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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Location
    Newcastle, AU
    Posts
    238

    Default Restorations, reviews and random workshop things

    Thought I'd start up a post sharing some of the stuff I have been doing/am doing in the workshop - and if I leave out the motorcycle/car related stuff that leaves restoring vintage tools and doing the occasional deep dive into the history of the companies behind the tools. I have a bad habit of spending hours exploring the history of the tool makers and trying to document as much as possible - usually on companies I can't find info on readily after Googling for a while. So much interesting history there.

    I don't usually use filler on the stuff I clean up, as I like seeing the casting imperfections underneath. YMWV.

    First thing up is a Dawn vice I did earlier in the year - this is one that people keep on asking about, the QR mechanism seems to have caught people's attention and I have just come across it yet again whilst researching the patents for a Samsonia vice I picked up yesterday. Before:



    Undercut buttress thread half-nut:



    After:





    More pics/info here:

    https://motofaction.org/tool-reviews...ration-review/

    I had enough people ask about how the QR mechanism that I did a video on how it worked - I'm kind of surprised that it works as well as it does given it's only a half nut but it seems pretty solid in practice. I can't imagine it's going to have as much ultimate clamping force as a regular non-QR vice but it's certainly handy at times to have that feature.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Location
    Newcastle, AU
    Posts
    238

    Default

    On the topics of Dawns, my adventures in colour matching are detailed here:

    https://motofaction.org/tool-reviews...olour-matches/

    I have a few more colours to add to that list, haven't been at the computer much for the past few months so I'm a little behind.

    This one is my go-to vice - it had a broken nut when I got it:



    I do love how oddball the dynamic jaw looks when removed:



    Hammerite hammertone green:



    Straightened out the handle in the press, one of my better attempts at that. More here:

    https://motofaction.org/tool-reviews...-ductile-iron/

    While it's only 4" it's been a hell of a useful vice - the offset nature is really quite wonderful for holding long things vertically and it is a very solid unit.

    Wish I had a colour that was closer to the original but it looks nice in the darker green, particularly now that it has worn in a bit and looks a bit more used.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Location
    Newcastle, AU
    Posts
    238

    Default

    Cleaned up a Dawn 5SP:





    Didn't highlight the lettering on this one and wish I had. More here:

    https://motofaction.org/tool-reviews...stralian-made/

    ...and then a 6SP:







    Too bright for a vice, imho, but the guy who ended up taking it off my hands loved the colour so it's obviously in the eye of the beholder. More pics:

    https://motofaction.org/tool-reviews...on-semi-steel/

    Then I found a fabricated 150mm unit:





    More here: https://motofaction.org/tool-reviews...n-made-121152/

    ...and then a 150mm cast unit:



    That one next to a little 3" Carter:



    Should have cleaned my greasy fingerprints off the black for the photo, but oh well. Tried something different with the colour this time around. More here:

    https://motofaction.org/tool-reviews...stralian-made/

    I do love the sheer heft of the big cast 150mm/6" vices.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Location
    Newcastle, AU
    Posts
    238

    Default

    There's definitely a trend happening here, it's kind of sad...

    Found a Carter 3" pictured above - had already been restored by the seller when I got it:



    Was pretty well seized. I un-restored it and re-restored it:



    Was a pretty solid little unit.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Location
    Newcastle, AU
    Posts
    238

    Default

    My two kids have an interest in the workshop and one school holidays my son wanted to restore a drill press, so we went and found him one:





    This is as far as he got during the holidays:



    Never did figure out who Alfa Machine Corporation ASR were - I think I ended up settling on them most likely being an Indian manufacturer.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Perth, Western Australia
    Age
    67
    Posts
    362

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by J.C. View Post
    I don't usually use filler on the stuff I clean up, as I like seeing the casting imperfections underneath. YMWV.
    Maybe because I worked in a couple of foundries in a previous life I do like to see castings left in there natural form warts and all.

    Some very nice work there J.C.

    Tony

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    Sydney, NSW
    Posts
    1,249

    Default

    Every man likes a good vice. I had four or five at one stage, but I had to sell a couple for storage reasons. I still have a couple hiding in shelves though.

    Ben.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Bungama SA
    Age
    52
    Posts
    960

    Default

    " and if I leave out the motorcycle/car related stuff "

    Dont do that

    Nice work on the appendage holding clamps (AVE style)
    ....................................................................

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Location
    Newcastle, AU
    Posts
    238

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by bts View Post
    Maybe because I worked in a couple of foundries in a previous life I do like to see castings left in there natural form warts and all.

    Some very nice work there J.C.

    Tony
    Thanks!

    Quote Originally Posted by bwal74 View Post
    Every man likes a good vice. I had four or five at one stage, but I had to sell a couple for storage reasons. I still have a couple hiding in shelves though.

    Ben.
    I try to limit myself to just the one - while I really, really, really like a lot of these vices I don't have a lot of space and would rapidly become snowed under. Instead I try to "collect" the restorations posted online - much more space efficient!

    Quote Originally Posted by Harry72 View Post
    " and if I leave out the motorcycle/car related stuff "

    Dont do that

    Nice work on the appendage holding clamps (AVE style)

    Thanks! The motorcycle and car things are less interesting than they used to be - mostly just maintaining the current fleet and getting the odd bike in need of restoration back onto the road. No more cafe racers and sportscars.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Location
    Newcastle, AU
    Posts
    238

    Default

    My wife saw a news article on angle grinders and how injurious they can be so she bought me an Abbott and Ashby bench grinder. Unfortunately, after five hours of use the motor started vibrating madly on the stand and when I took the base plate off to have a look underneath the offending bolt span freely. Off came the end caps so I could access the head of the bolts...



    I swapped out the bearings for some NTN Japanese-made ones I had on-hand while I was in there and was pleased with the result. Runs much more nicely now.

    https://motofaction.org/mechanical-1...-200mm-8-inch/


    Anyone know when they stopped making them in Oz and started making them in China? I have one from '82 that runs smoother than this one did out of the box and now that there's new bearings in they're about the same.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Location
    Newcastle, AU
    Posts
    238

    Default

    After a long search I finally found a 2M that was within a sane drive:





    Spindle TIR is 0.001" and a 6mm gage pin measured ~20mm below the chuck has a TIR of 0.003" which is plenty good for me for now... until I get the urge to go pulling it apart, anyhow.

    Had an electrician come around today to fix up the wiring - the previous owner ran 3 cables from the wall into 4 before the switch - splicing two into the active - and then four out of the switch, but three into the motor. One of the active lines was just left sitting - open-ended - in the sheath between the switch and motor. He claimed this was the only way that he could get the press to run. It's all back to hunky dory now with a nice new thick yellow cable and no dicey wiring.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Bungama SA
    Age
    52
    Posts
    960

    Default

    Do they use a pivoting motor mount to adjust belt tension?(instead of sliding on the rods/bushes)
    ....................................................................

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Location
    Newcastle, AU
    Posts
    238

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Harry72 View Post
    Do they use a pivoting motor mount to adjust belt tension?(instead of sliding on the rods/bushes)
    Yes, they do. It’s the best setup I have used to date - certainly quicker and easier than loosening/tightening bolts that hold parallel shafts that the motor slides on.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Murray Bridge S Aust.
    Age
    71
    Posts
    5,942

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    Have seen where a push type Toggle Clamp is used to adjust the belt tension on the pivoting motor mount. An excellent idea for someone who changes speeds often.
    Using one on a restoration would be sacrilege though.
    Must get around to doing mine one year!!!
    Push Toggle.jpg
    Kryn
    To grow old is mandatory, growing up is optional.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Location
    Newcastle, AU
    Posts
    238

    Default

    Picked up this grinder:






    Spent yesterday pulling it apart and cleaning it up - was very pleased to see that the bearings were readily available new. Got this far - just waiting on bearings now before it all gets put back together:


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