American Jointer Rebuild

[Paul Incognito]

It all started last winter. A guy posted on the Neanderthal list that he had this big jointer in his way in his shop. "Hey", I thought, "I'm looking for a big jointer." So I sent him a PM. A couple weeks later my brother and I made the trip from Wilmington to New York to pick up this beast of a machine.
Well, I'm finally making some progress on getting it up and running, and thought I'd share my experience here. Mainly this is for Ed, the guy who had it in his way.
So here you go:
Loading the machine onto my brother's flatbed.
We used these, the coolest things ever. Called tank rollers, they can handle a whole lot of weight and made the trip from the garage to the bed of the truck almost easy.
Off the truck in my shop. The top's pretty rusty.
Bought a motor from a guy on the OWWM site, a 5 horse Leeson. I went single phase even though I have 3 phase in my shop. You never know what the future holds. Got the mount from Grainger and bolted it to the leg. The casting is about 1/2" thick.
Babbit bearings. This has been an adventure, as I've never dealt with them before. These seem to be in good shape...I guess.
Here's the gibs. I think the machine was stored in a wet environment with the one on the right facing up. I had to cut 5 of the bolts off in order to get it out. Took the whole kit and caboodle to a local machine shop and they're making new gibs and screws for me.
And finally, the cutter head. This is the slot that had the rusty gib in it.
At this point, I've installed new bearings in the motor, installed new pulleys on the motor and cutter head, reinstalled the cutter head, gotten a magnetic switch, wired it up and wired a 30A outlet for it, gotten belts and have the cutter head spinning. It'll be another month untill I have the gibs and bolts, so I won't be able to use it yet. I didn't realise that I don't have any pics beyond what I've posted. I'll have to take some and post them. There's still some bugs to work out, like figuring out how much oil is supposed to be in the bottom babbit reservoir, but I'm really excited to get it running and using it. It's gonna be a long month.
Thanks Ed,
Paul

[Herr Dalbergia]

This is a nice solid woodworking machine. I am sure you will get her running perfect and then this monster will be better than most of the new stuff you can buy. There is just nothing as good as lots of weight....

[Paul Incognito]

Thanks Herr, I'm sure that I'll get it running well, too. It's 2100 pounds of cast iron goodness.
Here's 2 more pics that I forgot were on my camera.
P1000154.JPGP1000155.JPGThe first shows the new pulleys, a 9.75" on the motor and a 4.95" on the head, which gives me a cutter head speed of about 3,427rpm. A little slow, I know, especially considering it's only a 2 knife cutter head. But then again, it does have infinitely variable feed rate. The second is the cleaned up cutter head and part of the tables, cleaned up and waxed.
So far, so good.
Paul

[Alan Schaffter]

So what is that beast? A 16" three toed Yates American?

[Mel Fulks]

Congratulations! That's a nice machine ,I have a friend here who has one.I think it is one that will take off one inch in one pass, great for crooked edges. I don't think you are going to find it slow at all,two knives will take a faster feed than a three knife. A number of the newer machines will only cut 3/8 inch.

[Paul Incognito]

Thanks Mel. Yea, it'll take a faster feed, but cut quality will suffer. We'll see how it works out. I'm sure I'll be pleased with it.
Alan, it's a 20" American Wood Working Machinery #1.
IMG_4838.jpg
The tag's kind of beat up. AWWM was a conglomeration of (I think) 12 different manufacturers. This was formerly known as a Clemment #1 Buzz Jointer.

Paul

[Mel Fulks]

Does the out feed table have the 'pattern making' drop end feature? Didn't see pic of that side.

[Thomas Hotchkin]

Paul
Nice to have a brother with all that heavy moving equipment. I did not see a fence, was one included in the sale? Tom

[Alan Schaffter]

Alan, it's a 20" American Wood Working Machinery #1.
The tag's kind of beat up. AWWM was a conglomeration of (I think) 12 different manufacturers. This was formerly known as a Clemment #1 Buzz Jointer.

Paul

I've have been passively looking for a 16" Yates or Porter. If I find one at fire sale prices I am contemplating pulling out the journal and existing bearings/babbits and replacing them with bolt-on ball bearing pillow blocks and a Byrd Shelix.

[Paul Incognito]

Mel, yes, the outfeed table has the "sprung joint" adjustment.

Tom, Yea, my brother is very helpful and generous. I try to reciprocate. I do have the fence. When I get to my shop tomorrow I'll assemble it and take a couple more pics.

Alan, I considered doing that very thing. I've since decided, based on lots of research, that once I'm past the learning curve with the babbit bearings, they're a better choice. My long term goal is to have a Byrd head on this machine. They will make a head that matches the specs of the original.

While I'm waiting for the gibs from the machine shop, I may pull the machine apart, clean it up better and paint it. I call it a rebuild and not a restoration because I'm after a good, solid user and not a showpiece. But if I find the time to do the work, I may end up with both.

Thanks for everyone's interest. If you have more questions or want to see something specific, just let me know.
Paul

[Alan Schaffter]

Alan, I considered doing that very thing. I've since decided, based on lots of research, that once I'm past the learning curve with the babbit bearings, they're a better choice. My long term goal is to have a Byrd head on this machine. They will make a head that matches the specs of the original.

Thanks for everyone's interest. If you have more questions or want to see something specific, just let me know.
Paul

Something I discovered with my planer that probably applies to the Yates jointer- I have an older 20" Delta RC-51. I had planned to put a Shelix in that as well, but the journal is a larger diameter that the ones in the current crop of 20" planers. What that means is more machining and more inserts, and a MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE Byrd. You'll need to check the diameter of the journal and check prices. A Byrd head for a standard 20" Delta DC 580 planer goes for around $1400 from Holbren. A head for my RC-51 goes for $2900! That is almost 5 times what I paid for my near mint old planer!!

[Paul Incognito]

Something I discovered with my planer that probably applies to the Yates jointer- I have an older 20" Delta RC-51. I had planned to put a Shelix in that as well, but the journal is a larger diameter that the ones in the current crop of 20" planers. What that means is more machining and more inserts, and a MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE Byrd. You'll need to check the diameter of the journal and check prices. A Byrd head for a standard 20" Delta DC 580 planer goes for around $1400 from Holbren. A head for my RC-51 goes for $2900! That is almost 5 times what I paid for my near mint old planer!!

Yea, that's kind of a sticking point. It'll be about 3 grand for the Byrd head. I'll need to be thoroughly convinced that I NEED it to go that direction. I process a lot of rough reclaimed stock, so my thought is that I'll be replacing blades so often that it won't take all that long for the Byrd to pay for itself.
Any thoughts on this logic (or lack of) are welcome.
Paul

[Brian Weick]

Well,
This thread is almost 3 months old but , for what it's worth: You might want to think twice about running that cutter head at a high rpm. Babbit bearings have limitations on how fast the spindle it is encasing can run without a failure . If you are considering the Byrd head, your going to need to have the babbit journals machined to accept pillow blocks, the rear end side fixed and the inner block set with SAB bearings (self aligning bearings).


JMPO ,


B,