Restoring an old powered hacksaw

[brino]

Thanks for the manufacturers name, I was about to ask......

The only reference I found to Kasto on Vintage Machinery is this, under the "Racine" section:

In about 1979 or shortly before, KASTO, Inc. purchased the assets of Racine; they changed their name KASTO-Racine, Inc.

http://vintagemachinery.org/mfgindex/detail.aspx?id=1085&tab=0

They do still exist and have a web site:
https://www.kasto.com/us/

This Racine document:
http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/detail.aspx?id=16557
mentions a very little about a couple different hydraulic feed systems they had.


....but neither looks like the one being dealt with here.

Any idea the age of this machine?

-brino

 

[MrCrankyface]

The machine is from 1970, it still had a (very worn) sign on the rear.
When I was in contact with kasto about this machine they managed to find this manual in their archives.
They seem to be generally hard to find information about.. I guess bandsaws are a lot more popular.

My german is definitely not good enough to read it so I've mostly been checking the schematics when taking it apart, trying to figure things out.

 

[MrCrankyface]

Alright so if I'm going to be positive about having to redo this, at least I can make the finish a lot better with the thick polyrethane and primer acting as filler.
You can see just how rough it was, lots of highspots.


After several hours of sanding...


Of course I managed to screw this up again by applying too much paint and getting quite a lot of runs again. Ah well, at least I'm learning stuff..

So a second, much faster, sanding session followed by another try at painting it.
This time I really took care with setting up the spray gun by spraying at a steel sheet first, adjusting the paint flow and pattern etc.
I was also super careful when painting, I think I might've put on a coat that was too light but it looks alright!

 

[brino]

Personally, I HATE painting!

I know that prep is the majority of the work, I do that.
I know that many light coats are better than a single "too much" dripping coat.
I know to keep a wet edge!

All that work and it still comes out so-so at best
I HATE painting!

Your results look better than I have ever achieved!
I like the colour too.

-brino

 

[Nogoingback]

That's probably as good or better a paint job than when it was new. Looks great.

 

[MrCrankyface]

Thanks!

Brino, I couldn't agree more.. I don't mind the prepwork but applying the paint always feels like throwing a dice, never knowing if it's too much or too little. I'm very happy about the results though!

 

[middle.road]

There's folks that can paint and there are those who can't.
Guess which camp I belong to?
Now my Son can rattle-can with the best of them. Me? I get runs no matter what, even if the surface is flat and level.

Personally, I HATE painting!

I know that prep is the majority of the work, I do that.
I know that many light coats are better than a single "too much" dripping coat.
I know to keep a wet edge!

All that work and it still comes out so-so at best
I HATE painting!

Your results look better than I have ever achieved!
I like the colour too.

-brino

 

[MrCrankyface]

Hardly any work but WOW, getting it back on the feet was super motivating!
Still awaiting a reply from kasto about the spare parts I need.

 

[mattthemuppet2]

There's folks that can paint and there are those who can't.
Guess which camp I belong to?
Now my Son can rattle-can with the best of them. Me? I get runs no matter what, even if the surface is flat and level.

the trick is always to do lots of light coats, rather than a few thick ones. That's the best way to get a good even coat and enough layers to be durable in my experience.

 

[MrCrankyface]

I find that if I do light coats the end result is always gritty, like the paint doesn't flow out together in a nice surface.
And if I go too thick, it obviously starts running away from me.

It's a hard balance and super hard to judge how much paint you've applied..

What seems to work for this paint is to use a lot of light and use the reflections to judge how "prickly" the surface is.
If the surface is smooth then you've already applied too much paint and it's gonna start running in a few minutes.
Leaving it VERY slightly prickly seemed to work, that way it would flow together after a little bit.