POD 5/3/2017

[brucelucenta]

Blackstone is a machine that I personally have never even seen other than in videos and pictures of people's collections. I did see and watch the newer models in a laundromat however, in the very early 70's. I think they must have been more popular in different areas in this country other than where I live. The early ones were intriguing and operated quite differently than most.

 

[hilovane]

From the time I was a little kid, to about nine years old, my grandmother had the exact same Blackstone as featured in the POD.
As I remember, (like Hotpoint machines of the era) it had to be manually filled, by setting the dial to "Fill."
(my grandmother added a "witch's brew" of detergent, bleach- for Whites- bluing, and water softener.) Then, the timer was manually reset to "Wash," and my grandmother would load the machine as it agitated. From then on, it was fully automatic. I think it pre-dated Speed Queen, as the first automatic washer with a stainless steel tub.

When it finally came time to replace it, my grandmother got a Norge, which after only 10 years, was replaced by a Maytag.

 

[frigilux]

The first time I saw a Blackstone washer was upon discovering AW. Had never heard of the brand. The mechanical timer was certainly unique. How did it work? How did it do its job differently than, say, the timer on a Whirlpool/Kenmore?

 

[gyrafoam]

I had relatives in New York with them back in the day. I never payed too much attention to them though as I thought they were boring compared to Frigidaires and Kelvinators.

About ten years ago I was visiting with Greg Nunn when he got one of these as pictured.

What an interesting machine.

It weighed like a solid-block of steel. Must have been 300 lbs or close to it. We laughed about how heavy it was. Built like a tank is an understatement.

In spite of the tiny looking fins on the agitator, it does a great job of moving the clothes around and rolling them over. So they washed well.

There is a very impressive sudz-kill spray that fans-out and shoots across the top to blow any sudz over the top. And there is the interesting neutral-drain where the skirt of the agitator acts as a giant plug. The tub suddenly drops down just enough (or the agitator pops-up just enough) for all the water to drain out between the bottom of the tub and the base of the agitator.

I'm sure when Greg sees this he will explain this better than I, especially the operation of the mechanical timer. I recall one of the problems of the mechanical timers is if the water valves are open and the power is suddenly interrupted the water keeps on coming in!

 

[turquoisedude]

Yes, that mechanical timer is unique...  Not that I know that much about them, but isn't it run off a flexible shaft that connected to the drive motor?  Kind of reminds me of the GE dishwashers of the late 40s and early 50s!

 

[tomturbomatic]

I have the news brief introducing new appliances from a 1940 trade magazine showing the earlier version of this model which was scheduled to go into production "within a few months." This was the first top loading automatic washer so before WWII, there was the Bendix, the Westinghouse and the Blackstone. Much was made of the vibration isolation in the machine so that it did not need bolting down. This was another machine where the timer ran off the mechanism so once it was started it ran through the entire cycle unless you pulled the plug, but woe betide anyone who interrupted the power or whose power was interrupted during fill because that did not close the fill valves; can you spell flood? According to the announcement, wash times of 15, 10 or 5 minutes could be selected. If a 5 minute wash were selected, the entire cycle was completed in 20 minutes. A spray rinse and an overflow rinse were included in the cycle. I know nothing about the cost or durability of this machine, but it was probably the most expensive of the automatics. Maybe member Fred "Blackstone" whose father sold and serviced Blackstone appliances can contribute more. This model is not similar to the next model Blackstones, just as the prototype Westinghouse is vastly different from the next model.

 

[gansky1]

Worlds finest washer!

Well...

It it is a wonderful machine for it's complexity and simplicity. As described, you set the dial to fill, and the water valve opens (completely variable temperature dial lets you adjust to whatever temp you like) and when the tub is filled to the level you like, move the timer dial to the wash time from 15 to 2 1/2 minutes. The manual first fill would have been appealing to those with lower water pressures to ensure a full tub of water. The water valve opens at the rinse fill and stays on through the entire rinse agitation so low pressure wasn't as much of a concern. The entire 90 pound tub actually lifts up during drain, it sits on a flange and the transmission lifts the tub on the center post. Since the tub is now suspended on what is a point, it's free to "swing" during spin to help with balancing.

The timer is all mechanical, driven from a gear on the top of the transmission, the dial is advanced by the flexible shaft that Paul mentioned. You can hear the tick-tick-tick of the timing mechanism in the videos. This is a remarkably reliable and durable design with the one (huge) drawback of not being able to change the setting of the dial once the cycle has started. You can advance through the wash-time but then must wait out the rest of the cycle. No dial pushing allowed. In the second video below, you can see the timer knob flip around as the timer moves the indicator dial (visible in the tiny window on top).

This POD of the model 150 (same as mine) was the last of this design that originated before WWII. Blackstone made the first automatic top-loading washer (if you forgive the "manual" fill at the start) before the war 1940-41 when other makers just had them on the drawing board. About 1952, they redesigned the transmission, shaved 20 lbs off the weight of the tub and made some cosmetic changes with the introduction of the model 250.

The first video is agitation and at 1:20, the drain starts. Second vid is actually the start of spin, with the swinging tub.

 

[ken]

1955 Blackstone

Good instructional video of the operation.