The Nut Down the Street Still Wants More Tools

January 9th, 2012

No Reserve ‘Chute

The hunt for a better lathe continues.

This whole enterprise has me thinking about my first big power tool. About three years ago, I saw a used table saw on Craigslist. It was a Powermatic 66 set up for cutting Corian counters. It had the long Biesemeyer rails, and it came with about 16 expensive blades. Price: $500. That’s a good deal, even for an eleven-year old saw.

The problem was that it weighed about 600 pounds. I had nobody to help me move it, and my only “big” vehicle was my dad’s Ford Explorer.

Being crazy, I decided to go for it. I drove to Jupiter, Florida, early in the morning, and I met the owner at a storage facility. His business was dead, he had to get the saw out THAT DAY, and he was not going to let me check to see if it came apart for moving. And there was a surprise. When I had called about the saw, he had said something about helping me move it, but when I got there, he was wearing a back support, and he said I was on my own. I believe he was hoping I’d give up. He knew he had underpriced the saw.

Still being crazy, I gave him my $500 and got to work. He took off and said I should lock the unit when I left.

I had a Panasonic impact driver. This is a magnificent tool no one should be without. It turns just about any type of fastener easily, without stripping. I also had a socket set. I started removing screws and bolts.

I discarded the crummy plywood table he had put on the saw. That meant I just had to get the wings, rails, and motor off, to make the saw light enough to move. I got it dismantled, and then I wondered…how was I going to shove the cabinet into the Explorer? If I didn’t get it done, I was going to have to leave with everything but the saw itself, and the unit owner would get to auction off my new used tool.

There was a big pile of two-by-fours in the unit. They were cut to about five feet in length. The unit had a raised floor, about 2″ above the pavement outside. That gave me a 2″ vertical surface to brace two-by-fours against. I backed the Explorer up and put a few two-by-fours against the vertical surface, and I put the other end against the rear of the Explorer. Then I covered the two-by-fours with towels, walked the saw over to the truck, spent a moment of terror leaning it over onto the two-by-fours, and pushed.

Incredibly, the saw went up the ramp, and pretty soon it was in the truck. After that, putting all the other junk in there was a lark. I got the saw home, unloaded it on the grass so it wouldn’t bang on the driveway, put it in the garage, and assembled it. Suddenly I had the most amazing table saw in, probably, a one-mile radius.

I still had to put a new plug on the end of the cord, to match my welder’s 220 receptacle, but basically, I was done. I felt like I had jumped out of a plane with a needle, thread, and a bolt of cloth, and I had made myself a parachute on the way down.

On the way to Jupiter, I had doubted my sanity and my maturity. I was really afraid I would end up paying this guy $500 for a saw I would never be able to take home. Yet somehow, it ended up in my garage, and it has been a joy to use ever since. As I think I’ve mentioned, the other day I cut an aluminum four-by-four with it, lengthwise, and the cut was so regular from one end to the other, I could not detect any variation when I put the aluminum on the milling machine. It would have to be within one or, at most, two thousandths for that to happen. That’s a wonderful saw, people. And those blades retail for something like $200 each. I don’t know, because I have so many, I’ve never had to buy one.

Now I’ve realized my Clausing 5936 lathe–the supposed bargain–was a huge mistake. No metric threading. Unbelievably expensive replacement parts (Clausing charges $400 for a new PLASTIC lever for the front of a Clausing Colchester). More wear than the seller admitted. No brake. No clutch. Extremely scarce and expensive used accessories. It would be fine for someone who wants a CNC or ELS machine, or someone who doesn’t care about metric threads, but other than that…MISTAKE. So I’m looking for something different. And that means another episode of being intimidated by huge tools. Will it fit in the garage? Will the concrete break in half under the weight, sending the garage contents into a brand-new sinkhole? Will I have to hire illegals every time I want to change the 100-pound chuck? AM I STILL CRAZY?

Thing is, crazy though I may be, all of my tools have worked out reasonably well, in terms of space and manageability. I reorganized the garage the other day, and it’s so roomy now, I’m getting two folding chairs for guests. I love it out there.

I’m trying to make a rational choice. I’m trying to distinguish neurotic fear of big tools from reasonable concern about overdoing it.

There are so many temptations out there. Here’s an example. Most lathes have small spindle bores. Lathes have passages through their spindles, so you can put long things in the chucks and have the excess go through the head of the lathe and out the side. If you can’t get something through your spindle bore, you have to turn it over the ways. This means using a live center and God knows what else to support it. It’s inconvenient and a little bit tricky. If you have a big bore, a lot of your projects will go right in the chuck, instantly. And I recently learned that some quality lathes have 2″+ bores. But you pretty much have to go over 3000 pounds and a 14″ swing to get that.

On top of that, it seems like the selection of really nice used lathes is better when you go past 12″ in swing. I’ve found a few I’d have real confidence in, unlike the beater I got last time I shopped the used market. I found a couple which are basically new.

All of this information adds up to “bigger lathe than I originally wanted.” I started out looking at 13″ lathes, but the pickings aren’t that great.

I keep going to the garage with a tape measure, trying to see what I can realistically fit out there. One problem with big lathes is that they tend to be a little over 3 feet wide, not including handles which project from the front. You can’t put them directly against the wall, either. You really need a few inches, at least behind the pedestals, so you can remove crap and adjust the leveling screws. So you need to sacrifice maybe 46″, measuring from the wall out. I think my current lathe comes out about 33″.

It will fit, but when I consider going for it, I ask myself, “Am I being brave, like I was with the Powermatic, or am I just nuts?”

Asking other guys with tools is not helpful. They’re worse than I am. They’ll say things like, “I had problems moving around my 22″ lathe until I moved the living room furniture out in the yard. You might try that.” I know a hobbyist who has a JIG BORER. “What’s a jig borer?”, you’re asking yourself. Right. Exactly. This guy bought a one-ton machine to do something so obscure, most people don’t even know what it is. He has a 14″ Nardini lathe the size of a Yugo. I’ll bet if I asked him whether I should buy a 14″ lathe, he’d say it would be convenient to use when my REAL lathe was set up for other things. He’s looking for another big lathe, himself.

The other funny observation I must make is this: I still spend more time working ON tools than WITH tools. Today I have to resume trying to get the power feed and handwheel shimming fixed on my mill, just so I can use the mill to finish the follow rest for the Clausing! So I’m working on one tool so I can use it to work on another tool. That’s like Borges. It’s like M.C. Escher’s to-do list.

I don’t care. It’s all tremendous fun. I truly believe it shows how God is aligning things in my life. He created me with certain gifts and desires, and finally, I’m getting the means and the opportunity to do things with them. That’s Psalm 37, verse 4. No doubt about it. If your life is awful, and you’re stuck doing things you can’t stand, consider that. There is a way out, but you probably won’t find it without God, because if you did, it would discourage you from looking for him.

5 Responses to “The Nut Down the Street Still Wants More Tools”

  1. bmq215 Says:

    Out of curiosity, what have you made since getting all of the big machine tools? I’ve followed you since before the days of the table saw and besides the pig roaster, a couple minor amp pieces, and parts to make other machine tools work, I can’t remember reading about anything. I figure there must have been some pretty interesting projects in the last 3 years that we haven’t gotten a chance to hear about yet…

  2. Steve H. Says:

    Mostly, I make swarf.

  3. onmilo Says:

    Uhh,,,,for $500 you saved more than enough to rent a big straight truck with a lift gate and a pallet jack!
    You fell into a bargain.

  4. Steve H. Says:

    By using the Explorer, I saved the cost of a big straight truck with a lift gate and pallet jack!

  5. Onmilo Says:

    True.
    You were also risking back strain, inguinal hernia, smashed fingers,,,
    You still got a bargain! 🙂