Shopsmith Forums

[quote="JPG40504"]If there be another time, try electrolysis instead of the gritty stuff!]

Maybe there will be another time but I'm racking up quite a bill on this project already, not to mention wanting to get this thing DONE!:) I got to adding up everything including supplies, parts, and tools I didn't have and I'm over $200 so far. Hey, it could be a lot worse - I could have had to pay for the machine. But the old adage rings true that you get what you pay for.

ddvann79 wrote:Maybe there will be another time but I'm racking up quite a bill on this project already, not to mention wanting to get this thing DONE!:) I got to adding up everything including supplies, parts, and tools I didn't have and I'm over $200 so far. Hey, it could be a lot worse - I could have had to pay for the machine. But the old adage rings true that you get what you pay for.

A bucket is 'cheap', washing soda inexpensive, and you can 'borrow' a charger. Probably cheaper than 'gritty' discs!:D Also the sacrificial iron saves you the trouble of having the gc haul it away, and the waste solution(reusable till infinity) will fertilize yer lawn.

Keep up the 'good' work!:)

P.S. You also get out of it what you put into it. Good decision re 'polishing'. Check the time duration of Mickyd's historic journey.

After sanding and polishing the speedial I finally got it polished and painted.

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Here's my progress on the tubes. After pulling the way tubes out of the evaporust bath, I found they were pretty pitted. This is the tube I soaked them in, on at a time.

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They both have some pretty heavy oxidation where the headstock sat for years. Even after soaking four days in solution it didn't come off. I experimented with a few techniques but ended up taking the majority of it off with a coarse wire wheel, then a fine wire wheel and then a 50 grit flapper wheel. This photo was taken after the coarse wire wheel.
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Here's the rig I used to turn the tubes. Roller blade wheels at one end...
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And a 1 1/2" expansion plug at the other. I made a wooden plug originally but the soft pine didn't hold up to the forces exerted upon it. It basically blew up inside the tube.
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After 150 grit, 320 grit, 400 grit and paste wax.
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Here's a side-by-side comparison of the tube I finished and the other that hasn't been done yet.

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I saw a picture of a 3" X 21" belt sander being used to clean/shine the retractable caster rods on this forum. Therefore, I switched to a 3" X 21" belt sander which really allows much quicker sanding/finishing of the way and bench tubes. I start with a course grit and switch to finer grits in several steps. I spend about the same time changing the sanding belts as it take to power clean the tubes with each grit level.

billmayo wrote:I saw a picture of a 3" X 21" belt sander being used to clean/shine the retractable caster rods on this forum. Therefore, I switched to a 3" X 21" belt sander which really allows much quicker sanding/finishing of the way and bench tubes. I start with a course grit and switch to finer grits in several steps. I spend about the same time changing the sanding belts as it take to power clean the tubes with each grit level.

I bet it works great! Gotta git me one 'o them belt sanders. Been eyeballing a few lately and saw that Porter Cable with those dimensions and the curved top. Looked at one in a big box the other day and it felt good in my hands. I haven't had a belt sander since the Great Christmas Eve-Eve Shop Fire of '05.

Between finishing school, starting a career and settling down, I haven't had a place or time for this kind of thing until now.

billmayo wrote:I saw a picture of a 3" X 21" belt sander being used to clean/shine the retractable caster rods on this forum. Therefore, I switched to a 3" X 21" belt sander which really allows much quicker sanding/finishing of the way and bench tubes. I start with a course grit and switch to finer grits in several steps. I spend about the same time changing the sanding belts as it take to power clean the tubes with each grit level.

This might be the belt sander pic you saw, third photo down. I saw that one too.

Great progress Dalton. Home stretch now for sure.

mickyd wrote:... Home stretch now for sure.

I feel like it's two steps forward, one or two steps back the whole way. I jump around from task to task anyway so that disorganization impedes progress as well.

Right now I'm considering what to do with the quill retraction spring. It wasn't staying on the stud on the shaft so I took it apart to find the strap spring was bent. I straightened it out but to no avail. It continues to slip off the stud without uniform geometry.

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I'm contemplating cutting off the offending end, boring a new hole and filing in a new slot. Spring steel isn't the easiest to work with and I might get a new quill feed assembly but cost is a major concern at this point. Any thoughts here on the best approach? I found dusty's post on the subject so that should help get it back together. I don't expect a loss of 3/4" would make a big difference in tension, right?

What is the potential cause of the mangled mayhem? I would like to avoid a repeat of this problem.

ddvann79 wrote: I'm contemplating cutting off the offending end, boring a new hole and filing in a new slot. Spring steel isn't the easiest to work with and I might get a new quill feed assembly but cost is a major concern at this point. Any thoughts here on the best approach? I found dusty's post on the subject so that should help get it back together. I don't expect a loss of 3/4" would make a big difference in tension, right?

What is the potential cause of the mangled mayhem? I would like to avoid a repeat of this problem.

Dalton,

This may have occurred while you were trying to get the stud free of the spring. While I've never tried taking this assembly apart I do have a lot of experience with clock springs and have seen far worse. Cutting the damaged end off would be pretty simple, opening the coils sufficiently to drill and file a new hole would be difficult at best and would likely result in more damage to the spring than you presently have. (Not to mention the risk of personal injury.) In fact, it really doesn't look that bad to me. Look closely to make sure the spring isn't cracked. If the spring has no cracks, I would be inclined to gently straighten the bent portion with some smooth jawed pliers. I am a bit spoiled with a wide variety of pliers, if you don't have any with smooth jaws then apply several layers of masking tape to the jaws of the pliers. The object is to keep from further damaging the spring.

Troy