Old Gloat

[John Bailey]

Some of you may have noticed a reference I occasionally make towards the "Dastardly Parks." Well, I am honored to inform you that the Parks has finally been succumbed.

From this:


76297 76294

To this:


76295


And so to this:


76293


I know that for many of you this would be an easy task. However, for me, it was daunting. I have many on this site, the OWWM site and, especially Doug Rewerts, to thank for this accoplishment.


Thanks to all.


John

[Brian Weick]

Nice restore job- boy the linkage was really in bad shape- were you able to clean all of that up? is that the 12" - looks like it- so you took everything apart- WTG - that's the only way to do a restore job. Nice work restoring the Parks John, so can you elaborate a little on what you did as far as the restoration process?
Great Job!:)
Brian

[Anchor Sarslow]

I love the colors.. I am drawn to Rikon because of it.. though I have not bought any og that equipment as of yet.. Maybe a bandsaw..

Nice accomplishment. I am tying to do something similar with an old Shopmaster jigsaw and Jointer. The Jointer is making me quite upset.. I cannot get the infeed and outfeed tables level.. and they are killers to try to turn the adjusting screws still.

Congrats at the very least.

[Jerry Olexa]

Nice job of restoring. Very good work

[John Bailey]

Nice restore job- boy the linkage was really in bad shape- were you able to clean all of that up? is that the 12" - looks like it- so you took everything apart- WTG - that's the only way to do a restore job. Nice work restoring the Park John, so can you elaborate a little on what you did as far as the restoration process?

Great Job!:)
Brian

Thanks Brian,

The gearbox was the worst part. Actually, I wouldn't have had to take it apart if it weren't for that. I electrolysised everything and it came out clean as a whistle. I got pretty frustrated putting everything back together, taking it apart was a lot easier. Had to walk away for a couple of months. The only parts that I had to replace was a short shaft in the gearbox and a stud that adjusts the infeed roller. Everything else was in pretty good shape when it was cleaned up. I used a lot of WD-40, emery cloth, steel wool and elbow grease.

Buy the way, the most important step in putting it back together was taking pictures of the dissasembly process.

Yes, it's a 1942 12" Parks Planer.

John

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Congrats on a nice restore John! I wished I had the patience for something like that.

[Jim Becker]

For a second there, I though the thread title was "Old Goat"...and was a little worried...

But, NICE JOB on that machine, John! Wow. What a transformation!

[John Bailey]

For a second there, I though the thread title was "Old Goat"...and was a little worried...

But, NICE JOB on that machine, John! Wow. What a transformation!

Actually Jim,

I meant the comparison of me (the Old Goat) and the Parks (the Old Gloat). So you were right on.

John

[Don Bullock]

John, you should be honored to report your success. That is fantastic. Congratulations. May your "new" machine serve you well.

[Fred Voorhees]

Sure looks as if that took quite a bit of elbow grease John. I hope it rewards you with many years of faithful service for the deed!

[Joe Mioux]

John,
I remember when you first posted about this restoration project.

The only thing that matters is that you fun during the process.

It looks great and i really like the green

joe

[John Bush]

Great job John,
Mine is still the battleship grey. You have me motivated---Maybe neon orange!!

[Jim Dunn]

Nice restore job John. How does it cut/work?

Thanks everyone. It doesn't cut/work yet. Two things to do before that happens. First, I haven't found a place that I can buy NGLI #1 grease. That's what's recommended and I want to start off with that. It looks like I'll have to order some as everything I've found so far is #2. Second, there was a rat's nest in the cover that protected the wires coming out of the motor. The wires, and the old fabric insulation, were chewed to non-existance. Had to take off the cover and put new wires on the windings. I don't know if newer motors are like this, but this old motor had the wires connected directly to the windings. Since there were no colour codings, I had to guess as to the combination. Unfortunately, when the motor was turned on, it ran the wrong way, so I'll have to switch the wires to change the direction. By the way, I have it running on 220. Also, I haven't done any work on the knives yet as I plan on getting a new set.

John

[Ron Williams]

Congratulations Great job

[Gary Herrmann]

Nice job, John. How much does that thing weigh?

[John Bailey]

Nice job, John. How much does that thing weigh?

According to a 1974 catalogue, it weighs 265 lbs. without motor or stand. Because this is one of the earlier ones, it has the cast iron gear box cover instead of cast aluminum. With the cast iron cover and motor, I'm guessing in the area of 325 lbs.

Whatever, it's hard to move.

John

[John Bush]

I have the cast iron base as well and it tips the scales @ close to 450#s.

John, I got a set of Freud knives from Amazon for less than $30.00 a couple of months ago. Just put them on and they work well. I got a set from Infinity a couple of years ago and they are very good as well. I doubt that you recall, but I have the video from Taunton Press of Robert Vaughan tuning up a Parks. It helps but the online instructions are the same. I had the chance to buy another one for $150.00 locally, but passed on it. Shoulda, woulda coulda!! Congrats on a great job on a great machine. Best wishes, John.

[John Bailey]

I have the cast iron base as well and it tips the scales @ close to 450#s.

John, I got a set of Freud knives from Amazon for less than $30.00 a couple of months ago. Just put them on and they work well. I got a set from Infinity a couple of years ago and they are very good as well. I doubt that you recall, but I have the video from Taunton Press of Robert Vaughan tuning up a Parks. It helps but the online instructions are the same. I had the chance to buy another one for $150.00 locally, but passed on it. Shoulda, woulda coulda!! Congrats on a great job on a great machine. Best wishes, John.

Thanks for the advice John. I remember the offer to lend me the video. I've got the article and I think I'll be OK with that. I'll get a set or two of the knives from Amazon. Sounds like a good deal.

I don't think I'm going to be buying another project like this. It's rewarding when it's done, but I got pretty frustrated with the project. Now that I've done it, if I had the chance to pick one up that only needed to be cleaned, without all the rust and corrosion problems, I'd certainly consider it. It's not that hard if all you have to do is wipe it down and put it back together.

John