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American Restoration
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00:04Up next on American Restoration.
00:07Do you guys know what this thing is?
00:09What it is is a foot x-ray machine.
00:11Is that thing actually leaking right now, radiation?
00:14We have no idea.
00:16What is that?
00:17A Tommy gun.
00:18That's an apple peeler core from 1889.
00:21This thing's pretty wild for just corn apples.
00:23You could lose a hand.
00:24Half my tools is in your box.
00:26Where you going?
00:27I can't get my work done without my damn tools.
00:34Remember back in the day when things were made by hand and people took pride in their work?
00:40My name's Rick Dale and I bring these things back to life.
00:44Every restoration has its own set of challenges.
00:48There's no owner's manual for what we do, but there's no job we can't handle.
01:04Hey, Mark.
01:04Hi.
01:05Just hit that right there.
01:07Looks like a gun.
01:08What is that?
01:09Like a Tommy gun.
01:11Well, that's an apple peeler core from a long time ago.
01:15This has 1889 stamped on it.
01:17That's old.
01:18I came to Rick's restoration to get my antique apple peeler core restored.
01:22It was my grandmother's and she used to use it to can their apples.
01:25I teach first grade and at school they give out apples, whole apples, about every couple
01:30weeks and the students just throw them away.
01:33And I thought, hey, I got this apple peeler core.
01:35If I could take it to school, I'm sure it would work to get them to eat their apples.
01:39Do you know how it works?
01:40Well, an apple goes on here.
01:42Okay.
01:43Crank it.
01:45Cool.
01:45Peels it and then spits it out.
01:48When it's working right, you can go through a bushel in 10 minutes.
01:50Wow.
01:51Crank, crank.
01:52This thing is real cool.
01:54It's got gears, cranks, blades.
01:57It's a great example of old industrial revolution machinery.
02:01Kitchen stuff now doesn't even last a year.
02:03This thing here being 120, 130 years old and to still be actually functioning.
02:08Right.
02:08I mean, they built this stuff to keep forever and ever and ever.
02:12No plastic.
02:13You know, it's all metal and wood.
02:15Right.
02:15No junk.
02:16Before this invention, they've had to peel apples by a knife.
02:19Right.
02:19You know, peel them like that.
02:20This thing there, they could, you know, make pie all day long.
02:23Yep.
02:24Back in the day, you probably wouldn't have found one of these in every American kitchen.
02:28But I'll tell you what.
02:29If you were in a remote part of the country, you either had one or wanted one.
02:33As far as restoration cost, total I'm looking probably right around $600.
02:38I can do that.
02:39That sounds all right.
02:40Okay, Mark.
02:41We're good to go?
02:42Sure.
02:43The design of this machine is amazing.
02:45It may not look pretty now, but when we're done with it, it's gonna sparkle.
02:49Ron's gonna take that down there and get it worked on.
02:51I can't wait to get this to school and watch the students' reaction when they see this working.
02:55Everyone's gonna want an apple every day now.
03:02Oh, yeah.
03:03Cowboy and I are gonna take apart the albacore.
03:05It's small, but complicated.
03:07I'm gonna take that wheel off the front of it.
03:10To break this down, we gotta bag and label all these small pieces.
03:13So it'll be easier to put back together after everything's been cleaned and painted.
03:17You got me?
03:17You got my nose?
03:18Profile?
03:19There you go.
03:20I will sign that for you.
03:22Glossy.
03:22We ain't got no wrenches in here except big wrenches.
03:25I'm tired of looking for my damn tools.
03:27There's so many moving parts on this thing, I can't imagine trying to put it back together.
03:32Kyle's gonna have fun doing it by himself.
03:47What the hell?
03:49One of the greatest things of this job is people bringing in stuff that I've never seen before.
03:54Hi, Lou.
03:54How are you?
03:55Good.
03:55Everybody in Vegas knows Lou.
03:57He buys crazy stuff and flips it for a profit.
04:00What is this thing?
04:01What it is is a foot x-ray machine where you get your size of your feet the correct way.
04:06Huh.
04:07I doubt if there's a handful in the country.
04:09I did a lot of research.
04:11People don't even know what I'm talking about.
04:14I came to Rick's restoration today to have a shoe fitting x-ray machine restored
04:18because I believe it'll make me a couple of good bucks.
04:22So they had these things inside the shoe stores?
04:24Inside the shoe store, right.
04:25They claim you got a perfect fit.
04:28They could literally see your feet like, you know, in an x-ray.
04:30You could see them moving and everything as you look down inside.
04:33They could see the bones.
04:33It was like alive.
04:34Right.
04:34And they thought it was a great idea at the time.
04:36Yeah.
04:37Until they realized to expose somebody to radiation as much as they did in them days.
04:41Yeah.
04:41Who knows?
04:42My question is, does that thing actually leak in radiation?
04:45We don't know, do we?
04:46We have no idea.
04:47A lot of vintage machinery did not have the same health restrictions that we do now.
04:52They didn't realize how damaging x-rays really were until the 50s and 60s.
04:56And by then, they stopped using these shoe fitting machines.
04:59I mean, they were just an advertising gimmick.
05:01So, how do you want me to restore this?
05:03I'd like to restore it back to mint condition where she really stands out and hits you like a sore
05:08thumb.
05:08This thing was definitely a flashy piece.
05:10The wood's actually in good shape.
05:12It's not rotted.
05:13It will redo the veneer on the side.
05:15All this will be all chrome and polished.
05:17Total restoration cost on this is right around $4,700.
05:22I know how your work is and what you do.
05:25And I think it's more than worth it.
05:26All right, Lou.
05:27Let's go inside and we'll do some paperwork, okay?
05:30Very good.
05:31Thank you very much.
05:32I've been to a lot of places and collectibles and I've never seen anything like this before.
05:36And I just can't wait to see it in mint condition and I make some good cash.
05:52Where's my hammer?
05:59This ain't my hammer.
06:00Where the hell's my hammer?
06:06Kyle!
06:08Kyle and I work together a lot.
06:11He might have taken my hammer by mistake.
06:14Either way, I'm going to give him hell if I find out he's got it.
06:17Kyle!
06:18What's up?
06:19Have you seen my hammer?
06:21No, I haven't seen that piece of hammer.
06:24Brantley's got to have it.
06:26Brantley!
06:28I'm looking for my hammer.
06:29You got it?
06:30No, I don't got it.
06:31You sure?
06:32People think because I'm the low man on the totem pole, I think I'm dumb or something.
06:38Half my tools is in your box.
06:40I mean, I know it's mine.
06:41I have my own toolbox and there's tools in it.
06:46Where are you going?
06:49I can't leave without getting my work done, but I can't get my work done without my damn tools.
07:01Before I start tearing this x-ray machine down, I need to get a specialist in to take a look
07:05at it.
07:06Radiation is serious.
07:07I don't even want to plug this thing in until I get this thing checked out.
07:10I mean, I don't want cowboy growing an extra toe or something.
07:13Hey.
07:14Hey, Rick.
07:15Good to see you.
07:15How are you doing, Phil?
07:16I came out to test the foot x-ray machine to see how much radiation is being given off.
07:22Since I'm going to be close to the machine, I'm going to be wearing a protective apron made out of
07:26a material that stops x-rays.
07:28I'm also going to be wearing a thyroid shield and let it last.
07:33So I shouldn't be exposed to any high-level radiation to sensitive areas.
07:37Good luck.
07:38Thanks.
07:39I need to make sure this thing's not giving off radiation.
07:42If it is, I got to get Lou back down here and tell him I'm out.
07:45I am not in danger of my staff.
07:47All right.
07:48We're all clear then.
07:53Earlier today, a guy brought in an x-ray shoe fitting machine.
07:56Before I can restore this thing, I really need to get it checked out and make sure that it's safe
08:00so that none of my guys get hurt.
08:02So we're going to get it looked at and have it tested for radiation.
08:05Good luck.
08:06Thanks.
08:06When we turn this on, we don't know how far this field's going to extend, how far it's going to
08:10go.
08:11All right.
08:11We're all clear then.
08:26It's safe for you to come back in.
08:30So what's up?
08:31All right.
08:31So I put a detector really close to the x-ray source and the reading actually went above what my
08:38meter reads.
08:38You're saying it went off the scale of this thing?
08:40Yeah, pretty much.
08:41Holy crap.
08:42So how's this thing compared to like an x-ray tech and what he gets shot with every day?
08:48It was giving me twice what a radiation worker should get a year per hour.
08:53A year per hour.
08:54Wow.
08:55That's a lot.
08:55So while you're restoring it, you want to make sure it's not plugged in.
08:58Right.
08:59Because it will produce radiation.
09:00Okay.
09:00It's the on part that's the biggest deal.
09:03Thank you very much for coming out and I appreciate everything you've done.
09:06Okay.
09:07Man, am I glad I got this thing looked at.
09:09Apparently, if we don't turn this thing on, it won't produce any unsafe levels of radiation.
09:19Today I'm working on this antique apple core.
09:22It's got little precision parts and gears.
09:25So we can't sand blast it because that'll really screw it up.
09:28So I'm going to take all these little parts and put them in the bead blaster.
09:31I use little beads of glass.
09:33It takes it off pretty good.
09:37This apple core requires a ton of attention to detail.
09:40Not only does it have to look beautiful, it has to work 100% correctly.
09:44Otherwise, the customer is not going to be happy.
09:46Okay, before you start painting this, on all the gears, we're not going to be able to get a lot
09:51of paint on it.
09:51They rotate real, real fast and I don't want to tear the paint off.
09:55Something little like this where you've got to get every nook and cranny without running something, it's almost impossible.
10:01Good thing I'm awesome.
10:05While the paint's drying on the apple core, Kyle and Cowboy are going to work on tearing down the X
10:09-rays chute fitter.
10:11Adrian Special, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
10:13My main goal when tearing this machine down is to get whatever produces the radiation out.
10:18That way if Cowboy flips a switch, nobody will get hurt.
10:21Let's get some wild ass back here.
10:25Oh, what do we have here?
10:27Secret compartment.
10:29Gotcha.
10:30I'm almost free?
10:31It's free.
10:37Check it out.
10:41Sirica.
10:41Type S.
10:44This thing is scary looking.
10:46I'm pretty sure this is what produces the radiation of this machine.
10:50I'll be right back, Calvin.
10:51I'm going to go give this to Rick so he can put it away.
10:53Now don't break it.
11:05I got to take off the old veneer on this X-ray machine because it's all cracked so I can
11:09replace it with the new.
11:11I think it's hot quick, huh?
11:14So we got to use an iron to heat it up, loosen up the glue a little bit so I
11:17can scrape it off.
11:18It's basically just like taking off old wallpaper so it's a lot freaking harder.
11:39Dad, I got this fruit.
11:41Kyle and Jeff reassembled this apple core.
11:44I had Tyler go get a big bag of apples so I can start testing this thing.
11:48You're going to stick the apple here and then when you turn it, it's actually going to peel it.
11:54There are so many moving parts, there's a chance we might need to readjust this thing.
12:00It's not spinning.
12:01Now it's really not going to spin.
12:03Oh yeah, there we go.
12:04Oh snap!
12:08Making a mess.
12:09So there, boom, out comes the apple.
12:12Woo!
12:15Oh!
12:16Yowza!
12:19Alright, now that was...
12:20It's a lot better than your apple.
12:21I have no idea what's going on right now.
12:24Everything seems to be right, but it's just not working properly.
12:27This guy's coming.
12:29What he remembered, he'd stick it on there and they could do a whole bushel of apples in a few
12:33minutes.
12:34It's tough to know exactly what something like this needs.
12:36We can try making a few adjustments to the mechanism.
12:39Go.
12:40But we may need to just put a little bit more muscle into it.
12:44Don't worry, I got it.
12:49Oh!
12:51You got that one good!
12:53Broke it.
12:54You broke the peeling?
12:55Yeah, broke it.
12:56Oh yeah.
12:57Broke an arm off.
12:59Sure enough.
13:01Definitely not the way you do that, huh?
13:03Well, I don't know.
13:04I'm so glad my dad broke this, not me.
13:07If this was me, it would have been coming out of my paycheck.
13:10Nice to be the boss, I guess.
13:12Alright, so we'll take this off, we'll weld this piece on, and then we'll re-bend these and start over
13:17again.
13:18Alright?
13:19I don't care.
13:21You're so sarcastic.
13:27While my dad puts this thing back together again, I'm going to go give these apples to someone who will
13:31be happy we made a lot of mistakes.
13:34There you go.
13:41Earlier, Cowboy found a couple of his lousy tools in my toolbox.
13:45But I don't get why he took my whole toolbox.
13:47That's not cool.
13:48How'd you take my tools?
13:52Brettly, is any of them yours?
13:54No, I just grabbed them.
13:55Why are they in your box?
13:56To fill it up.
13:57Brettly barely knows what a hammer does.
14:00You never even used one of these.
14:02What the hell is this in your box for?
14:04You don't know.
14:06See, all those are mine.
14:07If you can name three of these tools, you can have your toolbox back.
14:11Alright.
14:12First tool.
14:15I don't know.
14:16What is it?
14:18It's a piston groove cleaner.
14:21What is this?
14:23It's a holder.
14:24Strike two.
14:25It's a gear puller.
14:28What is this?
14:33What is it?
14:35My tools, my toolbox.
14:40Go away.
14:41You never touch a man's tools without his permission.
14:52This apple core has been a big challenge for us.
14:55But it's finally ready for Mark to come pick it up.
14:58I really hope that he's blown away by it.
15:00But more importantly, I hope it works.
15:03Hi, Rick.
15:04Hey, how are you?
15:05Good.
15:05I'm excited.
15:06I want to see what my apple peeler looks like.
15:09Yeah?
15:09I came to Rick's today to pick up my apple peeler core.
15:12Ever since I've had it, it's been rusted looking and old and beat up.
15:15You ready?
15:17Alright, let's do it.
15:21Bam!
15:22Wow.
15:23Is that the same thing I've dropped off?
15:24There it is.
15:25You're a magician.
15:26This was the original pieces.
15:28I mean, they look brand new.
15:29Everything on here is original.
15:30Nut and bolt, spring, everything's original.
15:33You literally can take stuff back down to its shine.
15:35And that's what we did to every one of these things.
15:38Dalled it up by pinstriping inside here, where you can see the patent number.
15:41I made a new blade here.
15:43Just put a piece of stainless in there and sharpened it like a razor.
15:46It's quite the marvel.
15:49Every little arm and every little cog has a reason for it's on there.
15:53This thing's pretty wild for just corn apples.
15:56Yeah, right.
15:57Well, I've been waiting almost 20 years to see this work again, you know.
16:00Wow, that's a long time.
16:02Mark wants this apple core to work just like it did back in the 1800s.
16:06I know it looks pretty now, but if it doesn't work, he won't pay for it,
16:09and we will have wasted a lot of time and money.
16:12Can we try it?
16:13Okay.
16:14All right.
16:19Boom!
16:21Nice.
16:22That's nice.
16:23And you can tell you've been doing this for it.
16:25That's an awesome job.
16:26Thanks, yeah.
16:26That thing just did the whole thing.
16:28You can't go slow.
16:28You went fast and you just spit it right out.
16:30It works.
16:32It was an old piece of machinery.
16:33Now it's a piece of art.
16:35A functional piece of art.
16:37That's super. Thanks a lot.
16:38Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity.
16:40When I take this to the class, the kids are going to love seeing how this works,
16:43and have the apple without a peel and a core is going to make them even want to eat it
16:47more.
16:57This x-ray shoe fitter was a ton of work, and it was very scary in the beginning.
17:01We had to get this thing tested to see if it was leaking radiation before we could even open it
17:06up.
17:06Because it would have been dangerous getting this thing working again, we had to find a way to spruce this
17:11thing up.
17:11How'd it go, man?
17:12So I had my brother Ron go pick up something to really throw this thing over the top.
17:17It wasn't easy.
17:17I got what you're looking for.
17:18Where'd you get them?
17:20Just had to call in some favors.
17:22That's all you need to know.
17:23Holy crap.
17:24He has two left feet.
17:25That's what he looks like he's got.
17:27Do you hear these are your feet?
17:29They're nasty looking.
17:30They're small for my feet.
17:31Those are little feet.
17:32All right, dude.
17:33These are perfect.
17:34These are exactly what I'm looking for.
17:36Awesome job.
17:37You the man.
17:37Don't ever forget it.
17:44Steal my tools.
17:45I'll show his ass.
17:50Brantley won't get this box now.
17:53Brantley!
17:58What's up?
17:59You ain't touching that tool box no more.
18:19This x-ray shoe fitter wasn't your typical restoration.
18:23Now that we got this thing all packed up, it's time to get it over to Lou.
18:32Ready?
18:33I just can't wait to see my x-ray machine.
18:35I've been so excited and anticipating it because I know that Rick is a top restorer.
18:40How are you?
18:41Good, how are you?
18:42Good, good, good.
18:44How you doing, Rick?
18:45Yeah, your assistant's here?
18:46Yeah, you called.
18:47Oh, that's great.
18:47Here I come.
18:48You ready?
18:48Yeah, I'm more than ready.
18:50Are you sure you're ready?
18:51Oh, I can't be any more ready here.
18:55Here we go.
18:58Oh, wow.
18:59Whoo!
19:00That is beautiful.
19:02I could use a few expletives, but I won't.
19:05It is fantastic.
19:06That is some piece of work.
19:08Rick, you're a true genius.
19:11Thank you very much.
19:11Boy, what did you have to do to it to get it this beautiful?
19:13We really had to take the base of this thing and totally redo it.
19:18It literally had to be stripped all the way down.
19:20This was all actually the same color at one time, so we ended up making it blonde.
19:25Outstanding.
19:25This piece actually had paint on it, so we sent it to the chrome shop.
19:29You can see it's all been totally re-chromed.
19:31Belongs in a museum.
19:32It was just phenomenal.
19:33It looks like it just came out of the factory.
19:36Does it work or doesn't it work?
19:38Why don't I just...
19:39Hold on.
19:39I'll show you.
19:40Okay.
19:40Who's going to put their foot in there?
19:42You.
19:42Oh, me?
19:43Oh, okay.
19:43I'm anticipating it not being working because of the radiation, but that would all be a
19:48plus if it did work.
19:50Ron, can you plug it in?
19:51Yes, I can.
19:53Too hot.
19:54Okay.
19:55I'm only going to give you a little jolt.
19:56Okay.
19:57I'm going to turn it on.
20:00Oh, there's your feet.
20:02I'll be damned.
20:03I think that's cool.
20:04I want to know what's going on with your big toe.
20:08We just put a regular light bulb inside of it instead of the radioactive bulb.
20:12And then we got a couple x-rays of feet and we slid it between the glass where you would
20:18have normally put your feet and it x-rayed through and you saw it.
20:22So now really what you see is an x-ray.
20:24Amazing.
20:25Totally amazing.
20:26I wanted to give you that full effect.
20:28This is definitely the weirdest thing I've ever done, for sure.
20:31Oh, I'm so proud.
20:32You guys, you do a hell of a job, boy.
20:34I'm just overwhelmed that I can't praise him enough for the job he's done.
20:39He's truly a master.
20:40Look what I have.
20:42It's an apple peeler and a core.
20:44Does this thing look old or new?
20:45New.
20:47It looks new, but it's actually over 100 years old.
20:49One person puts the apple on, one person crank.
20:55That one did it good.
20:56Who wants to eat this apple?
21:01Hold on.
21:02Take a couple more off.
21:04Need more?
21:07Oh, that was perfect.
21:17Feel good.
21:17Bye.
21:18Buy that.
21:19Bye.
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