It Followed Me Home, Can I Keep It? - Woodfast Universal Woodworker

There are a few of this type of instruction plate on this machine. This one's in not too bad condition, but some have corrosion coming through the black paint, so I'm thinking of trying to repaint them. I think I'll try to remove the paint with paint stripper & then, being aluminium, give them a light coat of etch primer. I would then sand the primer off the raised lettering, before spraying the black. Hopefully it should then be relativly easy to sand the black off the lettering. Has anyone restored this type of plate before & if so, how did you go about it?

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I have been doing some acid etching and painting HYCO plates... two colour plates are the trickiest. As mine are new I am not sure what the best way to get the paint off....I have used thinners to get the paint off my plates if I stuff them up... with this plate you have large areas of black that don’t have letters so will be really easy to damage the paint while sanding... I would mask off the stamped area before painting as that will be really hard to clean afterwards

The last couple of weeks I've just been cleaning & removing rust, so nothing real interesting to show, so I thought I'd put up some photos of the brochures that I got with it. These are the originals that the first buyer of the machine had, complete with hand written prices for the accessories. They've survived almost 60 years floating around garages & building sites. I also got the original instruction manual with it.
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Progress has been made, the lower part of the machine is finished. All steel parts were either stripped of rust completely, or where that wasn't possible, rust converter used. Everything was then primed, then the inside given two coats of "machinery grey" epoxy enamel & the outside "charcoal grey" hammertone. I have to make sure it's well painted as my garage is, fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, literally only a stones throw from the Nambucca River.

I would have liked to get the chromed parts replated, but the only plater on the north coast has closed. I've polished them up & given them a coat of wax, so will see if that keeps the rust away. I can look into getting them plated later, if needed.

The tables will be the next parts to receive attention. The paint on the undersides isn't in too bad condition, so I'll just hit it with the pressure cleaner to remove any loose paint, then paint over the rest.

I've still not been able to find a 3/4" ID reducing bush for the saw blade, seems this must be the only machine made with that sized arbor. If I can't find someone to turn one up for me, or let me use their lathe, I'll use a 20mm one & 0.5mm shim.

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Looking good :2tsup:

Just about finished, only the disk sander table & support to go, but that'll have to wait as I've got a blown head gasket on my Patrol that I have to fix & bass fishing season has just opened.
I finally managed to get the odd size jointer blades & 30mm-3/4" saw bush from Carbitool. I have to get some magnets next time I'm up at Coffs to make a setting jig for the jointer blades, then I can try it out.
I'd like to find a lathe & mortising attachment for it, so if anyone comes across either of them, I'd appreciate it if you'd let me know.
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:2tsup:You have done a commendable job on this machine mate. From what it started out to what it is now is no comparison. This will serve you well for many years to come and every time you use it you will have the satisfaction of knowing YOU brought it back to life! Cheers mate and I have enjoyed the Restoration.

Great result.

I have an old 60s? version of this kind of thing (Different brand) and was wondering what that side table where the shaft protrudes on the left is intended for? Could be for a sanding disk, but could have other uses?
Just used mine again today, slightly scary with the 10" blade on max, mostly the tiny table and questionable fence.:oo:

It is used for horizontal doweling or mortising.

Wood Spirit, if its just a tilting table it is for a sanding disk, but if it has levers to slide it in & out and from side to side, then it will be for doweling & mortising. If you look at the photos of the brochures I posted above, you can see the two arrangements.

My dads standard was blue hammertone for anything reconditioned - sure it had something that they used at work kinda thing

Finally got around to finishing off the last few things on this restoration.
The mitre gauge that came with it.
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Dust extractor ports sorted.
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Disc sander just about finished, just waiting on the sandpaper man to get the velcro backing pads back in stock. The machine also came with the two old Snail brand spanners that fit all the bolts & saw blade retaining nut.
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I had a bit of trouble with the support for the sanding table. I couldn't work out what the two little blocks that are loosely rivited to the cross piece are for. At first I thought that the cross piece was fixed to the two tubes, but then realised it was supposed to slide on the tubes, with the two blocks being pushed out by the clamp piece in the middle, locking it in place. After some gentle persuasion with a large sledge hammer I managed to get the tubes out & now it's all working as it should.

You should be very satisfied and proud of the restoration you have done. Your attention to accuracy and detail is top class.
Chris