A Closet Door Knob Revivification

I have a couple of knobs from an old pair of bedroom closet doors that are in need of some work. Here's a view of them.

Needless to say, that paint job has to go. I want the knobs to end up with a metallic, silvery colour. I have on hand some steel wheel paint that may be ideal, if the spray can still works; the spray paint can is pretty old.

Another problem is that those No. 12 x 1" fastening screws are too short. Something a little longer is needed. All I have on hand that may be suitable is some M6 x 35mm machine screws.

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With a little judicious reworking of the knobs' bores, I was able to get the M6 screws to fit. The hardwood that the knobs are made from is tough enough that I was able to get it to take an adequate machine screw thread.

Paint stripper took care of the bulk of the latex paint, but the knobs needed to be sanded to paint-readiness on the lathe. A mandrel was needed. I sawed the head off an M6 screw, slotted one end of the screw and I had a rudimentary mandrel, like so.

And here we are with one of the knobs just sanded to paint-readiness.

A coat of grey primer, and two coats of steel wheel paint and I have my finished knobs.

All-in-all, not a bad recovery from the mess that the knobs were when I started.

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Paddle Switch -- Busy Bee Cat. No. B2416P

Paddle switches on workshop machines are a good idea; there's no groping about for a small toggle switch lever to shut down a machine, you just slap the paddle. So, when I saw Busy Bee's item^[1] on special for $5.99 from the regular $9.99 I bought two -- one for my 10" table saw, and one for an antique 8" table saw that I'm restoring. Here's a view of a switch still in its package.

It's a bit of a challenge to install these things because of their shape and dimensions, but they can readily be made to fit a common surface-mount utility box like the Iberville BC1110.

You'll need a blank box cover like the Iberville BC11-C-4. Create a 21mm x 37mm rectangular opening^[2] in the cover, like so.

That size of opening accepts the switch nicely.

The switch's terminals are 1/4" male spade terminals. Ordinary straight female spade terminals will work, but you'll have to bend things a bit to get the affair to fit inside the box, like so.

And here we are all buttoned up and ready to cut wood.

That's a big improvement over the toggle switch that was there before.

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Notes:

[1] Busy Bee Cat. No B2416P is a SPST switch. There's also a DPST version, Cat. No. B2417P -- same price.

[2] The switch is made to metric dimensions, so I stated the opening dimensions in mm. A near equivalent in inches would be 13/16" x 1 7/16", but an opening that size would be slightly undersize.

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Salvaging Off-Cuts

With the price of virgin material being what it is, I've found it worthwhile to go to considerable lengths to make good use of off-cuts wherever and whenever I can. By means of lamination and biscuit joinery, one can make very good use of odd bits of material. A recent example is a 'floor' I made for an open-framed dolly. Here's a view of the dolly doing its job under a saw stand.

That void in the middle of the dolly is just begging for a floor. A piece of 1/2" plywood would be ideal, but I don't have any of that on hand. What I did have on hand was --

• A piece of 7mm firply.
• A piece of 1/4" poplar flooring underlay plywood.
• A length of 1"x2" clear pine.

Thickness plane the 1"x2" as required, put those items together with glue and biscuits, and you get a large enough panel, like this.

Here's a closeup view of one corner.

And now the dolly has a floor.

Not a bad outcome from six biscuits, some glue and some 'waste' material.

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Ridgid's Oscillating Edge Belt/Spindle Sander Model No. EB4424

I finally got one of these for a reasonable price.

It appears that if you have your eye on a piece of machinery from the Home Depot, it pays to be patient, and check often for price changes.

Some weeks ago, this sander was on for $229.00. Then, the price jumped up to $259.00 and stayed there for weeks. I was in the local store yesterday for some odds and ends, and I went over to the tools section for a look-see -- the sander was on for $199.00! I figured that's likely the best price I'll ever see it at, so I got one.

I'll get around to unpacking it soon, and seeing if the machine is as good as I hope it is.

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HDE Digital Photo Tachometer DT-2234C+

A photo tachometer is a thing that I don't truly, absolutely need, but it's something I've wanted to have for a long time. Sometimes, I'd just like to know the actual speed of a piece of rotating workshop machinery for no other reason than 'just because'. So, when I found this item on Amazon for a very reasonable price ($14.95 CDN + shipping), I couldn't resist. I ordered one up and it arrived yesterday, one day earlier than Amazon said it would. Here's a view of the thing.

It comes without a battery. A single 9V rectangular battery is all that's needed. The strips down in front are adhesive reflective tape strips. There's about a 24-inch supply there.

I read the little manual, stuck a piece of tape on the spindle of my wood lathe and tried the device out. It works as advertised; I'm delighted with it.

Setting Up For A Measurement

Any rotating device to be tested must have a target adhered to it that the instrument can get a light reflection from -- that's where the reflective tape comes in. Stick a bit of the tape onto your rotating shaft or whatever, like so.

The pressure-sensitive tape adheres quite well to clean, smooth surfaces.

Set the shaft to rotating, aim the tachometer at the target and press and hold the TEST button and you'll begin to get your reading, like so.

A highly visible red light beam floods the target area, making it very easy to see that you're holding the tachometer correctly aimed. When the instrument is getting a signal, there's a 'MONITOR INDICATOR' symbol that comes on in the display directly above the least significant digit. (It looks like three sets of parentheses around a dot.) If you're not seeing the MONITOR INDICATOR in the display, you're not getting a reading.

And that's about it. As long as you keep the TEST button depressed, and you have a MONITOR INDICATOR in the display, you'll continue to get a live reading of the target shaft's rotational speed.

Following a reading, the MEM button lets you retrieve the lowest, highest and last speeds that the instrument observed. I'm not sure how useful that information is, but it's there for whatever it's worth.

An Alternative To The Reflective Tape

Don't worry about running out of tape; Liquid Paper or Wite-Out work fine. This splotch of Wite-Out on a table saw motor's shaft yielded an acceptable target for the tachometer to read from.

If you get an erratic reading, or a reading that's not credible, wrap the shaft to be tested with black friction tape and apply a Wite-Out splotch to the tape, like so.

Black electrical tape is too glossy to work reliably.

An Operational Test Method

There's a quick-and-dirty way to check the tachometer's functionality that doesn't involve any machinery. Just aim the unit at a nearby conventionally-ballasted fluorescent light, and you should get a reading of 7,200 rpm, or very close to it.

Our eyes' persistence-of-vision doesn't allow us to see it, but fluorescent lights actually extinguish and relight 120 times per second. Multiply 120 times per second by 60 seconds per minute, and you get 7,200, so 7,200 rpm is what the tachometer 'observes' when it's given a fluorescent light's output for an input. Fluorescent lights with solid-state ballasts operate at a different rate entirely. I tried getting a reading off of one, and obtained nothing sensible.

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Further To Wite-Out Splotch Markers -- SUNDAY, May 28, 2017

I tried the Wite-Out splotch method on a lawnmower engine's flywheel and it worked fine. Here's a view of the splotch peeking out from under the engine's shroud.

The contrast between the white splotch and the metallic substrate is sufficient for the instrument to obtain a reading.

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A Tilting-Table 8" Table Saw

I should know better by now than to take on 8" table saw restoration projects, but this piece of junk was free, and I couldn't resist.

The 8" saw blade diameter is utterly obsolete -- it's difficult to find replacement blades. But the 8" saws take me back to my long lost youth, so I like to see them brought back to useful life, even though they're next-to-impossible to sell. With this machine, I'm going to see if I can coax an 8 1/4" blade into it. 8 1/4" appears to be a current blade diameter that can maybe extend the life of these old-timers.

As it currently stands, the saw is the usual mess of tinkered-up components, with much (just about everything) wrong with it.

The Saw Itself

There's no maker's name on the saw, just an embossed "MODEL S 25" in front.

Googling "MODEL S 25 table saw" got me nothing.

The rip fence and mitre gauge are actually pretty decent. The throat insert is a wretched, shop-made piece of scrap metal that will have to be replaced. The arbor bearings aren't gone, but they feel grease-starved. The arbor's pulley is in frightful condition.

The pulley was run with a loose setscrew, so the pulley's bore and keyway have been battered beyond salvation. The spindle's keyway is also a battered, widened mess. I've yet to examine the spindle's outside diameter closely. I hope it's ok.

To add insult to injury, the v-belt is a 3V cross-section belt running in 4L pulleys, and the drive ratio is way too slow. At its best, this must have been a feeble excuse for a saw.

The Stand

The stand is a cobbled-up collection of wooden table legs and plywood. It's likely to end up as firewood.

The Motor

The motor is an ancient beast of a thing with a 1/2 hp rating. I suspect that it was originally a 25 cycle motor that got rewound for 60 cycles -- its size and weight are about twice that of a modern 1/2 hp motor. I don't think I'll be using the motor for this saw; it's just too big and heavy for the rear-mounted motor configuration that I have in mind. The motor-underneath configuration strikes me as an awkward, needlessly complicated way to power the saw that puts the motor right in the way of all the sawdust coming down from above. Here's a view of the motor on its platform out of the stand.

I'm itching to see the thing run, so I'll get it off that platform and onto the workbench for a test. Then I'll stash the thing against the day that I can give it a proper teardown, cleaning and paint job. It could be a good unit for powering a wood lathe.

Here's a view of the motor's I.D. plate.

Googling the model number, 11F801D, got me nothing. Let's see if the thing runs.

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It starts and runs nicely; these things last forever.

The motor weighs 44 lbs., and it has an output shaft diameter of 3/4". That's big for 1/2 hp. I'll find a place to stash it, and return to it if and when I ever find a suitable application for it. (Or perhaps sooner, should I feel moved to restore it to pristine condition just for a project.)

Where To From Here

I'll rig a stand and deck for the saw, and a light weight 1/2 hp motor to prove out a drive arrangement. There may be a belt tensioning complication attendant to the saw's elevation feature; we'll see.

Belt Tensioning

Sure enough, belt tension varies with saw blade elevation, as I expected it would. Here's a view of the belt correctly tensioned with the saw blade fully elevated.

Now, lower the blade and see what happens.

The belt tension slackens off severely. There are three ways I can think of to deal with that.

a) A hinged motor mount that's arranged so that gravity acting on the motor's weight automatically maintains belt tension throughout the range of saw blade elevation.

b) A sliding motor mount with a single clamp to it that makes static belt tension adjustment as quick and easy as possible.

c) Use the adjustment range already available from the elongated mounting holes in the motor's base. That adjustment range is sufficient, it's just not terribly convenient to use.

I'll probably go with method 'c)' to keep things simple. Methods 'a)' and 'b)' introduce complications that I really don't want to have to deal with.

The Stand

I have an adequate stand left over from a Ryobi saw that got scrapped.

If the saw had been as well made as the stand, the saw might still be with us. (See this post for complete information on the stand.)

The Deck

I salvaged the 3/4" firply deck from the saw's original stand, cut the sawdust chute portion away and reassembled the pieces with biscuits. Now I've got a contiguous panel that will do nicely for a new deck.

I'll trim that down to a neat rectangle and finish the edges. Come final assembly time, I'll give it a light grey enamel finish, and I'll have a proper deck for the machine.

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And here we are with a decent deck for the saw stand.

I installed four 1/4"-20 tee-nuts for fastening the deck to the stand. While I was at that, I worked out the saw's position and installed another four 1/4'-20 tee-nuts for fastening the saw to the deck.

Next up is to overhaul the saw and get it into running order. Then I can work out the motor mounting arrangement and try the machine out. Before I do that, though, there's a little detail about the motor that I should attend to so it's out of the way. Oh, and before that, I should build a wheeled dolly for the stand to perch on, so I can easily move the machine around in the shop.

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Here's the completed dolly.

It's basically just half-lapped 2x4s. Half-lap joints are not that easy to make in material that large. If I ever make another dolly like this one, I may go with biscuited butt joints -- they'd be a lot easier to execute, and quite strong enough.

I still have to provide the dolly with a 'floor'. Then the dolly will be able to accept a sawdust bin. (See this post for the dolly floor I came up with.)

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And here we are with the deck and saw in place; the machine is beginning to take shape.

That arrangement puts the saw's table height at 38 3/4". That may seem a bit on the high side of ideal, but it suits me fine.

A Replacement For The Antique Motor

Here's the unit that I have in mind for powering the saw.

It's a Marathon Electric model No. 5KH36JNA769. It's rated at 1/2 hp, which is just adequate for an 8" saw. 3/4 hp would be ideal, but I don't want to sacrifice my one 3/4 hp motor to this project.

Note the extended thru-bolts holding the motor's frame together. I can't seem to find a straight explanation for that feature; I can only assume that it's for mounting the motor by its output end face. Anyway, for my application here the extended thru-bolts will just be a snaggy nuisance, so I'll make up regular length thru-bolts from 8-32 threaded rod. (I don't want to cut down the long thru-bolts, just in case I ever want this motor to have its extended thru-bolt feature back.)

And here are my new thru-bolts.

They're 7 1/2" lengths of 8-32 threaded rod, with acorn nuts installed with red threadlocker.

And here we are with regular length, acorn-headed thru-bolts.

Much neater.

The Arbor, Blade and Outer Flange

The arbor is the usual 5/8"-18 with a 15/16" A/F hex nut. The blade is scrap metal. The outer flange is a ruin. It's been tightened down on too hard in the past and distorted. I'll have to find a replacement.

The Table And Throat Insert

The table is rusted, but not badly -- nothing that a machine sanding won't clear up. As I mentioned earlier, the throat insert is a wretched, shop-made thing that I'll have to fabricate a decent replacement for. The throat opening itself appears to have been abused somehow; its edges aren't true. There's really nothing I can do about that, and it won't affect the saw's performance so I won't worry about it.

Now is as good a time as any to deal with the surface rust on the table, so here goes.

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And here we are after a brief sanding.

Much better. There's still cleaning and cosmetic work to done on the table, but it's now perfectly serviceable.

Next up is to take the table off, and start attending to the machine's innards.

Removing The Table

Remove:

• Tilt Pointer (Only to save it from harm. The pointer is attached to the table's front trunnion, and isn't really in the way of removing the table.) One 8-32 x 1/2" round head screw.
• Tilt Clamp Screw. Unscrew it completely.
• Front and Rear Trunnion Caps. Four 1/4"-20 x 1/2" hex head screws.

That gets you to here.

The table with its trunnions still attached is off and set aside. There's access now to the arbor casting and the elevation mechanism. The tilt clamp is a bar that's tied in to the elevation screw.

Note the 90° stop at the upper left rear of the frame.

It's just a 1/4"-20 flat head screw with an adjustment locknut on it. It's a bit bent and will have to be replaced.

The Elevation Mechanism

It feels as though the elevation screw may be bent; the screw binds towards the low elevation end of its travel. That has to investigated and corrected. It's a flaw that's not tolerable.

Here's the elevation screw and nut out of the machine.

It may only be old grease and sawdust fouling that's causing the elevation screw to bind. We'll see.

The Arbor Casting's Elevation Pivot

The pivot is a 3/4" diameter steel rod. The arbor casting is anchored to the rod by a setscrew, so the rod pivots in holes through the side walls of the frame. The rod's axial position is fixed by the point of a setscrew riding in a groove at the left end of the rod, within the left side wall of the frame. Two flaws attend that arrangement:

• There is some radial play between the rod and the holes through the frame's side walls.
• There is some axial play in the axial retention groove.

Those plays/clearances translate into play at the saw blade's periphery that will make for iffy cutting precision. Here's what I've done to all but eliminate play from the elevation mechanism.

The rod no longer pivots in the frame with the arbor casting anchored to it; instead, the arbor casting pivots on the rod. The rod is now firmly held in place both axially and radially. A pair of collars and washers fix the arbor casting's axial position on the rod. The arbor casting is free to pivot on the rod between the collars and washers.

The Arbor Bearings

The bearings felt grease-starved, so I extracted them for replacement. I take them to be an obsolete make and model -- N.D. No. 7503/3203. They're 17mm bore x 40mm O.D. x 12mm thick, which makes them exactly equivalent to No. 6203 bearings. Here's a view of the original bearings.

I got 6203-2RS (sealed both sides) bearings from Princess Auto and put them in. 'Trued the face of the arbor's flange on the lathe and I've got a serviceable arbor assembly.

Trial Assembly In Progress -- Motor Installed And Wired -- SUNDAY, APRIL 9, 2017

See this post for some notes on that paddle switch. The wiring material is 16 AWG/3 SJOOW from the Home Depot.

The Mitre Gauge

The mitre gauge's beam is remarkably close-fitting in its slot; it has about the nicest fit I've ever seen in a mitre gauge. All I've done to it has been to clean it up and add a facing, like so.

I just had to drill two 9/64" holes through the face of the gauge's head to accept No. 6 screws, for fastening the wooden facing in place.

The Throat Insert

As I've mentioned before, the throat insert is a wretched, shop-made thing that needs to be replaced. However, I can make it serve for the time being by giving it proper leveling screws.

The insert is two thicknesses of aluminum sheet riveted together, for a total thickness of just over 1/4". The heads of four 8-32 hex head screws serve, not very successfully, as levelling screws.

I drilled and tapped the four 8-32 screw holes to 10-24, and installed set screws, like so.

Once I had the screws adjusted satisfactorily, I applied CA adhesive to the screws at the underside of the insert so the screws would stay put. We'll see how that works out.

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End Of The Road -- SATURDAY, JUNE 3, 2017

'Sold it. The buyer only wanted the saw itself, so I still have the motor and stand to apply to some other project. Here's a view of the saw all freshly painted and ready to go.

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