Just over 1 year later. I'm Done with ONE project!

Well, here is the almost finished welding cart that I started in Sept. of 2006 . It still needs bit of bling (diamond plate). Used a couple of keyboard slides to create a drawer. The front of this drawer, and the other side of the cart will be covered with diamond plate.







Once it was primed, I could really envision the final product :)
rounded off the ends to make it purdy.




A few "fish eyes" in the welds, but good enough for me.

shortened and capped

keyboard slides in position


two folds and one side shortened...
Who needs a metal brake(i do), a couple hammers and a piece of angle iron is all you need.

Another Big Tool

(edit: maybe not so big, lol -> look here)
Went to a local auction the other day and and a big hunk of iron followed me home...

After the forklift loaded the lathe, they tipped the deck down and loaded the forklift so it could be unloaded at my house :)


A 4000lb shop crane was able to lift the 3000lb lathe fairly easily. Now getting it to roll was a different story. Nothing a 2x4 as a pry bar wouldn't fix. ( BTW, the crane was also picked up at the aution for cheap :)


In position with only a small dent in the wall ( and my shin )




Pretty gunked up, but usable, so I'll just give it a good cleaning, flushing, and fill it with new fluids.

Removed the tailstock, and started in on the carriage and cross-slide.

I need a parts washer and more GOJO ...


The Mill was brought in last fall ( Click on the thumbnail for more pictures):

Final Pics

Complete, and about 200 pounds heavier that craftsman next to it.






A couple "taps" with a dead blow hammer and this 5 thousands of runout was gone :)

Why do I have an extra screw

Painted and ready for reassembly.

Baldor 500 Grinder

Another trip we made during my week in Springfield, VT was a trip to Springfield Tools. They pick stuff up from machine auctions and resell on ebay and out of their warehouses. I picked an old (1953 I think?) Baldor grinder. It has a Diamond and a Silicon/Carbide wheel and everything is cast iron, including a nice solid cast iron pedestal. It ran, but the bearings were shot, so I decided to refurbish it when I pulled it apart to replace the bearings. Here is the tear down. It should be reassembled this weekend, good as new... no better than that cheap new stuff :)








The graduations on this piece are pretty much gone.
I'm guessing the Serial number means this is a 1953?

Brass?




The one small piece of original wiring is just a bit brittle!








Pulling off the old bearings and pulling off the old paint
ready for primer



Amazing what a swipe of acetone will do.

The was a bit of warp in the tables, but not for long :-)
All but the pedestal is painted no, so I'll probably throw it back together this weekend...