Powermatic 45 restoration project

[Doug Morgan]

4th day of sanding r.jpg
I have recently begun the restoration of my Powermatic 45 variable speed lathe. I have been at it now for 1 week and I think I have made some significant progress.

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At the end of the 3rd day I had dissassembled all of the variable drive and had started removing all the paint. Check the stand and you will see 3 layers of paint. The first being the "pea" green, then there was a darker green on top of that and last a black brush paint on top.
variable speed parts r.jpg
Everything will get a new coat of paint after I clean it and check for proper operation.

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Here you can see what the stand started out like and where it is right now. The plate shows all three layers of paint and brush strokes in the black. I have been using Chemical stripper, wire wheels on both drills and grinders, orbital sanders, palm sanders, belt sanders, sand blaster, and some other items that my father in law gave me.

4th day of sanding r.jpg

[Doug Morgan]

As I have continued through today I feel that major progress has been achieved. MOST of the paint on the outside of the stand has been removed.
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I continued to remove the paint from the head.
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and the bed.
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There are some small items missing from the unit like the original wrench or the indexing plunger. Hopefully I will find them to add to the unit.

[Sam Layton]

Great job Doug. Keep posting photo's as you go along. What color are you going to paint it, and what kind of paint are you going to use?

Sam

[Carroll Courtney]

Doug,looks like your off to a very good start.Taking the time to do it right is worth the investment and will reward you every time you use it for the rest of your life.The parts that are MIA,I have seen on ebay afew times so keep an eye out and your lathe will be complete.Very nice lathe----Carroll

[Paul Girouard]

You might call a local powder coater , it's pretty reasonable priced out here, and would give you a better coating than rattle can paint , well IF that's how you plan on painting it.

[Doug Morgan]

You might call a local powder coater , it's pretty reasonable priced out here, and would give you a better coating than rattle can paint , well IF that's how you plan on painting it.

Not sure if I can get the original paint color but I will look into that. I have a HVLP paint gun and was looking at the professional sites of Sherwin Williams. I have the formula that was used to create paint for another project by another woodworker. I'll just have to check it out. Thank you...

[Doug Morgan]

Doug,looks like your off to a very good start.Taking the time to do it right is worth the investment and will reward you every time you use it for the rest of your life.The parts that are MIA,I have seen on ebay afew times so keep an eye out and your lathe will be complete.Very nice lathe----Carroll

I have found through exhaustive searches on the internet, all the bearings for the unit. It will run about $176.00 for them but it will be good for another 50 years. This unit (as far as I can research) was built in 1964. I have downloaded manuals from another site where it shows different part numbers associated with different years. I do know that one of my parts does match another unit made in 1964. This part cannot be easily replaced without major disassembly so I'm not sure about the age. On another site it lists my serial number as a 1964. The part is on the upper sheave and is called as a cap spring (part number 45-57). In some of the manuals it calls out the sheave as an assembly and cannot be broke down any further. I have been searching everyday for the missing parts on Ebay with no luck. One of the gentlemen had just parted out a bunch of spare parts on Ebay months before I came to know him. Several of these were the parts I needed. Oh well.

[Doug Morgan]

Great job Doug. Keep posting photo's as you go along. What color are you going to paint it, and what kind of paint are you going to use?

Sam

Thank you Sam
I intend to restore it to the original paint (or at least as close as I can) which was the "pea green" color. I intend to shoot self etching primer because I have stripped it down to bear metal. But I'm always open to new and better suggestions. As I told Paul I will check out powder coat for a finish and what is required to prep the metal before finishing.

[Carroll Courtney]

Doug,this is the formula that I use to restore some of my PM machines.Its not the metallic,but its close enought for me. Here is the pea green color,but make sure this is the right shade that you want---Carroll

[Doug Morgan]

Here is a site that is my inspiration for my work. The gentleman has been a source of information to me. Darnell is from Canada and has arguably the best unit I have ever seen. Follow this link to see where I hope to be some day! Differences we share are that he has a 3 phase motor 3/4 HP and I have a 1 phase motor 3/4 HP. His is reversible and mine is not. On his upper sheave picture you will see his spring cap as a flat cap to hold the spring. Mine is a cup. I started to polish the spring but again I am not a metal worker in any stretch of the imagination. If there is any information as to how to polish these to get a better luster on the metal, I'm all eyes and ears...

http://thewayiwood.blogspot.com/2011...owermatic.html

pring and cap for VS.jpg

Here is my serial number plate. Its in poor shape but I have a source to which she will take this plate, scan it into a computer. Retouch it and then silk print it onto another plate. Then I will redo the letter stamps of the serial number and model. According to the information I have come across, the 4-4539 serial number, the first 4 is the year in which it was made.
powermatic.jpg

[Carl Beckett]

Hi Doug,

In the past when I have painted machinery, I used a two part epoxy based paint (made specifically for machinery). Its much more durable than automotive paint

[Doug Morgan]

Doug,this is the formula that I use to restore some of my PM machines.Its not the metallic,but its close enought for me. Here is the pea green color,but make sure this is the right shade that you want---Carroll

Thank you for that information. This is what I'm always looking for.

[Doug Morgan]

Hi Doug,

In the past when I have painted machinery, I used a two part epoxy based paint (made specifically for machinery). Its much more durable than automotive paint

Good point. Thank you for your help. I'm no painter by profession so any input is a great source of information.

[Doug Morgan]

With the rain I was unable to get much finished tonight. I will try again tomorrow.
bed underside.jpg

On another note I was working on a part to make from 3/8 stock rod. It took an imediate dislike to me and tried to break my finger after coming out of the drill press chuck. Silly me

[Carroll Courtney]

Keep the pics coming,that is going to be a fantastic lathe---Carroll