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The Wonders of Cofield: IKE JAMES' CORN CUTTER
The roast-ear corn is ripening now, and I’m reminded of Isaac James. It was about a decade ago, when I took a summer’s walk from the farm into Cofield, and stopped by to visit Mr. and Mrs. James. Ike James is a retired carpenter who trained in plumbing, welding and electricity. He is a WWII veteran and has a fine wife and five good kids – I grew up with most of them. Mr. Ike used to repair and maintain the 2500-gallon fire-truck when Cofield had a fire department. My high regard for him elevated when he took me outside to the back of his house and showed me one of the corn cutters he built.
Since I have a Web site that requires content, since
some of you read it, since there is an upcoming Hall-James-Jones family
reunion that will include Mr. Ike and me, and since this is the sweet-corn
season, I thought I’d show you his labor-saving machine. I took
a few ears, a couple of cameras, a tripod and some questions to his house.
It has been a while since Ike James used any of
his three cutters. We carried the most accessible one out of the shed
- it shaves two ears at once. At first, he and I had to loosen the pulley
that rotates the grain cutter. I asked for a can of 3-in-1 Oil, but Ike
used WD-40 and a grease gun instead. After a few tugs on the fan belt,
the motor and pulley were freed.
The grain cutter is made from copper pipe wrapped
by the motor’s fan belt. Mr. Ike sharpened one of the pipe’s
edges. The ear of corn is pushed into the rotating pipe and the grains
are cut off and fall below. I only brought a couple of ears for this demonstration,
so we didn’t bother to place a collection pan under the works.
Mr. Ike saw that others made similar cutters, but he feels he can make
better ones and is very proud of his models. His first ones were mostly
made from spare irons and motors. He bought the bearings. Most of the
assembly involved cutting, drilling and a little welding - mainly for
the framework and the belt guard. He sold a few of them at prices that
depended on “how much I liked you.” He said he’d charge
me “a right smart amount.”
I imagine that on the opening day of the Cofield
Museum of History, throngs of visitors will be able – for a small
fee - to feed corn thru this work of industry. Hopefully, I’ll be
around to be among those to either cut the ribbon or photograph the ceremony.
The ears are fed into the cut pipes at
the lower left. The motor belt is seen
behind the half-cut ear Ike is holding.
Copyright 2005, Marvin T. Jones - all rights reserved