Yes Bob, that's how the adjustment of the rail works, as far as I could work out. It works, so must be right.
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Yes Bob, that's how the adjustment of the rail works, as far as I could work out. It works, so must be right.
Some photos to show the manner in which I made the stand off spacers and drilled, tapped and counterbored the bar to accommodate them.
The spacers are 4140.
Attachment 478097 Attachment 478098 Attachment 478099 Attachment 478100
After bandsawing the 1" bar roughly to length, I faced the ends using a fixed steady. The lathe, a Hercus ARL from 1969, is the long bed version, proving invaluable for this sort of work.
Attachment 478101 Attachment 478102
The mill has limited table travel so using two small vices clamped to the bar and set flush with the table, I was able to reposition the bar and maintain radial alignment. To ensure correct positioning of the two holes in the bar, I drilled and tapped the first hole then mounted the bar on the Universal's table, and using a 3/8" diameter transfer punch inserted in the table's other rail mounting lug, scratched the exact centreline on the bar for the second hole. I used my centring microscope to align the scratch with the mill spindle centreline.
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All fits as I hoped it would.
Attachment 478107
Bob.
Looking good Bob!
This time the mortising and dowelling attachment.
The aluminium castings were in good condition and the steel components were definitely not.
Attachment 478841
The cranked lever for the table's height adjustment was probably the most corroded. It was badly pitted and I contempated making a new replacement but the steel Woodfast used, 5/16" bright bar, isn't readily available here so I 'refurbished' the original. Initially I used a very seldom used Price Ackling 'Multitool" linisher with a 120 grit belt, followed by drawfiling and carborundum paper. I had considered acid fume blackening the steel components but lazily opted for the instant gratification offered with the application of Birchwood Casey's Super Blue. The Super Blue, applied correctly which involves rinsing with water post application, appears to be maintaining its blueness.
Earlier attempts with Super Blue, prior to the correct following of instructions, resulted in light corrosion. The rinsing must neutralise the chemical process? A question for BobL. Birchwood Casey recommend the application of another of their products, Barricade rust protection, after blueing. I have used lithium grease and it seems to be holding up well enough.
The first photo below shows the spindle moulder's lever which is probably less corroded than the mortiser's lever was, and the refurbished lever.
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Attachment 478855
Next item on the list is the 11" disc sander. I purchased a slice of 12mm thick 5083 aluminium plate for the disc and I will have to make a flanged steel hub to mount the disc on.
Woolly posted photos of his Universal with the disc mounted - It Followed Me Home, Can I Keep It? - Woodfast Universal Woodworker but unfortunately I haven't seen a photo of the rear of the disc and its hub. The invaluable Woodfast brochure also posted by Woolly, mentions the rear ribbing in the original disc suggesting casting. While my disc will be different in that respect, knowing what the original hub looks like would be useful.
PM sent Woolly.
Bob.
Hi Bob,
Nice job on the mortising attachment, I'd love to find one for mine, there were a couple of cutters with my machine.
Here are a couple of photos of the sanding disc, showing the sizes.
Attachment 478862 Attachment 478863
Bob After seeing your photos it reminds me that I have the knurled nuts and all three rods from the mens shed machine mortiser - these were also rescued by me from the skip - I wonder what happened to the rest.
Anyway nice photos and goo work on getting it ship shape.
Hello Mike,
Thank you very much for going to the trouble to post the images. The disc is nothing like I expected. I was expecting something more substantial. It obviously did the job and didn't need to be more than it is.
I will adhere to my idea of a flanged steel hub because I don't see any other real options. I did save a photo of a Universal and its disc from a recent eBay listing. The disc in the eBay photo shows three holes in the face of the disc suggesting maybe a flange at the rear?
Do your mortising cutters fit into an adaptor or do they fit directly onto the spindle's 5/8" spigot? Bob gave me a step down adaptor, 5/8 to 1/2" with the haul of accessories. Could be for a drill chuck or something else?
Attachment 478890
Bob.
Here are a couple of photos of the mortising cutters & adaptor that came with mine, they are 1/2" shank, made by William Ridgway.
Attachment 478932 Attachment 478933
Thank you for the photos Mike.
I have the adaptor but no bits. A search begins.
Bob.
For Bob and Mike.
Hi AB. Don't worry, your project is interesting to more people than just Mike and Bob. I'm enjoying the resto too.
Hello MA,
Thanks for showing interest. I had typed a detailed post describing the processes involved in the making of the hub, when the page froze with the result that I lost the post. So the photos were for Bob and Mike who would not have needed the accompanying description. I have communicated with Mike off forum regarding the disc and Bob knows well what I have and do in the shed.
Basically my replacement 11" disc is a piece of 12mm thick 5083 grade aluminium plate and because it is not the lightweight cast aluminium of the original I thought it needed a substantial flanged steel hub for support. The hub was machined from 100mm diameter steel bar. The photos show some of the stages of the process.
The disc itself will be a challenge. My lathe only has a 4 1/2" centre height.
Bob.
This presents a bit of a puzzle for me. I intend to replace the bearings but Woodfast's method of assembly has me scratching my head. If the bearings are pressed onto the spindle prior to being fitted into the bearing housings, there is no simple means of supporting the outer races while pressing the housings onto the bearings. If the bearings are first pressed into the housings then there is no access to the inner race to allow pressing the bearings onto the spindle.
The only simple solution may be to heat the housings to allow a gentler installation on the spindle mounted bearings. A more complicated method may be to remove the thin centre section of the housing and replace it with a removable cover allowing easy access to the inner race.
An additional puzzle was the absence of the woodruff key used to key the jointer head to the spindle. There is some axial galling on the sindle suggesting disassembly at some stage. Fortunately the pair of 3/8" socket set screws prevented any rotation of the head. It is strange that Woodfast made no allowance for the burrs raised by the set screws used on both the pulley and jointer head.
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Bob.
Looking good Bob. I had to hunt round town to find someone with a press, that would let me use it, to press everything off the shaft. The previous owner had used a 20mm bore saw blade on the 3/4" shaft, which had moved & damaged it so the inner blade washer wouldn't come off. The bearings, cutter head & pulley were all rusted in place.
I can't recall having any problems fitting the bearings, they should only be a tight fit on one race & a slip fit on the other, but I can't remember which was which on mine. I normally put the bearing in the freezer & the housing out in the sun, then put the shaft in the freezer & the bearing/housing out in the sun.