# hand operated machines



## nightwing (Jul 26, 2014)

I thought I would touch on this subject for people with little 
disposable income, but may need to find or have hand equipment.

I have found at garage sales and auctions all manner of hand operated 
machinery should there be a day when power is unavailable.

You may need to process many foods or make your own tooling 

some of the common things are:

Pasta machines hand operated that make spaghetti to lasagna noodles they last a lifetime some have a ravioli attachment.

Apple peeler If your like me I may get a bushel of apples now and again
problem is how to quickly peel core and separate the fruit this is it.

Nut cracker/s self explanatory

corn sheller removes dried corn kernels from the cobs these can be 
used as feed or old fashioned toilet paper fire fuel torches ----

corn mill makes corn meal out of corn kernels but not makes flour 

a hand mill these can make flour if you have the wheat rye or other grains 

A mandolin slicer need to shred a cabbage for slaw or make a crock of 
sauer kraut slice fruit or vegetables for drying and other chores

some you make yourself like a stitching pony for holding leather 
to sew with a stitching awl or a palm pusher.

Vices pipe planetary and shop types are common 

although some are not machines like an anvil they are no less helpful 
or important.

Tools of your trade/s I have all these and more I may only use them seasonally but I find them indispensable to make fast work of a hard or 
monotonous job 

If you have any ideas please post them


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## IlliniWarrior (Nov 30, 2010)

besides the canning pressure cookers and hot water bath canners .... there's all kinds of hand operated devices that help process veggies and fruit for canning .... most have become obsolete because of electric food processors .... 

another item commonly found at garage sales are hand crank meat grinders .... homemade sausage used to be a common way of preserving meat .... rare to find are used sausage stuffers .... again the few people that still make sausage have gone electric ....


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## bacpacker (Jul 15, 2011)

Manual equipment of all types could be critical should we face a grid down scenario. Food processing, woodworking and carpentry tools, blacksmithing, gardening butchering. 
I have been trying to gather as many as possible. Corn sheller, anvil, blower, vices, hand drills, brace and bits. We enjoy antiquing, and im always on the look for tools.


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## machinist (Jul 4, 2012)

I wish I had pics to post of my collection to save time. I've been collecting hand powered things forever. Wife and I began with all the kitchen and food processing stuff in the OP. Plus, we got a lard press/sausage stuffer, lard rendering kettle, Meat grinders, a fruit press, pea hullers (several of those and NONE ever worked!), apple peeler--had 3 of those and they didn't work either so back tot he Old Hickory paring knife, and, like the auction ad says, "other items too numerous to mention".

I went into great depth on hand tools for woodworking (from standing tree to finished furniture, including 52 kinds of molding plane bits). Still have everything to LOG with horses, too, except the horses. Sold them long ago. 

Mechanics tools, well, I grew up with almost none and resented that. I've been collecting ever since. I stopped at a 1" square drive socket set and impact wrench, for size, and a 48" pipe wrench. Got a 1 ton chain hoist on a jib crane and many other hand powered lifting devices.

VAST amounts of blacksmith tools, cranked drill presses, grinders, blowers, etc.

There are a 20 ton and a 50 ton hydraulic jack press, slip rolls, English wheel, stomp shear, corner notcher and turret punch. Enough to make a fender, or floor pan out of a flat sheet with nothing but hand tools. 

That doesn't count the power machine shop and welding equipment. It goes on and on. Time to sell some of this stuff to better finance my retirement.


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## 101airborne (Jan 29, 2010)

Have quite a few and want more! Currently have

Small hand crank washing machine from Lehmans
Cabbage/ kraut cutter
treadle leather sewing machine
treadle sewing machine
several hand stiching awls
hand saws, planers, hand crank drills and such
shovels, axes, bow saws, buck saws, Adz, froe (sp?) and such


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## mosquitomountainman (Jan 25, 2010)

You can use a wringer on a wringer washer to shell peas. Blanch the peas and run them through the wringer. Tie a sheet below the wringer to catch the peas and fold it in front to catch those that shoot out. Believe me, they will shoot out of the pods like little machine gun bullets.

We just normally shell them by hand while on the front porch in the evenings shootin' the bull!

*******************

Another thing to think about are bed pans. It's hard on little kids to have to go outside to the outhouse when it's cold and dark out. Some adults won't even do it.


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## LilRedHen (Aug 28, 2011)

I have a couple of crank hand mixers commonly called 'egg beaters' and a crank butter churn in addition to a churn with a wooden dasher. I wish I had a butter mold. A Foley food mill and a ricer are packed away, since I hardly ever use them. A couple of weeks ago I bought a two man crosscut saw. I am having bodock handles turned for it and the Rooster will sharpen it for me after I get the horse drawn wagon restored under his supervision. We have a corn sheller that the Rooster restored and a corn cracker to make chicken feed. The Rooster has hand wood working tools, horse shoeing tools and many horse drawn implements, collars, harness and saddles. I have various garden tools, an antique push plow with a few attachments and a Earthway planter. I have 3 treadle sewing machines so sewing should be no problem. I am looking for a Singer treadle boot patcher to sew leather and have a couple of hand stitching awls. 

Tonight the power went off for a couple of hours, so I got out the kerosene lamp and a candle for light (not much light, but enough to get through the house with). I need to make better arrangements for water. We don't have air conditioning, but when the power went off, I really did miss my electric fan in the 94 degree heat.

We have several lard kettles, two bean pots, many cast iron skillets, hand cranked meat grinders and a crank apple peeler that I love. I have a solar powered or hand cranked radio/flashlight. I have a small kraut cutter and was told that my great grandmother used a straightened garden hoe with the outer edges rounded to chop kraut in a kettle. I have a pair of square galvanized wash tubs and their stand. I would really love to find a wringer washer in working condition.

Today we used the froe and mallet, a hatchet, a shop hammer and a couple of iron wedges to split out a piece of bodock for the saw handles. I'm sure that I have many more things laying around, but it's really hard to make a list.. I'm getting a lot of ideas here plus it makes me remember things we have but don't use a lot.


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## Ozarker (Jul 29, 2014)

While I haven't collect kitchen or food prep items I do have or access to a wide variety of hand tools, augers, bits, planes, custom hand made chisels and leather mallets, a couple pumps, come-a-longs, etc. Most were my grandfathers who was a master craftsman and builder. Those chisels carved many of the dinning cars woodwork on the Frisco RR and I got in trouble touching those chisels as a little kid! He made many of those tools for specific types of carving and designs. I also buy garage sale tools, I picked up two great short handled shovels, one is great for a recover tool in my truck. 

I'd think many are nuts for selling good hand tools in favor of power tools, some things like good open end wrenches I've picket up for change! I guess they think that if they don't shine like new ones they must not work.

Actually, while I'd agree with picking up old machines for kitchen or other functions, I keep in mind a few things.

Am I really going to use it or do I have a realistic need for it? The issues isn't cost, it's storage space.

Is it something worth hauling around if I need to grab and go or even if my place is destroyed will I haul it off to my new location? 

Can the function the gizmo performs be accomplished another way? I don't get things that duplicate the function of something else.

While an apple or potato peeler is unique, handy and a cool kitchen display item (in some kitchens) I can do the job with a knife, so you can keep the peeler. 

My family has a gene in their DNA that collects stuff, my dad has more stuff than any human needs. We had a running joke with friends, name something that goes in a house and see if it's in the garage. They would guess an item and I don't recall anyone naming something that wasn't out there. Doors, windows, kitchen sink, bath tub, toilet, toilet float, washers, shower head, stove, fridge, freezer, shingles, door knobs and locks, pipe, grease trap, wiring, switches, light fixtures, lumber and plywood.....even a set of glass sliding patio doors, I mean really, there wasn't anything that wasn't out there. I took a vow never to collect like that! I'm not looking forward to cleaning out that garage some day either! 

Talk about preppers, anyone who is older and the product of the depression you can learn from. My grandmother wouldn't throw away a broken shoe sting, no telling what you could fix with that! They weren't horders or messy, just tons of stuff stored away. 

So, I'm pretty selective at garage sales.


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

Too many things to mention but a couple of my favorite kitchen items I got from my grandmother. One is a promo nut grinder on a Planters nut can. The other is an egg beater made to match up with a heavy glass bowl, it is perfect for whipping cream, especially after chilling the setup in the fridge. I remember her using both and they are now sitting in my kitchen, fully functional.


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## airdrop (Jan 6, 2012)

We have an Amish hardware store north of us and we go up there from time to time , it's quit interesting to see what's available still. There use to be a mail order house out of Ohio that handled a lot of that old time stuff or modern made old time designs. The store is north of Loomis Michigan.
https://www.lehmans.com/ found this one.


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

this should keep you busy for a while
http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/


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## nightwing (Jul 26, 2014)

I picked up a set of Gimlets (hand drills) for my bug out bag.

not that I would bug out but drilling a hole is as simple and as hard as 
it can be.
Sounds easy until your in the middle of nowhere without a 
power tool and using a knife you take a chance of breaking the blade
or tip and takes forever as well as it is not round.

I found a good deal on a 10 pound box of leather scraps if I need 
Rivets I can make them from copper wire.

I have many commercial spools of thread and rawhide thread most 
I got for a dollar at garage sales a lot of sellers are resellers and have 
no idea what they have and you do not have to pay postage and that 
kills a good deal even if you get it free.

found a deal on stainless dental pics have a half dozen all different tips.

dollar stores have some good stainless stuff some is thin junk 
buyer beware and you can find some great deals.


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## IlliniWarrior (Nov 30, 2010)

airdrop said:


> We have an Amish hardware store north of us and we go up there from time to time , it's quit interesting to see what's available still. There use to be a mail order house out of Ohio that handled a lot of that old time stuff or modern made old time designs. The store is north of Loomis Michigan.
> https://www.lehmans.com/ found this one.


you have a smaller scale Mennonite wholesaler south of you .... no internet or even direct phone contact ....

Shetler's Wholesale Company ... PO Box 8 / 630 High Street / Geneva, IN 46740

snail mail for a catalog or if you can still fax (260) 368-9902


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## nightwing (Jul 26, 2014)

If and I emphasize If thing go wrong I am getting a sling blade or 
yo-yo and I have heard them called numerous names so I can 
cut grass rake it and use it for feed or bedding long term troubles 
I may need to conserve fuel for my generator or vehicles.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

Well........

Sure, I have a lot of hand tools. 
But I also have solar and batteries as well.

Any 12volt (and 14.4 volt) cordless drill can be wired to run off of a car/boat/bike battery. Sure, it is no longer "cordless", but you can drag a small motorcycle battery with you anywhere since they are so small and pretty light, so it's the best of both worlds.

Same goes for other "cordless" tools, like sawzalls and little circular saws. I have never tried converting a battery operated chainsaw yet, but I HAVE used a 120 volt chainsaw running off of an inverter with no issues, so there.... 

Yes, hand tools are cool - but I ain't using them unless I CAN *NOT* figure out a way how to motorize it first!


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## Rain23 (Jul 18, 2011)

One of the nicest aspects of hand tools for us modern folks is that you work with them in a human friendly rhythm, especially if you have a friend or two with you. You can stop to emphasize a point, get distracted by a child or an animal, then pick right up where you left off. Try that with an electric sewing machine or power saw and you will get hurt. We run the hand tools; modern machines make us run along trying to keep up. 

I'm amazed at the amount of human powered digging, harvesting or mending I can do in the company of others, then go home tired but not exhausted and gloomy, the way I was when I worked a production line. I agree for things like threshing grain it's great to have powered devices, but there are just a lot more satisfying ways of accomplishing smaller tasks by hand.

If you decide to use a hand tool, look into how a task was accomplished the old way. I found joining seams and reinforcing them was done very differently in the past, when good sturdy fabric was scarce and valuable (sound familiar, modern sewers?) The fabric edges are all finished first, then the individual pieces are joined leaving what to us is a huge seam allowance. The finished product stands up to harsh laundry methods without unraveling or ripping. The clothing doesn't wear out every year, can be altered as measurements change, and is made to comfortably fit its wearer, not drape or stuff the wearer into its ready to wear size. There's a return on the huge investment of time required over modern sewing. 

The old ways encouraged people to work slower but steadier and they got results, if not as fast as with a machine (said by someone who once picked up and put down a crochet hook a million times one winter, whining that she couldn't get anything done in all this chaos, then found she had a lovely rug when spring arrived


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## Ozarker (Jul 29, 2014)

Yes Rain, at one time a good seamstress could make an evening gown out of drapes by hand. 

I'll stick with my power tools but knowing how to use hand tools is a good idea. A good chisel can't be duplicated by a small power tool.


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## tc556guy (Apr 28, 2011)

I think one issue that some people might have with some of that old stuff is identifying what it is and what its intended use is.
It isn't in common use for most folks anymore, so even if they stumble across some of it at a sale they may not jump on it.
Obviously that's their loss.

I was walking around on foot patrol last week and the local antique store lady was unpacking her latest stash of stuff. She had one of those old shoulder brace drills, sorta like these

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-VINTAGE-S...702?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item51c26c7106

and had no idea what it was or why it was designed that way. I had to demonstrate it for her.


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## readytogo (Apr 6, 2013)

*To much hand cranking can kill you.*

A big difference between the ways people eat today compared with long ago is the work and time needed. For modern families, food and meals are merely an afterthought in the schedule. Two hundred years ago, food and food preparation stood at the center of the family's daily lifestyle. Without the advances in technology that help us store, preserve, and prepare food, men and women would spend much of their time getting meals ready to eat. Instead of calling pizza delivery, imagine spending all day in front of a fire, grining corn, flour, churning butter, mortar and pestle in hand grinning spices rock salt or hard sugar, salting, curing meats, etc.So yes hand power equipment is not a bad idea but it can also be a major headache, like too much of everything is now days, Our little house on the hills most important tool was a grain mill, we had corn, follow by a mortar and pestle, big and small, a butter churn, we had cows, many knifes, for butchering days, food graters, we really lived off the grid, no electricity what so ever. So if you live in a farm and have corn, wheat, and or plan to buy tons of that stuff whole grain I suppose you will need a mill. Here in civilization I make my pasta and bread by hand, slice/cut with knifes or a grater, have a nice hammer to crush the ice for my margaritas or tequila sunrises and worry very little after a few of those whether I have power or not.
Ps.the key ingredient here is to learn to do without.
artydance:


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

readytogo said:


> Imagine spending all day in front of a fire, grining corn, flour, ..... it can also be a major headache,


True, but some simple hand tools, like a $25 corn grinder saves a LOT of time grinding corn instead of by crushing between two stones by hand!


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