Thanks, guys! It took another 7 sanding/cleaning/wiping operations with penetrating oil and mineral spirits to get all the rust off. After that, I gave her several coats of turtle wax, heating it up with my Wagner hot air gun as I went along. It is now as smooth as silk and completely rust free.
While I was at it, I also flipped the base upside down and lubed the belt tension slider mechanisms. They were sticky from rust build up and needed alot of penetrating lubricant. The bolt heads are badly worn from frequency adjustments, so I'll be replacing the bolts on both sides with new 1.5 x 7/16" stainless steel bolts.
I'm starting to put it all back together now and am getting close to firing it up for the first time (the smoke test). I was looking over the motor and noticed that it was missing one of the four small circular mounting brackets that held it in place. There are two of these small, slotted brackets on each side of the motor and they serve as compression clamps that hold each end of the motor securely in place. Because of this, the motor was slightly loose and free to spin back and forth.
So, I "MacGyvered" a new one from an old hinge bracket using my drill press, dremel tool, and grinder. I created the slot by first drilling a hole at each end of the slot and then dremeling out the center section. Then cleaned it up with a hand file. After a little back and forth tweaking, it fit perfectly and held the motor securely held in place.
Pic of "MacGyvered" bracket next to one of the stock brackets:
Pic of bracket installed on the motor:
While I was at it, I turned the stand and motor on its side, removed the motor dust cap, and lubed the bearings with SAE 30 motor oil. The bearings were really dry. Spins much better now.
Today I installed a new 10 foot long ~~16-3~~ 14-3 black rubber power cord with hospital grade plug, a new heavy duty switch, a hospital grade socket for the motor connection, and then bolted a new junction box and bracket in place. The old safety switch and motor socket were totally burned up and unusable. I also did a sanding/penetrating oil/mineral spirits cleaning operation on the stand and small outfeed table. Starting to look much better now. Still have to sand and clean a few more areas. Tomorrow I'll go parts chasing for a new drive belt, junction box cover, and a 45 degree angle power plug for the motor connection. Can't wait to fire this thing up and see it work again!
Old safety switch and plastic housing:
After cleaning the stand and installing the new switch & power cord:
All finished. Passed the smoke test. No shorts. Ready for another 45 years of sanding operations!
I made a new 2 part cover plate for the motor electrical connection. The original cover plate was missing, which was a safety hazard. This plate is designed to cover up the line voltage electrical connections. It also serves as the strain relief for the power cord. To finish it off, I put a 45 degree angle plug on the other end and plugged it into the socket on the new on/off electrical box.
Here are a few pics of the finished sander. All cleaned up and de-rusted with new drive belt, new 80 grit 6x48" belt, stainless steel mounting bolts, new on/off switch, new power cord and plugs, repaired bearings, etc. Runs really smooth and relatively quite, measuring at about 82dB with my Radio Shack SPL meter at 2 feet.
Nice job Bill. One suggestion though, get rid of the stainless switch/outlet cover and replace it with a Garvin cover. The skin on your hands will thank you for it.
Wow - looks so much better than when you found it! This proves that just because it's old and a little ugly, doesn't mean it time to kick it to the curb. At least that's what I keep telling my wife...
@ugly_woofer said:
Nice job Bill. One suggestion though, get rid of the stainless switch/outlet cover and replace it with a Garvin cover. The skin on your hands will thank you for it.
The one I used is not stainless; it is galvanized. Got it at Menards for $1.68. It overhangs the box slightly, which I do not like. I wanted to use a galvanized flush fit raised panel type that I found at Fleet Farm, but the mounting holes did not line up with the steel box that I had already stuffed. So I think I might modify the Menard's galvanized cover and cut it flush to fit the existing box. What is the deal with stainless and skin? Does galvanized cause skin problems as well?
The wall covers have sharp corners and edges and protrude quite a bit. If you're like me you will probably lose some skin on it. Look for a "handy" box cover, mates up without protrusions.
For grins, I made a short audio track of my belt sander in operation. OmniMic was 2 feet above the belt, at roughly where your ears would be if you were actually using the sander. I exported the clip from Audacity as a 44.1kHz 16 bit wav file and also exported it as a 260kbps mp3 file. I zipped up both files and attached them, just in case you would like to hear them. I was amazed that I could clearly hear a difference in audio quality through my laptop's built in speakers. I always thought that mp3 files sounded much better than this.
I also measured the sander's spectrum, which shows a bump up in response from about 400 to 900Hz. Looks like the sander could use a heathy dose of baffle step compensation!
Yup, sounds like a belt sander. 😆
Maybe we can get Steve Lee to put a drum track to it....oh, or sample it and use it in the kit! I'll throw some bass down... we'll have a Nine Inch Nails backing track in no time🤘🏼
Cool. In making this recording, one thing that I noticed is that, in the recording, I generally cannot hear the "click" when the motor spins down to zero rpm. This "click" is the centrifugal switch that trips the capacitor back into circuit for the next start up operation. When the motor spins up again, the motor start capacitor is quickly tripped out of circuit by the centrifugal switch. But when I listen to the motor "live" I can always hear the click, especially during shut down. The click is very clear and distinct. But in the digital recording, it seems to be missing or extremely faint. Seems to me like there is some kind of digital masking effect going on in the recording process.
MP3's suck from a dynamic range and high frequency response perspective - FLAC's are much better but nothing sounds as good as raw uncompressed files - I am spoiled in my recording efforts.
4thtry - can you slow that audio down to the point that you hear a rhythm in the sound it makes - sorta like a train?
See if you can and if you come up with something in the 110 ~ 120 BPM range - Saturn boy isn't as far out of this world sounding ^ if you do - I can find a groove in it, I'll bet.
I'm looking forward to his bass-line response . . .
Here is the modified wav file. Starting to sound like a chu chu train now. The 10 seconds is slowed down to 27 seconds using the tempo slider. My voice introductory remarks have been eliminated. Let me know if this works for you or if you would like another tempo adjustment.
OK - Cool!
Give us one more at 1/2 that speed and I'll EQ the two, each on separate tracks and see what I can come up with.
Gott'a go mix a cocktail and put on my drumming boots . . .
I started messing around and I'm heading more towards Ministry than NIN. I'm having fun with this, kinda cracking me up to be honest.😆
I'm at 210 BPM, your gonna have to pick up the pace Steve🤘🏼
Comments
Totally! Nice job👍🏻
Thanks, guys! It took another 7 sanding/cleaning/wiping operations with penetrating oil and mineral spirits to get all the rust off. After that, I gave her several coats of turtle wax, heating it up with my Wagner hot air gun as I went along. It is now as smooth as silk and completely rust free.
While I was at it, I also flipped the base upside down and lubed the belt tension slider mechanisms. They were sticky from rust build up and needed alot of penetrating lubricant. The bolt heads are badly worn from frequency adjustments, so I'll be replacing the bolts on both sides with new 1.5 x 7/16" stainless steel bolts.
I'm starting to put it all back together now and am getting close to firing it up for the first time (the smoke test). I was looking over the motor and noticed that it was missing one of the four small circular mounting brackets that held it in place. There are two of these small, slotted brackets on each side of the motor and they serve as compression clamps that hold each end of the motor securely in place. Because of this, the motor was slightly loose and free to spin back and forth.
So, I "MacGyvered" a new one from an old hinge bracket using my drill press, dremel tool, and grinder. I created the slot by first drilling a hole at each end of the slot and then dremeling out the center section. Then cleaned it up with a hand file. After a little back and forth tweaking, it fit perfectly and held the motor securely held in place.
Pic of "MacGyvered" bracket next to one of the stock brackets:
Pic of bracket installed on the motor:
While I was at it, I turned the stand and motor on its side, removed the motor dust cap, and lubed the bearings with SAE 30 motor oil. The bearings were really dry. Spins much better now.
Today I installed a new 10 foot long ~~16-3~~ 14-3 black rubber power cord with hospital grade plug, a new heavy duty switch, a hospital grade socket for the motor connection, and then bolted a new junction box and bracket in place. The old safety switch and motor socket were totally burned up and unusable. I also did a sanding/penetrating oil/mineral spirits cleaning operation on the stand and small outfeed table. Starting to look much better now. Still have to sand and clean a few more areas. Tomorrow I'll go parts chasing for a new drive belt, junction box cover, and a 45 degree angle power plug for the motor connection. Can't wait to fire this thing up and see it work again!
Old safety switch and plastic housing:
After cleaning the stand and installing the new switch & power cord:
All finished. Passed the smoke test. No shorts. Ready for another 45 years of sanding operations!
I made a new 2 part cover plate for the motor electrical connection. The original cover plate was missing, which was a safety hazard. This plate is designed to cover up the line voltage electrical connections. It also serves as the strain relief for the power cord. To finish it off, I put a 45 degree angle plug on the other end and plugged it into the socket on the new on/off electrical box.
Here are a few pics of the finished sander. All cleaned up and de-rusted with new drive belt, new 80 grit 6x48" belt, stainless steel mounting bolts, new on/off switch, new power cord and plugs, repaired bearings, etc. Runs really smooth and relatively quite, measuring at about 82dB with my Radio Shack SPL meter at 2 feet.
Nice job Bill. One suggestion though, get rid of the stainless switch/outlet cover and replace it with a Garvin cover. The skin on your hands will thank you for it.
Looks fantastic! Nicely done.
Wow - looks so much better than when you found it! This proves that just because it's old and a little ugly, doesn't mean it time to kick it to the curb. At least that's what I keep telling my wife...
The one I used is not stainless; it is galvanized. Got it at Menards for $1.68. It overhangs the box slightly, which I do not like. I wanted to use a galvanized flush fit raised panel type that I found at Fleet Farm, but the mounting holes did not line up with the steel box that I had already stuffed. So I think I might modify the Menard's galvanized cover and cut it flush to fit the existing box. What is the deal with stainless and skin? Does galvanized cause skin problems as well?
RACO 2-Gang Glavanized Steel 4" Square Electrical Handy Box Cover
https://www.menards.com/main/electrical/electrical-boxes-covers/extenders-covers-mud-rings/raco-2-gang-glavanized-steel-4-square-electrical-handy-box-cover/872/p-1444451768509-c-6427.htm?exp=false
The wall covers have sharp corners and edges and protrude quite a bit. If you're like me you will probably lose some skin on it. Look for a "handy" box cover, mates up without protrusions.
Good tips. I'll get this fixed.
Hacksaw and grinder fix. (I need the excercise).
Okay, so now I feel lazy.
Gonna treat the newly exposed raw metal?
Just buffed out the raw edge with two coats of Turtle Wax. That should protect it!
For grins, I made a short audio track of my belt sander in operation. OmniMic was 2 feet above the belt, at roughly where your ears would be if you were actually using the sander. I exported the clip from Audacity as a 44.1kHz 16 bit wav file and also exported it as a 260kbps mp3 file. I zipped up both files and attached them, just in case you would like to hear them. I was amazed that I could clearly hear a difference in audio quality through my laptop's built in speakers. I always thought that mp3 files sounded much better than this.
I also measured the sander's spectrum, which shows a bump up in response from about 400 to 900Hz. Looks like the sander could use a heathy dose of baffle step compensation!
Yup, sounds like a belt sander. 😆
Maybe we can get Steve Lee to put a drum track to it....oh, or sample it and use it in the kit! I'll throw some bass down... we'll have a Nine Inch Nails backing track in no time🤘🏼
Cool. In making this recording, one thing that I noticed is that, in the recording, I generally cannot hear the "click" when the motor spins down to zero rpm. This "click" is the centrifugal switch that trips the capacitor back into circuit for the next start up operation. When the motor spins up again, the motor start capacitor is quickly tripped out of circuit by the centrifugal switch. But when I listen to the motor "live" I can always hear the click, especially during shut down. The click is very clear and distinct. But in the digital recording, it seems to be missing or extremely faint. Seems to me like there is some kind of digital masking effect going on in the recording process.
MP3's suck from a dynamic range and high frequency response perspective - FLAC's are much better but nothing sounds as good as raw uncompressed files - I am spoiled in my recording efforts.
4thtry - can you slow that audio down to the point that you hear a rhythm in the sound it makes - sorta like a train?
See if you can and if you come up with something in the 110 ~ 120 BPM range - Saturn boy isn't as far out of this world sounding ^ if you do - I can find a groove in it, I'll bet.
I'm looking forward to his bass-line response . . .
Sounds like a plan. I'll see what I can do in Audacity and report back.
We might even find a bad ball bearing or non-concentric vibration or 3 in the mechanics of this awesome sander refurb - thing looks fantastic.
Here is the modified wav file. Starting to sound like a chu chu train now. The 10 seconds is slowed down to 27 seconds using the tempo slider. My voice introductory remarks have been eliminated. Let me know if this works for you or if you would like another tempo adjustment.
OK - Cool!
Give us one more at 1/2 that speed and I'll EQ the two, each on separate tracks and see what I can come up with.
Gott'a go mix a cocktail and put on my drumming boots . . .
Thanks, man!
Will do.
Here you go. 1/2 speed master, tempo cut in half again. File is now approx 50 seconds.
Excellent.
Decided to forgo the drink - been up for 20 hours now - better save myself for tomorrow - I'll mess with this for sure . . .
I started messing around and I'm heading more towards Ministry than NIN. I'm having fun with this, kinda cracking me up to be honest.😆
I'm at 210 BPM, your gonna have to pick up the pace Steve🤘🏼
Bring it next weekend, I'll play it....
InDIYana Event Website
Ha! Ok
at 210 BPM you'll need to call in the speed demon (EriK with a K - AKA Analog Kid) for this one, mate.