I have a number of machines and power tools in my shop and countless hand tools. I have a list of the machines and major power tools with descriptions, but no photos just yet. They are listed in the order in which I obtained them.
1. Miller Thunderbolt AC-DC "buzzbox" stick
welder.
I purchased this for some projects that I had back in about 1988, and it has
been a good welder, never had a lick of trouble with it. No, I will not sell it.
I think I paid about $300 for it when it was new.
2. Milwaukee Sawzall.
For many years this was the only tool I had (except for a good old fashioned
hack saw) for cutting steel for my various projects. I purchased it about the
same time as the Miller stick welder and it has seen much use over the years. I
just recently purchased a new shoe for it as well as a new blade clamp (just in
case I lose one) and a new seal for around the reciprocating rod. I probably
should have purchased a set of brushes for it too.
3. Taskmaster Drill Press.
This is one of those Taiwanese drill presses that are so common. I
purchased it about 1990 for something like $200 if I remember correctly. It has
twelve speeds and a 5/8" chuck, but the spindle travel is only 3". It's
been a good drill press, but I have been considering replacing it with something
better. For the time being I will just hold tight as I can use the money for a
different drill press towards something more desirable like a horizontal mill.
4. Hobart Handler 120 wire feed welder.
This welder has been invaluable, and it has completed many projects. I purchased
it new back in 1995 for a total cost in the neighborhood of $600 if I remember
right. That price included the welder, ten year C25 tank lease, first full tank
of C25, and C25 regulator as well as a couple of ten pound rolls of wire. I
chose the 120 volt model because I could use it anywhere, and that portability
factor has come in handy more than once. The only problem with it is that liners
for the gun and lead are no longer available because the original manufacturer
of lead and gun is no longer in business. My old friend Loren at Toll Welding
tells me that there is an aftermarket gun that will work with this welder. I
just need to get up to the Plymouth location to see him and get the ball
rolling.
5. Central Machinery 8" bench grinder on stand.
I picked this up used (looked new though) for $25 in 2009. It replaced my old
1/2 HP motor with an arbor and stone that had been given to me years ago. It was
relegated to wire brush use only. The 8" bench grinder isn't a bad unit, but I
did have to get some good wheels for it, as the originals were crooked as can
be. They would not run straight and caused quite a bit of vibration and I did
not trust their integrity at all. They were soon replaced.
6. Central Machinery Flexible Shaft Tool.
I picked this up on an auction for $2 in 2009 but it was missing the handpiece.
A quick search on eBay got me a new handpiece with chuck for under $10.
This is one of the best purchases I've ever made as it is much more powerful
than a Dremel tool, and more versatile as well.
7. Logan 210 Lathe
This is a bench lathe with a 10" swing and 24" between centers. Its manufacture
date was July 3rd, 1941 and it was originally purchased by the Char-Lynn
Corporation (my grandfather worked there as a machinist in the 1950's). I
obtained it in 2009 for $600 with two chucks and the lathe was mounted to a
heavy steel storage cabinet that was originally issued by the US Army. This
lathe does not have a quick change gear box, but did come with one complete set
of change gears and the better portion of a second set. Since purchasing the
lathe I have purchased a number of accessories for it: steady rest, follow rest,
10" faceplate, complete set of 3AT collets and drawbar, Phase II AXA quick
change toolpost, and most recently, a brand new 6" three jaw chuck from Shars. I
also have a cross slide for it that gets used with a taper attachment, but it
looks like I will have to make the rest of the taper attachment itself. My
future plans include outfitting it with a three phase motor and a variable
frequency drive.
8. Keller Model 5 Hy-Duty power hacksaw
Cutting bar stock for my lathe projects with a hand powered hacksaw or a
Milwaukee Sawzall was getting old real fast, so I started
looking for a saw of some sort, stumbling on this one late in 2010. I was able
to get it at just the right price - FREE - all I had to do was pick it up before
a certain date. Did I mention that it was 400 miles away?? That was
okay, going to get it was a good excuse for a road trip. When I picked it up it
was horribly dirty, greasy, and grungey, and I was beginning to think that I had gotten a raw deal
even with the free pricetag. When I got home I went to the local car wash and
pressure washed the daylights out of it to get most of the heavy grime off of
it. To get it out of my pickup, I had to disassemble it (the doggone things
weighs about 500 pounds!) and unload it piece by piece. That was okay, as it was
easy to finish degreasing all of the parts before assembling it again so that it
would be usable for a big project that I had coming up. The main bar is worn and
should be replaced, and it has a few other wear issues, all of which can be
repaired easy enough. While I have it apart for those repairs it will recieve a
coat of light gray paint with red accents on the cast in letters. Not original
colors, but it should look sharp that way.
9. Clausing 8520 Mill
I purchased this mill for $1000 in 2013 from a fellow in Brainerd, Minnesota. It
came with a set of MT2 collets, a Jacobs 5/8" chuck, a 3/4" end mill holder, a
few odd end mills, and an original Clausing 4" vise. Since obtaining it I have
added a 6" Shars rotary table, 5" Glacern vise, and a set of ABSolute DROs on
the X, Y, and Z (knee). It does some nice work, but has a chatter in the head,
but only when making certain light cuts. Under no load or under heavy load it is
quiet as can be. I suspect that there may be a bearing going bad in the
headstock, but everything seems to be smooth as can be. I suppose I will just
have to tear it apart to find out. Future plans for this machine also include a
three phase motor and variable frequency drive.
10. California Air Tools 3/4 HP ultra quiet air
compressor, model 1675A
This was my Christmas gift from my wife in 2013. It will work great in the
basement shop as it is small and extremely quiet. I have a 6HP Cast Air unit out
in the garage, but it rattles all the windows within a city block when it lights
off. The new compressor will only serve the basement shop but will never even be
heard in the rest of the house. Yes, it is that quiet. I was impressed with it
to say the least! My wife purchased it on sale for something like $169
11. Harbor Freight 20 ton hydraulic press
I purchased this in 2014 in anticipation of a number of different projects where
a press would be required. I bought it new for $154 and, despite the low price,
I am rather impressed with this little beauty. Beats the heck out of using a
bench vise to try and press bearings!
12. Late 50's Craftsman 10" table saw.
I don't do a lot of wood work, but I was getting tired of trying to get straight
and square cuts using a circular saw. Driving to my dad's to use his saw all the
time had its own problems. Stumbled on this saw locally (2 miles from my house)
on Craig's List and brought it home in November of 2015. It has two table
extensions and a nice cabinet base. It needed some TLC but works quite well now
that the kinks have been worked out of it.
13. Harbor Freight Combination 4 x 36 belt sander and
6" disc sander.
Purchased in late November of 2015 while on sale for under $60. It isn't
big, but then again I don't need a big sander. It should work great for the
sanding and deburring I need to do.
14. 18' x 24" granite surface plate and stand.
Purchased new in March of 2016 from Enco (now MSC), it is not really a machine,
but is a piece of equipment that can be very handy in the shop. Accompanied by a
height gauge, it can be used for layout work. It can also be used as a reference
surface when hand scraping parts or other reference surfaces such as cast iron
straight edges or prisms.
15. Delta vertical woodcutting bandsaw.
I have been finding myself doing more wood working, and the occasional
need to be able to resaw, requiring a bandsaw. I am also quite certain that I
can rig up a system by which I can slow this saw down enough for cutting metal
as well. A friend of mine offered this saw to me for $325 in June of 2016. It is
in nearly new condition, requiring only a little cleaning up to make it a great
little saw with a footprint that is not too large for my shop space. During the
cleanup process I found that one of the guide bearings was 'catchy' so I
replaced it with a new one.
16. Horizontal Mill of unknown make with #4 Fray
vertical head attachement.
I purchased this mill during the summer of 2017 and got it home,
immediately putting on some channel iron and casters. The channel irons give the
machine a wider footprint and make it less tippy while raising it only 1/4" more
than the height of the casters on which it sits. It sure is nice to be able to
roll it around, but man is it heavy! This mill has something of an interesting
history behind it. First of all, there is no manufacturer name anywhere on it.
None, nada. No idea who made the doggone thing. Luckily I can make replacement
parts for it if I need any! Well, this thing was owned by Northfield Foundry and
Machine in Northfield Minnesota, who sadly, experienced a fire in one of their
buildings. The mill ended up falling through a floor but was not damaged to
badly, so they had it totally rebuilt and scraped in. A couple of the crank
handles got broken and one of the dials got damaged, so they applied some shop
make crank handles and did what they could to repair the damaged dial.
Eventually, a gentleman that retired from that shop ended up with the mill and
he set about making a mount for the Fray vertical head and installed it on the
overarms. It actually works quite well. I friend of mine purchased the mill from
the man who modified it, used it here and there for a couple of years and I
eventually purchased it from him. Time will tell what I am actually going to do
with it.
Future plans??
Not sure at this time other than to get my small bench and shop set up in the basement
as time allows. My original plan was to eventually add a small horizontal mill
like an Atlas or a Clausing, maybe even a Benchmaster, but the horizontal mill
that I purchased is too heavy to wrestle into and out of the basement, so it
will continue living in the garage. I also like shapers, but
I don't think I would get enough use out of one to justify purchasing it, not to
mention the room it would take up in the shop. From time to time I might have
use for a small surface grinder, but I doubt that I will ever purchase one.
I do have plans in place for a small dust collection system. It will be a point-of-use system, not an entire-shop unit, and rather portable. I purchased an Oneida Dust Deputy and used it with my large Craftsman shop vacuum, but it is awfully noisy. The Dust Deputy works great and very little dust gets past it. I obtained and have been experimenting with a blower that had been a draft inducer for a high efficiency water heater. It's inlet and outlet are the same size as those on the Dust Deputy, so I plan to use it to draw air through the Dust Deputy and exhaust through a large air filter that I also use on my Dodge Cummins pickup, known as a BHAF (Big Honking Air Filter) among diesel fans. In place of that filter I may try building a filter box that uses a whole house air filter. Not sure yet which way I will go, but I want the entire system to be easily portable.