Another fun restoration project #1: Buch's Pennsylvania 3 Cornsheller ?

Hi everyone
Many of you saw the custom Intarsia tap handle project that I completed which required lots and lots of patience and was very challenging to say the least. I mentioned that my next project was the complete restoration of a 1897 ” Buch’s Cornsheller” which does not require much scrolling but does present many different challenges the least of which is the custom paint job. I have restored 2 Hocking Valley cornshellers and these type of projects are just so much fun I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to do another.
To give a little bit of history, a corn sheller is used to remove the kernels from an ear of dried corn to be used for feed or to be made into corn meal. Prior to 1900 most corn shelling was done by hand or by using simple machines that were very slow and not very productive
Simple cornsheller in action.

By combining existing technology and American ingenuity the first high volume cornshellers were produced and distributed throughout the US made by different manufacturers among which were John Deere , International Harvester, Hocking Valley and Buch’s and Sons just to name a few. With the use of these type of shellers production would go from several bushels a day to hundreds of bushels a day.
So without further adieu I will take you through the steps to bring back a little piece of history in the form of this restoration.
Because of the fact that the original paint job on this cornsheller was non existent, I had to do some research to determine the manufacturer. One of the things that led me to figure out that it was a Buch’s cornsheller was the internal chaff screen used to separate the waste corn chaff from the kernels.
Chaff screen exclusive to a Buch’s sheller

Also the round edge flywheel was another giveaway that this was a Buch’s.

Round edge flywheel

The wood members were all in pretty good shape so getting accurate measurements was pretty easy. I dismantled the sheller and got my materials together for the restoration. White oak for the frame and poplar for the box section..
Buch’s Sheller with metal work removed.

Let’s do some woodworking

-- Mike --www.midlothianwoodworks.com