1860s Starrett Food Chopper [Restoration]
The restoration is on the oldest tool I have worked on so far for KZhead. This is a food chopper or hasher patented by L.S. Starrett (of Starrett tool fame) in 1865. It was one of his first patented inventions. You can see the patent here: patents.google.com/patent/US4...
At the time of production, this was used mainly to dice meat in to smaller pieces at a much faster pace than doing it by hand. The rich or businesses would find this affordable as it sold for $10 USD in 1869, which is equivalent to ~$2000USD in 2020.
I found this tool about two years ago and wanted it for my personal collection. Since this piece was not a commission, I was able to do whatever I liked with it during the restoration process. With that in mind, I purposely did not remake any wooden pieces as they had a very attractive pattern on them from years of use. With that decision made, it would look odd to remake the damaged bucket as well, so that was just repaired and left as found.
The parts were dunked in Evapo-Rust to reveal what colour and where the original paint was. The only painted part seemed to be the bucket base. The bucket and its base both showed some bright blue paint on the hidden seem where they meet. I am not sure why this colour was there or if it even was paint.
The main castings were all cleaned and had their bores enlarged to accept bronze bushings. There was just too much play all over the machine to make sure it functioned properly, so it had to be done.
The restoration decisions on this tool were very hard to make as I wanted to respect the age and inventor while also maintaining a specific look. Hopefully I achieved a nice balance of those two.
There were MANY different variations of this tool in images online probably due to many production changes over time as the production shifted from Starrett himself to the Athol Machine Co. over time. If someone ever makes a "type study" for this tool, I will be greatly appreciative.
I would like to thank Evapo-Rust for sponsoring this video.
Wrenches are now for sale at www.handtoolrescue.com
Help secure more tools for future videos (if you want):
/ handtoolrescue
Instagram:
/ handtoolrescue
Facebook Group - Share your restorations
/ handtoolrescue
/ handtoolrescue
Reddit - Share your restorations
/ handtoolrescue
I never get sick of the "faceplanting into the sandblaster" gags.
It need the star war theme playing this time giving how slow he approach the sandblaster.
me either
ProphetOfServer I do
the sound-image coordination on this one deserves special mention
Me either
After spending hours at my computer doing work, and then hours in my shop hammering out copper and steel, I sit down to watch your video and find it was the perfect thing. You have no idea how much you are appreciated. Thank you! I love what you do.
Aside from being the best restoration channel, you've made me a true believer of Evaporust. Keep up the great work!
MyMechanics scoffs at your lack of excessive countersinking
I literally lol'd at this comment!
Countersink?! Try… counter-SUNK YOUR BATTLESHIP, suckah! 💥🤣
Excessive? More like sheer perfection!
I almost never reply to videos, but had to admit my "Laugh Out Loud" moment when you did the "Vanna-White-esque" hand reveal of the wooden handle after the the potentially devastating incident of the drill chuck catching and coiling the rag. I know those moments of instantaneous regret and recoil very well from my years in shops. :) Kudos for finding a way to keep it in the video - demonstrate the danger - and still make us laugh.
I could hear Joe Pieczynski and Lyle Peterson (Mr.Pete) in my head saying: "Use a paper towel. That way if it catches, it will just rip instead of turning you hand and arm into taffy."
@@WillSurvive2TheEnd He is super lucky he didn't lose his whole hand/arm.
@@merlinmagnus873 Shop teachers had the horror stories that us students will never forget
@@merlinmagnus873 Yes! I can hear ol' Tubalcain bitchin' about it right now. LOL.
After the rag wrapped around the chuck and then he went in with one finger wrapped in a rag I was so scared it was going to happen again and do some awful damage
I always like your restorations, because you let the piece feel like it's already lived a good life. You can still feel it was used and exposed to the elements, and the wood is allowed to have an imperfect color. It's like taking your grandma out for new clothes, instead of shoving your grandma into a rejuvenation machine. Some restoration channels make the end result look so shiny and spotless, there's no way it looked like that when the previous owner received it.
I think that actually has a name resto mod like you clean something up but don't get rid of its "battle" scars it's very common with old cars
@@ricky107_ Nice! In Zen Buddhism, they have a concept called wabi-sabi, where imperfections are embraced, as a testament to how nothing is perfect or permanent. Similarly, also in Japan, there is a concept in pottery called kintsugi, where if a plate or vase breaks, you repair it with gold, to highlight the flaw. I appreciate both concepts for those reasons. Edit: misspelled "kintsugi"
@@BigGrabowski My live is very "wabi-sabi"
Hands down BEST OPENING in KZhead history!!!!
Still the best resto channel. No bs edits or background sound effects!
16:08 I bet there's all kinds of goodies resting on the bottom of the Evaporust barrel. Please do a video on the day you decide to drain the barrel fully so we can all share in the joy of discovery!
Not gonna lie, I wished he did the gold pin striping better. Still the best content on YT.
Me too.
@@HandToolRescue The original pin striping definitely wasn't perfect. I thought that was why you just quickly free-handed it lol.
I absolutely love seeing these old hand tools being saved. Grew up on a farm about 40 years ago and know what most of them are
1
1
Yay! A vid from one of my favorite Canadians! Doesn't matter what you're doing, I'll watch it. Came for the skills, stayed for the humor.
i mentioned this channel to a floor refinisher who has a 50s era machine. his first question: is he Canadian ? HTR is, and that makes all the difference
I'm shocked that you missed the broken spring on the ratchet bracket that turns the drum! You are ALWAYS very meticulous. Well done again
I really love the old cast iron machines like these. They are very complex to get what desired affect, makes them totally awesome. Thanks for making this one cool again bro.
Adding for Scott Finlayson - I'm so glad you kept that footage in there ("I'm a genius") This is the way the young and inexperienced learn by watching, and by NOT making those mistakes themselves. This was trivial for you, but someone, somewhere, could have lost a thumb. Watch and learn, peeps.
You pinstriped this the way the original people who made it wished they could of. If they had gold markers, they would have used them. Good on you sir!
Thank you for demonstrating how this one works. For the life of me, I couldn’t foresee how this could be useful.
When the rag caught, I thought: "An Adam Savage moment" :o
You have been on KZhead to long, I know I have, I fell a sleep watching it last night and started watching first thing this Morning ... least were all in the same boat. The boredom Boat
I laughed my ass off (lmao) because I knew exactly what was going to happen. His remark proved that he also knew but he had a brain fart. I do those all the time in my home shop and think "I know better!"
Came here to find this. Adam almost lost a finger for that tiny moment of complacency. Please don't ever do something like that again. This channel is too good to lose over something so dumb.
After watching Adam for years, I've decided he is a total klutz. Every time you seem him he has blood under his finger nails, cuts, bandages, etc. I work in a shop daily (like him) and hardly ever screw up that often.
I shudder every time I see Adam using his lathe or milling machine while wearing a ring and watch.
Of all the gadgets I've seen restored, surely this one epitomises the word "contraption"! Well done, and thanks for bringing it back to life.
for me you are still the king of the restorers! 👉🏅👍👍👍👍🤗🤗🤗 Michael
The 1990s, after the reign of terror of academic vandalism, will be a decade of restoration: restoration of meaning, value, beauty, pleasure, and emotion to art and restoration of art to its audience.
All that work in getting everything perfectly working like before.... and then you pinstriped the board free-hand. I thought you were a robot, but now I know you are human.
Definitely the most surprising / disappointing part of the restoration.
Pity he did not just mineral oil clean the base, would have looked great with the original paint and traces of pinstriping
Stripping the original paint from the base was a tragedy.
I have also played that game of "spinning rag of death", it's great fun for the whole family!
A fine, respectful restoration. I especially like how you left the casting marks. It honors the original manufacturing process. Thanks so much!
Such a nice chunk of old iron there, at least 100 years old. I enjoyed watching you at your labors bringing it back life. You find such different things from time to time. You were the first and still my favorite restorer, so don't stop, and keep up the good work up there in the wilds of Canada. Oh, and I really like your sense of humor.
Man it's so good to see the unsung hero of Hand Tool Rescue's videos, Garbage on the Floor, being more responsible at social distancing than some people I've seen at work.
What I love about you videos is... When you F up you just take it in stride and move on. Just like the rest of us.Great esp.!
Yum, yum, yum, I want my food prepared in a lead soldered drum with 150 years of built up dirt and grease on it! Another fascinating restoration!
I pass by the original factory that made this food chopper every day. I am definitely stopping in and passing this video along to them.
I love the opening so much He's so happyyyyyy
My man "Garbage on the floor" doin his part to help keep people safe. Now thats how all celebrities should act. Just lay there on the floor, nice
Laying on the floor can be the greatest thing in life, sometimes. Imagine nice cool tile on your skin in the summer, or a soft warm carpet in autumn... Nice.
This is gold
Stuck in quarantine...notices new HTR video...drops everything to watch...worth it
“Socially distant garbage on the floor” oh my spirit animal nice to see you from 6 feet away.
Ye Olde SlapChop? That's outstanding work, good sir!
Interesting, that is why I love this kind of stuff! Excellent as always. Thank you
Very nice restoration of this 'Hasher'. I have not yet seen one in operation before. I currently work at the Athol plant. For those that are interested in machining of many types, we encourage you to tour our factory. We still use some older methods of manufacture, mixed with the latest technology. Great video!
That intro is pure gold.. I can't get through it without smiling.
8:37 perfect M1 Garand ejection sound there
So right you are :-)
Sounds like the noise of the tiny piece I’m working on shooting across the room and dropping into the portal that leads to the negative zone.
quib , not quite, but certainly reminiscent.
I have never seen one with the drum so well intact.
Maybe they have been repaired or replaced at one point
The surface finish on the cast iron parts is downright earthy -- magnifique.
Given the manufacturing techniques they had available to them at the time, this is a *really* impressive piece of equipment.
Is just me or other people watch intro few more times than once before watching rest of the video? In my opinion you have best intro in history of YT. Cheers Eric!
I can´t believe someone invented such an engine just to cut cabbage!!1 great job
Love that this is actually useful when complete. Great restoration on this.
The pinstriping hack....simple, but BRILLIANT!!!! Great rebuild. And for the record, your channel got me on Evaporust, and I would be lost without it.
I'm embarrassed about my restoration video after watching yours. You are a damn master at it.
I just watched your scroll saw video and it was GREAT. love the narration and the dog.
D v yt
I read this comment as he got the rag stuck on the spinning handle, I can’t handle this level of irony!
He is a really good and that's why I've been a subscriber of his for a long time, you are really good at what you do also and that's why I'm a subscriber of yours also
12:30 When "polishing your knob" goes wrong.
This is still my first go to tool restoration channel. I enjoy all of them. Why this one? Entertaining... everytime. Brings unique tools. Just great content.
Grateful for you sharing this restoration. It's a fabulous example of the genius of that era and of people who set a new course in history like him, Browning, Westinghouse, etc. Of course today we have modern food processors because of them, but they wont be around in 155 years! The foundry work alone was off the charts (didn't see much casting marks, flash or anything for that matter). That lever arm is a beauty and took some engineering to get it just right. No wonder they cost 3-5 years salary at the end of the civil war! Respect for your use of the oil-lite bearings and for respectfully saving an original once again so that people can see where we came from and why! Thanks Much!! ~PJ
How I missed you, HTR ❤️ 🍺
Adam Savage just had something similar happen to him with a shop rag and a lathe. Didn’t end very well for him. Almost lost his finger. Consider yourself lucky. Love your videos.
Had a coworker lose part of his finger, wearing gloves while using a drill press. FYI, don't wear gloves when using a drill press.
The world's first food processor! Loved this restoration!
Another fantastic restoration of a useful device from days gone by. Thank you!
8:03 next restoration project is HTR's lungs!
StealthDonut1 it’s corona time
Bong hit!
30ught6 to lmao
That is the coolest food chopper I've ever seen, I would never let my wife get near that thing she would lose a finger. Great video!
What a beautiful machine! Amazing craftsmanship with all those little details, and a wonderful restoration as well, turned out really good!
YES! I knew I could count on you to use the correct finish (mineral oil) on food surface wood. THANK YOU for being the first restoration video I have seen do it RIGHT!
Perfectionists are weeping. They're an emotional lot though.
When I need to lay out a long smooth arc I use a welding rod under string tension as a temporary guide.
Loved the pinstriping. It was quite unique 🤣
What a wonerfuly, insanely, complicated infernal Victorian contraption! Beautiful work!
Love the vids, can recommend a pinstriping brush which has more control than a paint marker. Paint marker shows all the small corrections in the hand, the brush has slower corrections and you can have a steady control. That said, I’ve been happily binge watching all these videos as of late and I love the deep dive into old school engineering. Keep up the good work! ❤️
I was just remembering when your work bench was all new wood, and getting it''s first grease stains, and it was looking so messy, and now....it's just an even patina of dark richness of maturity, a little grease splatter isn't noticable. heehee.
there's not many youtube channels that get me excited when i see new videos. yours is one of the best!
You're missing out
I've bought one of his wonderful unnecessarily prominent adjustable wrenches; can't wait to get it!
An excellent example of a restoration.
The oiler holes are probably there for a reason, even with the bronze bushings...
I feel kinda bad for laughing when you choked on those fumes, but it reminded me too much of when I decided to solder while directly above the board with no extractor fan! My eyes started to water it was that bad.
Thank you for bringing back Garbage On The Floor. I really missed them.
Just finished my first old restoration project inspired by your channel; love your work! Got an old 35lb post vise up and running.
That is awesome!
Hello! Good job restoring this piece. You didn't drill the bronze bushes where you have the axels. You pour oil in that small holes but it doesn't get to the axel.
I was going to ask about it too. Could have been intentional if it was an oilite type bushing, but I'd feel more comfortable being able to add a drop or two of oil just for good measure.
16:15-16:21 he demonstrates that the bushes are porous by filling one with oil and squeezing it so the oil comes through the bushing.
The hoop skirt version of the Cuisinart.
You do such good work with humor and humility! I enjoy every minute!
I never thought I would want an antique food chopper...but now I do
dude, I cringed when the drill ate the rag.. I broke my thumb when my glove got eaten that way. never doing that again. Lucky, I have an underpowered drill press, it just stopped instead of wrapping my whole arm around.... We all need to be careful, especially with machines like the beasts that you use... good job on this. curious about how the springs hold the pins in. haven't seen that much, especially for old machines like this one.
After seeing what Adam Savage did to his hand with a lathe and a rag. Me too.
Yeah adam messed up his hand bad.... Since my accodents, i got myself a drill press vice and i never wear any gloves anymore...
Then after he got the rag sucked up into the mill he does it again with the rag put around his fingers. That had me double cringe. One right after the other.
I've seen someone who had their hand partially de-gloved while wearing gloves and interacting with a lathe. No gloves near spinning machine tools please. Even if it's not you and it's someone else. It's absolutely disgusting and horrible to see. If you don't know what type of de-gloving I am talking about and you aren't squeamish feel free to Google Human hand de-glove
I did that with one of those paint paddles wearing nitrile gloves. Scary as hell. Got my arm all wrapped up.
That thing with the rag.... That's similar of what happened to Adam Savage when he messed up his finger cleaning his Lathe.
This guy is amazing; not a perfectionist but delivers right every time. I love his approach and the end result. On the same note what on earth were they thinking when they designed and built this contraption.They should have used all that knowledge to build something useful, an automobile for instance.
Excellent restoration of a very neat old contraption
It takes some brass balls to go right back to that handle with the rag around your finger after it got ripped out of your hands
or just stupidity
@@marcelmais6430 When smiling?
Nobody: Absolutely nobody: People in the victorian era: “Will it chop? That is the question” **Pete’s Party starts playing in the background**
"Will it chop?" - Mustie1's great great great grandfather probably.
dave791 Lets find out!
Why is nobody always involved? That's like starting every math equation with 0=0.
We need you to work overtime making these, good job.
That monster wrench makes your hands look tiny! Love it! Thanks for another great teardown!
Подобная вещь актуальна и спустя полтора столетия!
What would be really cool would be to attach a small Tangye or Mamod steam engine to it and watch it deconstruct a lettuce in a fraction of the time...
Oh what masterfull execution. I could feel the hand tension through the screen buddy.
Very interesting piece. I'm amazed that you're able to find these antiques to restore. Not only do they look good, but they function too. I love your videos. Another great job. 😁👍
Careful with that cough. Keep an eye on it. I heard there’s a bug going about at the moment
Just when I go "Wait, no faceplant blasting?" I see the slow motion 😂😂😂😂😂
Well done, and thanks for a great video! I've noticed many prof restorers wear gloves to prevent chemicals from being absorbed by the skin - something to consider.
The intro will never not be awesome!
A masking line, when using the paint pen would have made things a whole lot less wiggly don't you think?
He must of done it bad on purpose just to read all the comments!😀
I'm always impressed by the quality of your work, but the hand drawn pinstriping was not up to snuff.
BEST. RESTORATION. VIDEO. INTRO. PERIOD. 🤣
Such a lovely piece of machinery, well done good sir. Well done.
The gold striping was a bust, you can do better.
"I AM A GENIUS" ... just look at what happened to Adam Savage
Suggestion...I am a woodturner and as a general rule, turners use paper napkins to do what you tried to do with the rag. They shred instantly if they snag and your hands/fingers stay safe. Love your videos...your work is excellent.
You finally got me... I ordered your adjustable wrench. Fantastic content and some great tips. The humor is what separates your channel from the rest.
You do such great work. The bushings were my favorite touch. Well done!
Just found the video and you started with an 80s sitcom homage. Ok. You now have a subscriber
Another awesome refurb video. You have a true talent and gift. Keep the videos coming.
The intro is GOLD!!!