A couple of new Arn finds

It's been a while since I've posted - been caught up in a few other projects (restoring the Robert Green site over at ModusModern, working on my broke truck, and others to name a few). I did pick up a couple of new "old" woodworking tools that might be of interest though. These are from the week of August 13th, 2007 so I've had a little time to look them over (pics were taken the day I got the shaper though).

Saw an ad Monday (8/13) for the Jointer for $50 and picked it up on Tuesday. It's a bit unusual and not exactly the same as those similar models on the OWWM Mothership - I think it's pretty early by the serial number tag and it's missing some bits (crank handles). It spins up well on that crappy 2x4 homemade stand and the Dayton motor works (even though it sparks a bit). The table is a bit rusty but doesn't look pitted and the rest is in pretty decent shape. Shouldn't take too much to get it right.









Saw an ad for the Craftsman Shaper on Thursday (8/16) and picked it up on the way home from work - $100 with 27 cutters, wrenches, etc. He threw in the Rockwell miter gage since he didn't have the original, optional Craftsman one. I like the original stand - also the serial numbers are slightly different from those on the OWWM Mothership so I think this is a new entry.

I've been told those cutters go for $5 a piece so I basically got the Shaper for free. It's neat and ready to go - I'll probably do a bit of clean up and tweek it some but otherwise it's ready to profile some wood! The miter gauge I'm addingi to my Unisaw.

-- John

Creating Modern Furniture Book

Posted on one of my other blogs about my latest interesting woodworking book find: Creating Modern Furniture:
http://johnnyapollo.blogspot.com/2007/07/modern-woodworking-book.html

-- John

So what's modern about this?

OK - so the title is a bit misleading. It reflects my interest in modern furniture - my interest in tools is just the opposite - the older the better. I like old iron (or Arn) powered tools that were built from the turn of the century up to the 60's. Those heavier, cast-iron tools just run so smoothly that they are a wonder to use. I also like hand tools - old planes, spoke shaves, chisels and saws. There's something about the tactile sensation of using hand tools that are a decided break for me. I'm not sure where that's from (probably got it from my dad).

In any case, I'm still working on moving my shop around so I haven't been good about restoring the Unisaw - I have been busy acquiring new arn, however:

Rockwell Motorized Miter Box Model 34-010

The base and lower swing arm are painted iron, with an aluminum fence and motor housing. Looks almost like they took an aluminum 10" circular saw and changed the housing to fit the swing (could be wrong - I used to work with a vintage circular saw and the handle was more in a top position). It runs great - currently has the blade it came with mounted and needs a thorough cleaning. Pics below:

I got this from a Danish guy who worked for House of Denmark and Dansk for many years. He would bring home the broken floor pieces that were headed for the trash and fix them up in his shop - nice double-viced handtool bench in there (that he was keeping or it would have come home with me). Most of the wood he had was some type of discolored white oak - almost looked like reclaimed lumber or possibly barn wood so I passed - (however I did end up going back for it and picked up an old Bang and Olufsen stereo as well).

Dewalt RAS MBC Rel. 22 Serial #140358

This one comes with the original paint in pretty decent condition and it appears complete and runs sweet. The guy who had it was given it by an old neighbor whose husband had passed away - seems he was the original owner and bought the saw new. I walked away with it for $75 (his asking price).

After I loaded up I asked if he had any of the dirty paper or the arbor wrench - he said no and I about drove off when he said "I do have a Dado set that was given to me with saw" - he threw it in for free. Thought it might be of interest - I've never seen a box that had to be renailed shut like this one - still has the original oil paper:


Delta 6-in. Dado Head No. 33




No idea where I'm gonna put this saw yet - it joins my 790 and 7730. I really don't have room or need for 3 saws - man the slope is slippery indeed.

-- John

Unisaw - Part 3 Continued

Took some additional images from the last stage, these include the broken tooth (near the bottom, 6th):



These images show the ground out front trunnion bracket (the welds have been ground down) - there's a small hairline gap in the inside corner - I'm having it touched up this weekend as well as some slight voids.

The inside of the case isn't bad - not much rust at all, mostly at the bottom (expected). No weird cut-outs or anything - just some clean-up. I've already banged out some edge dents that will be followed up with a light coat of body putty.

The base has ruts but mostly surface with little pitting - I think it will clean up well with the sandblasting - any rough spots I'll hit with body putty. There are two holes that were cut with the castors - I'm not yet sure what to do about those. Welding to the cast iron seems excessive.

Once I have the trunnion assembly pulled apart I'm starting on the motor rebuild - I may go ahead and take it apart so the commutator can be turned.

-- John

Unisaw - Part 3 Dissembly

For this phase of strip down, I managed to remove the motor and blade raise and tilt wheels. Many of these photos I took for later reference, as I know I'll need them at some point for reassembly:

I managed to remove the trunnion assembly and brackets without pressing out the worm gear spindles. I was at the point of dissembly this past weekend where I had the guts loose, but couldn't figure out how to get them out. I basically tilted up the back trunnion bracket while jockeying the front and moving the trunnion assembly back and forth until the back bracket had room to come out. Once that was done removing the "rest" (the "tilt trunnion bracket - the piece that holds the front of the trunnion assembly up on the front bracket) allowed the whole assembly to be removed in one piece. So now I have the front and rear bracket, plus the trunnion assembly, which is where I stopped in hope of finding more info on what's needed to tear it down - I got that from a recent post on OWWM.org (Old Woodworking Machinery.org - great site with a large group of woodworkers and old machinery collectors who are great about sharing information).

As you can see in the last pic, I've already got the ring apart from the base (ended up having to cut two bolts that were badly stripped) and banged out a few dents - everything is ready for media blasting (case-wise). I hope to get more dissembled this week so I can blast this weekend. I'll follow that with some body work, primer and paint.

-- John