Magna Jointer Refurbishing

fiatben · Post by **fiatben** » Sat Mar 12, 2011 5:43 pm

After much impatient searching for the past year or so, I've finally acquired a jointer on my very limited budget. Around here SS's, much less the SPTs, are scarcer than hen's teeth. I found this on craigslist over in Tulsa (about 100 miles away) and had one of my kids go pick it up and pay for it. She delivered it to my shop 3 days ago.

Magna Model 620 s/n 16185:
[ATTACH]12215[/ATTACH]

I didn't get much history behind this other than is is old and hasn't been used in awhile. Still, I figured for $50 I could probably fix any problems it has and still be money ahead.

So, it's a bit rusty. It appears to all be surface rust on the usual places, infeed and outfeed tables, fence. There is some minor pitting, but I don't see it being sufficient to create performance issues. I couldn't get a good picture of the pitting, but here is the jointer after I started breaking it down.
[ATTACH]12218[/ATTACH]
Today I stopped by HF and bought some EvapoRust, but this will be my first experience with it.

Already I have several questions, thus my first post before I proceed much further.

There is a bit of rust on the mating surfaces between the two tables;
[ATTACH]12219[/ATTACH]
so first question is whether it would be sufficient to wire brush this light rust, wax it a couple of times, and be happy? Or do I need to EvapoRust this side too?

Which kinda leads into question 2; can I just lay the tables and fence "face-side" down in EvapoRust or do I need a big plastic tub and a gallon of ER?

Also, (#3), the original paint appears to be in good condition. Will EvapoRust eat it?

While the cutter head is rusty and the blades are spotted with rust as well, the blades appear to be nick-free and reasonably sharp still. However, there seems to be gunky grease where the bearing mount. While the bearings don't feel rough, they didn't exactly spin like crazy (freehand) until I did some cleaning with paint thinner (mineral oil). The bearings are supposedly sealed (and thus unserviceable) but I'm concerned about what chemicals I can use around them without fear of damage, i.e. acetone, paint thinner, carb cleaner, etc. Any comments? How freely should it spin? It does much better now that I've cleaned it some.

Just in case it becomes necessary, how difficult is it to pull and replace the bearings? In other words, how critical is the position of the bearings on the cutterhead shafting? I can tell it swells toward the cutters, so do you just push on a new bearing until it won't go any further? Or what?

OK, that should be a good start.

According to the website, my jointer is a May-54 vintage, which is a great match for my March-55 Greenie (well, it used to be green).

SDSSmith · Post by **SDSSmith** » Sat Mar 12, 2011 6:50 pm

I would clean the table by mechanical means, wax it a couple of times and call it good. Same for the mating surfaces. It looks to be in pretty good shape.....Nice pick up. If necessary the bearings are easy to replace. The bearings will only go on the shaft so far before hitting a shoulder.

Fla_Jim · Post by **Fla_Jim** » Sat Mar 12, 2011 7:32 pm

bought your jointer's twin brother a couple years ago.
I used a 2" abrasive scotch bright type pad with a pneumatic angle grinder.
I moistened the surface with Kroil.
Here's a couple of photo's as in the Craigs list, and after cleaning and painting

[ATTACH]12220[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]12221[/ATTACH]I

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Sat Mar 12, 2011 7:34 pm

Mickyd said: "Now I know why they call it evaporust - it evaporates!"

If you put stuff with a thin coat over it, a black oxide seems to form(like the line when partially submerged ).

So just setting stuff in a shallow pan will cause it to 'disappear'(the evaporust, not the part).

I agree with Rob re tables and mating surfaces. They look very good for their 'age'. Save the evaporust for smaller parts(head/blades etc.).

fiatben · Post by **fiatben** » Sat Mar 12, 2011 7:37 pm

JPG40504 wrote:Save the evaporust for smaller parts(head/blades etc.).

So.... would soaking the cutter head be a good idea? Can I do it as an assembly or take out the blades and wedges? And what about the bearings?

SDSSmith · Post by **SDSSmith** » Sat Mar 12, 2011 8:10 pm

fiatben wrote:So.... would soaking the cutter head be a good idea? Can I do it as an assembly or take out the blades and wedges? And what about the bearings?

If you are going to soak it, then you might as well plan on an order for new bearings. Also, remove the blades, wedges and screws before soaking. You can soak the screws and blades if necessary. I have used mechanical means on the head and then waxed when done. It really depends upon the corrosion.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Sat Mar 12, 2011 9:42 pm

fiatben wrote: . . .
While the bearings don't feel rough, they didn't exactly spin like crazy (freehand) until I did some cleaning with paint thinner (mineral oil). The bearings are supposedly sealed (and thus unserviceable) but I'm concerned about what chemicals I can use around them without fear of damage, i.e. acetone, paint thinner, carb cleaner, etc. Any comments? How freely should it spin? It does much better now that I've cleaned it some.
. . .

Properly lubricated bearings do not spin freely. Dry bearings do! Unless the bearings are 'rubber' sealed they are likely to soak up anything applied to them. A shield(metal) is not a seal. If they became 'looser' because of the mineral oil(?)[mineral spirits?] I would replace them. I assume a bearing puller is in yer tool box!;)

wannabewoodworker · Post by **wannabewoodworker** » Sat Mar 12, 2011 11:21 pm

I got a jointer with my Mark VII purchase last year and it looked similar to yours. I took it all apart and scrubbed all the table surfaces with scotchbrite then I sanded the tables with fine emery cloth as well as the sliding surfaces underneath the table. Then I took the head all apart. I took the head hub and wire wheeled it to remove all the rust and then polished it on the buffer. Cleaned the blades on the wire wheel to remove all surface rust then buffed them as well they came out really nice almost looked new. I didn't mes with the bearings as they seemed to be servicable. I put it all back together and did all the adjustments. It didn't cut right until last week when I wen through all the adjustments again slowly and got the knife height perfect. I also sharpened the knives on my Tormek sharpening machine and it now cuts like a gourmet kitchen knife. I used it today a bunch while making the parts for my expanding table project.

wa2crk · Post by **wa2crk** » Sun Mar 13, 2011 11:41 am

I would change the bearings as long as you have it all apart. They are not expensive and replacing them will avoid future problems like vibrations and poor quality cuts. A bearing that has been sitting for a long time may have the lubricant dried out and may lead to a bearing failure quickly at the speed that the jointer runs at.

fiatben · Post by **fiatben** » Sun Mar 13, 2011 2:50 pm

Houston, we have a problem....

I assume the only fix for this is to order a new wedge

[ATTACH]12227[/ATTACH]
(sorry it's fuzzy, me and Vivitar are not getting along right now)

According to my manual (#505681-B 3/85) the wedge is #502903. According to the blow-up on the SS site, the wedge is 521945. The SS site describes this as "Wedges Jointer - 5 hole" which confuses me because mine has 3 and the drawings (both in my manual and online) also show 3.

SS also likes to sell these for $15 apiece, and bearings are $10. So... anyone got an old wedge out there they no longer need? And does anyone know the specs on the bearings?

Shopsmith Forums

Magna Jointer Refurbishing

Magna Jointer Refurbishing

Regarding cutter head

Uh oh