# machine restorations



## rasp (Mar 20, 2012)

*Rockwell Beaver 3400 gap bed lathe*

I have been searching kijiji high and low for about a year now, looking for just the right deal.

I found that deal about 2 weeks ago. 60km~ away from home, a nice relaxing cruise to Orillia.

The fellow I bought this off was quite friendly. Sometimes walking into strangers homes can be unnerving. He showed me some things he made with the lathe over the years, one of which was a solid pine bed frame, very nicely turned in a rustic manner, stained red and painted black to give it that "wear finish" look.

this particular lathe was $100, and it came with two 1/4hp 1725rpm Westinghouse motors, a set of 6 Robert Sorby turning tools, and 4 lesser quality Craftsman turning tools. The fellow also included a belt powered sickle grinder. I'd consider that a pretty good deal, but the lathe is missing some of the accessories, various face plates, the 24" tool rest, the 90 degree tool rest for working on bowls… I will have to track these accessories down.










The lathe came on it's original stand, which is fine with me, except it had particle core shelves bolted to the metal frame. I immediately tossed these. I cut a piece of 3/4 MDF and painted it with several coats of house paint, nicely sealed up. For the top I used what I had laying around the garage, some pine 2×12 that had been sitting here for ages. Just an inch or two too short, and an inch too narrow. So I added red oak edging and breadboard ends to extend the top a little bit in both directions. I splined the edging so it wouldn't slide away on me during glue up.

Although the lathe was NOT in rough condition, and in perfect working order, I just had an urge to tear it apart, clean it, repaint it, and make it look new again. For 20 dollars in paint and a few hours waiting for it to dry, I think the results speak for themselves.

another before picture










this is the sickle grinder included with the lathe, I have this sitting on my grinder stand (Craftsman grinder and stand, another kijiji deal for $30)



















repainting this particular tool was quite fun, there aren't many parts.










painted the motor bright red, just to give it some colour.

So with all the parts painted and ready for re-assembly…

I start on the top. I wanted something heavy and beefy. The Big chunk of pine wrapped in red oak would look pretty good..










here you can see the spline for the edging, and some relief cuts made in the bottom side of the pine 2×12, hopefully to prevent it from warping too much.










lastly, I glued a big block of oak together with a space in the middle. I'm going to dado this material out anyways, so I glued up two 3/4 pieces of oak with a 1/4 inch~ (roughly) spacer between them. I make the breadboard piece long enough that it can be cut to make both ends.










and after a few coats of satin Varathane, everything can be re-assembled. this is the most fun part of the restoration, obviously



















all done

last thing to do is make a hinge for the motor so it keeps its tension.

oh, and I thought I would add this picture as well. Most of you have the luxury of being able to cut and sand wood indoors. I do not have this luxury, and have to do most of my work outdoors, to keep the sawdust out of the garage and off my dads truck (it's a fancy truck)..

so mid project, my work area looks like this










the leaf blower is my electric broom. I also recently got a planer stand, but I need to make it mobile, and a top for it as well.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

rasp said:


> *Rockwell Beaver 3400 gap bed lathe*
> 
> I have been searching kijiji high and low for about a year now, looking for just the right deal.
> 
> ...


sweet find! and nice clean up job. these lathes will last a life time - or 2 - or 3….


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## praspekt (Mar 21, 2013)

rasp said:


> *Rockwell Beaver 3400 gap bed lathe*
> 
> I have been searching kijiji high and low for about a year now, looking for just the right deal.
> 
> ...


i just picked up the exact lathe for 100$ too.. it runs great, though the threading is smaller then all my other lathe attachments.. i found an adapter to 1" 8 tpi.. is the current thread count and size 3/4" 16tpi???

thanks!!


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## rasp (Mar 20, 2012)

*Rockwell Unisaw *

before. $500 on kijiji.










after. $30 in paint










I should have bought a quart of paint and mixed it in a spray gun, instead of using spray bombs or rattle cans, whichever you want to call them. The paint turned out a little streaky. I plan on putting this saw to use the way it was originally intended. I bought this saw off a machinist/welder who was using it as a workbench in the corner of his garage.

3hp Baldor single phase 220V motor (worth over 500$ alone!)

jet lock fence.. this is a big improvement over my Rockwell Beaver 9" tablesaw, and it's devil inspired rail fence, which always binds and never locks down parallel to the blade. the unisaw fence rails are much beefier and the fence doesn't bind AS MUCH. this may need to be replaced in the future with a Biesemeyer..

24" and 48" fence rails came included. currently using the 24" rails to take up less space. Eventually I will have longer rails. I was thinking (perhaps dreaming) that one day I'll make the extension table out of a old slab of granite or something.

I have a few more modern modifications in mind before I finish this up. Will post.

here's a little picture. the future planer stand, my old Beaver 9" , and the new 10" Unisaw.


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## SirFatty (May 5, 2012)

rasp said:


> *Rockwell Unisaw *
> 
> before. $500 on kijiji.
> 
> ...


I see these posts of kijiji deals, craigslist deals.. and I never EVER see these things. The only table saws I ever see are Craftsman portable table saws (or some generic brand, like Tool Shop).

Good find!


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## Gshepherd (May 16, 2012)

rasp said:


> *Rockwell Unisaw *
> 
> before. $500 on kijiji.
> 
> ...


Ya gotta love the old iron…... Saw is looking mighty nice and will serve well for another 50 years…..


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## rasp (Mar 20, 2012)

rasp said:


> *Rockwell Unisaw *
> 
> before. $500 on kijiji.
> 
> ...


you have to jump on some kijiji deals, be willing to leave the house in 5 minutes, without forgetting a pocketful of cash or the directions to the persons house . i missed a delta unisaw for 500$ by 5 minutes…


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## rasp (Mar 20, 2012)

*Rockwell Unisaw finished*

so I finished up the Rockwell today, my brother had some 3/8 cold rolled steel plate cut with a water jet, drilled and tapped with fine thread. a hefty bolt will act as the foot for the levelers




























my dad helped me weld the pieces in, good father/son project for fathers day










good penetration, shouldn't go anywhere










coat of paint.. wait til it dries










re-assemble

and i needed some help lifting this cast iron behemoth onto the base without scratching the paint










I might sell this, I might keep it. I'm undecided. I had to spend 48$ on a 4 prong plug that's compatible with the plug on the wall. it is shared between a welder, a metal lathe, this table saw and a Rockwell jointer


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## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

rasp said:


> *Rockwell Unisaw finished*
> 
> so I finished up the Rockwell today, my brother had some 3/8 cold rolled steel plate cut with a water jet, drilled and tapped with fine thread. a hefty bolt will act as the foot for the levelers
> 
> ...


Congrats thats a nice Unisaw!


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