| Blog series by Loren | updated 175 days ago | 13 parts | 29727 reads | 37 comments total |
Part 1: Old Delta 20" Bandsaw
I’ve had the saw for a long time. It was an unappealing, original but distressed gray and when I set out to paint it I found some white metal primer laying aroundso I used that. I liked the way the white reflected light so I kept the color. Maybe someday I’ll get around to painting it some fancy color, but for nowI like the white. Originally the old girl was wired for 3 phase. I put 22 amp motor on her. It’s115 volts, which is odd. My electrician put in a 30 a...
Part 2: Belsaw planer dust collection
Belsaw dust collection The steel chute was salvaged off an instant hot water heater. Be careful of the swing of the planer handle. If this chute were placed any closer to the centerline of the cutterhead, the Belsaw crank handle would not clear the center port of the chute. You might get away with just making a 4” hole in the top of the planer, perhaps offsetting it in some way to not conflict with the swing of the crank handle. In any case the chips won’t go straight ...
Part 3: Kity K5 machine
By today’s standards in N. American machinery the K5 is not impressive in terms of power or capacity. When these were still available they were priced at around $1400 I think and that was 20-30 years ago. Mine is 1983 vintage. Now I have some really good machinery and I didn’t need the K5 but I had an opportunity to get one at a good price and I am curious about the engineering of European combination machines. I’ve owned several INCA combo machines and a Robland for...
Part 4: Record RPML 300C mini lathe
I’ve been looking for a used mini lathe on and off for awhile. Just recently I passed on good one with electronic speed control because I didn’t feel like making the drive. In my area second-hand mini lathes are not too uncommon, and really I didn’t feel like I needed something fancy. I’ve owned 4 or 5 wood lathes but since I don’t turn much and it is usually small things I want to turn, I’ve found they didn’t earn their keep in terms of the spac...
Part 5: Panel saw flip stop system
I made a bunch of these flip stops for my panel saw. I used 1/4” x 1/2” aluminum bar stock offcuts I bought on ebay from a surplus dealer for very cheap. The brass 1/4-20 thumb nuts were bought from an ebay seller as well. I bought some t-bolts from Woodline USA (like toilet bolts) but these brass thumb nuts don’t fit them (regular 1/4-20 nuts do), so I used regular 1/4-20 hex head bolts and they work well, though perhaps sliding in the t-track a little less smoothly. ...
Part 7: Hitachi resaw with 3" wide blade
This saw looks pretty bad. Like everything, I got it used. It was originally sold by a dealer in Hawaii so I reckon the humidity did a number on the paint. Then it found its way to the mainland and was owned by at least 2 coastal cabinet makers before I bought it. The 3” wide blade makes resawing a breeze and setups for cutting 1/8” pieces are a breeze. I used to dread resawing because the setup was so tricky. With the Hitachi, as long as the blade is sharp it’s g...
Part 8: radial arm thickness sander
In the past I had this old Performax 22/44 sander set up on a Delta turret radial arm saw. I used the motor on the saw for a few years, but it wasn’t very satisfactory. I took the sander apart and haven’t used it in years but I’ve decided to get it going again. I removed the carriage and turret from the Delta RAS (it’s a 9” and never had a guard so I never had any interest in using it for its intended purpose – still, it is very well made). I have a...
Part 9: New digital height readout on ugly drum sander
The Delta turret radial arm saw column that serves to movemy drum sander’s head up and down has quite a lot ofbacklash in the screw – over 1/4 turn. This made adjustmentmaddening in the past because (in part) I had a weakermotor (wimpy 10 amp or something one on the 9” sawcarriage) on it before. It was easy to take too deep a cut and induce slippage of the belt. The new (well, salvaged) 20 amp motor is much brawnier of course so it can take a more aggressive cut easily....
Part 10: Bandsaw blade coil stock
I’ve started buying coils and soldering my own blades. This is a Nicholson old stock (no longer made) 5/8 3tpi woodcutting band coil. It is 100’ and I paid $69 shipped for it. I’ll get 11 blades for my 104” bandsaw (INCA 710) at a price per blade of about $6.25. For comparison, Lee Valleysells 1/2” x 3tpi welded blades for my saw for $25 each. I buy the coil stock on ebay… I have yet to see 1/2” x 3tpistock at such a nice price. My s...
Part 11: Stroke sander
Minimax (SCMI) stroke sander I bought at auction, supercheap. The machine must have been a problem for a couple of owners at least. I bought it as is, and my impression wasthe seller had bought it the same way. The motors runand it works fine. The problem is the welder who did some of the fabrication wasn’t reading the drawings correctly. The welder used10mm plates where 15mm plates are needed. The previousowners has tried bushing these parts with piece of hardwood.This worked...
Part 12: Cantilever roof support for outdoor machine
I welded up these cantilever supports and bolted them tothe back of my stroke sander. The sander is about 11’long. I’ll put some corrugated roofing across thereto keep the rain and dirt mostly off the machines. It doesn’t snow in my climate so the almost flat pitchis okay. The machine in front of the stroke sander is an edge banding press. I made the cantilever arms long enough to support roofing for both.
Part 13: router mortiser
Quickly made router mortiser using a KITY mortise table from a K5 combination machine. Range of height adjustment is limited by the arc. The build was simple though and I have other tools for mortising as well – I wanted to make this something I could quickly set up for quick slot mortises since my other slot mortiser is a sort of multi-router type tool and I would rather leave that set up for making tenons. Since I am developing chairs, I don’t want to use loose tenons.
