The story goes that Dan Wheeler (a cancer survivor) bought this old wooden brake then gave it to a fellow dealer who persistently told Dan he wanted it. After many years, the gentleman sadly passed away from cancer and his family returned the brake to Dan. And then, our repairman, Rick (also a cancer survivor) turned it into an antique restoration project to raise money for cancer research. Already, this project began to hold a lot of meaning to us, and it was just getting started.
We could tell it was a unique piece of machinery. At first, we thought it was from WWII because of the wood used where steel would normally form each half of the brake's body. After some research by Rick, however, he determined the brake predated our original estimation and our excitement grew.
Made of oak, this machine has wooden legs which helped us reconsider the time frame of when it was made. Metal legs began to be used in the early 1900s for this model, so we narrowed down the window for this machine. Next, we learned that the patten for this machine was issued in 1882 from Buffalo, NY and we think that ours predates the patten because of its lack of official signature, signage, and the fact that the wooden legs were craftsmen made. So now we are looking at about 1880! Pretty remarkable.
Rick cut and shaped replacement legs (using some of our machines, including the Northfield vertical band saw and Rong Fu drill), putting them on the brake. He sanded and cleaned the wood body, removing old paint to expose the natural grain. Then, he painted the metal features of the brake black for the frame and red for the handles. Finally, he torched the wood to give it a distinct look, then coated the wood with a sealant. In total, he spent over 40 hours in restorative work to meet the deadline of our much-anticipated Machine Dealers National Association event held at our warehouse.
During the event, we auctioned the brake for charity, with the final bid coming in at $10,000! What a spectacular story of determination and restoration all around. Now the brake is in Ohio – for now. Dan may be waiting for the time he will once again reacquire the brake and return it to the Wheeler warehouse.
