Share your Magna memorabilia!

[jpdalton]

"pipe-smoking home craftsman "
Surely Thee knows who that is!

If you’re implying it’s RJ DeCristoforo, it isn’t. I don’t know exactly who the model is, but his face is too dissimilar to DeCristoforo’s to be him.
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Here’s “Cris” in PTWFE.

[jsburger]

It sure looks like R.J. in both pictures to me. Look at the nose. Look at the hair line above the side burn. Look at the jaw bone protrusion below the ear lobe. Looks like a safe bet to me.

[HopefulSSer]

"pipe-smoking home craftsman "

Surely Thee knows who that is!

It's "Bob"!

[jpdalton]

It's "Bob"!

Now that’s hilarious!! For this purpose, I’ll call him Bob-o-Magna…

[jpdalton]

Mystery Miter Gauge

Cleaned up this Miter Gauge I recently acquired. It was understandably a bit grimy when I got it, paint is a bit rough, and the miter grip accessory needed a few parts (which I had) - but it cleaned up well. And besides the unusual miter bar (anyone spy the missing feature??), it looks like a normal Mark 5 miter gauge.
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Well, I showed quite a few other miter gauges in my collection on a post to this thread recently, so why’d I even pick up this one, you might ask…?

It relates to a post on Facebook where group members were arguing about the origin of a 5-in-1 machine that resembles a Mark 2, but with “Powr-Kraft” on the nameplate. I knew that it was in fact a Magna/Yuba manufactured machine, and pointed out to the group that by the late 1950s, Magna was actually providing most of the standing power tools for the Montgomery Ward Powr-Kraft brand - including most of those featured on the cover of their 1958 catalog:
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In some cases, cosmetic modifications were made to equivalent Magna-Line tools (like the table saw), while in other cases, the tool is exactly the same, just with a Powr-Kraft nameplate replacing the Magna nameplate (lathe, jointer, etc.).

While I was scanning some of the details of the catalog for my own reference, I was looking over the details of the Montgomery Ward equivalent of the Magna-Line table saw, and noticed some interesting detail…
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It’s hard to see, but it looked like the cosmetic changes went beyond the main system and included a Powr-Kraft branded miter gauge!
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If these things actually existed, I wanted to see one! And it didn’t take long for one to pop up on eBay, and now it’s in the collection…
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Yup, it’s a legit miter gauge for a Powr-Kraft table saw, manufactured by Magna! It has the same beefier miter bar dimensions of a similar miter gauge on my Magna-Line table saw, and is similarly missing the spreader slot of the Mark 5 miter (see first picture).

As a final note, I always find it interesting to see what sort of things might have changed when modifications of this sort were created to familiar Shopsmith accessories. This one is a bit of a head-scratcher…
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They actually removed some material from the casting that would have accommodated the nylon standoffs that prevent scratching the table surface. That’s some serious penny-pinching!

[jpdalton]

Magna’s Magnificent Pin-Ups for 1956!

Here are a couple of items of dealer material that helped them announce the newest additions to the Magna tool family for 1956.
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These are b-sized (11x17 inch) fold-out posters that also served as sales training materials for the retailers:
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Too bad they didn’t make these in color!

[JPG]

Too bad we cannot buy them at those prices!

[jpdalton]

Too bad we cannot buy them at those prices!

I hear ya! But that being said, I got my bandsaw for $60…
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…and my belt sander for $20!
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Sure, I added paint and lots of sweat equity, but bargains are still out there to be had!

[Matanuska]

Is the outer cover of your old Magna bandsaw plastic or metal? Wondering if plastic was a more recent development.

[chapmanruss]

The cover on the Bandsaw has always been plastic. Here is a picture of my restored 1956 Bandsaw. The cover polished up nicely and the logo and name received fresh silver paint.

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This one is still original with the original type guides.

As you can see on John's Bandsaw painting the Main Frame (back) with Rustoleum Hammered Finish Verde Green paint makes a larger contrast between the Cover and Main Frame colors than the original green paint. Mine is painted the same as John's.

I paid a bit more for my Bandsaw above but the Greenie Bandsaw I got last week was free. Thanks Uncle Bill.