[SEL] auction

[P. Johns]

Tom:

The wife, who owns about 20 sewing machines, says it isn't a sewing machine.
One clue is that there is no bobbin. It is heavy enough to be some sort of
punch, and that's all she can think of.

The lack of a brand name shows that it is possibly a one-off custom machine
for some specific purpose. I do know there used to be a few places in
SanFran that made custom machinery of all types way back when we made things
there.

A side note here: I had a neighbor that had a few custom machines that he
would buy at auctions and convert them to some general uses. Some very
creative and very interesting.
Another Side note: Unfortunately, when he died, property values were sky
high and whoever handled his estate just junked his entire shop. I went by
when they were filling the last dumpster and one guy said everything went.
That would include three or four lathes, including a new (1970's) one that
was never hooked up; shelves full of taps, dies, and various tooling and on
and on. The point is: Find someone to find a use for all that we collect.