Got it. You most certainly show up to work better equipped than I do when I go to retrieve and old woodworking machine but can relate to curve balls when going to a new location.
Fun With Old Iron
- Thread starter Eric Patterson
- Start date
The Danckaert shaper is ready for work. After picking it up and doing a thorough evaluation I learned she had some real issues to overcome. For starters it had no starter. The previous owner hard wired it to his panel and threw a breaker to turn it on and off. Yikes. I put a new starter on it and powered it up. The motor emitted smoke. I hadn't mis-wired it. I pulled the motor out and took it apart. The windings were shorted and scorched. Obviously a result of the previous owner relying on the circuit break for protection.
I bought a Baldor 5hp motor, replaced the bearings, installed it in the cabinet, added the proper heaters in the new starter and she ran like a motor should. Under new power I soon learned the bearings were toast. I completely took the machine apart and removed the bearings. The top bearing's cage was mostly destroyed. While she was all apart I cleaned the crap out of the interior. I could have painted it at that point but the original paint was in good shape, unlike the rest of the machine.
With new bearing in I assessed spindle runout. Damn, the spindle is bent! I took the whole machine to a local machinist so he could make me a new spindle and assess the fit while doing it. Making a precise taper to who only knows what the actual taper is takes some careful measuring. While he was at it I had him make me a new 1 1/4", 1", and 3/4". Replacing the spindles is actually quite easy so I decided to make this machine capable of running all my tooling.
With all the electrical and mechanical issues behind me the last thing to do was make a fence. Researching shaper fences at OWWM.org led me down the path to a design that should work well in my shop. I band sawed a bunch of 4/4 cherry to a pattern I made from my mind's eye and cleaned it up with a router/template set-up and then laminated the boards together. I made some fence boards with a tee slots for adjustability. Finally I welded some t-bolts from bar stock and all-thread and scrounged up some machine handles to lock the fence in place.
The below pictures show the final result of my efforts. She was in a lot worse shape than I hoped for at the beginning but no doubt she's ready for many more years of service now.
I bought a Baldor 5hp motor, replaced the bearings, installed it in the cabinet, added the proper heaters in the new starter and she ran like a motor should. Under new power I soon learned the bearings were toast. I completely took the machine apart and removed the bearings. The top bearing's cage was mostly destroyed. While she was all apart I cleaned the crap out of the interior. I could have painted it at that point but the original paint was in good shape, unlike the rest of the machine.
With new bearing in I assessed spindle runout. Damn, the spindle is bent! I took the whole machine to a local machinist so he could make me a new spindle and assess the fit while doing it. Making a precise taper to who only knows what the actual taper is takes some careful measuring. While he was at it I had him make me a new 1 1/4", 1", and 3/4". Replacing the spindles is actually quite easy so I decided to make this machine capable of running all my tooling.
With all the electrical and mechanical issues behind me the last thing to do was make a fence. Researching shaper fences at OWWM.org led me down the path to a design that should work well in my shop. I band sawed a bunch of 4/4 cherry to a pattern I made from my mind's eye and cleaned it up with a router/template set-up and then laminated the boards together. I made some fence boards with a tee slots for adjustability. Finally I welded some t-bolts from bar stock and all-thread and scrounged up some machine handles to lock the fence in place.
The below pictures show the final result of my efforts. She was in a lot worse shape than I hoped for at the beginning but no doubt she's ready for many more years of service now.
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Huntindave McCann
Well-known member
Eric,
Someday, someone, will stumble into your shop and wonder how he stepped back into the 40's. Much of the machine shop equipment in use back in 1979 when I switch careers into metal machining, was equipment built during and for the war effort. Solid bases, motors not lacking power for the intended job. Machines that commanded respect. We had a drill sharpener which still ran a flat leather belt from the motor to the spindle.
Nice restore job.
Someday, someone, will stumble into your shop and wonder how he stepped back into the 40's. Much of the machine shop equipment in use back in 1979 when I switch careers into metal machining, was equipment built during and for the war effort. Solid bases, motors not lacking power for the intended job. Machines that commanded respect. We had a drill sharpener which still ran a flat leather belt from the motor to the spindle.
Nice restore job.
Richard Lathrop
Well-known member
Eric,
I am always humbled and impressed with your work and your shop.
Rick
I am always humbled and impressed with your work and your shop.
Rick
Looks great!
DaveEric,
Someday, someone, will stumble into your shop and wonder how he stepped back into the 40's. Much of the machine shop equipment in use back in 1979 when I switch careers into metal machining, was equipment built during and for the war effort. Solid bases, motors not lacking power for the intended job. Machines that commanded respect. We had a drill sharpener which still ran a flat leather belt from the motor to the spindle.
Nice restore job.
The number of vintage machines left to restore is now two. An edge sander and a tenoner. After that I think future purchases will be along the lines of CNC. So far I've resisted the urge to buy metal working machines, even though a Colchester Student lathe got damn close to finding a spot.
Huntindave McCann
Well-known member
I should share my latest 3D printed project.
You should. Can it carry Toto?