Free Vintage Plans For You

                                                       
I have been interested in old plans for many years. It seemed that I was always on the prowl  for plans from which I could build all kinds of  things I wanted but couldn,t really afford to buy. I found out quite early on that many very suitable plans were to be found in old editions of magazines such as Science And Mechanics and  a number of other similar magazines.  Over a period of years I put together a collection of many hundreds of  plans for all kinds of things.

Later I discovered  that the majority of these plans  which were first published prior to 1964 were no longer copyright and were in fact in the "public domain", as a result of their copyright never being renewed before the expiry date. Everything published in the USA before the year 1923 is also automatically in the public domain with no exceptions. Since they are no longer in copyright, all of these items may be used by anyone at all for any purpose they desire. This includes printed material, and also audio (old radio shows) and videos (old movies). All of these non copyright items may be copied and republished or resold. The material cannot be copyrighted by any person in their original state, but a new version of the item may be copyrighted if  there have been significant changes made to the material.

Then in 1964 copyright laws were changed for the USA, and material published after that year remains in copyright for a very much longer period of time.  There are actually certain exceptions to this with some publications up to the year 1978 which are in the public domain.

To avoid any  possibility of copyright problems I  personally will only republish material which was  copyrighted before 1964, and which is now  in the public domain, which can be proven by checking the publication and its author at the US copyright office, a job which can be completed online very simply.

My website Vintage Plans has available to everyone free copies of a selection of these old plans. This is an ongoing work and will undoubtedly take considerable time to finish. The simple fact is that it will very likely never be finished as new material continues to come to light continually from a number of sources.

I also intend to republish freely copies of  plans, articles etc which date far back into the 1800s and even further than that. Many  interesting and useful plans and  articles etc are available from this time.

Check back with this blog and our website often and you will get much interesting material http://www.vintageplans.org. It is my hope that many of you will find a lot of interest in these  plans and articles and plenty of items which will be of use to you. They are all free--so the price is not a problem is it?. Go to our website, and help yourself to the free PDF downloads you will find there. the

Take a look now at Vintage Plans and check out all the really interesting stuff that is totally free. You can if you wish leave your comments below or ask your question about anything.

                                           

Typewriter Repairs And Cleaning

Vintage typewriters which were made from the 1800s right up to the 1970s are quite numerous since so many of them were manufactured for both personal and business use. There is no doubt that the invention of the typewriter changed communications forever with the use of typewritten documents replacing the hand written material which had been in use previously.

A lot of of these old machines are in reasonably good condition whilst some may need require repairs and adjustments or simply a good cleaning to get them typing again.This is an interesting vintage project which anyone can do. The repairs and cleaning can be performed by anyone who knows what has to be done and how these old machines work. Our article and vintage plans detail how this DIY project is done.


The very old machines are really collectors items of course and not very suitable for every day use. Later typewriters which were made in great numbers from the 1920s onward are mostly quite usable still for those people who do not have computers or word processors to rely on . Repair and necessary cleanup of these old and interesting typewriters is a wonderful do it yourself project for anyone.

For more details about typewriter repair and cleaning check out our website at
Typewriter repairs

Free Plans For Flying Model Helicopters

Building flying model helicopters is a really great fun hobby. Experimenting with different types of model to determine which one flies best or highest or for the longest time is a real challenge to a model builder.

Plans for model helicopters are relatively few and fairly hard to find. We have found two good plans for flying model helicopters which really perform well. You can download these interesting plans for free at our website.

The first one is a fairly modern type plan from the 1950s for a rubber band powered helicopter. This nice looking model is reasonably easy to construct and flies extremely well.

The second model helicopter is a very old plan from around the turn of the 20th century. This of course was before any helicopters had been built and flight was still in its earliest days. This model looks nothing like a real modern helicopter but demonstrates the principles on which helicopters work. It also flies and performs remarkably well considering its very simple basic design. Give something different a try and build a model helicopter that really flies.

Download the free plans at our website : Flying model helicopters

Vintage Plans For Clocks

Building clocks is a wonderful hobby which has many peoples interest. It is fairly simple build a wooden clock case from good hardwood such as mahogany, cherry or walnut and then to install a windup chiming clock movement. This will be a top quality hand built clock suitable for family heirloom status. The less expensive way is to install an electronic battery powered movement. These low cost units work very well, keep good accurate time and can be used to make a nice clock. That being said, the real clock lover wants a spring or weight driven mechanical movement for the clocks he builds.

It is also completely possible to build an all wooden movement to power your clock (it will have a few small metal parts). This is really a great way to build a fine antique clock reproduction. Wooden movements were much used up until the middle of the nineteenth century and genuine old antique clocks with these hand made all wood movements are valuable antiques nowadays. You can build your own all wooden movement antique clock from free plans you can download in PDF format from our Vintage Plans website. With careful,quality workmanship you can build a clock which will be a family heirloom and you can pass it down to future generations.

Take a look at our Vintage Plans website now and see all the free plans we have there. We are adding to them daily and thay include many other things besides clocks.

Archery And Crossbow Plans

Archery plans are very popular. Many people would like to build their own bow. We have plans for a traditional English long bow. This was the bow which was used with great success by English archers to win many battles centuries ago before the invention of gunpowder and firearms.

We also have a plan for an easy to build flat bow which is on the same sheet as the long bow plan. The flat bow is considerably easier to build than a long bow and shoots very accurately.
Plans for archery equipment including targets and arrows are available from our website vintage plans

Crossbows are amazing weapons and none is more fascinating than the antique Chinese repeating crossbow. Chinese soldiers used this weapon for centuries and in fact still used it right into the 20th century. It had a magazine which held several bolts(arrows) and could be rapidly fired by working a lever to cock and fire them in rapid succession.

A hundred or so archers could send a hail of arrows (often with poisoned tips) at the advancing enemy which was very discouraging for them to say the least of it. Even a nick from a poisoned arrow could be fatal.

We also have plans for a really great modern repeating crossbow which works like a slide action rifle to fire shots in rapid succession. Then there is the hunters crossbow which is a really fine crossbow for hunting and general target shooting etc. Take a look at our website where tyou can download all these fine plans totally free: vintage plans