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Collection of the tools...

1K views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  davidroberts 
#1 ·
The beginning

Hand tools I had in abundance, I spent many years in manufacturing and I pretty much have every type of measuring guage I will ever need, and multiples of them. Indicators, micrometers, Digital calipers, etc..
A whole rollaway drawer full of hammers from Framing to multiple sizes of Lixie hammers, electronic and soldering gear. The list would be exhaustive if I actually itemized.

As far as power equipment goes I had none prior to building our house. I had saws and a router in the past but they were long gone from "condo living" and moving up and down the east coast.

The first machine I obtained was an old beat up Delta Chop saw. The fence is cracked on it, the guard is gone, and the blade was literally bent.

Well… I like free so I took this machine out of the "goes to the dump" pile and brought it home.
First thing I did was take the bent blade off and hammer it straight, well…. mostly straight. Straight enough to cut a 2×4 for my deck building project at least :)
Next thing I did was take it all apart to square it true to the fence, which also needed a little TLC.
Its no prize but it cuts railing pickets to length which is all I need it for. One of these days I will replace it with a fine quality miter saw.

Second machine I got my hands on was a hand-me-down Scroll saw. A family member was not using it and had no space for it so it wound up with me.
I look forward to fretwork as a funtime exercise, I am terrible at holding a line with that saw as of now.

The third machine I purchased from CPO Bosch. The 1617 Combo router kit, I always wanted a nice router and when I decided I wanted each of my ballusters to be recessed into the railings I bought the router. It is a great tool and works wonderful.
I look forward to mastering it.

Fourth piece of equipment was a pile of rusted parts… no really… I literally mean it was a pile of parts. My neighbor needed a hand testing a circuit in his house, and I went up there to fix it for him. Upon chatting about tools he mentioned he had an old Craftsman saw I could have. The saw turned out to be a rusted pile in his basement but I enjoy stuff like that. I had to remove the heavy rust off each piece, neutralize it with phosphoric acid, and paint each part. The electric motor had a badly frayed cord missing chunks of plastic coating. For a quick test I foolishly plugged it in and the sucker caught fire immediately. So I busted out the old soldering station took it apart and soldered in a nice heavy guage grounded cord which I had salvaged off a burned out 1-time surge protector. After a bunch of adjustments and calibration I managed to make some clean cuts with the saw. Yay…

The next machine I obtained was an old Delta 12" planer, it was a little rusted, not too bad, so I took that down and cleaned it all up, and switched the sides on the blades. Once fired up it worked like a charm. That machine turned out to be a really good machine and will find a permanent home in the workshop once the shed is built.

Today I bought my first "fairly large" purchase. A Rigid 2410LS table saw, it was an awesome experience I wont soon forget. I always enjoy purchasing a new tool and sitting down to take a good look at it. It was fun to get a chance to bust out one of my magnetic bases, choose the .0005 Interapid indicator and go to work on the saw. It came from the factory with the blade cocked about .030 from front to back when compared to the miter slots. I dialed it in to within .002 thousandths and locked it down tight. I intend on tightening up the play in the rip fence so that it has less than .010 play for ease of repeatablity. Once I pick up my WW2 blade I will tweak the seperator so that lines up perfect. I am looking forward to doing some cutting with this machine.
 
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#2 ·
sorry, but i had to laugh when you mentioned plugging in the on saw and it catching fire. nice visual. i can tell you and me would get along fine. i too like all thing free and in need of a little tlc. problem is i'm better at getting the deal home that fixing it up. i'm getting better, slow, but better. your gonna like your new TS. now go out and find a 3 phase powermatic jointer so you can tell me about conversion. thanks
 
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