Vintage Martin T75 restoration

[Patrick Walsh]

So this is where I landed after a couple hours here and there after a week. I think I probably have maybe three hours max into the rip fence it’s fold down support, the workpiece clamp and whatever else I took on this week. Oh the main support for the outrigger fence that I don’t have pictures of yet.

I am compelled after the work this week to make note of just how well made this machine is. What I can’t help take notice of is how simple but highly functional, purpose driven and effective every last piece is. It’s really just something special if you are a maker. Perfection in simplicity. My favorite ratty old baseball cap reads “live Simply” and this saw optimizes that.

In my work I often have to design this or that and or figure out how to make this detail or that detail work with each other. Or take a picture off a napkin or drawing from architect and not only make it something you can really build vrs a pretty picture but sort out the subtle details that only the guy building it will see or be aware of until it’s all done and it looks beautiful or like a turd. So often this aspect of the work can wrack your brain and at times you can complicate something that should and could be so simple. I’m always impressed with those that intuitively come up with simple subtle effective design decisions on the fly I identify this skill directly with Intelligence. And I’m not saying I’m all that good at it, I’m saying I’m impreseed when people are. This saw is one of those rare things that they just got everything right. Well I have yet to look under the lid so maybe I speak to soon but I’m inclined to think not.

The parts you see are pretty much ready to be cleaned and primed. Anything chrome, aluminum plastic whatever is just at a base stage to work it all back up to a polish or plate as good as new.

At the moment I’m inclined to plate all the existing chrome and aluminum parts brass if I can as I think the brass and vintage green will be a really sweet and classy look. The brass will not be polished but maybe brushed or mate.

I have been making it a priority to put everything all the way back together after I tear it down to prep it for primer and paint. It’s pretty awesome as it is giving me a real intimate understanding of exactly how the machine works. I think this will come to be very valuable as the owner and user of the machine long term. It should help me get the machine calibrated a bit more easily if nothing else as after taking everything apart then putting it all back together you really just understand exactly how every part works.

Anyway dinner time. Tomorrow it’s back to the doors and French polish.

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Next week I’ll get a spray gun primer and filler. I also get the sliding table off hopefully early in the week. I’m gonna need help so that’s kinda not dependent on just me. I’m not sure if I should remove the whole table then take the two pieces apart. Or if I should try and removing the top of the sliding table from the bottom of the sliding table leaving the bottom of the sliding table connected to the base. I’m gonna have to poke around a bit more before I decide.

Any Insite from other owners is welcome

[Patrick Walsh]

Pin wrenches?

Gonna order the snap wring plier set tonight.

You’ll probably need pin wrenches as well, I’m sure they’re using them somewhere.

[Martin Wasner]

2500sqft.

Holy crap that's gotta be tight with four guys

[Patrick Walsh]

Not four guys,

Two building full time. A boss with severe ADD that makes appearances but is largely busy installing, chasing work and tending to clients and then the “was” finisher whom works out of the second floor where the spray booth that’s a kinda a community building booth works as although he did work for us full time till just last week. He has also rented his own space in the same building for 20 years.

Sadly he was let go “maybe not sadly” as we just don’t produce enough work for a full time finisher that will not happily do whatever is needed when not painting. Kinda sucks as he was fully capable of doing anything but just had a major attitude about doing so. Actually he even had a major attitude about painting so good riddens is actually how I feel if I’m honest.

So it’s two guys 2500 sq ft working the machines then maybe a third sometimes putting together doors and or sanding. It is hell if three guys start building as you end up waiting in lines for machines or having to really plan workflow as a group and still being annoyed.

I never said what we do is the way to do it. I’m actaully trying to show my boss a little at a time it’s kinda ass backward and theta he is just pissing money away doing things the way we do.

Holy crap that's gotta be tight with four guys

[Darcy Warner]

Holy crap that's gotta be tight with four guys

That would be ok for about 15 minutes for me.

[Patrick Walsh]

It’s not four guys in the shop building it’s four of us total. One finishing in a booth on another floor, one in the field doing everything but building.

But yeah we have been trying to tell the boss that anything more than the two guys in the shop is counterproductive and highly annoying!

Seems like a occupational hazard of cabinet makers is not plying well with others or being highly territorial. Myself included but as I get older I understand I can’t have it all my way all the time even if I’d love nothin more then to be left alone in a shop 80 hrs a week completely by myself. I don’t need company even one little bit.

That would be ok for about 15 minutes for me.

[Jeff Duncan]

That would be ok for about 15 minutes for me.

Keep in mind that real estate around here is astronomical compared to many parts of the country. My shop is not too far away and I'm under market value at $9 a sq. ft.. Now add in how much it costs to heat 2400 sq. ft. and it really makes you wish you could buy your own building I'm a one man shop most of the time but could easily have 3 guys working in that space if one was a sander/finisher. Would I like more space, sure who wouldn't, but it's expensive so you have to balance. I don't know Patrick or his boss, but can certainly understand the economics of shop space

JeffD

[joe milana]

Patrick, those eccentric fence mounts on the outrigger are interesting. Mine doesn't have those. I wonder if they are a modification to facilitate mounting the felder fence? Snap some closeups of them along with the underside when you get a chance.
Have you tried the Zep purple industrial cleaner for soaking parts? It's much less volatile than lacquer thinner, and does an amazing job at removing paint. Takes an overnight soak. About $10/Gal. Lookin' good!

[Patrick Walsh]

Oh man please don’t tell me I have a saw someone hacked into. That be the case I’ll be searching for another as a parts machine lol..

Saw is at work and I’m at home till Monday. I’ll grab pictures Monday.

Thanks for the heads up though and good eye.

Patrick, those eccentric fence mounts on the outrigger are interesting. Mine doesn't have those. I wonder if they are a modification to facilitate mounting the felder fence? Snap some closeups of them along with the underside when you get a chance.
Have you tried the Zep purple industrial cleaner for soaking parts? It's much less volatile than lacquer thinner, and does an amazing job at removing paint. Takes an overnight soak. About $10/Gal. Lookin' good!

[Patrick Walsh]

It is true,

Life is very expensive our way Jeff. Smart of you to wonder if others grasp that.

For instance I have 1600sqft home “bungalow” three beds one bath on a 5600 soft lot. It’s valued at $550000 and I could sell it mid recession with a bidding war. To rent a two bedroom apartment next door to me would cost you $2500-3k a month. In a town a bit more rural and not very nice you would still pay $1800 a month for a two bedroom rat hole. Right next door a old crap house just sold was torn down for $600K. In its place is two townhomes 2700 sqft a piece. List will be high 9’s and I’m sure will sell easy.

Everything here is tight quarters. If you wanna see tight quarters try NYC. When I was a kid “college” I lived there for about seven years. It’s like living in a meadow where I am now by comparison. I once has a apartment that was 350 sqft on the 11th fooor of a 22 story building. I shared it with my girlfriend at the time. That lasted less than a year and I moved to the white mountains of new hamshire in a hurry.

Keep in mind that real estate around here is astronomical compared to many parts of the country. My shop is not too far away and I'm under market value at $9 a sq. ft.. Now add in how much it costs to heat 2400 sq. ft. and it really makes you wish you could buy your own building I'm a one man shop most of the time but could easily have 3 guys working in that space if one was a sander/finisher. Would I like more space, sure who wouldn't, but it's expensive so you have to balance. I don't know Patrick or his boss, but can certainly understand the economics of shop space

JeffD

[David Kumm]

Eccentric mounts for a crosscut fence are fairly common and a nice way to deal with setting the fence. The key is to have the Tnut made to a precision fit with both the fence slot and the pin. Knapp uses a block that tightens to the back of the fence and SCM uses a Tnut with springs to keep the nut tight in the extrusion. I've duplicated that system on my Wadkin PK and had nuts made to fit. Not necessarily a hack job if not original. The old crosscut fence and stops are usually not as refined as on new saws. Most everything else is better but life is a trade off. Dave

[Darcy Warner]

What is even appealing about living someplace that is that expensive, no real space, and stacked on top of each other? I won't even mention what my new 22k sqft shop costs me then....

[Patrick Walsh]

Dave,

I assume this is original but I can’t say as I don’t know. They sure look to be built to the same standard as the rest of the machine. When I first noticed them my kneee jerk reaction was that they where used to square the outrigger table as the outrigger table is just those two aluminum sides attached by trio steel pipe. I thought to myself how accurate can the pipe and aluminum be, being it’s held together with those compression pin shim things.

To be honest “squareness” is exactly why I didn’t take the pipes of the aluminum ends or the eccentrics out. I assumed this was calibrated at the factory and I probably don’t want to mess with it unless I have to.

Eccentric mounts for a crosscut fence are fairly common and a nice way to deal with setting the fence. The key is to have the Tnut made to a precision fit with both the fence slot and the pin. Knapp uses a block that tightens to the back of the fence and SCM uses a Tnut with springs to keep the nut tight in the extrusion. I've duplicated that system on my Wadkin PK and had nuts made to fit. Not necessarily a hack job if not original. The old crosscut fence and stops are usually not as refined as on new saws. Most everything else is better but life is a trade off. Dave

[Patrick Walsh]

It’s not really appealing except that its where I was born and raised, where my family is and you know just home. I have lived all over the country and always come back. I’m ready to leave again but reluctant.

A few reasons i stay. My house continues to increase in value hand over fist and I hope that someday it will allow me to survive as a single old elderly man. I made six figures last year building custom cabinetry. I worked a average of 60 hrs a week to do so but I can’t imagine I will be making more that $15 and hour anyplace else doing the same. I have never made less than $22 an hr doing anything ever. My first job other than paper routes was painting houses in high school and I made $22hr. I like doing high end work and at least have myself convinced you need to be somewhere with wealth if that be the case.

Even my current job the work we do is not the Uber high end I much prefer to be doing. The price of the average home we build a kitchen for is probably like 1.5-3 million dollars. In my area that’s nice house but by no means a Uber nice house. To get to the Uber nice market you are talking 10-50 million dollar homes. These are the only people that actually want quality work and don’t nickel and dime you forcing you to comprises quality. If I had to do anything lesser quality than I’m doing now and or work on site amongs the circus I’d just commit myself.

Then politics. Lots of libs like me here, I fear moving someplace more rural this would not be the case unless maybe Vermont. I’d loose my freaking mind as I can’t do site work simply based on the largely conservative population. I’m fine with it “people doing and thinking what’s good for them” I just don’t want to be submerged in it.

Vermont is probably my answer. I’m really consodering purcashing a lot of land in Vermont and building a home on it a little at a time. Then I have this house till I’m ready to sell. Or I can keep it, rent it for at least 3k a month in today’s market, who knows on another 10-20 years while I run for the hills to hide my head in the sand blissfully.

What is even appealing about living someplace that is that expensive, no real space, and stacked on top of each other? I won't even mention what my new 22k sqft shop costs me then....

[Brian Holcombe]

Pin wrenches?

Gonna order the snap wring plier set tonight.

Face spanner wrench is the proper term. If you see any sort of threaded part with two holes on top it takes a face spanner.