Clement Bandsaw at the Navy Yard

I saw this machine sitting on the loading dock of Building 77 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. It had a sign on it that said "garbage."

At first, I  couldn't figure out exactly what it was, but then I saw an Instagram post from the folks at Turnstile Tours, who identified it as a 1879 36" bandsaw. It was manufactured by F.H. Clement Co.

Frank H. Clement , born 1843, was an engineer and draftsman who became an inventor of wood-working machines, eventually establishing the F. H. Clement Co. in Rochester, NY. in the 1870s.  Apparently, this huge bandsaw was a particularly big seller for them. In 1897, the company merged with ten other woodworking manufacturers to create the American Wood Working Machine Co.

There are a lot of images of extent machines on the cool Vintage Machinery site, including this one which is still in use, and many examples of people restoring them, like this one.

See this big old machine sitting on that loading dock, with a sign saying 'garbage' taped to it, being unceremoniously discarded, was a sad sight to see. But then it made me think of that old IKEA commercial, where someone throws out an old desk lamp and replaces it with a nice new IKEA lamp. The old lamp sits out on the street, forlorn, in the rain, as sad music plays. And then a guy comes out and says in a Swedish accent, "Do you feel sad for the lamp? That is crazy. It is just a lamp. It has no feelings. The new lamp is much better!"


History of Frank H. Clement: vintagemachinery.org