Refurbished a couple of craigslist finds

[oaklandish]

A couple of deals I found on the local CL. First up is a Baldor 333B for $400 with a wonky shop built stand and a bunch buffing wheel accessories.

For the 333B I had to replace a frayed power cord and machine a key pin for the right hand spindle cup. I also balanced the cast aluminum cups.



Turned a mandrel out of a drop from another project.


after turning the smaller face of the convex side I was able to register it against the shoulder of the mandrel and then face the larger diameter side of the cup and turn the outer diameter to a concentric circle about the factory bore.




Before:


After:


Ready for another 30+ years of service

 

[oaklandish]

Next up was a Starrett No.254 height gauge I paid $100 for. Basically I disassembled it, cleaned it and put it back together. Works as good as new.

 

[Eddyde]

Nice score on the Starrett! But the Baldor sounds kind of pricy. Nice job on the restorations though..

 

[Mini Cooper S]

Wow what a great job on the height gauge! I have the same one but mine is 18" and also reads metric.
Richard

 

[oaklandish]

Nice score on the Starrett! But the Baldor sounds kind of pricy. Nice job on the restorations though..

I think the Baldor was a good deal for me. They are well over $1000 new and are identically made since their inception. A good used one is going to last forever. In my location this buffer rarely comes up and they are often sold on CL for 500-700 in crap condition with no stand or wheels and often times missing parts. Maybe in other locations they are readily available and you can get them for a couple of hundred or less. That would be almost criminal. As it is I got the best buffer made and it runs silently like a top with near perfect runout for substantially less than half of the new cost.

 

[oaklandish]

Wow what a great job on the height gauge! I have the same one but mine is 18" and also reads metric.
Richard

There was another add for this height gauge on CL for one in the factory wooden case for $2500. I think my deal was pretty fantastic. And it was a joy to take it apart and see just how well it was made and that after all the years of service it only needed a clean and re-oil with some Starrett tool and instrument oil.

 

[sdelivery]

There is always someone who got that or one of those for almost nothing.
Don't fret this, as they over paid for something else....
Nice work

 

[mmcmdl]

Nice job on the nice tools . I think they were priced reasonably .

 

[Mini Cooper S]

There was another add for this height gauge on CL for one in the factory wooden case for $2500. I think my deal was pretty fantastic. And it was a joy to take it apart and see just how well it was made and that after all the years of service it only needed a clean and re-oil with some Starrett tool and instrument oil.

View attachment 450844

I found your pictures of you refurbishment very interesting as I have never had mine apart.
Richard

 

[sdelivery]

You made me think...
lol any way. I realized I purchased this new sometime in the 80's, like 40 years ago. I guess the age thing is hitting me. It has always been my #1 tool and has never failed me and other than making a stand for it, has required no maintenance ( bearings, caps) Any idea how old yours is?
Other than the Mac tag it looks like I have the newer version.