more extra tools!

What is so cool about your update is that I may also have an extremely...similar...update.

Tomorrow.

That's all I'm sayin' for now!

Great now I won't be able to sleep while awaiting your update!

 

[Red Leader]

So...that old Dunlap circular saw...I want pics!!!

 

[-Brent-]

Awesome find on the box, I love that style. My dad has one that I grew up being around so when I found this one (NOS), I had to have it. It came with 4 other NOS Cman boxes/tops a little newer but not nearly as cool.

Yours pretty much looks new, as well. I wonder how often that man used his tools?

 

[jktruck150]

Looks good!

 

[bluebolt]

Awesome find on the box, I love that style. My dad has one that I grew up being around so when I found this one (NOS), I had to have it. It came with 4 other NOS Cman boxes/tops a little newer but not nearly as cool.

Yours pretty much looks new, as well. I wonder how often that man used his tools?

Thanks Brent, whats the story behind your NOS boxes? You never did share that in your lock thread!

Judging by the condition of the tools they weren't used much. Some looked like they had never been used at all, nicest =V= tools without a part number I have ever seen.

 

[novaboy009]

I also have a lust for 50s-60s craftsman tools. That box is a score!!! Now stop hording all those tools or this will turn into another grunge garage instead of a crown garage!

Kev

 

[bluebolt]

Picked up this 60's Craftsman grinder at a local pawn shop along with the Sears grinder cleaning tool and the Craftsman 16 MM wrench for $30 total tax included. The grinder runs nice and smooth.

 

[bluebolt]

Got off my **** and did some work in the garage. All my NFL teams are out of the playoffs now anyways Cleaned some on the top toolbox and started arranging the drawers. This box is so nice it's just basic cleaning. found out where the date stamp is, it's jsut to the left of the pull out tray section. You can see it says Made in USA and the date, 10-74. I put the half inch ratchet and sockets in the red pull out tray. The SAE 12 pt sockets and extensions, 1/2 to 3/8 adapter, universal, breaker bar and ratchet with V selector are =V= without a part number, most are in very good shape. Some look never used, these are the ones I bought with the box. The majority of the metric 1/2 drive sockets are -V- or -VV- code with the little serations at the top of the socket and the size in M/M instead of the later ones that have serrations at the bottom and the size reads mm. Again the older ones are in very fine shape and came with the box.

I was using a little WD-40 for removing prices in permanent marker on the sockets. I also had Craftsman rivets in what appears to be 1970's packaging and the WD-40 worked well on the coated cardboard to remove the prices on that as well. Yes the rivets came with the box as well LOL.

Here's a few pics, back to work for a bit LOL.

 

[Red Leader]

Very nice. Tool box looks great. Nice score on that grinder. If you look hard enough, those 'engine block' Craftsman grinders are out there for $25-35...old American iron sure beats the $50 import stuff

 

[bluebolt]

The Craftsman Crown garage may be on TV soon! Have to send in a video! New show coming out! Can't tell you much more right now. 1st I don't know and 2nd don't want to give to much away until I am picked and know what I can say prior to episode airing.

 

[-Brent-]

Thanks Brent, whats the story behind your NOS boxes? You never did share that in your lock thread!

From what the owner's son told me, he was about to start a business in Las Vegas and bought the boxes new. Then his plans fell through and they were put into storage until the were pulled out and transported to Utah, where they sat another year until I bought them.

Since then they've been gone through and loaded with tools (mostly). The 1974 (red/gray box above) is the only one that's not in use and it's sitting empty, except for the last two drawers of the bottom box. My plan is to organize my vintage leatherworking and saddle tools in that box but I'd like to re-cork the boxes first. I've been accumulating tools for the leather work that I'll be doing on my 20 and 26 T roadsters this year and currently the tools are sitting in a few cardboard boxes on my work bench.

 

[bluebolt]

Did some more estate and garage sale hunting last Friday and Saturday.
Friday I hit three estate sales, big pieces I picked up include some NICE "Crown" Craftsman motors, a 1/2 HP 3450 sleeve bearing motor that was still in the original box and a 1/2 HP variable speed motor that can change from 500 to 5000 RPM. $30 for both and I tested them both both before buying. The variable speed should be nice on the bench top Craftsman drill press. Fast for wood and slow for metal. It even has reverse.

Was at another sale and found I missed out on a decent Starrett vise, guy said it weighed about 80 pounds. Also missed out on a Craftsman Blcok grinder on a stand with a Craftsman sharpening attachement. Did pick up an old Reed pipe vise and a few other things there. There was a nice Craftsman jointer planer there but too rich for my blood at $150. Figured I would check the next day after 1230 when price went to half. Was also a Craftsman 1960's wood lathe there but it is not as good as the 50's version so I passed on that as well.

Saturday I hit a few sales that started that day, first was not much but second one had 4 garage/laundry wall cabinets, minor water damage. $100 new each, got 4 for $60! Sold two to a buddy for $35 delivered and kept the other two for my garage. Tuesday a buddy helped me put them up. I lightly nailed a 2x4 to the wall at the height I wanted, set the cabinets on them and used two 8 foot pipes and the sliding part of Jorgenson pipe clamps to hold them up while we lag bolted them to the wall. The one with the worst damage has some of the cover peeling on the bottom, see the pic. It was also missing the knobs. the other had some light 'bubbling" on the top, thats it. Eventually I want to put pegboard and a folding work bench there ala Jack Olsen style.

I also stopped back at the estate sales for "1/2 price after 1230" sales. The planer joiner was still there! So I got it for $75. I already have an identical one but this one is much nicer, doesn't need a repaint or restoration, the blade guard is there and the motor is nice comapred to the other one. I will use this one and sell the other. I also picked up a butcher block topped workbench for $25 and a few other things.

Went back to the other estate sale where I bought the motors, not much left but I picked up a few small items. Looked in the file cabinet hiding in the corner and it was full of original Craftsman owners manuals from 1960's 70's and 80's. Grabbed the whole bunch for $2! Also picked up some Craftsman table saw inserts for dado and molding, 50 cents for pair.

I also rearanged some stuff and the two grey with red drawers Craftsman boxes are now next to each other. It made it real apparent how faded the one was! The nice one was in a small work room with no windows, makes me appreciate what a good deal I got!

Tried to upload pics but with new GJ server change they wouldn't load, I know they are working on it.