New Era Rope Machine

[JoshandLila]

What an awesome day!! got to go pickin through some old out buildings today and found some really neat stuff Il be putting up, but my favorite was this!! Ive been looking for one of these for years but wasnt willing to pay the big price tags I saw... when I offered to pay for it the owner said to just take it or he was throwing it away, couldnt argue with that!! Gonna go back again next weekend and see if I can find the key that goes with it, sure its there somewhere. Its a hand crank rope machine patented in 1911, all the castings are perfect and it turns freely!! just wanted to show ya'll and see if youl talk me out of restoring it LOL   Ive seen them sell for over $200 unrestored, but whats this actually worth?? Thanks for lookin!!

[KevinB]

That is pretty neat. So you would feed strands into it, crank it and out comes a rope?

[JoshandLila]

I believe you would tie the individual strands to the hooks and as it turns it would twist and braid it into a rope.. not even sure what the key thats missing does, just know I wanna find it

[Rauville]

That's a great find. The "key / wrench" is an important part in making rope as opposed to just twisting twine. If you can't find the original, making one isn't too difficult. Good luck!

http://www.wctatel.net/web/equityrealty/InstructionNewEraRopeMachine.html

[JoshandLila]

ya, after i put that up I went and looked at it and realized how the key fits in, otherwise your just spinning the twine, good call! I run a CNC laser at work so I could cut a key pretty easy, but having they original would really make the package.. hope it turns up

[KC]

ALSO they have some fairly decent YOU TUBE videos using these!!!

[snowflake]

You can twist wire or light strips of metal with that too. A single strand gives a cool look! Or triple...I do it with my jewelry and crafts. Obviously not with your cool piece! Same idea though. Great find!

[lindasguy]

This is a way cool find. And a perfect price. LUCKY!

[Oceans64]

VERY cool find!!!! This one went for $305 on ebay and it looks like there were several interested parties!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Old-4-Strand-New-Era-Rope-Machine-Tool-W-Original-Guide-Wrench-Fairfield-Iowa-NR-/200652232236

As for restoring...  My opinion is that if you are selling, leave as-is... if not, restore away. Either way I doubt you will hurt the value by restoring (as in furniture) and will probably only increase as you do a professional job (vrs me and a can of rustolium  ). Looking forward to others opinions on restoration of a working antique.

[mart]

Neat find !! Still gotta move north !!  Like Oceans says if you are keeping it,,, go for it !!

[JoshandLila]

Thanks everybody and thanks for the link Oceans, I saw a couple on ebay but they still had days left so I didn't know what they'd go up to.. that wrench has gotta be there somewhere..Im gonna be dreaming about it til next weekend. Anyway, cleaned off the gunk and dirt and she turned out pretty nice I think. Other than adding a wooden handle at some point Im gonna leave it alone for now. Should I decide to restore it later, does the powder coating I do add a little more value (or collector interest ) than just regular enamel painting?

[mart]

That coating would be a bit new I think for die hard collectors !!

[JoshandLila]

Thanks, thats kinda what I wondered.. I do it for my personnel pieces because it will last 100+ years, protects well, and strengthens it.. but just painting it would be alot easier and less time consuming so its good to know... really likin it the way it is though, Il probably just leave it be. I got the cidar press, a chair, a bench, and a table to finish befor I take on any new projects lol 

[JoshandLila]

... oh ya, and a power hammer Ive been "working on" for the last 5 years lol