![Antique Vertical Steam Engine - Part 1 [Restoration] @HandToolRescue](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ucRF42U_ZFk/maxresdefault.jpg)
Uploaded August 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
This restoration is on a 1920s Orr & Sembower vertical steam engine. It was apparently found in a river in Kansas, USA before being shipped to me. This steam engine is one of the worst condition items to ever come across my workbench. I have not worked on a steam engine before, so this will be a fun learning experience.
In Part 1, I completely disassemble what is remaining of the steam engine and start to work on remaking all the missing parts. At some point, it was stripped for bronze or brass scrap metal, so almost all of those parts will need to be replaced. This includes the bronze shoes on the crosshead, as well as all the steam fittings and fasteners.
After rust removal, I can see the steam engine used to be black and that there is significant wear in all of the babbitt bearings, so they will need to be re-poured. The piston and piston rings are damaged and will both need to be replaced. The main shaft is too deteriorated to be salvaged and the eccentric has an improperly fit repair.
At this point, if this steam engine can be brought back to life, I will be very impressed.
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Podcast (with Jimmy DiResta and Andrew Alexander) - https://anchor.fm/fitzall
This restoration is on a 1920s Orr & Sembower vertical steam engine. It was apparently found in a river in Kansas, USA before being shipped to me. This steam engine is one of the worst condition items to ever come across my workbench. I have not worked on a steam engine before, so this will be a fun learning experience.
In Part 1, I completely disassemble what is remaining of the steam engine and start to work on remaking all the missing parts. At some point, it was stripped for bronze or brass scrap metal, so almost all of those parts will need to be replaced. This includes the bronze shoes on the crosshead, as well as all the steam fittings and fasteners.
After rust removal, I can see the steam engine used to be black and that there is significant wear in all of the babbitt bearings, so they will need to be re-poured. The piston and piston rings are damaged and will both need to be replaced. The main shaft is too deteriorated to be salvaged and the eccentric has an improperly fit repair.
At this point, if this steam engine can be brought back to life, I will be very impressed.
Wrenches and screwdrivers are now for sale at handtoolrescue.com
Help secure more tools for future videos (if you want):
patreon.com/handtoolrescue
Instagram:
instagram.com/handtoolrescue
Facebook Group - Share your restorations
facebook.com/groups/handtoolrescue
facebook.com/handtoolrescue
Reddit - Share your restorations
reddit.com/r/HandToolRescue
Podcast (with Jimmy DiResta and Andrew Alexander) - https://anchor.fm/fitzall
![Antique Vertical Steam Engine - Part 1 [Restoration]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ucRF42U_ZFk/mqdefault.jpg "Antique Vertical Steam Engine - Part 1 [Restoration]
This restoration is on a 1920s Orr & Sembower vertical steam engine. It was apparently found in a river in Kansas, USA before being shipped to me. This steam engine is one of the worst condition items to ever come across my workbench. I have not worked on a steam engine before, so this will be a fun learning experience.
In Part 1, I completely disassemble what is remaining of the steam engine and start to work on remaking all the missing parts. At some point, it was stripped for bronze or brass scrap metal, so almost all of those parts will need to be replaced. This includes the bronze shoes on the crosshead, as well as all the steam fittings and fasteners.
After rust removal, I can see the steam engine used to be black and that there is significant wear in all of the babbitt bearings, so they will need to be re-poured. The piston and piston rings are damaged and will both need to be replaced. The main shaft is too deteriorated to be salvaged and the eccentric has an improperly fit repair.
At this point, if this steam engine can be brought back to life, I will be very impressed.
Wrenches and screwdrivers are now for sale at www.handtoolrescue.com
Help secure more tools for future videos (if you want):
https://www.patreon.com/handtoolrescue
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/handtoolrescue
Facebook Group - Share your restorations
https://www.facebook.com/groups/handtoolrescue
https://www.facebook.com/handtoolrescue/
Reddit - Share your restorations
https://www.reddit.com/r/HandToolRescue/
Podcast (with Jimmy DiResta and Andrew Alexander) - https://anchor.fm/fitzall")
![Hand-Cranked Grinder [Rescue]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/urPF3MJtvjc/mqdefault.jpg "Hand-Cranked Grinder [Rescue]
https://www.instagram.com/handtoolrescue/ for upcoming projects.
This grinder was not moving smoothly and needed some rust removal. It still needs a proper handle and to have the grinding wheel dressed or replaced. There were no maker marks on this one.")
![Antique Check Perforator [Restoration]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/uvAO6lh0h1I/mqdefault.jpg "Antique Check Perforator [Restoration]
This restoration is on an antique check/cheque perforator made by the B.F. Cummins Co. This tool was patented in 1918 and the original patent document can be seen here: https://patents.google.com/patent/US1285837A
The perforator was recently sent to me by a viewer and was interesting enough to try and restore right away. It was used to cancel checks by marking them with the word PAID and the date.
I decided to give the tool a brand new coat of japanning as that was the original finish. I ended up using 3 coats of japanning on all castings. The punch plate for the perforator was made out of aluminum and most of the pins were incredibly stuck. For some reason, the pins are surrounded by an incredible amount of solder, for no discernible reason. The brass rings help index the proper date to perforate the paper and must have been an absolute nightmare to machine. I had to nickel-plate a bunch of parts for this machine as well.
In the end it worked well and I wish it could do letters as well as that would much more fun!
I would like to thank Evapo-Rust for sponsoring this video.
Wrenches are now for sale at www.handtoolrescue.com
Help secure more tools for future videos (if you want):
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https://www.facebook.com/handtoolrescue/
Reddit - Share your restorations
https://www.reddit.com/r/HandToolRescue/")
![Power Hacksaw [Restoration]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/v7429aWOTF8/mqdefault.jpg "Power Hacksaw [Restoration]
This tool restoration was a unique experience. This is a Model 256 power hacksaw was made by L. Krushel & Sons Ltd. (LKS) of Morden, Manitoba, Canada. I am not sure of the age as there is very little information on this saw, but the motor is from the 1960s. LKS was most known for building high quality welders and produced the first 180AMP welder in Canada. The LKS 180AMP welder is still sought after today, but this hacksaw should not be.
I was not overly impressed with the build quality on this tool, so much so, that I would probably not use it and I do not want anyone else to use it ever again. That is why I decided not to replace the power switch on this tool. The majority of the hacksaw is made with sections of angle iron welded together. I even had to hammer off the slag from the welds for painting, as it was never done the first time around. It was also odd to see shafts with no bushings or bearings around them for support. I imagine heavy use of this machine would wear out these parts very quickly.
There is no way to adjust the feed pressure or to make the cut more straight and square. This must have just been a nice thing to have that would quietly cut metal for further clean-up.
I understand that this tool was built in a time when most tools were starting to be made with cheaper materials and methods for competitive reasons.
I tried to match the colour as best as I could and applied 3 coats of filler primer, 4 coats of blue paint, and 3 clear coats. I used the snap rings I had lying around as I didnt want to buy whole new sets of them just for this application.
With a fresh blade, the saw did cut quite fast, but was not square. If you do come across an old power hacksaw, look for something built better and with adjustment mechanisms.
EDIT: The part of the video where it says Title Text Here was meant to talk about the old power switch location and why I didnt want to replace it.
Also, the bearing was warm while the rod was around -20C. Hopefully, that helped with hammering the bearing on, haha. As shown in the video, I used the old outer bearing race to support the new bearing while I was hammering the wheel onto it. I still need an arbor press.
Help secure more tools for future videos (if you want): https://www.patreon.com/handtoolrescue
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![Rare Antique Blower [Restoration]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/v8TKJsKAhLI/mqdefault.jpg "Rare Antique Blower [Restoration]
This thing blows.
In this video I do somewhat of a different restoration than in most of my projects.
This tool seems to be fairly rare as I cannot find very much documentation. The patent can be found here: https://patents.google.com/patent/US986502A/en?oq=986502
The only advertisement I can find is from a 1913 catalogue here: https://imgur.com/a/JfFsyNo
It is an early 1910s Hypress blower and pump made by L. J. Wing Mfg. I believe this company is still in operation. Since this was such a unique piece, I did not want to remove the patina off the brass components as that ruins the historical significance and value. I also chose to repaint the tool with the original black japanning finish that would have been used at the time. This helps make the restoration more authentic than my usual projects.
The design was very simple with only 4 parts making up the blower internals. After a good clean and oiling, the tool worked very well and had enough pressure to blow up some balloons. Apparently, this low pressure blower was used to separate pieces of paper for printing.
Id like to thank Evapo-Rust for sponsoring this video.
Wrenches are now for sale at www.handtoolrescue.com
Help secure more tools for future videos (if you want):
https://www.patreon.com/handtoolrescue
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https://www.instagram.com/handtoolrescue
Facebook Group - Share your restorations
https://www.facebook.com/groups/handtoolrescue
Reddit - Share your restorations
https://www.reddit.com/r/HandToolRescue/")
![Antique Business Card Letterpress [Restoration]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/w6FgF4usxzU/mqdefault.jpg "Antique Business Card Letterpress [Restoration]
This restoration is on a Chicago No.11 printing press made by the Sigwalt Mfg. Co., possibly in the 1920s. I do not know the exact date of manufacture of this specific unit as Sigwalt made these kinds of letterpresses for decades.
When I received this tool, I immediately notice the massive chuck of cast iron missing from the corner of the base and that both in rollers were missing, but otherwise the printing press was in great condition. The pin-striping and floral decals were mostly intact and the make and model decals were fully intact. Unfortunately, everything original had to be destroyed in order for me to make a large repair to the missing/broken section. It took several photos combined with research online to piece together a complete design of the now destroyed decals. I used modern oil-resistant rubber as the new ink roller material.
The restoration was fairly straight-forward as there are almost no screws holding this thing together. The original lead letters were still in the chase, so I used those to print example business cards once restored. The original letters spelled out Clough Drug Store from Seymour, Texas with a 3 digit phone number. I could find exactly when this town in Texas has this store or only 3 digit phone numbers, but its definitely before the 1940s.
The press takes some fine-tuning to get the prints perfectly dialled in, but once they are, you can go crazy and print quite a lot pretty quickly. I think this would be fun to use if I could custom CNC something I find interesting in the future to use as a printing stamp.
Big thank you to @dpmakestuff and @jimmydiresta for their help during the restoration procedure!
Id like to thank @CRCAutoUS for sponsoring this video. Ive switched to a food-grade penetrating oil from them as a more safe alternative, and it as worked just as well as the usual penetrating oils Ive used.
You can check out the products from them used in this video in the link below:
https://www.crcindustries.com/handtoolrescue
Wrenches, screwdrivers, and socket drivers are now for sale at https://www.handtoolrescue.com/
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