It didn’t take me long to once again figure out that woodworking is fun! The sound of the blade on the radial arm saw sang its familiar song and the whine of the shop vac added to the symphony. The planer and the jointer had chips flying through the air. Saw dust fell to the floor and over at the lathe wood shavings just peeled off of a leg as I touched it with my skew chisel. I have got to spend more time in the shop.

Working with wood is COOL!

Our oldest son graduated High School last year and went away to college but his younger brother was still at home. Tomorrow he will turn 18 and in a few months he will be going away to a College that is several hours away. His absence will make our house seem very empty. His musical talents (singing, piano, and flute) kept the house noisy and busy all year long: practices both at home and away, all the events he participated in kept us busy and hopping, and his friends were here adding to the “beautiful noise.”

For the past 20 years a child has been in our house. I use the word child figuratively because both of our sons stopped being children years ago and I am very proud of all they have become, but old habits die hard. It will be very strange for my wife and I to sit in a house that has been so busy for so long. I look forward to it, but I am still apprehensive. This empty nest will give us the opportunity to spend more time together and do the things we used to do, and it will also give me more time to spend in the shop. I know that this phenomenon is nothing new and parents are experiencing it every day, but it is still hard to handle when life happens.

Now how do I convince my wife I need a new band saw?

I have been working my tail off at a local park cleaning up after the long winter and years of growth. Add to that that Trout season is now open, and my wife wants me to clean the yard to get ready for my son’s graduation party, and finally I have to get the boat ready for warmer water and Bass season. When am I ever going to get into the shop to finish all the on-going projects?

I guess it is time to re-think what matters most.

My shop and tools have been neglected for the past several weeks, so I wanted to spend some time fine tuning the adjustments on the DeWalt and blow the dust off of the surfaces of the rest of the tools. I also wanted to start the next project: a valet/charging station. I picked up some really nice wood (no idea what kind as of yet) from some pallets at work that looked too good to be used as a pallet and wanted to start working the wood to get rid of all the rough surfaces.

I wound up cleaning the shop and using all of my big tools except the scroll saw (which reminds me I need to get a new belt.) In the process I filled the trash can with wood shavings I had just made: I love the smell of saw dust in the morning, afternoon, and evening!

It is an early 1940’s Dunlap 4”x36” belt sander that is missing a few pieces. This is a 103.08011: the 103 means it was made by King-Seeley for Sears and Roebucks. Dunlap serves as the economical part of the Sears tool line.

There is supposed to be an 8” disk that goes with it and tables for both but they have parted ways years ago. In addition, the drive wheel was broken and needs to be replaced. Aside from the obvious missing pieces and broken wheel, not much else is wrong with… other than the color.

When I am finished, I hope to have as complete a machine as possible. I have a newer (Japanese made) AMT belt sander that is going to sacrifice the drive wheel, and I also have an 8” disk wheel and table from another machine that died a few years ago, so I am going to make one complete sander out of the three. I just want to make sure that my attempt as Dr. Frankenstein has better results.

Oh yeah, the price for this piece was free: I just had to get it from Oklahoma to Pennsylvania, so $39.00 in postage is all it cost me. Now if it stays worm enough I can get rid of the blue color and convert it to my black/gold color scheme.

I wanted to spend the whole day in the shop, but since I did “me” things all day yesterday I spent some time with the wife this afternoon and we went to watch the Canadian Snow Geese at a local wildlife refuge.

If the temps stay in the 40’s/50’s, it will soon be time to start making some saw dust!

I would use this time of year to do most of my wood working because when it is warm and there isn’t ice on the water, I’d rather be fishing. When it is hot, my MS won’t allow me to stay in the heat for very long – saw blades and health issues do not mix! This winter cold temperatures have forced me to stay in the house and watch my “honey do list” grow, and grown, and grow. Temperatures are staying in the single digits or in the teens. One day we had a heat wave in the high 30’s, but that wasn’t warm enough to get me out of the house. This winter has me considering ripping out the walls in the garage and adding some insulation and installing a new door that would keep the cold outside where it belongs.

My lathe and chisels long to be used and the saw blades are hungry for some wood. I have picked up several “new” tools that need (and want) to be restored but the weather just won’t cooperate. I keep checking out all the projects here on LJ’s and long for the sound of the saw doing it’s job in my shop – if only it were to warm up…

Someday soon winter’s cold will head south for the summer and warmth will once again reign. I just hope it hurries up!

The only things left to do are repainting the logo plate, finding or making a cap for the pump tube, and remake the model number plate.

I also need to get the right size belt to fit properly (I think I am going with the link belt), but I put one on to make sure it works and it cuts fine.

The motor is an old Wagner Electric ¼ hp motor that a little bit of work to fit this application, but I think it adds to the appearance of this vintage saw.

When I made my sister in-laws music stand, I went out and bought a new Craftsman scroll saw. I was cutting ¼” oak and the saw was being overworked the entire time. Today I was cutting some ¾” pine without any hesitation. I have a slightly used scroll saw for sale: anyone interested?

When I was all finished for the day, I had to move the saw off of my table saw and onto my work bench. This saw now requires two people to lift it. The next project will probably be a mobile stand to mount it on.

It has come a long way in a short time.

Thanks for reading and I hope you see that just becasue it is old and dirty, doesn’t mean it can’t be cleaned up and used for another 60 years. I am really liking this gold and black color scheme.

This saw has a 24 inch throat with a 14 inch table. My current scroll saw is a newer version of the Craftsman line that reads 16”, but I wouldn’t cut anything over 12 on it because it is too small. I have been working with wood for most of my life and have seen 24” inches countless times but it never really seemed fitting until I saw this saw for the first time.

Photos do not do this saw any justice. The first time I picked it up, I grunted. It weighs in at about 80 pounds without a motor (it actually mounts on the bed of the saw in the trough behind the table). With the motor installed (I have a vintage Wagner ¼ hp set aside for this one) it should top out over 115 pounds. This saw will not be very portable, but it won’t vibrate away either.

The table is 14” X 14” and even has the capability of accepting extensions and a rip fence. The upper arm can be removed and the saw can be converted to a saber saw, and there is even a router attachment. (Sadly I fear that searching for some of these parts may be a wild goose chase, but I know the accessories exist. Half the fun I have in owning these tools is the search for the accessories.)

There are so few moving parts that this saw is simplistic. Why do I like vintage tools, because they hold up a lot better than those built today, and not only that, but they look a whole lot better!

More to follow…

It is a Craftsman 103.23340 4 3/8” that I bought about one year ago for $10.00. When I brought it into my garage it was sporting a gray coat, and I was content with that but after completing the planer, I knew what I needed to do.

I had the jointer on a work table that had lots of open space so I knew the planer was going next to the jointer so everything would be on the same surface. After spending all the time making the planer look so nice I wasn’t going to put the planer next to the jointer with it looking the way it did, so I decided it was time to spruce up the jointer.

I completely disassembled, cleaned, and painted the jointer to match the planer. I also had the table the jointer was on with a big open hole on one side, so I filled it with the planer. Now I have my table for two.

As I stated earlier, I believe that old wood working machines are more reliable than new tools, they are really inexpensive compare to the price of new tools, and with a little bit of effort, they can look just as good as new tools. This is now my third complete restoration and I think I am in trouble…I am having too much fun, and the local auction house has tools for sale.