Rock this joint(er)

[greatbear]

I had lamented a few posts back on my inability to obtain some parts for a couple of my old woodworking machines. I had given up trying to track down OEM parts for these old machines, since they just weren't available, and getting something used meant buying a whole machine. I tried a different tack instead as a last resort. Jet Tools makes a 6 inch jointer based on the design of my old Rockwell/Delta. I figured I would try to fit the guard from that new machine onto my old one. I looked up the parts diagram and exploded views and discovered that the mounting means and spring system looked identical in every way to my 40 year old machine. Gambling, I ordered the guard, figuring at most I might have to modify the shaft the guard hinges on. The part was delivered today (yay for FedEx Saturday delivery!), so I unpacked it, went down in the basement and tried it on for size:



It fit, perfect in every possible way, not a single modification necessary. I knew the Jet model was pretty much a copy, but it was dimensionally identical. The original piece was unpainted cast aluminum, this new one was a nicely painted cast part complete with a safety label which looks out of place on a machine born in the days before lawyerly warnings placed on everything. But I think it looks rather snazzy. For reference, here's the machine the new part comes from:



The resemblance is uncanny. This Jet machine gets good reviews everywhere, if it works half as good as the old Rockwell, I can see why. Seeing the machine in up close and personal, they did a good job on it.

I've been trying to track down a usable table setup for the old drill press, but haven't had much luck yet. Creating a mash-up of old and new makes for a better machine overall. I love the old American-made machines from decades back. I prefer some of the old machines to the newfangled styles out now. Less plastic, finer cast iron, good designs. I've been trying to track down a Delta 24" scroll saw similar to the ones used in my high school shop. The ones I've been finding are not in the best of shape, and the prices are outrageous. I'll keep looking.

Lots more work to be done before I can take pics of the shop itself. Even in the shot above, you can probably see the boxes and other stuff still in piles as I make my way through the mess. It's getting better.

Comments

[restoman.livejournal.com]

IMHO, a lot of the older machines are far better made than newer models. I used to have a Delta jointer, circa 1940. It was a great machine. A few years ago, Mark went to move it, and picked it up by the fence, ...which then broke off. Finding a replacement would have been nearly impossible, so I gave up and gave the machine to a friend, ...who eventually sold it for scrap metal. I feel bad about the whole thing.

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

I've seen too many people carry jointers by the tables or fences. That's the worst thing that you can do with them, save for trying to joint steel beams on them. There were a couple carcasses of machines, one with a busted table, another with a broken fence at the place I deal with for machinery. Sadly, to get the guard from the broken machine, I'd have to buy the whole thing. Bollocks!

I was researching Delta part to repair the old 15 inch drill press. A version of that old machine is still being made today, and is pretty much unchanged. Part were also available, but the price was off the hook. The table by itself was $500, the collar that attaches it to the post was a bit over $400, and the remaining hardware would have pushed the total to just over a grand. For a stinking drill press I bought for a hunnert bucks! Sorry, I'll use the makeshift table it has on it already. A thou will buy a really nice new drill press. Or better yet, things I actually need, like necessities of life and other stuff.

[notdefined.livejournal.com]

Have you tried eBay? (+delta +"drill press" -manual -instructions)

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

Yep. I have the particular info I need, I am trying instead to find equivalent pieces in other machinery currently in production (and cheap!). Close, but no cigar as of yet.

Interestingly, the typical drill press table of a modern machine is more often a bit more versatile than what it originally came with. If I can manage to do with this drill press what I did with the jointer, I'll be way ahead of the game.

[beastbriskett.livejournal.com]

Score!
The older stuff was just better made. Modern versions just don't seem to have the heft they should have.

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

So much of the modern stuff is a crapshoot, and there's a lot of crap. The majority of the stuff is imported, and the quality is all over the place. The cheap stuff is often dreadful, with lumpy castings and miserable machine work. Not all of it is bad, with some of the stuff being quite well constructed. It's a gamble, and it's something best checked out in person.