MTFCA Forum

A post asking for info garnered a response from Scott Conger about a Linderman jointing machine to build wood.

People have said that these machines were not used to make larger wood pieces in Model T bodies.

Here are pictures of the remains of my original Centerdoor body sills.

They were assembled using a machine that makes tiny dovetails along the length to make a wider board They either used a Linderman or one similar to it.

I also disassembled a 24 touring body and the wood structure pieces were made exactly this same way.

Thanks for the update, William.

Interesting!

Will , I’m amazed when someone talks about absolutes in model T production. I’ve seen linderman joints many times in T wood, but I have no idea when over the production life they were used. Some of the more amazing artifacts I’ve seen were NOS small wood parts out of long closed dealerships. Many small parts such as body blocks and hood sill blocks. At some point, instead of trashing wood or making charcoal, wood scrap was made into larger stock to then make these very small parts from. Wish I still had them to show, but think I gave the examples to a friend. The joints don’t survive time and especially weather very good, even the NOS stuff. I’d never use them on a project but fun to look at.

The basic requirements for this machine is that each piece of wood must be 1 1/2 inches wide or wider and can be as short as 8 inches long. The wood must be at least 3/8ths inches thick up to 2 1/2 inches. The machine came in different sizes, with the size of the machine determining the MAX length of the finished wood. The company catalog says they can produce 100 different styles of cuts. The machine automatically feeds, cuts, glues, and joins the wood, with no glue appearing on the outside surface of the finished piece. It is ready to be planed as soon as it comes out.

The catalog also says if the wood isn't the correct width when done, it's fed through again until it is.

Here are some of the joints it makes.

Bert Arthur Linderman actually applied for a patent for a carrier mechanism for his joining machine in 1909, but it wasn't assigned. He applied on May 10th, and was granted on July 27th. He founded the Linderman Machine Co in Muskegon, Michigan.

He would apply for a patent for a dovetailing machine in 1913.

It was later on in about 1952, that Alvin L. Smith received a patent for the joining machine. He was employed by the Linderman Machine Co., which had an office in Newburgh, NY.

Linderman died in 1938.

There was also a company in Canada that made a machine to do this, too. It was called a Yates Continuous Feed Glue Jointer

I have some floor boards in my ‘24 coupe that were put together that way.

I need to read this all again.
Thanks Will!