Show us your Shop and Equipment

BXHoosier

Well-known member

Equipment
BX24
Jan 21, 2018
488
567
93
Indiana
Picked up a few things at a swap meet yesterday: 6” Kurt vise for the mill, Starrett 0-6” blade depth mics, 5C collets, Jacobs No3 17/32” drill chuck, and a $5 tackle box full of tools. Inside the box, I found a nice set of Craftsman small hole gages and some old sockets and wrenches, some of which are from the 1930’s.

IMG_3080.jpeg
IMG_3081.jpeg
IMG_3082.jpeg
 

Lil Foot

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
1979 B7100DT Gear, Nissan Hanix N150-2 Excavator
May 19, 2011
7,680
2,790
113
Peoria, AZ
My latest acquisition, a Phase II 5C Indexer, Not quite as nice a a Hardinge, but WAAAAAYYYY less expensive.
76mm centerline, 2 1/4" - 8 spindle nose, tight & smooth. $100 shipped.

IMG_0362.JPG
IMG_0363.JPG
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users

Lil Foot

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
1979 B7100DT Gear, Nissan Hanix N150-2 Excavator
May 19, 2011
7,680
2,790
113
Peoria, AZ
Bought a manual through eboy and found these folks:

The manual I bought is a high quality reproduction, not just a stack of xeroxed pages.
Pretty amazing selection of metal and wood working machine manuals, and metal and wood working
how to books.
(y)
 

bird dogger

Well-known member
Vendor Member

Equipment
Kubota B2650 and lots of other equipment
Feb 24, 2019
1,650
1,544
113
North Dakota
Last summer I received a call from a neighbor who asked if I wanted him to deliver a new non-working 5000 lb capacity scissor lift table free of charge. If I could fix it, it would stay. Its back story: The neighbor had ordered it to use as a garage entry step with a possible future use as a wheel chair lift. When it was delivered, the lift rose up but would not go down for any reason. Trouble shooting with the vendor made no progress and they said they would ship another out to him…..no need to return the defective lift table. He needed it out of the way, so he brought it to me.

While waiting for his new lift to arrive, I worked on the defective one. There was apparently no paperwork or manual delivered with it, or it had been lost or destroyed. After figuring out the controls and making a schematic for it, it didn’t take too long to find one of the issues.

There was a very slight bend in one of the perimeter safety bars that would prevent any operation of the controls. You wouldn’t have noticed it unless you were looking up at it from directly underneath. But it was just enough of a bend to prevent a safety switch from resetting every few times. Once that was found and those safety switches removed from the controls, the lift now operates 95% of the time. There still appears to be a connection problem with either a wire in the hand controller/cable or a cold solder joint in the circuit board in the “UP” function when selecting that with the hand controller. Here’s pics:
IMG_2725_2.JPG IMG_1867.JPG IMG_1873_2.JPG IMG_2708.JPG

I’m waiting for a solid failure again so I can trouble shoot the actual cause and find the faulty item. By now I know the control circuit quite well.

Now the story takes another twist: The neighbor gets his replacement lift table and gives me a call in desperation. That new table again didn’t work at all. With a meter and a few jumpers, we quickly tracked the issue to the hand controller, as bypassing it had the lift table and all the limit switches functioning as normal. There was a loose connection in the hand controller’s wiring. Along with finding the emergency stop switch was not functioning correctly and preventing control voltage to the circuitry. Both easy fixes. He was very happy with the now functioning table.

He still insisted on me keeping the first table even though it too was now functioning for the most part. I knew he had a sweet tooth like me and loved ice cream. So, I surprised him by delivering him one of my restored Hamilton Beach commercial malt mixers with the proper cups, malt powder, etc.
Hamilton Beach DM40.JPG

But now, what do I do with this lift table??? Too keep dust and debris out of the controls and underneath, I made a magnetic skirt to wrap around the table at the propped up stationary height I chose. I also put some heavy duty caster wheels under it to enable rolling it out when needed.
IMG_2749.JPG IMG_2727.JPG

I’m starting to think about replacing the top with making a hydraulic lift welding table/fixturing hole setup with the clamps and accessories. The table top is 4’ x 6’ which would make for quite a large welding table in my shop. Or I could just redo the existing metal top into a fixturing welding table. I’ll have to see how easy it would be to add some bracing underneath to keep things flat.

The 5000 lb. capacity should be overkill for anything I’d put on it to work on or weld up!!

Open for suggestions…..other than shipping it off to other locations, that is. :)
 

Lil Foot

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
1979 B7100DT Gear, Nissan Hanix N150-2 Excavator
May 19, 2011
7,680
2,790
113
Peoria, AZ
Scored 4 red machine knobs at a bin store for $1, and had 2 more in the parts stash, so....
IMG_0374.JPG
 
  • Like
Reactions: 3 users

Lil Foot

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
1979 B7100DT Gear, Nissan Hanix N150-2 Excavator
May 19, 2011
7,680
2,790
113
Peoria, AZ
For an upcoming job, I needed a really oddball metric tap, an M10.8 x 1.75. o_O
So I grabbed a piece of 1/2" hex 304SS, and made one.
I won't have to harden it, as the part I need to make will be phenolic, glass-filled Teflon, or maybe glass-filled Rulon.
I didn't need a square drive, because it will be power tapped on the lathe.
I could always add a square drive later, if need be.
IMG_0387.JPG
IMG_0386.JPG
 
  • Like
Reactions: 7 users

Lil Foot

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
1979 B7100DT Gear, Nissan Hanix N150-2 Excavator
May 19, 2011
7,680
2,790
113
Peoria, AZ
And the successful prototype:
IMG_0388.JPG
IMG_0389.JPG


This material turned out to be blue teal Polyacetal, not glass-filled Rulon as it was marked.
Polyacetal is readily identifiable when you take a heavy cut- it smells like formaldehyde. 🦨
Don't remember where I got this material, but it will work.

I'll make some more, probably try other materials.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users

bird dogger

Well-known member
Vendor Member

Equipment
Kubota B2650 and lots of other equipment
Feb 24, 2019
1,650
1,544
113
North Dakota
Here’s my old Rockwell Invicta RC33 13” Thickness Planer rebuild for the woodworkers amongst us.

Purchased new in early 1982, this planer needed TLC. The knives were again dull, bearings were noisy, the drive feed was stuck engaged, height adjustment was sticky, and the motor bearings squealed loudly.

The motor was easy to split apart, clean up, and replace the bearings. The planer was a challenge with its heavy framework and extremely tight tolerances of the four posts. But it was disassembled with some gentle persuasion and an engine hoist. OMG for boxes full of small parts & pieces, most marked or separated for specific locations for reassembly. Except after the cleaning and painting, those marks seemed to have vanished. Pictures taken along the way saved the day.
RC33 Thickness Planer.JPG Almost down to the Framework.JPG Top Framework Removal.JPG 4 Post Chain Drive.JPG 4 Post Screw Jacks.JPG

I opted to replace the original cutterhead & knives with a new “Shelix” cutterhead using insert tooling. A little expensive but no more adjusting knives or having to send them off for sharpening, etc. Now a nick in an insert or two can be fixed by rotating to a new edge and/or replacing them when all four edges are used up.

After cleaning and painting…it took freezing the posts and heating the base to allow the posts to be persuaded back into their corner positions. After all new bearings installed throughout and the gearbox back together, the rest of the assembly was somewhat easier.

Going Back Together.JPG IMG_1381.JPG Shelix Cutter Head.JPG 4 Edge Cutterhead Inserts.JPG Drivefeed Gear Box.JPG

To be continued:
 

bird dogger

Well-known member
Vendor Member

Equipment
Kubota B2650 and lots of other equipment
Feb 24, 2019
1,650
1,544
113
North Dakota
Next came adjusting the 4-post height for an even cut from side to side. (No more adjusting the knives for an even & level cut.) The hand crank on one jack screw in one post is connected by chain drive to the other three. The threaded nuts on the jack screws were connected to the four corners of the top framework which holds the cutterhead. When the chain drive/jack screw was adjusted on one sprocket it affected the level on the other three posts. After days of swapping those jack screw nuts around, swapping the sprockets between posts, and then moving the posts’ gear tooth engagement to the chain….the planer is now only off “4 thou” from one side of the bed to the other. (I planed a narrow board flat on one side. Split the board in two. Then ran them through the planer at each edge of the bed. Measured the final thickness of each piece with a digital caliper.)

Final Adjustments.JPG Rebuilt RC33 Planer.JPG

I don’t think the cutterhead had ever been set up as nicely as it is now. Any past discrepancy could have been accounted for in setting/adjusting the knives in the old holder. How does the Shelix cutterhead perform? It leaves such a smooth flat surface, almost like glass. While it’s new, anyway.

It does such a nice job that the old Delta long bed jointer is going to get the same treatment, in the near future. Shelix makes a replacement cutterhead for that also.
 

North Idaho Wolfman

Moderator
Staff member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L3450DT-GST, Woods FEL, B7100 HSD, FEL, 60" SB, 743 Bobcat with V2203, and more
Jun 9, 2013
31,795
7,588
113
Sandpoint, ID
Next came adjusting the 4-post height for an even cut from side to side. (No more adjusting the knives for an even & level cut.) The hand crank on one jack screw in one post is connected by chain drive to the other three. The threaded nuts on the jack screws were connected to the four corners of the top framework which holds the cutterhead. When the chain drive/jack screw was adjusted on one sprocket it affected the level on the other three posts. After days of swapping those jack screw nuts around, swapping the sprockets between posts, and then moving the posts’ gear tooth engagement to the chain….the planer is now only off “4 thou” from one side of the bed to the other. (I planed a narrow board flat on one side. Split the board in two. Then ran them through the planer at each edge of the bed. Measured the final thickness of each piece with a digital caliper.)

View attachment 149368 View attachment 149369

I don’t think the cutterhead had ever been set up as nicely as it is now. Any past discrepancy could have been accounted for in setting/adjusting the knives in the old holder. How does the Shelix cutterhead perform? It leaves such a smooth flat surface, almost like glass. While it’s new, anyway.

It does such a nice job that the old Delta long bed jointer is going to get the same treatment, in the near future. Shelix makes a replacement cutterhead for that also.
I have a much newer unit with a helical like you have, I LOVE IT!

Take a piece of OSB and run it through the planer.
It should shock you at how smooth it will come out, I know it did me!
I have used mine for three years and still have not damaged a single tooth.
 

bird dogger

Well-known member
Vendor Member

Equipment
Kubota B2650 and lots of other equipment
Feb 24, 2019
1,650
1,544
113
North Dakota
I have a much newer unit with a helical like you have, I LOVE IT!

Take a piece of OSB and run it through the planer.
It should shock you at how smooth it will come out, I know it did me!
I have used mine for three years and still have not damaged a single tooth.
I have, and I agree! Nice to hear your experience confirms what I am hoping for!!
Most likely this like new 40+ year old machine will wind up with one of the sons after I'm long gone and still be going strong for another 40 years. :LOL:

I also gave a complete ground up restoration to my same vintage Delta Unisaw. Motor and controller rebuild with new bearings, contacts, etc. Saw was stripped to the bones and put back together all cleaned up with new trunion bearings, arbor bearings, etc. Even the homemade moveable base was cleaned up and finally painted. A First for me!! LOL! Now to get after the jointer/planer!!
IMG_1111.JPG
 

North Idaho Wolfman

Moderator
Staff member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L3450DT-GST, Woods FEL, B7100 HSD, FEL, 60" SB, 743 Bobcat with V2203, and more
Jun 9, 2013
31,795
7,588
113
Sandpoint, ID
I have, and I agree! Nice to hear your experience confirms what I am hoping for!!
Most likely this like new 40+ year old machine will wind up with one of the sons after I'm long gone and still be going strong for another 40 years. :LOL:

I also gave a complete ground up restoration to my same vintage Delta Unisaw. Motor and controller rebuild with new bearings, contacts, etc. Saw was stripped to the bones and put back together all cleaned up with new trunion bearings, arbor bearings, etc. Even the homemade moveable base was cleaned up and finally painted. A First for me!! LOL! Now to get after the jointer/planer!!
View attachment 149373
I have a custom rolling metal table for my Delta portable Unisaw, it was a rare contractor model.
It was easier to move around than my shop Unisaw, when we moved years ago.