T23 restoration

[GregoryP Lewis]

My T23 arrived today!!!

The truck carrying it had to park on a slight incline which made the delivery nerve racking. Watching the driver move it towards the back, onto the ramp, made me nervous as it would slide a foot or so after he set it down. The lift gate appeared too weak to hold the weight as it shuddered under the load. Once on the driveway I towed it up the slight incline to it's new home in my garage, on my pallet jack with my son driving the rig.

Taking stock of what I had bought sight unseen revealed a machine which apparently lived a hard life. There are dings in the iron top around the power feed, a missing grate on the back, damaged louvers on the side vent, spindle lock and height lock not working, no power cord and many missing and damaged levers and knobs. Which is all as I thought it would be.

The raise and lower mechanism worked pretty well considering it's condition. I couldn't get the tilt to budge.

I blew out a bunch of sawdust and set about spraying penetrating oil on the ways for the tilt and the cast rings in the top. I fixed the spindle lock cable and rerouted the power feeder cord through the arm of the feeder. I am rewiring the feeder when I install the new power cord. I had hoped to get it under power and went and bought the 10/4 soow cord. I thought I had a male end at home but found out I didn't, so could not power it up today.

I hope to use it for a few weeks at least before I tear it down for a refurb. My new door cutters arrived from Rangate today as well. Expensive day.

I have a lot of questions already! I bought an Aigner fence and Centrex for my Felder that are now going on the Martin. I don't see how the fence is going to mount and hope I don't have to buy a new hood to use it. I also have to figure out the mount for the Centrex.

Anyway, here are some pictures as it sits now.

[GregoryP Lewis]

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[Joe Jensen]

Replying to subscribe. Auction purchase? I'm envious...joe

[GregoryP Lewis]

No, I wish. It would have probably been much cheaper! I put a note up on wood web. I am still looking for a T75.
G

[Matt Day]

That looks like a serious bit of kit! Congrats

[GregoryP Lewis]

Matt,
Thanks, it is a beast! It's smaller in size but way heavier than my Felder Combination machine.

I spent most of the day cleaning and inspecting it. It's pretty rough. All the oil and lube lines were broken or not hooked up. Both the spindle lock and height lock cables were not hooked up and the height lock cable is pretty bent up. The wires were not connected to the oil pump.

I did get the tilt working finally, so both and the raise handle work smoothly now.

Bought a new cord and plug and rewired the power feeder. The bummer is that when I went to start it up- nothing! Power feeder worked fine and after an hour or two of trouble shooting I discovered there were no fuses inside. Called the PO and he doesn't remember taking them out but he said it came from a working shop and he had to wait for them to stop using it. He is supposed to call tomorrow. I called Ed at Simantec/ Martin and he is looking into new ones. I hope they are a generic fuse.

They look to be about 5-1/2" long and 1" in diameter. There are two of them. They would probably look like the fuses that look like a small stick of dynamite. Is anyone familiar with them as far as model, type etc. Joe Calhoon sent me the electrical diagram and it appears that two legs are fused so I am assuming they would be no larger the 240v in case the machine was wired 440v or higher. Right now it's at 240v so they would only be carrying 120, and 10 amp each?

I searched for the DLS 25 II listed on the panel with no luck.

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Greg

[Bobby Robbinett]

How old is this Martin shaper? I would recommend rebuilding the spindle while you are working on it before you start making doors. A machine that was used that hard probably needs new bearings in the spindle. Not a difficult task but you could pull the spindle and send it to Martin for them to rebuild it. I also suggest getting a dial indicator for checking runout when you reinstall the spindle.


Would love to find a used Martin shaper at an affordable price. We are looking to buy a used SCMI T110 through T130 at work but they are difficult to find for a decent deal.

[Jim Becker]

I agree with Bobby...take the time to rebuild the core with new bearings, etc. If that stuff is moving smoothly and accurately the cosmetic stuff will not matter relative to the quality of work it produces, for the most part.

[David Kumm]

I think Patrick here did an oiler replacement you might want to check out. The spindle bearings will be ABEC 7 precision phenolic cage 62xx. They can be sourced much more cheaply on ebay than buying from a dealer. Proper lubrication is huge and they don't just sit in oil but are a pump and drip system. Fuses will be easy to source. I would guess the motor is 7.5 hp so the fuses would be in the 20 amp range.

Joe Calhoon did a Martin restore and is a wealth of knowledge too. Dave

[Jared Sankovich]

I'd plan on a bearing replacement due to the damaged oil system, but I'd run it first to verify.

Just spinning the spindle by hand can give you some insight into their condition.

[Joe Calhoon]

Hi Greg
looks like 30 amp fuses
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[Ron Selzer]

as to the voltage of the fuse higher is always ok, lower is not. IE, you install 600vac fuses on 220 vac machine and will work just fine.
Amps is more critical and probably slow blow/time delay.
Fuses are inexpensive on ebay
Good luck
Ron

[GregoryP Lewis]

Thanks Joe,
Much appreciated. It looks like TRS 30R it is.

Everyone,
Thanks for the feedback. A bearing replacement is definitely in the works. I want to get it running and use it for a few weeks first- then I'll tear it down and do the rebuild. Joe's rebuild thread has been a great resource.

Greg

Hi Greg
looks like 30 amp fuses
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[David Kumm]

I think I have some of those old fuses. The ends unscrew and you can replace the filaments to get different amp limits. They aren't used anymore because if you don't tighten the ends down, the contact isn't good. Some fuse holders are adjustable so the shorter modern ones can be used.

As to bearings, keep in mind that the cage and the clearance are important for spindle bearings of the size Martin uses. It will be almost impossible to find even a shielded phenolic or machined brass cage bearing to run 24/7 like the original open bearings. As rotten a job as it is, the oil drip system needs to be working to make that machine what is was originally. Newer and lesser shapers with sealed or shielded bearings run much smaller lower load bearings with greater clearance to compensate for their lower precision and stamped steel cages. I don't know if there are ceramic bearings that could run in grease but steel bearing development still hasn't developed to allow for the load and rpm capability of those original to the machine. Makes no sense to have a Martin shaper and turn it into a T130 with greased crap bearings like it uses. I have both and while a T130 is a decent machine, it is no Martin. Dave

[Joe Calhoon]

I just looked at your pictures Greg. Looks mostly complete. I wonder if the hold down is Martin? I see the mystery copper coil is loose but with the machine. I would run it for a while just to sort out what it needs. Also looks like it has reverse. Mine does not have that. I had my new shafts made so they could reverse but with 2 other reversing shapers have not had the need.
I ran mine for a couple hours yesterday tenoning with the 320 disks. Ive almost forgot the pain I went through restoring it!
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