James Combs
12-25-2013, 5:56 PM
Wasn't sure which forum this fit in, could have gone in Metalworking forum I suppose but it is more about the tool then metal working. Anyway:
Back in November I was using my vintage(1970s) Craftsman router on a small project when it suddenly quite working.
I took the cover off the end of it...
278076278077
and one of the commutator contacts fell out of it. Look lying on the edge of the house in the second pic above. Further investigation showed that all though there was some minor damage from the flying commutator piece(a bent brush housing) everything else seem to be OK including the brushes.
278079
Initially I'm thinking, DANG:D "This means a new router" but after studying the situation for a while I got to wondering if I could fix it. The commutator piece was bent and twisted somewhat so I straightened it out and laid it back in its original location. It appeared that originally it was welded in place at its four corners to the under support material. I was thinking "How can I re-weld the copper?". After looking at it for a while it appeared that there was no need for actual electrical contact between the commutator and the under support so maybe I could just glue it back in place.
278078
So I grab my medium CA super glue and poured a generous amount into the cavity where the piece came from and replaced the piece back into the location squeezing out and spreading the CA. After the CA set I started pouring more of it everyplace that appeared to have anything loose. Note the white compound in the following photo, much of it(some kind of epoxy) had been broken loose and disappeared and other pieces appeared loose if touched them with your finger. Also not the read arrows on the pic with the commutator vertical. Arrow (1) shows the wire that was attached to the loose commutator piece, (2) shows the bent tab on the piece that crimped and secured the wire and (3) shows areas where I poured additional CA. The arrows on the horizontal view, top arrow shows the wire for the loose commutator piece, there are actually two loose wires but the second one is not visible. The bottom two arrows show how two wires "should" look going to an undamaged commutator piece, not that they form a loop that is looped over the tab of the undamaged commutator piece and the tab crimps the loop. I formed a new loop out of a short piece of copper wire and looped it through the damaged commutator piece then soldered it to the ends of the wire(s) shown by arrow no (1).
278071278070
When the CA was good and set, I made sure it was set by spraying everything good with CA accelerator, I put the entire armature on my metal lathe. I turned down all the CA buildup and went into the commutators enough to make sure I had nice shinny copper all the way around. The results are shown in the last pic.
278072278081
BUT... did it work, see next post.
Back in November I was using my vintage(1970s) Craftsman router on a small project when it suddenly quite working.
I took the cover off the end of it...
278076278077
and one of the commutator contacts fell out of it. Look lying on the edge of the house in the second pic above. Further investigation showed that all though there was some minor damage from the flying commutator piece(a bent brush housing) everything else seem to be OK including the brushes.
278079
Initially I'm thinking, DANG:D "This means a new router" but after studying the situation for a while I got to wondering if I could fix it. The commutator piece was bent and twisted somewhat so I straightened it out and laid it back in its original location. It appeared that originally it was welded in place at its four corners to the under support material. I was thinking "How can I re-weld the copper?". After looking at it for a while it appeared that there was no need for actual electrical contact between the commutator and the under support so maybe I could just glue it back in place.
278078
So I grab my medium CA super glue and poured a generous amount into the cavity where the piece came from and replaced the piece back into the location squeezing out and spreading the CA. After the CA set I started pouring more of it everyplace that appeared to have anything loose. Note the white compound in the following photo, much of it(some kind of epoxy) had been broken loose and disappeared and other pieces appeared loose if touched them with your finger. Also not the read arrows on the pic with the commutator vertical. Arrow (1) shows the wire that was attached to the loose commutator piece, (2) shows the bent tab on the piece that crimped and secured the wire and (3) shows areas where I poured additional CA. The arrows on the horizontal view, top arrow shows the wire for the loose commutator piece, there are actually two loose wires but the second one is not visible. The bottom two arrows show how two wires "should" look going to an undamaged commutator piece, not that they form a loop that is looped over the tab of the undamaged commutator piece and the tab crimps the loop. I formed a new loop out of a short piece of copper wire and looped it through the damaged commutator piece then soldered it to the ends of the wire(s) shown by arrow no (1).
278071278070
When the CA was good and set, I made sure it was set by spraying everything good with CA accelerator, I put the entire armature on my metal lathe. I turned down all the CA buildup and went into the commutators enough to make sure I had nice shinny copper all the way around. The results are shown in the last pic.
278072278081
BUT... did it work, see next post.