My Amish buds have a similar set-up for their shop. They built a big
metal shed and poured a solid concrete floor with trenches in it to run
the shafts off a diesel engine. They have a bunch of really old big
stationary woodworking equipment, all driven off the shaft with belts.
They are big on diesel engines to drive things -- they also have one
running their sorghum mill, and a huge old steam boiler (wood fired)
running the evaporator. I have no idea where they find all this stuff
but they are quite inventive. One of the families (of a guy who died
when a load of railroad ties he had cut shifted off the truck and
crushed him, leaving 13 children and another on the way -- I got a lot
of cherry and oak from him) has an old milk tanker for their water
supply, parked up hill of the house. I guess they fill it from a well
or something. He had an old table saw with a motorcycle engine running
it, that thing was loud AND dangerous.
I understand their issue with phones and electricity is that the devil
gets in through the wires, so using a stationary engine is OK, and some
allow a cell phone too. I guess the devil can't travel through the
ether. They have some hot rod tractors too.
--R
On 3/12/13 12:10 AM, Dan Penoff wrote:
Might want to listen to this episode of Planet Money:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/03/05/173561926/episode-441-business-secrets-of-the-amish
Pretty interesting insight into how the Amish adapt to current society and its
needs with their businesses.
I used to do business with some of the Amish communities in Northern Indiana
around Shipshewana and Nappanee. Fascinating people, very nice and for the most
part very accepting of Englishmen if you respect them and their ways.
My company sold White-Hercules industrial engines, which the Amish used to run
the equipment in their shops. They would buy the engines from us, driving a
hard bargain, and pay cash upon delivery. I liked to deliver the engines, as it
gave me an opportunity to see inside their lives and businesses as well as to
enjoy the amazing meals they would prepare if you were fortunate enough to be
there around lunch time (which I tried to do as often as possible!)
They would set the engines up in a little shed outside their workshops, then
use the output shaft to drive a pulley and sheave arrangement in the ceiling of
the building. A jack shaft ran the length of the building, with pulleys driving
large leather belts that were connected to the individual pieces of equipment.
An idler pulley with a large wooden lever would be forced against the leather
belt to tension it to drive the equipment.
Crude, but quite effective. These places used to scare the heck out of me, as
there was no OSHA compliance to be considered. One wrong move and you could get
caught up in one of these huge belts running all over the place.
One thing I'll always remember is the hardware store in Nappanee. The Amish
were the primary customers, so it was pretty quaint, to say the least. Like
going back in time 100 years...
Dan
Sent from my iPad
On Mar 11, 2013, at 6:56 PM, Rich Thomas <richthomas79td...@constructivity.net>
wrote:).
I was in KY around the holidays and went over to visit my Amish friends, got
talking to one of the guys who was telling me about their latest venture,
making outdoor chairs and selling them. There were a bunch of them sitting
there and he said they were for a guy they had a problem with. Seems they
also are into taking old barns down to reclaim the wood, and had a significant
OOPS in that they took down the wrong barn by mistake (he did not go into
detail, I got the impression it involved some of the younger boys who were sent
off to do the job), which caused the owner to be severely upset, so they were
trying to make nice with some chairs. He said they were also selling the
chairs for $25, and I told him he needed to find someone to get them on eBay or
Etsy or something like that and start selling them for at least $75. They are
fairly smart business people, and know about the English ways, but he thought
that was too high. I offered to buy all they could make but he didn't want to
do that.
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_______________________________________
http://www.okiebenz.com
For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com
To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/
To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to:
http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
