I found this old beauty in March 2008. Like the scroll saw before it, this too was found posted on craigslist. Unlike the scroll saw before it, this 6″ jointer was perfectly functional the day I got it. I even ran a few pieces of red oak through the incredibly dull knives once I got it home and reattached to it’s base. I was surprised at how well it cut (there was some tear-out…) with knives that I couldn’t hardly cut myself on even if I tried.

For what I spent on this rusted beast of a tool, it’s probably worth at least that in scrap metal alone. It came with a 17amp, single phase motor that spins up perfectly as soon as it’s powered. No hesitation at all.

I started the restoration the first week of August 2008, and was finished (to a point that the machine was operable) by August 17th. I took a few photos the day I got the machine, and you can see those below along with the post-restoration photos.

I had the knives reground by a local guy who runs a sharpening service out of his garage. He lives off 56th street near Brownsburg, IN. Starting out there was plenty of red and black rust on this bad-boy. I scaled up my electrolysis rust-removal process to work in an old, cracked Rubbermaid tub. I blew up a computer power supply by trying to overdraw it’s load. Whoops. At that point, I broke down and got a cheap battery charger at Harbour Freight, and a 12V, 7AMP ATV battery. This proved to work beautifully.

From what I’ve gathered the jointer was made some time in the 1050′s. The model number is 103.23321. The Old Wood-Working Machines website has a publication reprint of the 103.23320 manual, which appears identical in every detail to this machine. My guess is that the 21 is one year newer than the 20.

I repainted with rustoleum white, used a lacquer-based flat black Dupli-Color intended for vinyl, fabric, and plastic, and fire-engine red for the blade guard. Everything has been top-coated with gloss rustoleum clear-coat.