Old (vintage) Furnas Electric stuff.

middle.road

middle.road

Granite Stoopid...
H-M Supporter Gold Member
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Apr 28, 2014
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If anyone happens to come across any old time Furnas Electric switches and such with the old style decal, please give me a shout.
My dad worked for them back in the '60's and I'm feeling nostalgic.
For my second grade science fair he got a bunch of stuff together and we wired it all up on two 3' panels. Lights and swtiches was all.
I lost out on first place to a gal whose dad brought in an AT&T Western Electric trade show display for phones...

This is the drum switch I have on my Logan. Thanks.
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EDIT: I can't believe I mispelt Furnas in the title... Then again my math is also off this week...
 
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Not that I'm old or anything, but half the machines in my shop are from the 1960's. Some are even more antiquated having survived from the early 1900's to some from the 1940's and 50's. My "newest" lathe is a Sheldon from 1960 that uses Furnas controls. After less than 60 years in service the contactors are starting to show some wear. I was originally going to replace them with Furnas components until I found out the prices. Apparently they aren't gold plated, but solid gold if the asking prices are any indication of the materials used.

When the time to replace them does finally come around I have decided to go with AB components. I was able to purchase a NOS control box complete with solenoids, reversing contactors, heaters, and an auxiliary transformer for less than I could buy replacement contacts for the Furnas starters.
 
projectnut said:
Not that I'm old or anything, but half the machines in my shop are from the 1960's. Some are even more antiquated having survived from the early 1900's to some from the 1940's and 50's. My "newest" lathe is a Sheldon from 1960 that uses Furnas controls. After less than 60 years in service the contactors are starting to show some wear. I was originally going to replace them with Furnas components until I found out the prices. Apparently they aren't gold plated, but solid gold if the asking prices are any indication of the materials used.

When the time to replace them does finally come around I have decided to go with AB components. I was able to purchase a NOS control box complete with solenoids, reversing contactors, heaters, and an auxiliary transformer for less than I could buy replacement contacts for the Furnas starters.
Click to expand...
If you could snap some picts that would be cool also. Thx.
 
Here's a few pictures of some of the machinery in the shop. The lathe is a 1916 Seneca Falls Star #20. The surface grinder is a 1954 Sanford MG. The vertical mill is a 1972 Bridgeport 2J. The horizontal mill is a 1940 US Machine Tools #1. The horizontal band saw is a 197? Startrite H175. The Shaper is a 1942 AMMCO 7". I don't yet have any pictures of the 1060 Sheldon. There are other machines from the 60's and 70's among them are a Delta Rockwell disk/belt sander, and, a Black Diamond model 65 drill grinder. I believe the newest piece of equipment in the shop is a 1987 Jet 125VS-3 Drill Press.DSCF8034.JPGDSCF8037.JPGDSCF8041.JPGDSCF8063.JPGDSCF8066.JPGDSCF8103.JPG

All of these machines came from either local shops or schools except the bandsaw. That came from a shop in Chicago. A local shop owner went to Chicago to purchase some shelving. When he got there the seller talked him into taking the saw. The local guy knew I was looking for a saw so he purchased it and delivered it to my door. It's good to have friends in the business.
 
Here's a couple more pictures of the "old" machinery in my shop. The lathe is a 1960 Sheldon MW-56-P. The saw is a 1955 Racine W66DSC00013A.jpgDSC00014A.jpgDSC00022A.jpgDSC00024A.jpg
 
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