I am in power tool maintenance/repair mode right now...

[Kerry Krishna]

  In the middle of a shop clean up  a few weeks ago (a year overdue!) I started doing all the maintenance repairs on my broken tools.

           I started by working on a benchtop bandsaw that was totally underpowered. I only use it occasionally for cutting metal, and actually, has great quality parts, except for the motor. That project is just waiting for a toothed belt.       

        Then onto the oscillating sander that I wrote that thread about, and rebuilding the thickness sander that is attached to it...

      Now  after cleaning out plugged dust collection ductwork,  I will see yet again, about sealing all leaks in the system. Duct tape seems to be the answer at this point. It was the 6 inch industrial jointer that was causing so much of the problem. The dust collection, for some reason I have never figured out, has never worked. I will now be using the giant RIDGED  shop vac from here on in, and closely monitoring it . I REALLY want this problem to go away, and possibly me resealing all the ductwork will do the trick.  

     Yesterday and today, it's the 1960 industrial Rockwell 48 inch belt sander. I am doing small  but important repairs, repositioning the tool in my shop which means relocating the on/off switch,  totally having to carve up the horridly designed and executed  3 inch dust collection vent, then having to buy a new 4 inch blast vent and all the hosing... I had to take the cast white metal 3 inch vent to the workbench vice, and hacksaw off the entire vent, then rebuild the whole thing  with PVC parts and quite a bit of GOOP (man that stuff comes in SO handy for so many jobs here in the shop!)  and also, I had to cut off a protruding and now useless shelf. 

    And then late last night while almost asleep, it occurred to me...After 4 years, the time has come that I rebuild the giant 23 inch overhead drum sander for the 4th time.

This tool, I designed and built myself with no set plan or blueprint.  To say it was a giant mistake would be the biggest understatement I could possibly make about my shop...

     I have over $600 invested in parts, and the tool has been torn down to a tabletop 3 times now, trying to figure out major glitches that prevent it's use.  The vera last time I tore it down I figured out finally why the drum is unbalanced, then, secure in that knowledge, stopped work on it. I thought I deserved/needed a rest.

If I am able to get it 100% up and running, I will be as thrilled as it is possible for me to be! 

     Anyway, it is all progress in the shop, the cleanup is still underway, and when it's all finished, I will be able to do so much more... 

What do you all think? What are YOU working on in YOUR shop? 

   

[Steve Bettesworth]

Don’t know I I can dignify my shed with the title workshop, but it’s all I have. Since building it some 3 years ago layout has been a constant state of flux depending upon what needs doing and which tools have to be out. Space being a premium sensible storage is vital, and I like to use small tool chests rather like the Gerstner Chest, you could buy these really cheaply a few years back, I even had one or two full of tools costing about £30. Current workshop job is to put a new top on the bench, but wood is very expensive so looking at scaffold boards. Lighting is always an issue so I’ve bought several anglepoise lamps from car boots for a few pennies, once the base is removed these can then be slotted into holes cut into the bench top. I’m of the opinion though that the perfect workshop is but a pipedream, a happy unachievable goal.

[Ned Knepp]

Steve, over here we have exterior wood doors that are "solid core" that work well for heavy bench tops. They are usually 1.5 to 2 inches thick and are build using what we call "particle board" with solid edges. It's not unusually to find them being replaced with steel doors in business remodeling jobs. If there are also used there it may be possible to fine one for free. They're usually a bit too wide for a bench against a wall but they can be cut down.

[Steve Bettesworth]

Thanks for the tip Ned. I rarely pass a skip without investigating its contents I'll keep an eye out for doors. The problem is builders tend to use them to build up the sides of the skip allowing them to get more in.

[Ned Knepp]

Steve, Find a place that is being torn down or extensively remodeled and ask if they have any that they are going to trash. They may be happy to have you same them the trouble of hauling it to the trash.  Just make sure it's a solid core door. Over here, in commercial buildings those will be " fire" doors on the interior or "front" doors for multi company office buildings. On houses, they will mostly be exterior doors only. If it's heavy enough to almost need two people to move, it's solid core.

[Steve Bettesworth]

Thanks Ned will keep my eyes open.

[Mark Pollock]

I use a Ridgid shop vac too, and those filters just clog so fast that I think the power really suffers right away. I keep a spare, especially now that I know I can hose them of and they are clean again. (That was an expensive bit of knowledge to acquire.)

I hate to say this, but we may both have to get serious about dust collection, not just using a shop vac. Bleagh.

[Kerry Krishna]

  The RIDGED shop vac is certainly a winner too! It is everything a great shop vac should be. All I have to compare it to though, is the old style shop vacs, that had way too small diameter hoses, and were so screaming loud, you could not have a conversation with anyone within 40 feet of one that was running. 

   It also occurred to me yesterday, that I could be doing all the outfitting on my compressed air tanks, and run some hoses. I bought two 100 gallon tanks, and a new compressor years ago, and have never done the work. The tanks are mounted upsidedown at head height, and waiting for all the hoses/regulators and such. It would be nice to have it set up anyway, even if I do not have any use of it right now. 

[George Roberts]

My most recent improvement has been to install the linked belts on all the power tools that have belts.  I did this a couple of years ago on my 14 inch Delta bandsaw, and what a dramatic change.  From vibrating and bouncing around the floor, it became "smooth as silk."   Last week when things were bouncing around on my Atlas wood lathe, I changed the belt to the linked type, and again it smoothed things right out.  So then I changed out the belt on the 1942 Logan metal lathe, the Taiwanese drill press, and the cobbled together horizontal belt sander.  Lots of benefit from not much money.

George

[Kerry Krishna]

 I just spent about 4 hours tracing and plugging leaks and checking blast gates on the dust collection ductwork. I found some pretty big problems that I had not seen ,just because I had not been looking! And man, is it TIGHT now! Huge suction at both ends! 

[Kerry Krishna]

 I finally got over my fear, got OFF the computer a few hours ago, and started work on the drum sander that I built.

  It looks like an almost total rebuild is in order again. This time is a bit different though. I have some measuring tools I did not have before, and a better understanding of how all of it should be working. 

 I have already found some of the problems, and mean to rectify the 3 or 4 things that I can identify. I built it out of two inch thick laminated MDF. It seems that THAT was one of the problems. I will see if I can continue using the sides where the bearing shafts were attached. 

 It was out of square at the top too. I AM starting to figure it out! Wish me luck! 

[Kerry Krishna]

[Kerry Krishna]

The above pics are  1: what the machine SHOULD look like... 2: what the machine has been being actually USED for,...3: the table height control wheel and the drum itself... The motor is a 220v 3hp behemoth . All 4 bolts are attached at the bottom under the wooden cowling to a bike chain,  and cogs and a tensioner at the back.