Can you identify this old engine?

[Thaddeus Swarfburn IIIParticipant @thaddeusswarfburniii]

Was just given this old assemblage by a neighbour. Flywheel is about 210mm diameter. No maker names or anything of that matter cast into it. Would love to recreate whatever it was, or at least to know what it was! I'm in New Zealand, so it's more likely to be of Aus or UK origin.

[Thaddeus Swarfburn IIIParticipant @thaddeusswarfburniii]

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Looks like there is a shaft on the opposite side to the large gear which suggests the output speed may have been geared down and taken from a (now missing) pulley on that shaft.

On the other hand if it used an external power source to drive the pully or a hand crank on the shaft then the action of the beam would have been increased. The Diamond shaped beam is often found on rigs that drove pump jacks where a slow up/down movement was needed.

**LINK**

 

Edited By JasonB on 30/09/2019 07:06:59

[Thaddeus Swarfburn IIIParticipant @thaddeusswarfburniii]

Gear train is roughly 15:52. Here's a couple more shots:

[CirclipParticipant @circlip]

Yes Thaddeus, and it looks like you post on more than one forum too.

Regards Ian

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

I've seen similar on TV.

The part you have is roughly equivalent to the electric motor in a modern appliance and it could have been applied to a lot of hand tools. Their example drove an apple-peeling and coring machine. Late 19th/early 20th century.

Yours might have driven a Coffee Grinder, Potato masher, Knife grinder/polisher, Meat Mincer, Butter churn, Whisk, Pitter, Shredder, Mortar, or even an Ice-cream maker! The size of it suggests a small business or farm rather than an ordinary kitchen. Does the wheel have a handle? If not it was probably driven by a treadle, now missing.

Dave

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

I would go for a treadle operated mechanism, if it's from Australia, it looks like it has spent the last hundred years at the bottom of a billabong.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

It was identified over on HMEM – precision cabbage chopper

[Thaddeus Swarfburn IIIParticipant @thaddeusswarfburniii]

I knew the internet could solve this mystery. Neat!

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

This, from 2006, is worth a look: **LINK**

https://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/antique-machinery-and-history/starretts-first-patent-111953/

MichaelG.

.

https://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/originalDocument?CC=US&NR=47875A&KC=A&FT=D&ND=3&date=18650523&DB=EPODOC&locale=en_EP

https://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/originalDocument?CC=US&NR=48458A&KC=A&FT=D&ND=3&date=18650627&DB=EPODOC&locale=en_EP

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 30/09/2019 08:14:37

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 30/09/2019 08:16:45

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