# Restoring a Rockwell/Delta Disc/Belt Finishing Machine



## Firestopper

A 6" vise is overkill for a RF45 style mill. A 4" is more appropiate for that size mill & IMO 5" max. I have a 5" GMT vise on my PM45 & it's slightly too big. Not enough Y axis travel to make use of the 5" full capacity. Better to save your money rather than getting something too big & most importantly the weight. I take my vise of the table quite often, a 6" is still light enough for me to be carried by hand but I'm glad I have a 5". I also have a 4" vise as well. I prefer the 5" though.

But those GMT 6" Premium vises are pretty nice. I'd love to have one but don't need one on my current mill. But if you plan on upgrading to a full size knee mill in the future than the 6" will be perfect.


Here's what the 5" looks like on my mill.




I couldn't even complete this cut without my bellows & DRO scale getting in the way. Not enough Y travel & the 5" vise is not even maxed out.




Here's what a 6" vise looks like on another PM45 (gt40's)
View attachment 253544


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## Firestopper

This taken from vintage machine for pressing out upper idler shaft and bearings:http://wiki.vintagemachinery.org/Delta6x48Shafts.ashx I did set it up similarly, but I supported the base of the yoke with a section of faced pipe to prevent any flexing. I also used this penetrating oil to presoak the shat. I have used many different oils, but I would recommend this stuff "Free-all", its really the best I have found hands down. Its saved me many times and this was no different.



The bad news (sort of), the vertical play on the idler assembly was caused by worn shaft end. I was prepared to turn a new shaft when my son found one online for $34. The replacement shaft is precision ground and sold by Renovoparts.com P/N 406031080001. $10. shipping is a rip-off but for a precision ground shaft $45.57 was a no brainer.

This brings me to where I'm currently at in the restoration project. The last thing to add was a tool I milled for torquing down the bearing retainer. Many guys will simply use a chisel for this, but its a tight fit and one could easily damage the threads making it hard for the next guy to replace the bearings 30 years from now haha.

I got to use the new Blake I got for Christmas. It makes centering fast and easy.





	

		
			
		

		
	
 .


More to come.


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## woodtickgreg

Congrats on the machine find, that's a great old school machine and worthy of a restore. I enjoy seeing this kind of stuff.


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## Firestopper

Thanks woodtickgreg,
Been looking for this baby for some time. I forgot to post the photo of the damaged idler bearing shaft.

Here you can see (end of scribe) the wear on the shaft where the inner bearing race was sloppy.


Thanks for looking.


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## FOMOGO

Nice machine you have there. Should come in very handy when you get her done. Cheers, Mike


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## Firestopper

Thanks Mike, 
Should be done soon. Looks like I'll be back to work on lite duty this week, so leave the weekends to finish this up. Actually looking forward to a workweek.


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## mikey

Nice write up, Paco. Restoring these old machines is half the fun of owning them and your pics allow us to share in that.


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## Firestopper

Thanks Mikey, 
I looked high and low on internet and found some helpful information. I wanted to share more info than I found in hopes of helping others with a similar machine.


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## Firestopper

The new idler shaft came with 1/2"-20 threads. The original shaft has 9/16"-24. I could not justify spending $32.00 plus shipping for four 1/2"-20 jam nuts. A quick trip to Ace Hardware and I came home with two Nylock nuts for under a buck. The problem is the nuts are too deep and the threads on the shaft would never get into the nylon portion. I set them up side by side and took .135" off on the mill. Now they resemble a nylock jam nut and worked out well for this application. The rebuilt idler spins smoothly with zero play. 




This photo shows the needed crown on the rollers for proper tracking of the belt. One of the things needed when rebuilding the idler rollers is to turn a 1 degree taper towards the center of each roller. This machine did not require this as the rollers are in good shape.


The lower roller where placed on the main shaft and the same method was used to check the crown. Hard to see but they also checked out fine. 





This photo shows the belt end cover. The poor tracking resulted in grooving through the lower portion. The mild steel cover will be mig welded and ground back to the 16 gauge thickness allowing the repaired section to fit back into the retention groove in the lower housing when finished.


Thats all I have for now.
Thanks for viewing and I hope someone can use the information.
Turn and burn..
Paco


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## Firestopper

Got the main cast iron components blasted and masked off for painting. The cast was loaded with dried adhesive from gluing the sanding disc on over the years. Also mocked up the  trunnions to verify smooth sliding and discovered the holes for the guide roll pins required a tiny bit of reaming.  A "G" ream did the job allowing the trunnion to slide in and out smoothly.






A trick I've been using for many years for detailed masking is to use a fine file to cut/trim the masking tape around edges.







Also got the knobs cleaned and painted with silver heat paint. A final cure in the grill at 200 degrees for 20 minutes will make for a durable finish.


The bottom of the tables mounts where recessed and hard to use the file technique for masking, so I used drafting dots which where the same diameter.



Plan on shooting paint on Saturday.


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## Zengineer

Looks awesome, great to see someone putting this much attention into a piece like this - totally worth the effort!


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## Silverbullet

Nice find and a good job on the repairs, I've been watching out for one like that for a year or two. Some think there made of gold the money they want even all apart. Is this model the 3600 rpm or the 1750 . I just don't think I could turn down either one. Good to see the refinishing job is coming along so well. Fun bringing things back to New or better isn't it. Nice pictures too


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## Firestopper

Zengineer said:


> Looks awesome, great to see someone putting this much attention into a piece like this - totally worth the effort!



Thank you sir, when completed, this machine should last me the rest of my shop days. The next guy will come out ahead haha. Its lots fun.



Silverbullet said:


> Nice find and a good job on the repairs, I've been watching out for one like that for a year or two. Some think there made of gold the money they want even all apart. Is this model the 3600 rpm or the 1750 . I just don't think I could turn down either one. Good to see the refinishing job is coming along so well. Fun bringing things back to New or better isn't it. Nice pictures too



They are getting harder to find, but still available from time to time. The parts are are even scarcer, some folks are fetching more $$$ (per pound)  in parts then a complete unit.
As for operating speed, based on the motor PRM's and pulleys size, its a 1750, I had a pretty good idea it was the slower running unit when bidding based on the fact it came out of H.S. wood shop. I'll either change the motor pulley or upgrade the motor to 3 ph and add a VFD for variable speed. I've not decided as of yet and honestly rarely work on wood.
I would appreciate any pros and con on the subject. I can see using it on plastics on occasions.

Thank you fellas


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## woodtickgreg

Looking good! Can't wait to see it painted.


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## Firestopper

So I got a little shop time after work today and tackled the belt end cover that was grooved through at the lower end. As I mentioned previously,  I mig welded it using .035 that was already in the machine as I didn't want to pull the 30 pound spool out and **** off the shoulder.  I set the piece up using the corner of the table to keep it as flat as possible and prepped it for welding.



The groove damage was about a .030 gap so using .035 wire took a little focus to keep from burning through and keep distortion at bay.
Here you can see the tac's with good penetration.



I skipped tacked to keep the heat from melting the edge and control distortion, pausing often to allow cooling until the entire repair was complete.
After cooling, the clamps where removed and I found the penetration was so good I had welded the cover to the table haha. A wooden block was used to protect the edge of the cover and a couple of blows with a small ball peen hammer broke it loose. The table doubled as a heat sink heheh.

Here you can see the penetration on the table where the cover was clamped during welding. The photo shows the underside of the cover.


A die grinder with a 2" 50 grit roloc did a fine job feathering and blending the bead down. The take away here is, when feathering a weld, always have a gap to start with or your joint will be weak.
Here a straight edge was used to verify flatness after blending the welds down. A gentle approach with the 50 grit  roloc also goes a long way to control distortion and prevent from taking away any parent metal so that you end up with the same thickness of original cover.



The inside of the cover also had a deep groove about 50% of the thickness, so some 1" welds where done to prevent the cover from possibly cracking from vibration when machine is back in service.


A test fit of the cover to the lower housing  where the repair was done shows it sits right in the receiving groove like it should.



To finish up the repair, some JB quick weld was used to fill in the remaining groove and any irregularities on the inside of cover.



The outside of cover smoothed out fine so no filler required.

Before:


Hammer tone paint will finish this up nicely.
Thats all for now...


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## chips&more

You are doing excellent work! And I have one of the same. When you get yours going you will love it! If you didn’t know it. They make thinner jam nuts. My local ACE hardware has them...Dave.


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## Firestopper

Thanks Dave,
Hoping for good weather  Saturday for painting. Looking forward to getting it in service. I currently have a 12" disc sander that I use often but but the belt should really help out. I went to the largest Ace in Tucson and couldn't find any jamb nuts but the mill made short work of the nyloc nuts. I can't imagine any issues with them coming loose.
What's your opinion on variable speed option for a machine like this?


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## RandyM

Well done Paco, you are going to have a very nice machine once it is finished.


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## woodtickgreg

Coming along very nicely. You questioned variable speed, it depends on what your uses would be. Slower for wood, faster for metal, if your not doing both then choose a speed an leave it. Jmo.


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## Firestopper

RandyM said:


> Well done Paco, you are going to have a very nice machine once it is finished.



Thanks Randy, this was a perfect project for me to ease back into the shop. Still healing from surgery but getting better every day.



woodtickgreg said:


> Coming along very nicely. You questioned variable speed, it depends on what your uses would be. Slower for wood, faster for metal, if your not doing both then choose a speed an leave it. Jmo.



Thanks for the advice on the variable speed option. Probably just replace the motor pulley for more RPM's. I rarely work with wood.


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## sanddan

Cool project, it's been fun to follow along.

Glad to see you out in the shop. As to speed, unless you get into knife making you shouldn't need variable speeds. I plan on building a 2x72" belt sander and most likely will go with a single speed around 3000 sfm.  I only work in metal so the higher speed would be nice.


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## Firestopper

sanddan said:


> Cool project, it's been fun to follow along.
> 
> Glad to see you out in the shop. As to speed, unless you get into knife making you shouldn't need variable speeds. I plan on building a 2x72" belt sander and most likely will go with a single speed around 3000 sfm.  I only work in metal so the higher speed would be nice.



Thanks Dan, 
Its good to be back and working with my hands again. Thanks for the input on the speed question, it will be mostly for general steel fabrication and profile work. 
Been wanting one for some time now and figured I put the time and effort in while I'm still unable to take on larger heavier projects.


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## Matthew Gregory

Excellent project!!!!


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## dlane

Gona be a good one, nice job on refurbishment. Might of missed it but how's the platen, 
I have a similar machine I got new 20+ years ago and the platen is now pretty worn out ,yours is most likely replaceable mine is not without replacing the whole frame. I'm thinking of useing JB weld to fill in the void and machine it flat again.
Again nice job on yours Paco


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## Firestopper

Matthew Gregory said:


> Excellent project!!!!



Thanks Matthew, Its been fun getting back into shop work.



dlane said:


> Gona be a good one, nice job on refurbishment. Might of missed it but how's the platen,
> I have a similar machine I got new 20+ years ago and the platen is now pretty worn out ,yours is most likely replaceable mine is not without replacing the whole frame. I'm thinking of useing JB weld to fill in the void and machine it flat again.
> Again nice job on yours Paco



Thanks dlane,
The Platen is in fantastic shape. I neglected to post that part of the refurb, a flat edge shows its flat and serviceable . I ended up painting the back side of it gloss black. The heavy cast is in nice shape, probably because it was used in a H.S. wood shop environment.  Your correct, its bolted to the main cast body. I have seen them skim coated with JB weld to fill in the low belly with great results.


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## Firestopper

The weather cooperated for spaying the cast pieces, top cover and metal covers.

The underside was shot first.


As mentioned earlier in the post, all machined surfaces where stripped and masked off. The cast frame was also grooved from poor tracking and was repaired with JB weld.


Before. The groove was fairly deep about .200" Notice the factory painted machine surfaces.


Waited two hours and flipped to spay the top sides. Really have had good luck with Rust-olium hammer tones in the past. Today was no different, I used a 15+ year old HF HVLP "el cheapo" gravity feed gun.  Its my go to gun for primers, shop equipment and clear coats.







Remember the groove damage on top cover? JB Kwick-weld is a excellent application for this repair.


Before repaired...




I'll next focus on the lower cabinet and the lower dust shoot. The color on the lower cabinet will be hammer tone silver. I need to enlist some help to pull the motor out as the shoulder isn't ready for that yet.
Thanks for looking and as always any and all comments are appreciated (good or constructive).
Turn and burn...
Paco


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## hman

Beautiful finish!  Would that I were closer to you.  I'd be over to help in a quick minute!


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## Firestopper

hman said:


> Beautiful finish!  Would that I were closer to you.  I'd be over to help in a quick minute!



Thanks John,

I really like the darker finishes, it help keep things looking clean via camouflage hahah.
I'm sure my son will help remove the motor, but your always welcome for a visit.
Time for a break...


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## tweinke

Nice job on the NEW sander! Good to see you can get back to work even if its limited.


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## Firestopper

tweinke said:


> Nice job on the NEW sander! Good to see you can get back to work even if its limited.



Thanks tweinke,
It feels good to be productive again.


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## woodtickgreg

That looks great! I have had good luck with rustoleum anything. It's my go to paint, reasonable cost, flows out nice brushed or sprayed, and is very durable. I have never tried the hammered though.


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## Firestopper

woodtickgreg said:


> That looks great! I have had good luck with rustoleum anything. It's my go to paint, reasonable cost, flows out nice brushed or sprayed, and is very durable. I have never tried the hammered though.



Hi Greg,
Thanks, I'm pleased with the finish, the hammer requires Xylene to thin out for spraying. I eyeball the viscosity during mixing and let it sit for about ten minutes prior to spaying. The real trick is to lay it down wet to the point of almost running. Re-coat wet again about 20-30 minutes depending on ambient temp. If you go past four hours to re-coat, you have to wait seven days to apply subsequent coatings. It usually dries to touch within two hours but still soft if over handled. The hammer brown/copper will look nice with the black table brackets, main bearing drive housing and trunnions. The lower base cabinet should also look good in silver hammer tone once assembled. The paint is left over from other jobs so no money was spent. 

SHOP TIP.....When storing paint for long periods, I use inert gas from the mig nozzle to purge out the O2 with the lid slid back a bit. Don't forget to disengage your drive rollers on your mig. hehehe. This trick will preserve different types of paint from oil based to latex. 

Have a great weekend,
Paco


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## GarageGuy

In love seeing great quality older machines being restored.  I recently did the same thing with a 1956 Delta drill press.  It's very satisfying to have such a good quality machine, and know that it's as good as new.  It's also fun to know that you understand every piece of the machine, inside and out.  Great job!

GG


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## Firestopper

GG,
I completely agree on being familiar with every aspect of the machine. It should out last me.


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## bfd

I rebuilt one of these machines. advice look closely at the platen (behind the belt) they can have a dish worn into them. as you push in this dished area the belt will track off to the side. took me a while to find this out and replaced the platen problem gone bill


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## Firestopper

bfd said:


> I rebuilt one of these machines. advice look closely at the platen (behind the belt) they can have a dish worn into them. as you push in this dished area the belt will track off to the side. took me a while to find this out and replaced the platen problem gone bill



Hi Bill,

I swept across the platen using a straight edge and no appreciable dish noticed. Do you recommend a second look using a different method? Not much information out there on the web, so always looking to learn. Thanks for the advice in advance.


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## bfd

the bow was at and above the rest table. if you see no bow with a straight edge then it should be ok the bow on mine was about .020" very noticeable bill


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## Firestopper

Thanks Bill, 
Looks like its good to go as nothing real obvious I can see.


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## Firestopper

My son pulled the motor out of the lower cabinet so I can prep and paint this weekend. He noticed a ton of saw dust falling out of the motor with every shake. We then noticed the shaft would spin but not smoothly and it had a growl when spun by hand. We took the motor ends off to blow with air and inspect the bearings. Sure enough the pulley side bearing was shot. We pulled both front and rear bearings and will pick some up tomorrow during lunch break. I will buy the same type of sealed bearing used on the lower and upper rollers. Not sure why factory bearing weren't fully sealed from the start, but I suppose every dollar saved in manufacturing adds up.

Front bearing.


Rear bearing.


Pulling the back bearing after clearing the sawdust. Free-all penetrating oil came through once again.


All cleaned up. Looks pretty good


Unsealed bearings removed.


Thats all for today.

Paco


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## mksj

Hey Paco,
Since you have 3 phase in your shop, you might consider replacing the motor with a TEFC or TENV 3 phase motor and not have to worry about metal dust getting into the motor. If there is space we could install your old 2 speed lathe motor, but may be too big.
Mark


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## Firestopper

Hi Mark,
The old lathe motor would be much to heavy and large for the cabinet to support without major rework. That lathe motor is a 3hp beast. The Rockwell is a 1.5 hp.  A sealed motor would be nice but not necessary with the dust control set up I'm planning (hopefully). Trying to keep the cost down as possible,  with no "mad money" due to the shoulder recovery, I would have to steal a sealed motor.  It should work well for what I need and will only pull 8.5 amps @ 230v single phase. The Koyo sealed bearings ran $4.97 ea.


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## Firestopper

Picked up the sealed bearings during lunch break and got them installed after work. I happened to have a sleeve I had turned some years back that was a few thou larger than the shaft and pressed against the inner race. The process went smoothly. Assembling the motor end also went without issues. We used the long assembly bolts to press the bearings  (OD) into the end cover bosses by gently tightening in an alternating fashion and tapping the end covers with a hard plastic tip mallet. The motor shafts now spins freely. I also realized this motor is a sealed type with no vents to be found on the housing. For the life of me, I can't figure out how it was loaded with sawdust, but I suppose with years of wood shop use, sawdust found its way in. 

This bearing size is so common the bearing house in town keeps 100 in stock.


The pressing operation.



Reassembled motor front view.


Rear view, the vented end cover allows air to be pulled in by plastic impeller that cools the sealed housing.


In this pre-assembled photo you can see the rear end cover (aluminum) with no vents. I'm a knucklehead for posting previously that this was not a sealed motor.
I guess I won't have to steal one after all......


The data plate indicates a continuous duty.


Thanks for looking.


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## ACHiPo

firestopper said:


> A die grinder was used with a 2" roll-loc paint tripper (plastic) to clean off painted machine surfaces. I plan on masking off all machined mating surfaces prior to repainting. I noticed adjusting the tables where not as smooth as I would like and determined the painted machine surfaces (trunnions) where the cause.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 226702
> View attachment 226703


Very cool machine!  Takes me back to junior high shop class!

What is that green thing on the die grinder and where do I get one?


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## Duker

ACHiPo said:


> Very cool machine!  Takes me back to junior high shop class!
> 
> What is that green thing on the die grinder and where do I get one?



 That's a Roloc Bristle Disc. https://www.zoro.com/scotch-brite-t...6bBdZXIp6jYp2geoDlHXAaAt0r8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

Not the cheapest source but it gives you the description. 

And I will add to others comments, nice job on the restoration! 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro


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## Firestopper

ACHiPo, Duker,
Thank you.

 The plastic green thing is a 3M bristle stripper. I believe they come in 50 grade (green), 80 grade (yellow), and 120 grade (white). I purchased these in 2" rolocs and 4" roloc some years back. I purchased them for stripping hard to reach areas on automotive restoration projects. The plastic bristles are impregnated with ceramic if I remember correctly. They suck for large areas but shine for detailed work, they also require higher RPM's to work.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/3M-Scotch-B...012660?hash=item4d3fa13a74:g:ldoAAOSwUuFWw32V

The grade vs grit is not the same, that said, grade 50 (green) is not abrasive nor can you remove metal like a 50 grit disc.


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## woodtickgreg

Looking very nice! I am enjoying watching this restore come together.
Thanks for posting this !


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## Firestopper

woodtickgreg said:


> Looking very nice! I am enjoying watching this restore come together.
> Thanks for posting this !



Thanks Greg,
Considering the start time, it is coming to an end and the the machine will be in service soon.  I have enjoyed the process and like I mentioned, It has been a good way for me to ease back into the shop.  Some long days considering I'm back on a 40 hour work week (lite duty), but fun and exciting.  The other neat aspect to this project is the involvement with my son whom I missed most of his twenties while he served our country over the past decade.  He has been there from the time we picked up the machine and throughout the process of restoration.  I know he's learned new things along the way as I have, but more importantly, we're spending quality shop time together.

I hope others can pick up a thing or two along the way as well. 
Thanks for your kind support and feedback, I have and continue to learn from HM members and like to reciprocate any way I can.

Paco


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## woodtickgreg

I was recovering from a ruptured bicep in the middle of my heavy 10L restore. About to start on my powermatic/burke mvn restore. Funny thing is I am going in for surgery soon for an umbilical hernia repair. I have had it for 10 years or more but it is starting to be painfully daily. Working on our machines is good therapy if our body allows it, lol.


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## Firestopper

Good luck with the hernia repair. My Bicep rupture was the least of my pain compared to the rest of the associated rotator cuff tendon damage I suffered from. I will need to have another procedure soon, it seems I have some hardware that is working its way out and creating a sharp pointed lump and using a seat belt is painful. I told the surgeon during my last followup that he should have used red loc-tite to secure the screw in place. He had this dumb look on his face......


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## Firestopper

Got the lower cabinet ready for paint tomorrow. Need to mask off the openings, wipe one last time and shoot the silver hammer tone.


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## Firestopper

The weather cooperated just long enough to get the cabinet and electrical enclosure sprayed. Mother nature started blowing during gun cleaning and that fine as this keeps the Kamikaze insects from visiting and sticking to the wet paint. Ask me how I know hahah.



I also assembled the internal belt tensioning mechanism on the main belt body. The paint has been curing for seven days and is as hard as its gonna get. I did use heat lamps initially. 


I replaced all machine slot head screws with Allen cap screws for a fresh look



I also adjusted the quick stop block and installed the pointer (safety orange) The block is held in via roll pin and is flipped up when adjusting the table to its maximum. The set screws that contact the block when flipped down set the table to 90 (0) and 45 degrees.


 Keeping the machined surfaces free of paint allows smooth sliding when adjusting.



I also cut and stripped back the wiring on the switch, motor and power supply for fresh connections. The original connections looked tired and had several broken strands. I used crimp connectors for a better hold. 
Inside the 34 year old enclosure and yes it was also full of saw dust. 


I plan on some cantilever castor brackets to keep the machine 1/2"off the deck. I will build these during the week after work allowing the paint to fully cure on the cabinet.
Hopefully assemble next Saturday and fire this baby up. 
Turn and burn...
Paco


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## hman

Everything looks even better than new!  I especially like the flip-down stop block.  How cool is that?


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## ch2co

The darnedest thing happened to me today. I stopped by s friends wood shop/garage and he asked me, "do you know anything about
belt sanders? I got this old thing a few years back and its just been sitting here." I took a look as well as I could. It was half buried in a 
humungous pile of valuable collectable materials (junk) but lo and behold, its a Delta Rockwell 6 x48 belt sander with a sanding disk.
Well its really just a spot where the sanding disk should be, but without any disk, just a shaft.  I told him what it was and he asked
"could you use something like this?" Me," how much do you want for it?"   Him, "I'll just give it to you if you want it." Me," aaaaaa
OK, I'll make some space in the basement and we can move it over there as soon as I have time. Him," I've had this thing for the last
10 years and whenever you want to take it it will be here for you. I didn't get the serial number though but I think that it is at least 
10 to 20 older than your machine, but looks very similar. The platten looks very flat and the top roller at least
seems to turn smoothly. It doesn't seem to be in bad shape cosmetically but who knows about the working innards. 
Due to my wife illness, I haven't been able to get anything done in the shop and it will probably be another 
couple of weeks to a month before I can get it back to my shop. I don't know about the motor (in the base?) but the power cord looks
like its  220v with an electric dryer type of 3 prong "Y" configuration.  The power switch is missing with wires hanging out which doesn't
 look promising motor-wise. I'll let you know when I get the thing over to my little basement shop. I was just getting ready to buy a little
table top 2-3" belt sander. I think that I'll set that idea aside.


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## Firestopper

Hi John,
Its turning out nice, the quick stop is a neat feature. I'll pick up a couple belts for it this week during one of my supply runs. I have plenty of 12" 3M disc but gonna pick their brain on different abrasives. Still working out the hoses for the vacuum feature but have a good idea one what type use as they will need to take a little heat. 
Have a good weekend.


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## woodtickgreg

Paco, that thing is turning out really nice! Excellent work.


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## Firestopper

ch2co said:


> The darnedest thing happened to me today. I stopped by s friends wood shop/garage and he asked me, "do you know anything about
> belt sanders? I got this old thing a few years back and its just been sitting here." I took a look as well as I could. It was half buried in a
> humungous pile of valuable collectable materials (junk) but lo and behold, its a Delta Rockwell 6 x48 belt sander with a sanding disk.
> Well its really just a spot where the sanding disk should be, but without any disk, just a shaft.  I told him what it was and he asked
> "could you use something like this?" Me," how much do you want for it?"   Him, "I'll just give it to you if you want it." Me," aaaaaa
> OK, I'll make some space in the basement and we can move it over there as soon as I have time. Him," I've had this thing for the last
> 10 years and whenever you want to take it it will be here for you. I didn't get the serial number though but I think that it is at least
> 10 to 20 older than your machine, but looks very similar. The platten looks very flat and the top roller at least
> seems to turn smoothly. It doesn't seem to be in bad shape cosmetically but who knows about the working innards.
> Due to my wife illness, I haven't been able to get anything done in the shop and it will probably be another
> couple of weeks to a month before I can get it back to my shop. I don't know about the motor (in the base?) but the power cord looks
> like its  220v with an electric dryer type of 3 prong "Y" configuration.  The power switch is missing with wires hanging out which doesn't
> look promising motor-wise. I'll let you know when I get the thing over to my little basement shop. I was just getting ready to buy a little
> table top 2-3" belt sander. I think that I'll set that idea aside.



Thats so cool!
When you get the machine home and have time to inspect the rollers, belt tensioner and track mechanism, shoot me a PM and I will help you any way I can as this is still fresh on the old brain. Get me the serial number and I can tell you about the time of its birth. Don't use the S/N on the cabinet, use the one found on the main base and if it has a CAT NO. send that too as this would be the model. I will also forward web addresses that might provide more specific  information for vintage machine

This plate information;


I got a  reading your post.

Take care,
Paco


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## ch2co

Paco
Thank you.  I'm sure my rebuild of this machine will pale in comparison to your magnificent refinishing job. I'll be happy to get it up and running
smoothly. Did you get the Manual and parts breakdown through Vintagemachinery.org? I could only find a much older model without the sanding disk.
Do you think that a new or good condition used disk would be available somewhere? Does the sanding surface rotate into a horizontal position?
More to follow


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## Firestopper

ch2co said:


> Paco
> Thank you.  I'm sure my rebuild of this machine will pale in comparison to your magnificent refinishing job. I'll be happy to get it up and running
> smoothly. Did you get the Manual and parts breakdown through Vintagemachinery.org? I could only find a much older model without the sanding disk.
> Do you think that a new or good condition used disk would be available somewhere? Does the sanding surface rotate into a horizontal position?
> More to follow



Thank you, but any one can do what I have done to a similar machine. Yes, the manual and IPB came from vintagemachine.org I posted the decoding S/N information previously, but its hard to read in the post as I did a screen shot and it distorts when you zoom in. I have the original and its easy to read, I can save you some time when you get the S/N to me.
I have seen some parts for these machines on Ebay including the disc assembly so keep an eye out. The belt sander does rotate to the horizontal position and has an adjustable stud to help support this position coming off the base.


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## anoyes

I recommend looking at industrialabrasives. Their web site has 6x48 belts that I've used over the years with good luck. I have no connection with them other than as a happy customer. Congratulations on a nice looking restoration. I have a Delta 6x48 in pieces waiting time to get to it. Unfortunately mine is missing the belt table and trunnion bracket.
Good luck.


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## Firestopper

Thanks for the recommendation on industrialabrasives. I'll check them out.

We got bored and it was too windy to spend any time outside so into the shop we went.  We started with installing the enclosure, then decided to install the switch. I really had no intention on doing much work on the machine, but with good tunes playing, one thing let to another. After wiring the switch, we found ourselves wiring the power cord too.



The inside enclosure cover schematics are in perfect shape for a 34 year old unit.


We then mounted the lower roller/disc bearing housing and lower part of the disc housing to the main base and mounted to the cabinet. One thing led to another and before I knew it, the belt main body, and platen was installed. This was then followed by the pulley, disc, idler roller, upper disc guard and disc table. The tiny grub screws where also adjusted for proper alignment as was the table. The pointer was also calibrated to zero using the technique in the manual. The manual came in handy for these details.




The table adjusts very smoothly without the the painted machine surfaces on the trunnions. The extra effort masking off was worth it.


The platen is adjusted using a straight edge along the upper and lower rollers. The manual calls for the platen to protrude 1/32" past the upper and lower rollers.
We then focused on the belt cover plates and lower cover with exhaust shoot: these also required adjusting for the top cover to index properly. The top and lower covers have indexing grooves on two sides, where the side and end covers fit. If this detail is missed, the belt will contact the table side of the top cover, resulting in damage.

Here you can see said indexing grooves where the covers fit on the opposite side of table and end cover. Old photo prior to restoring, note the damage from improper seating and belt contact .


We then installed the belt table and calibrated that pointer and set the quick block set screws for 0 and 45 degrees.



The badging was reinstalled using little drive pins. The machine is missing one "Rockwell" badge on the belt table.
The repaired end cover fit nice into the lower cover groove considering it was grooved through from a poor tracking belt.


Some random shots of the assembled machine. I really like the color contrast of the machine as well as the cap screws that replaced the slot-headed screws.


I plan on replacing the pointer screw with a Allen button head.




I still need to install the motor but need to pick up a fresh capacitor on Mark's (mksj) recommendation.

Before and after....



Thanks for following along, its been a fun project and its good to be back in the shop.

Good night.


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## hman

O M G !!!  That's absolutely beautiful!  Thanks for your many great photos.


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## Firestopper

Thanks John, 
I seem to take way more photos than necessary. You should see my doggie album hahah.


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## FOMOGO

That really came out nice. A little extra attention to detail makes all the difference. Cheers, Mike


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## woodtickgreg

No such thing as to many photo's.  Excellent rebuild thread! I have enjoyed following this one.


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## Firestopper

FOMOGO said:


> That really came out nice. A little extra attention to detail makes all the difference. Cheers, Mike


Thanks Mike,
I had nothing but time on my side for those little details. Honestly, I was trying to spend extra time in the shop after being AWAL since November.




woodtickgreg said:


> No such thing as to many photo's.  Excellent rebuild thread! I have enjoyed following this one.



I appreciate your support Greg. Getting feedback is just as important as posting.


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## Firestopper

This came in the mail today from ReplacementParts.com 

Not exactly like the original but is for a finishing machine (same part number).


$5.25 shipping (rip-off) but completes the restoration.



Old warning sticker


This one is officially done.
Turn and burn.


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## Firestopper

I bought Some Belts and disc Blue Fuego Zirconia Alumina by Norton. The grit I decided on the belt are 60 grit and 50 grit on the 12" disc. The tracking was done first by hand and, then by jogging the machine and finally fine tuning was achieved with the machine running. The adjustment knob requires a slight turn to get results.
Here is a video of the machine running.




Turn and burn!


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## mikey

She sure is pretty, Paco!


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## Firestopper

Thanks Mike, 
I'm planning on adding hoses for the vacuum system to help keep things somewhat clean. I have a couple of Rigid brand vacuums from black Friday deals.
The disc's should be in next week. I had to order 25 to get them under $10 ea. The belts where had for under $9 each but required a box of 20. I think Mark (mksj) might want a few  for his new Jet finisher. These are fine abrasives and should last a while. I understand the belts can be reversed for more life too. The Norton's use a unique splice on their belts unlike 3M's I've seen in the past. Time will tell, but I'll be sure to give feedback for other users.


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## Alan H.

Very nice job Paco, she's a keeper for sure.


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## sanddan

Great work Paco. Excellent addition to the shop.

I like the fact the top of the belt is guarded. Mine isn't and I tend to eat grit and sparks at times.


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## Firestopper

Thanks Alan,
Planning on some low profile castor brackets so I can roll it around.  Two sets to be exact as Mark will need some for his new Jet but need to measure up his machine cabinet first. 
I did the same style of castor brackets for the cold saw.


You can see the machine is 1/2" off the floor.

While where talking castors, I made some for my Ellis saw some years back. I know you mentioned wanting to have the ability to move your Ellis without busting a nut.
Here ya go.


Not as shiny and pretty as your new baby, but she still cuts like a champ! I plan on moving her inside this year and she will get a makeover at that time.
Peace, Paco


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## Firestopper

sanddan said:


> Great work Paco. Excellent addition to the shop.
> 
> I like the fact the top of the belt is guarded. Mine isn't and I tend to eat grit and sparks at times.



Thanks Dan, 
that guard required some TLC as did the end guard.


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## ch2co

Paco said, " I can save you some time when you get the S/N to me"

I was finally able to get hold of my friend who has the sander in his garage. Its still quite buried, but I did manage to get the serial number and model number.
Serial Number LE 7722  Model number 31-710.  It looks like it will take a lot more work to get it into usable condition. The left outside guard is missing and the 
top guard is mostly missing on the left side. Both belt rollers spin freely, and no rust. 
He had taken the motor out of the base and it is a Dayton 1.5HP, 120-240volt  single phase 3450 RPM, sealed motor. Is spins freely and quietly and is currently 
wired for 220. It will take a lot of work cleaning out junk from his storage space in order to get the thing out the door, but I was able to fish the motor out and now
have it in my possession. I would prefer to run it on 120V but if necessary I can get 220 to it. Thanks for any info you can dredge up for me.  With my current schedule, 
it will be a month or two before I can really get to working on it. Its just wonderful to be "retired"

CHuck


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## Firestopper

Chuck,
Looks like your finishing machine with S/N LE-7722 came out of Tupelo, Mississippi in 1980.
Check out this link and scroll down to find "Alpha-Numeric used by Tupelo Division" Your S/N  (LE-7722) falls in-between LD-5595 through LH9326. 
http://wiki.vintagemachinery.org/DeltaSerialNumbers.ashx
Cool read anyhow, or I might just be a machine nurd.


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## anoyes

You are probably familiar with the 120/240 tradeoffs. But just in case... The 240 only draws half as many amps, and therefore alllows smaller wire size (if desired), and has lower line losses. And those line losses are out of 240 instead of 120, so percentage loss is way less. I had a tablesaw on 120, took a moment to spin up to speed. I rewied for 240 and it came up to speed basically instantly. However, 240 takes up two breaker spots in the panel.


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## Firestopper

After working on vehicles and house maintenance over the past few weekends, I finally got some shop time in. I made some castor brackets for the Rockwell allowing me to glide it around the and lock it in place.  The rear portion of the cabinet tapers in toward the top so the back brackets are broken to 82º with a piece of flat strap spreader  (1/8" x 1") to keep the cabinet from "oil canning" as the large motor opening is located above the castors. The front castor brackets where broken to 90º and is sturdy against  the cabinet. Both front and back brackets have inner backing plates with nuts welded (capture nuts) to elevate the need for tools while installing.

Rear castor brackets.


Front castor brakets.


Todays forcast calls for 104º, so I thought mother nature can bake it for me.
Tomorrows heat calls for 110º, Monday's 114º and Tuesday's 115º. 


I'm also working on  vacuum recovery system as these machines are messy.
Thanks for looking.
Turn and burn!
Paco


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## Alan H.

Paco, nice work as always!  Look forward to seeing them installed.  

Also interested to see what you come up with regarding dust collection.  You're right, they make a heck of a mess.  I catch some the majority off a KMG that I have in pan of water.  

Yeap, your weather is a bit hot isn't it?  I guess you got your monster swamp cooler running full speed and using 25 gallons of water per hour!   Stay cool and drink cold beverages.  I'm having a "la Balita de Plata" as I type this.  Small, very cold, and refreshing.


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## Firestopper

Thanks Allen,
Swampzilla is keeping me comfortable for the time being. I'm sure in a month or so when the humidity creeps up during monsoon it might be a different story but then again the temps drop into the 80's (I'll save some H2O). 
I'll post some  pictures of the vacuum set up as I go.
Enjoy your beverage.


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## hman

Paco -
I envy your swamp cooler.  Tempe's temps are forecast to be about the same as Tucson's, and I have no way to cool the garage.  Guess I'll have to stay inside and work on tutorials for SolidWorks.


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## ch2co

110 degrees sounds hot, but a couple of years ago, I helped my niece move from Colorado to New Orleans LA. were it was in the high 90's, with about 95% humidity.
Spent a week down there (love the place). I then drove directly to Tucson where the temp was topping out at 114deg., but the humidity was almost non existent and it was far more comfortable and felt a lot cooler than New Orleans. Really love that place too.  After 2 weeks I went back to Colorado where the temp was in the low 80's with 20% humidity. Ahhhhh, great to be back home, and I REALLY love this place.

CHuck the grumpy old guy


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## Firestopper

Its 69º inside the shop as I write this with outside temps at 101.7º. Swamp coolers where made for Arizona shops . I see Phoenix forecast for this coming week are 117+. Stay cool John.


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## dlane

102-104 f. 20% humidity next 6 days. Got the AC working , need a swamp cooler though.


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## Firestopper

Finally had some free time to mount the castors.

Here's the brackets ready for mounting.  The two left brackets and backing plates mount to the rear of the cabinet as does the single spreader.



An inside shot of the cabinet showing the backing plate (1/8") with capture nuts. The cabinet thickness  is 16 gauge and probably would have had considerable flex without the "sandwich" type mount.  As mentioned previously, the rear of the cabinet tapers in toward the top and has a large motor opening (missing cover)  that required the two caster brackets to be tied together due to lateral flexing . Two caters bolts did the trick and still allow the brake levers to be accessed in any position.








With the base kept close to the floor, the machine glides smoothly and is stable with the locks engaged.



I still  need to make a motor cover to keep the inside clean during use.  The dust recovery system is on deck but it turns out I will need to separate the machine from the cabinet once more.  There's a 1.250" flange where the top portion of the cabinet bolts to the lower portion preventing  the hose alignment to the hose adaptor on the disc end. Its fairly congested as well with the drive belt being close by, but a "mouse hole" should get the relief required to make it work. I can't access this with the unit assembled and will need to separate the cabinet to complete. Poor planning on my part.

Thanks for looking.
Turn and burn!
Paco


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## ACHiPo

Really nice work!


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## kvt

That looks real nice, and will role easily around the shop.  With the work you do the dust collection system should be no problem.   Again nice work.    How bad is the heat in the shop.   My garage is hot.   and it is just over 100 here.


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## Silverbullet

I put all my machines on wheels, I started doing it with my woodworking machines , I pushed them outside to use . Much more room cutting full sheets of plywood. I can't believe now the amount of work I use to do even being crippled up. I'm still in the process of putting casters on all my machinery. If I ever get out of pain after the surgery.
I like the paint job , looks like a machine should . Great job.


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## Firestopper

Thank you fellas,

It got a bit warm today with the high around 113º. The shop temp was around 82-84º.  I still need to add castors to the plate roller and vertical band saw. It nice to have the ability to reconfigure the work space for larger projects/production runs. In the old shop they where necessary for me to do any work as I was packed in. 

Check out the old work space that made me a castor believer.


Paco


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## Alan H.

As always, very nice art work Paco.   

Your work is beyond compare.  Thanks for sharing.


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## Firestopper

Thank you Allan,  but not really all that, just a pinch of pride.  I do appreciate the kind words and hope to stimulate ideas, lord knows I get inspired/ideas from this  site.
Peace


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## troyadamietz

very well done sir - hats off to you


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