This restoration was on a early 1900s Bacon Mfg. Co. seeder. These were also known as garden seeders, hand-drills, or cultivators. The Bacon Mfg. Co. was based out of Pontiac, Michigan, USA. I had a really hard time locating ANY information on this tool, but I did find the patent from 1901 located here: https://patents.google.com/patent/US697191A/
I also found an advertisement for this seeder from 1899 here: https://i.imgur.com/677aZUQ.jpg
There are several “BD” markings on the castings that lead me to believe this is a “Bacon Drill” seeder and not another type.
The black finish on this seeder was most likely japanning, but I am still unsure about the finish on the silver parts. Usually nickel-plated steel builds up a greenish film that washes off after placed in Evapo-rust, but this did not happen at all.
The rest of the restoration was fairly straight forward as these are all just metal parts that needed de-rusting and paint. I used 3-4 coats of paint and 3 coats of clear-coat on everything.
There is a part on the back wheel that I do not know what it does. It may have been a counter or a measuring tool, from the looks of it.
The seeder was actually really fun to use and if I had a large garden this would still come in handy today!
I’d like to thank Evapo-Rust for sponsoring this video.
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