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Thread Number: 25875
Oley Owens' Old Kirby |
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Post# 290151 7/25/2014 at 03:11 (3,560 days old) by electrolux137  (Los Angeles) |
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~ A month or so ago a member of my church named Oley Owens came up to me and said, "I read in the newsletter about the work you did on Earlean Walker's Kirby vacuum.* I also have an old Kirby. Would you have a look at it?" I said I would, and a couple of weeks later when I got out of my car one Sunday morning I looked up the street and saw Mr. Owens pushing an old Kirby up the sidewalk! When he got up to me, I could see that the model was a Dual Sanitronic 50, from the year 1964 -- making it an even 50 years old! I could tell that other than needing a good cleaning up, it was in very good condition. So I said I'd take it home and give it a "spa treatment." I brought it home and took it apart and cleaned and renovated all the housing and motor parts and gave the bearings a lube-job. I discovered that the cloth bag needed to be replaced as there was a small hole down at the bottom. I also put in a new belt and light bulb. When I was finished with it, I delivered it to Mr. Owens. He seemed pleased with his "new Kirby" and gave it a test run around his living room. I was happy to do this for him -- rebuilding old vacuum cleaners is something that has brought me great pleasure and satisfaction over the years. I see it as a special way of helping others through my affection for vintage vacuums. It's always a real treat to find someone who is still using one of those great old cleaners. Now that Mr. Owens' Kirby has been made as-new again, there's no reason it couldn't last for another 50 years! Here's a bunch of photos. ~~~ * Ms. Walker is another member of my church - - she now has an as-new 1961-vintage Kirby! | ||
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Post# 290155 , Reply# 2 7/25/2014 at 03:35 (3,559 days old) by tolivac (Greenville,NC) |
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And couldn't beleive all of the stuff that was in that machine-almost looks like fluff from old green shag carpet!Would have made a meal for one of my "Pigs" use the Pig to clean out other vacuums.Would have to guess that Kirbys bag wasn't dumpted after each use. | ||
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Post# 290156 , Reply# 3 7/25/2014 at 03:40 (3,559 days old) by KirbyClassicIII (Milwaukie, Oregon) |
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| Post# 290166 , Reply# 4 7/25/2014 at 07:43 (3,559 days old) by eurekastar (Amarillo, Texas) | ||
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| Post# 290167 , Reply# 5 7/25/2014 at 08:06 (3,559 days old) by thunderhexed (Edmond, OK) | ||
I'm still amazed.. 
at how functional they still are as an everyday vacuum and how well they clean. I had been using a Sentria as my everyday cleaner( i vacuum my tiny house once a week) and decided to pull out my DSD50 to give it a whirl around the house. I was SHOCKED at the amount of crud I cleaned out from the bag after vacuuming the entire house - and this was was a clean bag prior to starting. The amount that was dumped was the size of a football! I love that little machine!
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| Post# 290169 , Reply# 6 7/25/2014 at 08:46 (3,559 days old) by suckolux (Yuba City, CA) | ||
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| Post# 290172 , Reply# 7 7/25/2014 at 08:52 (3,559 days old) by kirbyduh (Kentucky ) | ||
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Great Job It looks excellent and it was so kind of you to do that, Charles! | ||
| Post# 290174 , Reply# 8 7/25/2014 at 09:10 (3,559 days old) by super-sweeper (KSSRC Refurbishment Center) | ||
BEAUTIFUL Charles!!!! | ||
| Post# 290175 , Reply# 9 7/25/2014 at 09:12 (3,559 days old) by Gr8DaneDad () | ||
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Beautiful, simply beautiful. | ||
| Post# 290187 , Reply# 10 7/25/2014 at 11:30 (3,559 days old) by smow69 (Muskogee Oklahoma) | ||
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great job I will send my 2 kirbys also. lol that looked amazing. love the bag also. is it one of the ones on ebay? | ||
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Post# 290189 , Reply# 11 7/25/2014 at 12:18 (3,559 days old) by electrolux137 (Los Angeles) |
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~ I like the plaid bag too -- I think it's quite fetching. It's a "N.O.S." genuine Kirby bag, but I don't remember now where I got it! In fact, I didn't even know I had it! It was in one of my boxes of replacement bags and I came across it looking for a replacement for the machine. I had planned to put another original bag on the machine, but when I saw this one, I thought it would be a good choice for someone who actually planned to use it. The Sani-Scraper is made of hard plastic instead of cardboard like the original bags, so it would do the job a lot better. (However, I did mention to the man that he needs to empty out the bag once or twice a decade hahaha!) I did keep the original bag. It can be patched which would be fine for displaying and "playing house," but I didn't want to return the machine to an actual user in that condition as the patch could give way. Of course I did replace the carbon brushes. They were practically worn down to a nub, although I've come across far worse! The front bearing was fine. I suspect this Kirby was repaired somewhere along the line. The rug nozzle bumper had been replaced with one in a dark-chocolate (Classic Ω) color, and the brush roll had been replaced with a four-bristle model To Ben, the machine had that brush roll installed in it when Oley brought it to me. Since it was in perfect condition once I cleaned it up, I put it back in. When I walked into the man's home and saw his green cut-pile carpeting, it looked very familiar to me, having had my arm elbow-deep in the bag pulling all that filth out of it. (Yes, I did wear a dust mask, and I did it outside.) Did any of y'all notice how cloudy and discolored the belt lifter was? It looked like it had a heavy film of nicotine on it, but that wasn't what it was -- otherwise, all the plastic bits would have been similarly discolored. I think the plastic just degraded somehow. I had a spare one that I put on the machine. I also enjoy working on older Kirbys. They are easy to rebuild, especially compared with modern plastic machines that have heat-bonded or glued parts, hidden screws, mysterious connectors, etc. A non-collector commented in an email, "I think those old Kirbys are very sexy." I knew what he meant -- sexy in a design sense, not, well, you know. He is an architect, and anything with perfectly balanced and proportioned lines and dimensions would appeal to him. | ||
| Post# 290196 , Reply# 12 7/25/2014 at 13:10 (3,559 days old) by suckolux (Yuba City, CA) | ||
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| Post# 290232 , Reply# 13 7/25/2014 at 17:56 (3,559 days old) by portapower (BRUNSWICK) | ||
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Beautiful and stunning restoration ! What do you use on the metal housing to get it so clean and shiny? | ||
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Post# 290241 , Reply# 14 7/25/2014 at 19:26 (3,559 days old) by electrolux137 (Los Angeles) |
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Post# 290279 , Reply# 16 7/26/2014 at 01:38 (3,559 days old) by tolivac (Greenville,NC) |
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Charles--like the Electrolux "dust collector" on your buffer!How often do you have to replace the bag? | ||
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Post# 290427 , Reply# 17 7/26/2014 at 23:46 (3,558 days old) by electrolux137 (Los Angeles) |
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~ That's actually an older setup. My current rig has a Model XXX with it instead of a G. It does a good job of catching most -- but not all -- of the flying debris from the polishing wheel. Attentive housewife that I am, I empty the bag after each use! hahaha
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| Post# 290429 , Reply# 18 7/26/2014 at 23:48 (3,558 days old) by marks_here (_._) | ||
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| Post# 290458 , Reply# 19 7/27/2014 at 01:34 (3,558 days old) by super-sweeper (KSSRC Refurbishment Center) | ||
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| Post# 290460 , Reply# 20 7/27/2014 at 01:41 (3,558 days old) by marks_here (_._) | ||
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Lmao | ||
| Post# 290466 , Reply# 22 7/27/2014 at 01:50 (3,558 days old) by marks_here (_._) | ||
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| Post# 290472 , Reply# 23 7/27/2014 at 02:02 (3,558 days old) by super-sweeper (KSSRC Refurbishment Center) | ||
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| Post# 290473 , Reply# 24 7/27/2014 at 02:03 (3,558 days old) by marks_here (_._) | ||
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| Post# 290479 , Reply# 25 7/27/2014 at 02:12 (3,558 days old) by super-sweeper (KSSRC Refurbishment Center) | ||
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| Post# 290485 , Reply# 26 7/27/2014 at 02:18 (3,558 days old) by marks_here (_._) | ||
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| Post# 290490 , Reply# 27 7/27/2014 at 02:25 (3,558 days old) by super-sweeper (KSSRC Refurbishment Center) | ||
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| Post# 290493 , Reply# 28 7/27/2014 at 02:27 (3,558 days old) by marks_here (_._) | ||
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| Post# 290496 , Reply# 29 7/27/2014 at 02:33 (3,558 days old) by super-sweeper (KSSRC Refurbishment Center) | ||
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| Post# 290498 , Reply# 30 7/27/2014 at 02:37 (3,558 days old) by marks_here (_._) | ||
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| Post# 290503 , Reply# 31 7/27/2014 at 02:42 (3,558 days old) by super-sweeper (KSSRC Refurbishment Center) | ||
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| Post# 290505 , Reply# 32 7/27/2014 at 02:45 (3,558 days old) by marks_here (_._) | ||
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| Post# 290506 , Reply# 33 7/27/2014 at 02:47 (3,558 days old) by super-sweeper (KSSRC Refurbishment Center) | ||
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