My First Jointer is a Restoration Project!

[Cory Raymer]

Hello all, I am new to the forums and just wanted to share my latest find. I am an IT guy, but have been building storage buildings for years on the side to balance out the time I spend sitting on my butt at work. This lead to getting into more woodworking projects, which leads to tools!

I have been looking for a jointer for a couple months, but didn't want a benchtop or a 6". So, while saving up for a Grizzly 8" for about $1,500, I ran into this last week and it was in my garage by Friday night, after a 4 hour round trip.

It is a Delta-Rockwell-Milwaukee Crecent or Delta 37-301, Pot belly jointer. It seems to be mostly original with exception of the power switch box and the motor. The motor they used appears to to a good one, a GE Farm type motor 1.5hp, 1725rpm as the machine owner's manual calls for.

I plan on breaking it down, cleaning it, refinishing and painting to Delta grey with stripes on the Pot belly lines. The bed has some knockout at the cutterhead from someone forgetting to screw down the knife collets?, which a machinist from my work with years of experience with cast iron is going to fix. He said it will be slightly doscolored but a huge improvement.

While it's apart I also plan on replacing the bearings on the cutterhead and putting in a new set of knives. Anyway, this seems like a great site and forum and look forward to sharing ideas and learning as much as I can from the experts here!405506405507405509405508

[Jim Andrew]

Cool looking old jointer.

[Marshall Harrison]

Welcome Cory.

Congrats on your find. Restoration should be a fun experience. Keep us posted with pics as you progress.

[Peter Follett]

Great find, love the base!

[Bruce Volden]

That looks like a serious power cord on it. Can you wire the motor 220VAC?

Bruce

[Bryan Cramer]

Also think about just replacing the head with a Sheilx from Byrd. I know budget, but someone had to mention it. :D They would sell you the bearings too. Another suggestion is to put on a link belt. Looks like you need a mobile base for it too!

[Mike Kees]

That jointer looks identical to a Delta 37-315. I think the cool cast base is the only difference. Great machines,I owned one for 7-8 years.Have fun restoring it,Mike.

[Richard Coers]

Looks like a shin buster! I'd do a lot of checking before worrying about the paint. Are the beds coplanar, fence straight and true, any dip in the beds? All more important than the color.

[Bill Dufour]

how wide is that?
Bill

[Cory Raymer]

That looks like a serious power cord on it. Can you wire the motor 220VAC?

Bruce

It is already wired to 220 1phase. Already plugged it in and rn some boards, all seems well.

[Cory Raymer]

Also think about just replacing the head with a Sheilx from Byrd. I know budget, but someone had to mention it. :D They would sell you the bearings too. Another suggestion is to put on a link belt. Looks like you need a mobile base for it too!

I may do just that. I only have $500 in it and had $1,300 set aside already. I hear it will take less time to replace the head than it does to change the knives! Not to mention quieter and smoother finish. The belt did have some slop in it which could probably be tensioned out, but think I am going to throw a V Link belt on it. A mobile base is already on the way from Amazon.

[Cory Raymer]

Looks like a shin buster! I'd do a lot of checking before worrying about the paint. Are the beds coplanar, fence straight and true, any dip in the beds? All more important than the color.

I took a 50" straight edge and the beds looked coplanar, no dips and fence was at a perfect 90. The guy was using it, but just upgraded to a 12" Northfield.

[Cory Raymer]

how wide is that?
Bill

The total lenght from end to end of the tables is 61".

[Matt Day]

One thing to keep in mind before you spend a lot of time and effort with it... I will tell you your future:
You will want a bigger jointer very soon. First you will search for an 8” jointer, then a 12” and possibly bigger.

I also always question why people think they need a helical head on a jointer. After your jointer you’ll go to the planer right? One light planer pass on the jointed face will save you the expense of a shells head.

Seems like a whole lot of work to strip and paint that jointer just to make it look different especially if you might upgrade soon, which you will likely want to do. I’ve restored a number of machines and love the process, so I understand that you might just want to do it and enjoy it.

[Andrew Hughes]

Does it have the four knife crescent head. With the goofy wedges?

[Cory Raymer]

Does it have the four knife crescent head. With the goofy wedges?

Yes sir and from what I understand, it's a PITA to change the knives, which is why I may just change the cutter. I have a jig on the way and another set of knives, so I'll do it at least once to see just how bad it is.

[Cory Raymer]

One thing to keep in mind before you spend a lot of time and effort with it... I will tell you your future:
You will want a bigger jointer very soon. First you will search for an 8” jointer, then a 12” and possibly bigger.

I also always question why people think they need a helical head on a jointer. After your jointer you’ll go to the planer right? One light planer pass on the jointed face will save you the expense of a shells head.

Seems like a whole lot of work to strip and paint that jointer just to make it look different especially if you might upgrade soon, which you will likely want to do. I’ve restored a number of machines and love the process, so I understand that you might just want to do it and enjoy it.

I understand what you mean by this completely, but I intentionally skipped a 6" jointer and got this 8", which will be all the jointer I will need or want. My space is limited to a 2 car garage, so even this one was pushing it.

As for repainting and restoring it as best I can, I will do it for my own satisfaction and aesthetics of my shop. I know alot of people don't care how things look as long as it performs flawlessly, but I want both. By taking this thing apart, I will learn a good bit about how jointers are put together and how they work.

[Matt Day]

Good on you. I retract my earlier post, I thought this was a 6” jointer. Have fun! Lots of info on OWWM if you need it.

[Andrew Hughes]

Yes sir and from what I understand, it's a PITA to change the knives, which is why I may just change the cutter. I have a jig on the way and another set of knives, so I'll do it at least once to see just how bad it is.

Before you pull that head set up a dial indicator and check to see how close the head is in line with the outfeed table. Parallel wise. With straight knives it doesn’t matter much.
It will with a insert head.
If it is off more then a few thousands take off the out feed table and clean up the Dt ways. See if that helps.
I used to have a jointer with a Bryd head and I hated it so I sold it. I do have one in my planer.
Good Luck

[Cory Raymer]

Before you pull that head set up a dial indicator and check to see how close the head is in line with the outfeed table. Parallel wise. With straight knives it doesn’t matter much.
It will with a insert head.
If it is off more then a few thousands take off the out feed table and clean up the Dt ways. See if that helps.
I used to have a jointer with a Bryd head and I hated it so I sold it. I do have one in my planer.
Good Luck

AJ,

Do you think I would be better off keeping my current cutterhead and just save that money for other stuff? As I said yesterday, I fully intend to change the current knives which I have seen is a PITA according to many people. I am pretty patient and if I take care not to run bad wood through the jointer and only had to swap knives a couple times a year, I'd be ok with that.

[Andrew Hughes]

Yes I think you should try using the machine with straight knifes.