Summer here in Colorado was very wet and cool this year. Hank kept busy by frequent mowing and completing this very special Legare 400. What makes it so special is that it is over 100 years old.
Here is this very well used Legare 400 that we thought might never crank again. Now it is an amazing happy cranker. This color is Metallic Teal. The machine was made at the Creelman machine shop but sold under the P.T. Legare label. All the parts appeared to be original to this machine and equally well used. The age of this machine is likely 1898 to 1908. This machine was an eBay sale in 2008.
One of the greatest joys of restoring these wonderful old crankers is being the first to start them cranking again.
Here is a close up of the polished old and new fittings.
This cranker came with the usual 72 and 54 cylinder with a 36 slot dial. It also had the bent base yarn mast which provides more distance between mast post and shell. A great asset if you like to latch tool off your hem or ribbed cuff.
* HINT Latch tool off using a standard or bulky flat bed latch tool: To do a purl cast off enter the machine stitch from inside the shell, just as if your latch tool was a ribber needle. For a knit cast off enter outside the shell as if the tool is a cylinder needle. If you are casting off a hem, of every or everyother needle, it will look best to not mix the two. Doing outside cast off will be looser than the inside purl cast off. To make a ribbed cuff look hand knit, learn to mix, by doing a knit cast off on the knits and a purl on the purl stitches. Need more information go to: coloradocranker@q.com
The yarn feeder has an easy-thread slit that is very convenient and a real time saver when changing yarns.
Before the above powder coating was applied the whole machine was power cleaned and blasted to remove over a 100 years of sticky but hard oil, dirt and fiber that was 1/16 of an inch thick in some place
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After all the original metal parts are cleaned Hank puts the major pieces together to be sure the shell, gear ring, crank and base are all working well together.
The surprise was that under all the hardened oil and dirt was a nicely cast machine.
Here is the inside of the 54 cylinder that has a high rust and abrasion resistant clear coat on the inside. Another option is to have the inside of the cylinders painted the same color as the machine.
Thank you for visiting. Check back the first week of September for new pages.
