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Here's something fun. Picked up this unused tiny lathe on eBay fairly cheaply.   It has a fine coating of ~50 year old sticky congealed packing grease on it that needs to be cleaned off. I'm thinking mineral spirits would do well for that? It has a teflon bearing in the headstock, so I don't want to damage that with whatever cleaning solution I use. It also needs a motor to work the pulley. Any ideas on what I should hook up to it? Shooting for at least 1/4 HP hopefully with an easy way to vary the speed. It came with some documentation on crispily aged paper, which I will scan tomorrow and post. This company seems to have been lost to the ages, because my searches reveal only a few small ads in the back of ancient Popular Mechanics magazines. This baby is definitely not for precision work, but I want to turn some dip pens with it and otherwise just make tiny little spindles.
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Jun 19, 2014 01:45
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tater_salad posted:Scroll saws are used to cut intracate things for models or joints etc. generally thickness of 1" or less. Band saws are used for a bit "rougher" work or cutting boards / lumber and allowing some ability to turn the piece. What's the intended use difference between a scroll saw and a jigsaw?
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Jun 19, 2014 02:29
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Dane posted:I was given a new(-ish, but never used) #4 Stanley and I've cleaned it up, sharpened the blade etc. I started sanding the sole flat, but after several hours on 120 grit it's still noticably concave. I'm not going for the mirror finish or anything, but is it vital that I get it completely flat? Start at 80 grit, use good sandpaper and clean or change it often or you'll be at it forever. TopherCStone posted:It also needs a motor to work the pulley. Any ideas on what I should hook up to it? Shooting for at least 1/4 HP hopefully with an easy way to vary the speed. I suspect even 1/4hp will be overkill if it's as small as it looks. I'd run it off a small DC motor. What will you do with it? wormil fucked around with this message at 03:43 on Jun 19, 2014 |
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Jun 19, 2014 03:39
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wormil posted:I suspect even 1/4hp will be overkill if it's as small as it looks. I'd run it off a small DC motor. What will you do with it? The instructions say: "Power source can be any electric motor of approximately 1725 RPM and at least 1/8HP; or a 1/4 inch electric hand drill" It goes on to say that a 2" pulley should be mounted on whatever power source and to use a 3/8 inch V belt. I'm just not sure where to find a cheap motor that also fits those needs (if it's possible). I want to avoid using a drill because they make such a terrible noise, but if that's the best option I'll go for it. I'm only going to turn down some pen blanks, which start out rectangular. I don't think there's any reasonable way to drill them on this, so I'll have to do that separately.
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Jun 19, 2014 04:57
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Splizwarf posted:What's the intended use difference between a scroll saw and a jigsaw? I'd say it's another case of a tool to wood or wood to tool pairing: Circular saw vs Table saw Router vs Router table Jigsaw vs Scroll saw Hand planer vs Lunchbox planer Drill vs Drill press Jigsaws are great for when you have to cut a reasonably accurate hole or arbitrary shape in something that is fairly large (say, cutting a hole in the back of a cabinet for power cord access). Scroll saws, on the other hand, are extremely accurate, and can have very slim blades, yet you wouldn't be able to position and manouver an assembled bookshelf around one very easily. They are perfect for detailed cutting and carving work on small pieces of wood.
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Jun 19, 2014 05:24
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TopherCStone posted:I'm just not sure where to find a cheap motor that also fits those needs (if it's possible). I want to avoid using a drill because they make such a terrible noise, but if that's the best option I'll go for it. Cheapest source for a small motor would be from an HVAC company that does repair work (some only do new installs). They should have a few fans laying around waiting for a trip to the metal recycler. Or possibly a washing machine or dryer motor from a metal scrapper (people that collect and scrap metal). There is a chance you might score a free treadmill from Craigslist but those are more rare these days and treadmill motors are typically 1hp - 2.5hp. Some other options: http://www.surpluscenter.com/electrical/ And of course, ebay.
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Jun 19, 2014 05:58
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Splizwarf posted:What's the third thread-recommended cordless tool brand after Milwaukee and Makita? It's not Ryobi, is it? A friend is asking me for advice and the things he wants initially are a string trimmer, a hedge trimmer, and a small chainsaw; the first two tools put Milwaukee out of the running because they don't appear to make 'em. Ryobi. I know Kastein has had issues with their warranty, but no one offers more tools on the same battery system, especially for the homeowner. Professional use? Not really, but for homeowners, their selection can't be beaten. I've got a pretty full setup of Makita LXT tools (drill, impact driver, circ saw, grinder, vacuum, sawzall, radio), but recently got a Ryobi setup for a string trimmer and hedge trimmer. I've got an old Toro gas-powered string trimmer, but it's a pain in the rear end to load with line, keep fueled with 2-stroke fuel, and its heavy. The Ryobi does everything I need, although I'd never mount a brush-cutter on it, and weighs about half what the Toro does. My wife can use it, too. I've also got Ryobi's Tec4 system running noise-cancelling headphones, a 3-axis laser, LED light, and some other small stuff. The headphones are amazing. I've never been a fan of DeWalt. Nothing outstanding in either the value, selection, performance, or features category. Their corded saws are good, but that's kinda it. I've never really understood why they still exist, other than a lot of contractors use their stuff out of inertia.
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Jun 19, 2014 08:00
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wormil posted:Cheapest source for a small motor would be from an HVAC company that does repair work (some only do new installs). They should have a few fans laying around waiting for a trip to the metal recycler. Or possibly a washing machine or dryer motor from a metal scrapper (people that collect and scrap metal). There is a chance you might score a free treadmill from Craigslist but those are more rare these days and treadmill motors are typically 1hp - 2.5hp. Thanks for the tips, I will look around. There are some places like that in town so I'll make a few calls.
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Jun 19, 2014 13:14
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TopherCStone posted:It has a fine coating of ~50 year old sticky congealed packing grease on it that needs to be cleaned off. It's likely to be cosmolne, which is heated up and you dip things in it. It doesn't like to come off at room temperature. So.....hot water (put the whole thing in a tub and let it sit until it gets hot) followed by WD-40 and rags. You'll have it off in no time. This is one of the only situations you'll see me suggesting the use of WD-40, as this is what it was actually made for.
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Jun 19, 2014 15:36
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Motronic posted:It's likely to be cosmolne, which is heated up and you dip things in it. It doesn't like to come off at room temperature. Great I will do that. Interestingly enough, it turns out that Champion Juicers have a 1/3HP 1725 RPM motor in them. Long story short I bought a juicer.
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Jun 19, 2014 16:29
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Aren't those juicers a few hundred bucks? You might as well have bought a used mini lathe or Harbor Freight lathe.
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Jun 19, 2014 16:41
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wormil posted:Aren't those juicers a few hundred bucks? You might as well have bought a used mini lathe or Harbor Freight lathe. More accurately, I bought only the motor part of the juicer for $30 used
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Jun 19, 2014 17:15
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Price list for lathe and lathe accessories Diagram of the lathe bits  Instructions for use of a turning knife that was not included with my purchase  General lathe instructions   And now off to clean and lube!
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Jun 20, 2014 00:13
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Got a table saw, posted elsewhere so I'll just link it: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2819334&pagenumber=195#post431182650 Don't have a long enough 3-phase extension cord so I can't reach the outlet and test it, but everything looks fine so far. Also a brace for 8 euros, I think it's german and pre-WW2, read somewhere that the company, Flott, renamed themselves Flott D.P.R. after the war, whereas this one is just called Flott. So that gives me a vague idea on how old it is, but I've never been able to find another example with a completely enclosed ratcheting mechanism like this one has, and I really like the mechanism, a really nice push button system to change the direction:     I am almost more thrilled about this than the table saw (ok not really, but I am very satisfied). Need to get an adapter so I can use ordinary bits in it, it'll be a kickass ratchet.
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Jun 20, 2014 07:54
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TopherCStone posted:Price list for lathe and lathe accessories Fascinating. Any idea of a date when this thing was made? I will venture a wild guess and say early 70's? I googled the address, just a nondescript blue store front with apartments above and graffiti on the wall.
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Jun 20, 2014 08:33
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wormil posted:Fascinating. Any idea of a date when this thing was made? I will venture a wild guess and say early 70's? I googled the address, just a nondescript blue store front with apartments above and graffiti on the wall. Nothing had a date on it, but based on the age and crispiness of the box and papers I'd go even earlier than that, maybe the '50s. That was kind of the golden age for Heathkit and all that stuff and this feels like it would fit right in with that stuff. The cosmoline tip seemed right on since the stuff softened up right away with application of hot water. I was all out of WD40 but I did liberally apply CLP and that cleaned it further and made things move smoothly. I have to work on the headstock today because I only just figured out how to take it apart. I'm already having fun with this thing and I haven't even used it yet! edit: The secret to the headstock was that the included allen wrench only works on some of the set screws. After hunting through my completely unorganized collection of ancient Craftsman wrenches I found one that fit nicely and popped it off. Cleaned the shaft and oiled everything and now it spins freely instead of being all glued up. Now I just need to mount this to a board, wait for the motor to arrive, and get turning. TopherCStone fucked around with this message at 14:38 on Jun 20, 2014 |
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Jun 20, 2014 13:18
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I need to replace my ground anchors for my trashy house so a hurricane doesn't blow it away. I'm having problems finding the tool to drive them into the ground. I live in south Louisiana so the ground is soft and thus using 48" anchors. Any advice on how to do 20 of these without killing myself or spending more than my house is worth? Most places say not to use a posthole digger because it moves too fast but also seems most people are going into clay and not swamp (harbor freight one and adapter bit maybe?). Example tools recommended: http://minutemanproducts.com/minute-man-products/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22:tools&catid=2&Itemid=131 Would an impact with something rigged up to that adapter not work? The Rigid 700 is expensive but used on ebay isn't too bad and I live in an oilfield port so if that was used for piping I could probably sell it, need to check. Thanks
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Jun 21, 2014 23:07
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I was able to drive two in using a mixer wheel i got for wall texture. Might just be better to pay the guy I have helping $20 an hour to do that since there is 18 left. If he took it slow and spread it out over a few days and when he gets tired paints it will still be way cheaper than some $1000 thing I'll never use again or hoping a $400-500 cordless impact will work? On another note: I have a 5.5HP vertical pressure washer. The paint stopped building pressure so I took it open. The inside is scalled up with hard water. What pump should I be buying to replace this that you guys recommend? I would like to order soon since i could paint later this week. Any recomendations. Are these universal or do I need to measure?
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Jun 22, 2014 02:30
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Table saw question, is this arbor long enough to take a dado set, if not a full one maybe a partial one? I measured it and it's about 42-43mm long or around 1.65" (I dunno how to express that in fraction, 1½ and some change?) Also found out it's a 20mm arbor not a 30mm as I was told by the manufacturer, this model's so old they changed it between then and now. At least there are spacers so I can get 30mm blades.
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Jun 26, 2014 06:49
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His Divine Shadow posted:Table saw question, is this arbor long enough to take a dado set, if not a full one maybe a partial one? I measured it and it's about 42-43mm long or around 1.65" (I dunno how to express that in fraction, 1½ and some change?) It doesn't look like you will be able to. How much arbor thread is sticking out when you have the flange, blade, and nut installed?
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Jun 26, 2014 14:32
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None at all, but I got some pretty beefy aftermarket stabilizers instead of a flange mounted that take up most of the space on the arbor and I heard you don't use those or a flange with a dado stack anyway so I figured I'd have more room, but I haven't measured how much. I could probably stack 3 regular blades on the arbor without the stabilizers I'd say, so perhaps two dados and a spacer, perhaps a chipper instead of a spacer?
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Jun 27, 2014 06:30
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Thought I'd share the spoils from my latest Home Depot clearance prowl. For anyone in the market for a Gas weed-whacker / trimmer... HD is clearing out two curved shaft models for 75% off. Toro 2-cycle Curved Shaft gas trimmer - $38 http://www.homedepot.com/p/Toro-2-Cycle-25-4-cc-Attachment-Capable-Curved-Shaft-Gas-String-Trimmer-51958/202071361 Ryobi 4-cycle Curved Shaftgas trimmer - $45 http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-4-Cycle-30-cc-Attachment-Capable-Curved-Shaft-Gas-Trimmer-RY34426/100661219 These two **Curved Shaft ** models are the only ones on clearance. If you are going to look for one of these, there are 3 places they might be in the store: 1) The Garden clearance section. Every HD has clearance sections (usually an end cap) 2) Mixed in with the strait shaft trimmers on the shelf. The box looks confusingly similar to the strait shaft version and the employees missed quite a few at my local HD. The shelf will no longer have the sticker for the curved shaft models, but it's worth digging through the pile. 3) In the garden tool aisle, look up at the tops of the racks where they store extra inventory. I found a few stashed on the top rack, they were not in the inventory system and the employee seemed surprised to find them there. So yea, this is a killer deal and I hope someone scores one.
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Jun 27, 2014 23:52
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Except they're curved shaft, which I don't understand the point of. It makes the trimmer actively worse when used in the normal orientation or inverted because you're closer to the cutting head. Why the hell are consumer string trimmers set up like that?
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Jun 28, 2014 00:36
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I bought a cheap curved shaft whipper snipper and regretted it. The thing was crap from day 1 and eventually the shaft snapped. Luckily it was accepted under warranty for a refund. I bought a straight shaft model of the same brand for about $50 more and it's been great.
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Jun 28, 2014 05:54
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I hate using string trimmers. I have a decent gas powered one and used to have a very nice Stihl but they numb my hands quickly. I grew up using a mowing scythe and once you get the hang of them they are much faster for large swaths of weeds, no numbness, and not any heavier than a trimmer, not great around fences that extend to the ground though. Last year I bought a sickle for trimming weeds around the yard.
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Jun 28, 2014 07:57
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Motronic posted:Except they're curved shaft, which I don't understand the point of. It makes the trimmer actively worse when used in the normal orientation or inverted because you're closer to the cutting head. You don't like trimming your toenails at the same time as your yard? I like how it makes you hold the motor up higher to maximize back pain. They do look like you can change out the attachment though so maybe you could get the straight shaft on clearance later.
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Jun 28, 2014 15:20
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Soooooo I need to cut some unistrut today. I have two options: 1) 8" abrasive metal cutting disk on my handheld circ saw with a jig 2) 10" abrasive metal cutting disk on my miter saw I'd prefer to do (2) because I think it'll get me a better cut, but the disk I have is, I believe, made for a chop saw, and I know they tend to have more guards in place to catch all them little bits that might come flying off the disk. I have blades for both (1) and (2), so I'm not committed to either yet. My miter saw spins at 4000 rpm, the 10" disk I have is rated for just shy of 7000 rpm. The way I see it, doing this on my miter saw can't be too much worse than with my handheld circ saw, and the former certainly offers better, safer control. Anyhow, I put the 10" blade on the miter saw, seems fine, gave it a spin by hand to check clearances, fired it up for a moment to make sure everything was spinning fine, but have yet to make sparks. I just wanted a sanity check before I apply blade to metal here. My experiences lie in wood, plastic, and non-ferrous metals, so I thought it would be wise to just double-check on this plan of attack. Of course, what I'd really like is a toothed blade that'll handle the steel, I've seen them, but not in a big enough diameter for my miter saw. At least on aluminum, they leave the most beautiful cuts ever. Unfortunately, nobody in town has them, it'd probably cost a hundred bucks, I'd have to special order it, and I need to make these cuts today. 
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Jun 29, 2014 15:21
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I'd use the miter saw (out in the driveway) as long as it's not hooked up to any kind of dust collector hose or bag. I'd also probably give it a blast of compressed air to clean out all of that flammable saw dust before making sparks. Carbide tipped saw blades can cut mild steel (unistrut, conduit, etc). They are pretty common items and not any more expensive than a wood blade in the same size and quality. Just make sure to get one that is rated for the RPM and arbor size of your saw. Example: http://www.amazon.com/Oshlun-SBF-10...ild+steel+blade I will say however than cutting ferrous metals on a high RPM saw can be a little dicey compared to a purpose-made metal saw which usually run in the 2k RPM range. ibpooks fucked around with this message at 19:40 on Jun 29, 2014 |
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Jun 29, 2014 19:36
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Yeah, I know about the toothed blades: like I said, I have one for non-ferrous. Only problem was that nobody in town carried a toothed blade for anything that tough, except in 8". Anyhow, the cuts went great. A few quick swipes with a file and a minute under a wire brush and it's a nice, smooth, soft edge. Perfect. Bad Munki fucked around with this message at 04:40 on Jun 30, 2014 |
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Jun 29, 2014 23:39
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This is why I bought a porta-band. Perfect tool for the job. Personally, I'd use the grinder, rather than dragging out the miter saw.
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Jun 30, 2014 04:30
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What kind of spray do you guys prefer for keeping tools rust free?
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Jun 30, 2014 06:35
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Lanolin spray seems to be the best. You can find it in marine shops quite often.
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Jun 30, 2014 08:52
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Fluid Film is the best-known brand. It's available, and basically non-toxic. Johnson's Paste Wax is another commonly used one on table saw tables and the like.
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Jun 30, 2014 16:56
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The two recommendations I had were just posted, darn it. Either of those are a great choice.
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Jun 30, 2014 20:56
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Bought some cheap tools from Lidl:  The little screwdriver is fine for 19 euros, just a bit too weak to be able to screw into wood without predrilling but I think it'll be quite useful. The nailer was a piece of poo poo though, too weak to be of any use for what I had intended, putting up crown molding. I was hoping it'd be a light weight alternative to the air driven airgun but nope. So you get what you pay for. I'd fondled a makita screwdriver and impact screwdriver/drill set in a store and the quality was far better, wish I could afford it, guess if I hadn't bought these I would have been a bit closer to doing that, so just goes to show the point about buy once, cry once! Still I am almost wondering if it's worth buying new tools maybe one should look at vintage power tools, so many people with older tools proclaiming their virtue over newer stuff out there that it makes you wonder... I figured if they're cordless then theoretically you should be able to retrofit them with new modern battery cells right?
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Jul 1, 2014 06:28
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"Vintage" cordless tools don't exist. Just old crap from the 80s with 2 minute NiCad batteries and hot, inefficient motors that need their brushes replaced. And no, you can't really easily retrofit new batteries onto old device -- they almost always have some proprietary connector so you'd have to take apart the old nickel packs and solder in new lithium cells. But then you wouldn't be able to use the proper charger and your cells would blow up. Not worth it. You can get some nice old corded tools, but they'll still need maintenance to run properly, and frankly still aren't as powerful as something new from a reputable manufacturer.
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Jul 1, 2014 06:36
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Yeah, old cordless poo poo was just poo poo. Power tools and R/C cars have a lot of crossover - up until the '90s there was no such thing as a dedicated RC battery, so the sub-C cells were the exact same thing you'd find in any power tool. It's not like the ones "made for R/C" were all that different, though. And while my dad didn't have any cordless power tools back then (as he thought they were all crap), we did race 1/12 scale. Let me tell you this, 1200 mAh NiCd cells plus a stock 540 motor does not make for much in the way of power, especially when you want it to run for eight minutes. And that's exactly what was in a power tool at the time, except it would have a wiper-resistor style trigger instead of an electronic speed control. Cheap lithium batteries, even with brushed motors like in my non-Fuel Milwaukee M18s or my dad's Ryobi Ones, are what really changed cordless drills and the like from being "well, you don't HAVE to plug it in" to "holy poo poo this thing can get work done".
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Jul 1, 2014 06:53
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I work for a company that assembles furniture then delivers it and I'm needing a good multi-tool. I've been looking around online and the market is extremely flooded with a lot of shoddy looking product. Specifically I would *like* to have one with a carabiner , gut hook ( to remove cellophane from shipping) , a phillips, pliers, and some wrenches. Just wondering if anyone had any suggestions. I don't necessarily require all those tools but the more I can have on me the less time I have to waste on digging in our "tool closet". ( Which is a fcking nightmare to find anything in.)
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Jul 1, 2014 07:31
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I think that anything from Leatherman or Gerber is going to be good.
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Jul 1, 2014 07:34
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rockrobster posted:I work for a company that assembles furniture then delivers it and I'm needing a good multi-tool. I've been looking around online and the market is extremely flooded with a lot of shoddy looking product. Specifically I would *like* to have one with a carabiner , gut hook ( to remove cellophane from shipping) , a phillips, pliers, and some wrenches. Just wondering if anyone had any suggestions. I don't necessarily require all those tools but the more I can have on me the less time I have to waste on digging in our "tool closet". ( Which is a fcking nightmare to find anything in.) Specifically the Leatherman MUT or Charge TTI might suit your needs. I don't know about the wrenches, but they both have a cutting hook, really good pliers, phillips screwdriver (and you can buy swappable bits for almost any screw), the MUT has a carabiner on it and the Charge has a built-in loop for attaching one. The Charge is basically the same thing as the Wave that I have plus a couple of extras, so it's going to be pretty solidly built. The MUT is pretty well-reviewed too.
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Jul 1, 2014 12:00
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