J.R. Rutter
12-13-2006, 8:28 PM
Here's my latest net auction boat anchor (well, not quite). The seller told me that they used it every day. Maybe he meant before they stored it out in the rain...
When I got it, there was 1/2" of water pooled in the spindle housing, which ruined the top bearing and almost rusted the spindle assembly together. The spindle wasn't turning, either. The vertical adjustment was frozen, with the handle spinning freely. At least the table had so much greasy gunk on it that it hadn't rusted.
After recovering from the shock, I started stripping it down to see what could be saved. Luckily the vertical adjustjust needs a few cheap parts. A car jack got he spindle high enough to remove the frozen nut and the tapered spindle itself. The control box showed signs of water, but they had drilled out the bottom to run the feeder cord, so it drained before it hit the transformer, breakers, switches, etc. Today, I used the forklift to pull the spindle assembly and drove it around the corner to a machine shop for new bearings.
I'm impressed with the engineering that went into this machine. Even simple things like the multi-step V-belt pulley having tapered bushings on each side, and a nylock type nut holding it on (no fun to remove that though). The basics haven't changed in 30 years or so, and SCMI had parts in stock. So I may still be able to get a good machine out of this deal. And I have learned a lot about how the guts work...
I'll post an after pic when it is cutting wood.
When I got it, there was 1/2" of water pooled in the spindle housing, which ruined the top bearing and almost rusted the spindle assembly together. The spindle wasn't turning, either. The vertical adjustment was frozen, with the handle spinning freely. At least the table had so much greasy gunk on it that it hadn't rusted.
After recovering from the shock, I started stripping it down to see what could be saved. Luckily the vertical adjustjust needs a few cheap parts. A car jack got he spindle high enough to remove the frozen nut and the tapered spindle itself. The control box showed signs of water, but they had drilled out the bottom to run the feeder cord, so it drained before it hit the transformer, breakers, switches, etc. Today, I used the forklift to pull the spindle assembly and drove it around the corner to a machine shop for new bearings.
I'm impressed with the engineering that went into this machine. Even simple things like the multi-step V-belt pulley having tapered bushings on each side, and a nylock type nut holding it on (no fun to remove that though). The basics haven't changed in 30 years or so, and SCMI had parts in stock. So I may still be able to get a good machine out of this deal. And I have learned a lot about how the guts work...
I'll post an after pic when it is cutting wood.