AtomicDirt is Gone in my new Dream Machine

[jetcone]

Hello MrTide Hello Louis

Thank you I did not lose any machines ,I have them all up on 6 inch platforms just for that purpose. I did however get the worst flu walking the dog thru the floodwaters I ever had. 2 months later still no sense of smell back only scant whiffs here and there so I know its in there somewhere.
DONT EVER go walking in flood waters if you can help it.I can't imagine what the people of N.O. were walking through last year.

Louis glad to see you are still alive and kicking!! I hung Al upside down by his tail and shook him out over the clothing! That provided enough Fall Out to measure with and now he is sparkling too!

Lately he has taken to digging in my garden and just loves it , he rolls in the dirt and moans--typical Terrier!!

So he was full of radioactivity!!!!!!

gnawty dog!

 

[lavamat_jon]

Wooooooo!!! I love that. The Bendix frontloaders have always been my favourite vintage frontloaders - out of anything European or American! The flip up control cover is also very dandy. And I just LOVE those suds!

Jon

 

[mayken4now]

Jon:

What an awesome machine you have there. Certainly, a beauty for your collection

 

[jasonl]

Load selector

I was hoping the selections would have been Small Load, Full Load, Bob Load.

AWESOME as hell machine! I can hear that spin already. WEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

 

[jetcone]

Austin

What makes it a dream machine is the control styling but also I find the early Bendix Gyromatics to be "un" designed esthetically from a consumer standpoint. You look at my old '53 which John has and the dials are well..uninspiring.

These last several years of Bendix 55,56,57 all had industrial desgin pumped back into them like the original 1930's models. They were designed to attract the consumer to catch their eye.
And this one is especially dear because it does not say Philco anywhere on it.
I'm not saying I am anti-Philco but I am very Pro-Bendix now that I have read their history.

You know I always overlooked these machines because they were so simple, so basic. I didn't realize that ,that element of simplicity was due to them being the first in everything to do with most automatics -frontload or topload. Their patent base forced all their competition to go in very different directions---just look at the shape of the Westinghouse slant front tub & vanes for starters!!
In 1939 Westinghouse paid Bendix $125,000 to use the flush drain technology for their front loader. In today;s money that is equivalent to $3.0 million dollars to use a patent!
Today we take flush/drain for granted but in 1936 that had to be invented it didn't exist.
And thats just one example of how I have come to admire Bendix Home Appliances.
They also invented the BEST tub damping system ever used for a front loader but hardly anyone has ever seen it!! They only used it for one year in the Gyramatics and I have one I found by accident, it is like no other Bendix ever built,AND it is more stable than any other FL I have ever used.
Again they lost use of the technology because the Home appliance division got sold off from the Aviation division early on and the patent was done by one of the aviation engineers. So that is when they were forced to go to the 4 spring 2 shock technology.
Which is good but not as good as what they had.
I could go on and on.

jet

 

[blackstone]

Jon,
I loved the Bendix radioactive dirt ad. I think that I have a geiger counter around, too. I never knew it could be used for testing washing machines. Glad to hear that you are feeling better.

 

[peteski50]

Bendix!

Jon,
This is such a awsome find. Many Best Wishes. I like the controls on the front like this unique setup.
Peter

 

[tomturbomatic]

Jon, Thanks for sharing pictures of your dream machine. In the shot of the timer dial, I see WARM just before the 9. Did they pull a Westinghouse and put the wash temp selection in the timer? Would you please explain the flush away drain? Do you mean the assured (spray) rinse after the wash or the sump/strainer arrangement? One thing Westinghouse did not buy was the spin between the 2nd and 3rd rinse, a big drawback in my book. In 1956 or so, the cleaners in our new shopping center had a laundry section with a whole line of these machines with the sideways door release. Sometimes when we were in there picking up drycleaning or daddy's shirts, I would give in to my baser desires and make a dash over to the machines if I did not see any of the laundry ladies that ran them. Of course, I always got a talking to by my parents for doing that, but it was worth it. The business put Philco Bendix coin op washers in when they made that part of the operation into self service. The PB machines had two ivory-colored knurled knobs: one for hot or warm wash and one for warm or cold soak and rinse. Later they installed those awful Maytag commercial Highlander washers with the orange light in the middle of the dummy dial in the middle of the control panel.

 

[chestermikeuk]

Beauty!!

Hi Jon

Glad to see another dream machine finds its rightful home...

I take it the slide is the door release, was it just on this Bendix machine that this release as used??

Any chance of a pic of the damper system??

Cheers, Mike

 

[Bearpeter]

Excellent legs too!!!!

Great machine but even greater pins on the geigher tester!!!!

Yay!

 

[mickeyd]

RE: your olfactory loss

Have you tried zinc, 25-50 mg ?

Love the close ups of the controls, but gaga over what must be a Blackstone Temp Control on the right. Never seen one in person, a dream machine for me.

Speaking of smells, the scent of Dash produced during the late 60's & 70's is my favorite scent. How could I get some? I am forever sniffing the boxes and jugs in the detergent aisles, hoping that Proctor And Gamble will re-issue that scent under another label.

 

[chestermikeuk]

Big Switches!!

Hey Jon

Were gonna have to start callin you "Massive Dials Jetcone" from now on, whats with this.....

Most of the machine in your basement have "Massive Dials"....Bendix...Blackstone....etc...whats with this???

Cheers, Mike
Baking in 30d heat
No Air Con
Midnight In The Garden
2 Bottles del Vino Later!!!!
Goodnight!!!
hic!

 

[jetcone]

Hey All

Mike-You know I love big knobs! I wish I was there in that garden with you! What a great spot.
We've had 100 degree heat here too, last nite was a rip roarin thunderstorm here. Al never is bothered by them but he leaped into bed!

BearPeter--- I LOVE YOUR post! Leave it to a Scotsman to notice anither's gams!! These are Dunlop legs from Ayrshire.
I was just over to the mithercountry last year. We whooped it up at the Witchery!!

Well Mikeyd, if you get out this way ever there are two Blackstones sitting there waiting for laundry.

 

[appnut]

tom, there's a similar washer out in AZ. From what I could tell with playing with the timer dial, you set the wash temp and let it fill to the water level set and once filled, advance the timer to the wash minutes. First on timer was hot and then warm.

 

[jetcone]

HI Tom & Bob

Not quite correct Bob, on the wash control, the control works just like a Westinghouse, you advance the dial to hot or warm and the machine starts from there and fills with either hot or warm and then when the level control is satisfied the timer motor kicks in and goes through the cycle.
The timer on this machine is like no other I have heard yet. Robert seems to think it's broken but it appears to work just fine.
It advances in a deep SNAP sound and there is no whirring or ticking between snaps. It just sits there and then goes snap to the next increment. Snap!

And I think it was definetly a low use machine because the clutch is still hefty, when you first load the machine dry and start it it goes into spin as it fills!!
Bendix designed that in because they wanted to distribute the clothes evenly after drain, they wanted a slight increase in tub speed when the last water was drained out before the spin solenoid kicked in. They patented this idea as a type of clothes balancing act before spin.
If you get a heavy use machine the clutch gets warn down to the point this pick up in speed no longer happens once the tub is empty.
Anybody else ever experience this in a Bendix?? Or the snap timer?? Is Robert right,that I've got a bum timer on my hands??

 

[customline]

Great !!!!!

Holeee kripes that's a great machine. Hope you enjoy it.