Old beat up machinery :) Pic heavy .. Opinions needed

[Rick Fisher]

I went to a preview of an auction .. Its on an island in Canada, so its not like I am telling secrets here..

Anyway, had all these pics .. was scrolling through, thinking about what I would bid on .. Figured I would post some of them here as I have some questions ..
There is a radial arm saw in the mix of Radial arms saws.. To be blunt, its huge.. I wondered if it was the one all you Radial arms saw guys drewl over ?

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The Serial number started with LG and ended in 73 or 74 ..

Is it worth restoring ?
It sat in a row of old radial arm saws, looked like a Dump truck in a line of F-150 .. The ugly feller at the end of the line.. The base is easily twice the size of the other saws..

[Rick Fisher]

Okay.. more .. Just because I know some of you share this disease.. and many of us love pics ..

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/Courtenay-20120529-00556.jpg
Little Jointer with an Art Deco face..
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A Rockwell Uni Drill.. New one to me .. Very large..
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An older looking scroll saw.. Said Rockwell / Delta on the front.. It was buried .. this is as good as I could get a pic of ..

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Couple of these 14" General planers.. Also in the auction is a General Canadian 8" Jointer..

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In total I counted 6 lathes.. There where 2 big ones, model 260-20 .. 4 smaller ones, all General Canadian..

[Rick Fisher]

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A bunch of boxes of goodies.. I saw a Disston Backsaw in one box.. Bunch of stanley planes.. Miller falls, Record.. Not sure if they are valuable or not ..

[Rick Fisher]

I plan on bidding on pretty much anything .. but am curious .. Whats the deal with the Uni-drill ? Does anyone have one ? Are they useful ?

Is that Radial Arm saw special ? I remember a few threads where people would talk about an older saw that was really something.. This one was so much bigger .. it caught my eye .. figured I would ask..

Anyone identify that scroll saw ? Its a Delta Rockwell but had a few thousand pounds of metal lathe in front of it .. I was not dressed to climb over a lathe.. Is it worth bidding on ? Seemed big for a scroll saw ..

I am also curious about the General Planers.. They seem incomplete.. like there is something supposed to be on the top of them .. dust shrouds maybe .. dunno.. Some members here have them..

[Van Huskey]

I was immediately drawn to the planers and lathes (without regard to need these would be the ones I would be interested in). The planers don't have chip chutes on them BUT they probably didn't come with them depending on their age. The one where the man is in the picture looks like the dust hood on the "floor". If you look at pictures of the 20" #330 (only planer they still make in Canada) on the General site you will see it is not pictured with a chip chute and it is considered an included accessory, quite old school. The chutes for the 130 may be available. Just FYI a Byrd head for the General 130 is about $1150.

For the Unipoint, RAS and scroll saw I will leave it to others.

[David Kumm]

Hard to not like anything General. The 14" planer is maybe the best small planer made. Dave

[Rick Fisher]

I am going to bid on all the General Canadian stuff.. If its going cheap, I will end up with all of it .. Gonna need a container and a 5 gallon can of Cosmoline..

I don't have room for a lathe, but would keep one of the big fella's .. They have built in VFD's .. Very nice machinery.. The planers are probably worth ? $1600 to sell used ? Maybe $1800 if they where single phase ?

[Van Huskey]

I am going to bid on all the General Canadian stuff.. If its going cheap, I will end up with all of it .. Gonna need a container and a 5 gallon can of Cosmoline..

I don't have room for a lathe, but would keep one of the big fella's .. They have built in VFD's .. Very nice machinery.. The planers are probably worth ? $1600 to sell used ? Maybe $1800 if they where single phase ?

The markets for General stuff is very geographic IMO, the price you can get for one in Canada probably varies a lot compared to what they go for in the Southern part of the US. I almost never see General stuff for sale down here and few people would recognize them.

[Cary Falk]

The scroll saw is more than likely a 24" non variable speed (step pulley)40-440. They are very nice saws and well respected by the OWWM people. Here is my variable speed version(you can tell the difference by the pulley cover. In general the Delta/Rockwell RASs are well respected just like the old Dewalts.
233255

[Rick Potter]

To answer your question....YES. That 14" RAS is a winner, it will probably cross cut 24+ inches. Same for the Unipoint drill press, if you are looking for a really heavy duty one. You can angle drill without moving the table, and it is much more rigid than the normal radial drill press....think drilling for chair legs. Only problem I see is that they are three phase.

Rick Potter

[Rick Fisher]

Hey Thanks Rick ..

I forgot the " favorite " radial arm saw was a Dewalt .. not a Rockwell. I have 3 phase in my shop, so I can run both those machines.. The odd thing about the RAS is its tagged 200V .. Which I have never seen .. I am thinking it might be 208V ? I have 220V PH3 which reads 240V at the panel.

[Larry Edgerton]

Rick, I had one of those in 16". It was a good saw, but not a scalpel. The conical bearing that you pictured were the problem on mine, a short part of the stroke was worn. If I adjusted to fit that the rest of the stroke was too tight. That bearing design has its limitations. That being said you learn how to work around it. You know, pull a certian way......

I traded up to an OMGA because I needed it to be dead on and wanted more reach, but the Delta is not a bad machine. Depends on price.

If you end up with it see if it will swing a 16" blade. I have a couple of Leitz made blades still new on the shelf from when I had mine.

I would love to have one of those General planers with a Byrd head for first pass on rough stock. Need a new two stage air compressor first....

Larry

[Jim Matthews]

+1 on the Unipoint - that's rare.

[John McClanahan]

I have a 10" version of that RAS. I like it. I can't figure out what makes the old DeWalts are any better. I have heard of 200 volt motors on those saws before, but I don't know where you would find 200 volt service. It should run OK on 240 volts for short periods of time. Just monitor the motor in case it starts getting hot. The guide rails that Larry mentioned can be flipped over end for end to move the wear spot back where its less of a problem.

John

[Jeff Duncan]

OK here's my two cents for what they're worth.....I'd grab the Unidrill and one of the wood lathes. My reasoning is simple....b/c I don't have either of them yet:D

It sounds like your thinking of re-selling some stuff...planers? Be careful here, machinery is not getting the prices it used to. Prices vary wildly by location, but I'd be shocked if someone was willing to pay over $1k for those planers. Radial arms, unless in mint condition you almost have to pay someone to take them. The bigger ones like you have shown if in good condition may get a few hundred....."in good condition" being the catch as they're usually not.

Basically look to buy the machines you need and give them a good look them over in advance. If your buying stuff to re-sell then I can only advise you to do some homework before bidding. Stuff just isn't selling like it used to.

good luck,
JeffD

[David Kumm]

i think you would have to run the 200 v motor on a vfd as it is harder to step down than up. Reselling machines is hard work and there is a reason dealers pay so little. By the time you haul stuff, fix it up, check it out, and sit with it, then crate or palletize it, you are ready for the home. Dave

[Gregory King]

Oh Rick. I wish you were referring to Prince Edward instead of Vancouver Island. Closer for me. We have one of the RAS's. 14 inch, single phase either 115 or 230 volt at work. It will crosscut up to 24". Have never touched the motor, only added some new blades to the collection. And they are heavy as well. Good stationary saw for sure for the right price. If you get it let us know the price. I'd love to have the planer or lathe . Doesn't hurt to dream. Greg

[Rick Fisher]

Will a VFD drop the voltage supplied to a tool ?

I am cautious of the used market.. Around here, its strong.. I bought the contents of a bankrupt cabinet shop last year and sold it off but it was all newer machinery.. Lots of Felder etc.

I have 3 phase in my little shop Via a converter and a 3 phase panel. The Uni-drill is pretty cool, big ! And I don't have a decent drill press..

There is a Boice Crane spindle sander in the mix.. Problem is it has one single spindle. I did some snooping and found that lots of feller's who have that sander are looking for spindles.. lol Its not a real heavy duty machine.. I think it was one that Boice Crane made for the hobby woodworker.

I have read online that lots of people run 208 tools on 240V with little problem .. I am still skeptical..

[David Kumm]

I have some vfds that you can program the output between 200-230. 208 is borderline at 230. 200 should reduce the price accordingly. Dave

[Van Huskey]

As I said I have NO idea what those could be resold for in your area but my general opinion of those machines is resell may be dangerous to the pocket book unless they go CHEAP. When you consider the moving/storage etc time and money just to put them up for sale it gets scary. Down here most of those are machines that individuals often bid on to take home and use which makes resell profit hard. If you watch dealers at auctions they are out of the running EARLY. If they can't get it for bottom feeder prices they know their margin is getting way to thin. You should have a little more room since you don't ahve their overhead but it is still a scary proposition these days.

[Van Huskey]

There is a Boice Crane spindle sander in the mix.. Problem is it has one single spindle. I did some snooping and found that lots of feller's who have that sander are looking for spindles.. lol Its not a real heavy duty machine.. I think it was one that Boice Crane made for the hobby woodworker.

..

FYI someone just posted yesterday in the OWWM BOYD section about repro BC OSS spindles, however the price is 70-75 EACH so unlikely to make the BC a viable purchase. He also has the dust boots and removal tools for sale.

[Rick Fisher]

Thanks for the tip on the spindles Van.. Auctions are odd, that machine may go for $50 .. or it could go for $500 .. I could live with 3 spindles .. kinda a small, medium, large thing.. lol I gotta say, Its a nice old domestic machine, but its no Oliver ..

I talked to an Industrial electrician today about the 200V 3hp motor running on 240V .. he said officially no.. but it would work :) .. This fella worked on motors in a mill much of his career.. Interestingly he said that extreme low voltage and extreme high voltage both cause excessive amperage.. I found it interesting but confusing .. he said when a motor has too low of voltage, it draws excessive amperage and overheats.. When over voltage occurs, it causes some type of magnetism, which causes the motor to draw in excessive amperage and overheat.. He suggested looking at the starter and seeing if its rated 200V .. suggested that the starter would suffer more than the motor at 240V ..

Anyway.. he said it will shorten the lifespan and I would want to avoid working it really hard.. but in a hobby shop it would probably last longer than me :(

I love talking to people who have experience.. I just wish I could remember and fully understand what they say .. lol

I was told that 3 phase motors handle over voltage better than single phase, and the less poles the motor has, the better it will handle over voltage, but smaller motors fail faster under high voltage than bigger motors and the inrush current would be higher, meaning I would want to be careful with starting and stopping it over and over again..

Anyway.. he said he will help me get it going if I buy it .. That is cool...

[Myk Rian]

The RAS is 3 phase, but it's a good one.
I would be all over that jointer if I could be there.
It's all top quality machinery.