Good news, I found an NOS die. Much cheaper than new and between what Pete and the manual say about setting up. I know I have some wiggle room. Once the die comes in I think I can make a template easy enough. I suppose I dont need anything special as far as metal type. Once I have a drawing I'll get a piece of metal and take it to same shop I used last time. Basically just drilling four holes and making it truly flat. Shouldn't cost all that much.
I'm selling the other extra items. They will help pay for this new toy. Keep a watch out. I will try my hand at a dovetail saw before too long.
What are yalls opinions on the Gramercy Handle makers rasp set? I have a Narex rasp and lots of sandpaper I've used for hand plane totes. But I'd like to not need sandpaper so much.
I got my hands on another retoother. Pretty cheap considering it did not come with carriers or bars. I jumped on it due to the fact that it was in Texas and the shipping wasn't a killer.
I swapped the die holder over and gave it a quick test on a junk saw. Extremely happy. I will be taking it apart and cleaning it up. This machine will be a learning experience and for anyone interested I will post pictures as I go.
There was a set of these machines avail on my local Craigslist recently. A retoother, auto setter and sharpening machine. Idk how much the retoother went for but they want 600 for the setter and sharpener.
I got my retoother apart. I should get it back together tonight. I took apart my spare first just to see what I was getting into and a gib button broke to pieces. Like a biscuit. I was pretty worried but so far the ones in the main retoother are intact but just in case I tried to look up replacements with no luck.
Got it back together. Cleaned out the gunk and used light oil. Sharpened the punch, had some trial and error but it is good now. Had a chip in it. The gib buttons stayed together too so I worried for nothing. I had a heck of a time getting the punch and die right. The punch needs to go into the die about 1/32 of an inch. If you pull the punch out you'll find a screw under it you can shim with washers. I spent a long time looking for a tiny washer...
I got it all together and the gibs snugged up. Move punch up and down looking for play and make sure it still moves freely but with no play.
So I obviously wanted to see if I got better results! Last run wasn't bad but the teeth had a slight bend to them almost like a slight set in one direction because punch and die needed to be sharper and the play tightened up.
Good news. What teeth it did cut were awesome! No bends, no "set" in one direction.
Bad news. Carrier spring clip broke and I will need replacements.
Those moustache clips are the weak link of all their machines. I think you can still buy replacements from the folks that bought out Foley. Sharpening supply. If not, hopefully you can swap some out from your crunk machine.
They are still available. The picture makes it look like NOS so who knows how many they have. 4.99 a piece so I got some ordered. My parts machine is slightly different. Instead of clips there are rubber like wheels. Looks like they would swap ok but I don't think there are replacements.
The springs looks doable if you had to. The metal used would need to keep its strength though.
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