Whiz Bang!

Ok, I do apologize for the lack of activity.  It's been too dang cold to work on the press as it's currently in my garage!  I did oil the thing up a few days ago.  There are 20 plus oil pots on this beast and I don't think they've been tended to since 1979.  So now that she's glistening like a grecian goddess she's limber and ready to get moving.

So this press is motorized.  Allegedly.  Meaning, there is a motor attached to it, but I wasn't so sure if it worked or not, or being that it looks like it was put on in 1939 and already has some janky wiring on it I wasn't so sure I should even try to turn it on.  My dad, being the handy man that he is came over to help me figure out what I was working with.

Let me preface this by saying that though I "own" a "business" we are in no way up to safety codes, etc. In fact I think OSHA would spit on us, slap us, or hold a prayer vigil in our honor... I'm not sure which.

Dad replaced the on/off switch on the front of the press (which now looks humorously modern and out of place) and we then proceeded to plug the thing in.  I wish I had video of this.  I simultaneously held a fire extinguisher and a broom incase of fire or electrocution and I needed to knock him loose (safety first).

There was smoke, sparks, a rubber burney smell, and it was running really really fast.  We soon realized we were running 220v through a 110v motor.  Bad decision.  We replaced some wiring and tried again.  And Viola!   SHE LIVES!

Untitled from Lori Walker on Vimeo.

I'll probably still be replacing the motor as the burney smell persists, and I just honestly don't trust it.  But she's moving!  Huzzah!

Moving does not equal working, mind you.  There still is a lot of work, some missing parts, some parts that are supposed to be moving that aren't that I don't even KNOW how to get moving... Still feeling in over my head, but definitely feeling encouraged.   The whiz bang of this thing makes my heart pitter patter.