Davy Sprocket is on the Road...

[kirbyultimateg]

Hi Guys!
It looks like that everybody had a very memorable day! If it wasn't for a migraine headache, I would have made it out to Columbus with my Kirby Sentria and my Kirby Legend II. I am sorry.
Steve and Craig are very handsome fellows.
Thank you for posting pics!
Rob Gwisdala

 

[kirbyultimateg]

Steve and Craig,
Would you like to talk on the phone sometime?
937-335-3871 home
937-470-9677 cell
Talk to you soon.
Rob Gwisdala

 

[hygiene903]

Sure Wish I Could Have Been There!

Would have been great to see Norm, Gary, and Dave again and meet Craig and Steve. Sounds like everyone had a great time which doesn't surprise me as I know how much fun minimeets are and have also enjoyed Norm's hospitality and know what a great cook and gracious host he is. It was good at least to be able to visit by phone before I went to work.
Jeff

 

[aeoliandave]

a few more spy shots inside the Wesscott home.

original outdoor Art Glass light fixture. Almost all 26 of these had gone missing but 2 were still in place on the front terrace and were reproduced.

Wright's basic & simple pure Cube theme for the Wesscotts is evident throughout the house in Art Glass, hardware fittings and floor plans. There are no circle shapes anywhere; even the inglenook and other fireplaces are square & rectangle blocks similar to the Diningroom Sideboard. Other Prairie Era homes are more elaborate, designed around a chosen natural plant leaf theme and often perfect hemispherical arches are featured.

 

[aeoliandave]

The formal street entrance through the gates. Peering through the full length plain glass door - which is nearly 4 feet wide - all you will see is a flight of stair treads ascending, warmly lit from above. The low lintel beam blocks the upward view of the hallway. One must enter to catch a glimpse of the glory that awaits...

Another note - On this house all the outside accent trims and patterns created by the framing & screens are worked in solid timber stained brown, over stucco walls.

This house is said to be Wright's cleanest Japanese Shoji Screen exercise, with no excess adornment to spoil the effect

 

[aeoliandave]

Diningroom Table, corner light & plant posts and chairs. This set was re-created from Wright's drawings for the house. A shame my picture is so shakey. :-(

 

[aeoliandave]

Bare bulb light fixtures throughout the non-public areas of the house - kitchen, bedrooms, etc. There never were any shades. This is a standard wall fixture I've seen in almost all Wright Prairie homes.

The Livingroom, diningroom, hallways and formal spaces of course all have wall sconces and overhead indirectly bulb lit Art Glass shades similar to the outside Cubes.

Another note. Wright specified all fixtures, door and drawer hardware to be cast in three metals. All Bronze for the public spaces, Nickle-plated Brass for the Family spaces and Steel for the utility and Servant spaces. The Wesscotts had a cook and Maid with their own bedrooms over the kitchen wing, and a Chauffeur/Man of all Trades living over the Garage. Mrs Orpha Westcott however insisted on driving her own car at all times and she had an Electric vehicle. Her Husband had his own Steam Car Company.

 

[aeoliandave]

The second floor staircase rail. Again, note the pure simplicity. From here all bedrooms are reached and each has its own bathroom with sink and tub, the toilet in it's own closet.

 

[aeoliandave]

A child's bedroom. Quite small by today's standards. The cook and maids rooms are so small you couldn't fit two single beds in there. just enough room to turn around but they all do have a clothes closet with built in drawers. On the other hand, Mr and Mrs bedrooms stretch across the entire front of the house with balcony/sleeping porches at either end reached by passing through the Dressing Rooms.

 

[aeoliandave]

Art Glass Light Screen over the upper staircase to illuminate this single dark space. There is a skylight greenhouse over head or it can be lit by electricity.

 

[aeoliandave]

The westernmost bedroom suite pan shot. The eastern bedroom is the mirror image with it's own hearth. These were lit with gas, not firewood. Passing through the Dressingroom on the left and Bathrrom on the right leads to the open balcony porch, large enough for a couple of comfortable chairs or a bed for fresh air repose.

This particular room was Jack's Apartment. The balcony's were walled in to create Kitchen spaces with room for a small eating table. The main room was the livingroom and there is a connecting door to the east bedroom.

Heating throughout the house is Hot Water radiators hidden within walls under windows, in this case under the corner window niche. It is not steam heat.

 

[a007kirbyman]

Columbus, OH Mini-Meet...

Dave, thank you for all the pics & postings. (You do a wonderful job.)

Norm, thank you for your assistance in presenting the Kirby Turbo Brush to Steve. (I enjoyed our conversations as well.)

And finally Steve (& Craig, aka Brian), I am glad you are pleased with the Turbo Brush, I hope it serves you well for a long time. I wish you both a continued, enjoyable & safe trip. Cheers, mate!

hagd all

Bill

 

[aeoliandave]

Today's garage door glamourpuss shot. Most found in Ohio, Toledo area. I was really just looking for a blue-tone hose I could use for the Lewyt 55 but no luck. later today I will pull out the woven hose discard bin and see what's in there.

Air-Way Mark V w PN, no tools - thrift
Hamilton Beach No 26, hose & wands but no tools - thrift
Compact Electra C-6EPB as is - with PN socket by the switch- from Pete
Universal Percolator - from Chad
All Original Lux G hose that still passes the thump test - thrift
Hoover Model 27 w original bag and lamp lens. Runs great! - thrift
Douglas Handvac with all the parts in box - thrift
Air-Way Mark II complete w tools and a PN socket- from Pete

I have wanted a 4 caster HB for ever so long and they do come up on Ebay but so expensive. Tools, Schmools, This one cost me $5 and the hose thumps still thumps.
The Hoover 27 was a slackjaw, skid-to-a-halt find buried in a dusty basement corner at St Vincent De Paul. It was in the throw it out pile. Another $5.
Air-Way Mark V - same deal but on the sales floor with no tools. $10.
G vacuum has sold previously and they didn't take the hose...so I did, for $1.
The Compact and Air-Way Mark II are so turquoise ya wanna lick 'em all over. Spa first, tho...


It snowed lightly last night for the first time - Happy Dec 1 everyone! Rats, I didn't center things but the ground is wet and my broken little finger REALLY doesn't like the cold air...now, finally, it hurts like a SOB! Buying mittens today!

Thus endeth vacation get-a-way No 1.
In 12 days I leave for Syracuse NY and this time I will circle down afterwards through Pennsylvania towards North Canton, returning by way of Buffalo NY.

A week or two later, I wander the midwest on the way to Winnipeg Manitoba and back.

Dave

 

[aeoliandave]

I'm not stopping this thread yet...

A few initial observations before the Spa opens.

Down under the Compact's paper liner between the cloth bag I found this Sales Tag Medallion. The other side says "Sold Exclusively by Demonstration in the Home". Have already found a nice clean air-tight cloth Compact hose for it. The Compact pulls 68".

The turquoise Mark II lid is on backwards and the foot switch has been bypassed - easy fixes. I have the matching hose for this on a 77. Pulls 78".

At first I thought the yellow Mark V had an internal cordwinder fitted but rather, the entire undamaged cord length had been stuffed and coiled inside the motor chamber. Pulls 76".

I've not inspected a Hamilton Beach cylinder before. The front swivel casters have little flip-over levers that lock the castors in a forward position like the fixed rear wheels. Dispite the impressively large outside diameter of the cloth hose the intake inside the coupler to the dustbag is only 1+1/8" dia. The end cap is sorta in two halves. Unlike other cloth dust bags that sit on the rim, the HB is assembled inside face out and pushed down inside the bag chamber where the thick shaped rubber gasket fits the rim only one way. Then, a paper bag liner is inserted and the edge folded over the rim about 1/2". Then the end cap goes on over the lipped rubber gasket and clamps in place. This one had a paper bag liner with insertion instructions printed on it and does not appear to be altered from something else. Pulls 52", so far.

Does anyone have information or a Users Manual for the Hamilton Beach they could post or send me?

Dave

 

[luxg]

Wow Dave, what a trip!! Now to find places for all of it.LOL That is a beautiful Universal coffeemaker. I hope that you are able to get it working again. Nothing like the sound and smell of fresh perking coffee!! Thanks again for sharing your adventure with us.

Terry

 

[aeoliandave]

As suspected, someone messed with the setting screw. The screw on the right with the coil spring was run out almost to the end as seen - the roller on the bi-metal strip is not even closing the boil coil contacts. No wonder all it does is warm water...slowly.
The screw should be in at least 1/3, judging from old marks. I set it there and perked some cold water on 'weak'. It tripped too early at one minute. adjusted it several times until it ran for 2.5 minutes. The light comes on when the boil cycle is finished and the 'keep warm' coil takes over until unplugged.

It will make tomorrow's morning coffee at a midway setting and we'll see what we get.

Universal built very robust Coffee Percolators, I must say. I understand they made a not half bad vacuum cleaner, too...

 

[aeoliandave]

Then I set about fixing up the Mark II. This shoulda been fast & easy. Turn the bag lid around so the carry handle lines up with the lower cord wrap and reconnect the foot switch.

It's never as simple as it seems, it seems. The switch was connected but shorted, so the machine was always on. Salvaged a pushbutton from a pooched Power Nozzle - done.

To get at that switch required most of the Air-Way to be separated into sections.

Someone must have used it as a stepstool at some point. The front caster mount was bent and twisted into the aluminum skin and fouling up. In fact that entire side of the carcass was badly deformed from some weight being put upon it. So naturally I had to straighten out the metal case. To do that the rest of the machine had to be dismantled.

 

[aeoliandave]

This is how ya do it.

remove the caster, hammer the twisted mounting plate back into shape, then hammer and reshape the aluminum skin's concavity back level. Aluminum sheets are easily hammered but also easy to dent the wrong way so I hammered it on the oak tabletop covered with newspaper and a tea towel.

Mangled caster inner support stamped steel plate is at extreme right. The middle channel clears the thin aluminum skin's 'french seam' and rests against the inner double cylinder bag chamber. to support the caster without deforming the skin.

How to re-shape the skin's corner curve to match the others? Use a large wood dowel as a mandrel and ball peen the living crap out of it until it pleases the eye and mates with the hard aluminum rim support castings...

 

[aeoliandave]

Dent Free

Now, just put it all back together orienting and mating the 3 main main sections and caps correctly and wrap cord. Then take too many pictures showing both horizontal and vertical attachment of Attach-a-Carrier. The tool carrier can also be hooked to the side of the bag lid rim without affecting suction.

 

[aeoliandave]

Motor housing alignment after cleaning away accumulated dust and carbon schmutz.