ToolSmartz

V3.8 - Drill Press: Speeds and Capacities

2012-02-16T05:06:00.000-08:00

My, my. We’re just moving right along with our information about Drill Presses.
At some point we’re going to get into ‘what to look for when buying a DP’. I’m sure that will help anyone who is contemplating adding a new machine to their shop.
For now, let’s get back to our rundown.

Where’d we leave off? Oh yes, we were at the chuck and the next nearest thing to talk about is the spindle. The ‘spindle’ is usually driven by a stepped-cone pulley or pulleys that are connected by a v-belt to a similar pulley on a motor. The ‘motor’ is bolted to a plate that is located at the rear of the head casting at the rear of the column. The average range of speeds of the typical DP is 250rpm to about 3000rpm. Delta used to manufacturer a ‘super hi-speed’ Drill Press. It was so named because the bit speed was around 10,000rpm. The motor only turned at 3450rpm, but because of the belt ratio, it could really turn ‘n burn. It seems that jewelers loved it. Since the motor shaft stands vertically, a sealed ball bearing motor is best suited for a Drill Press. For average work, a one-quarter or three-quarter horsepower motor usually meets most requirements.

The capacity, or ‘size’ of a Drill Press is determined by the distance from the center of the drill bit to the front of the column - then doubled. For instance, a 12-inch Drill Press can drill to the center of a 12-inch diameter circle, but the distance from the center of the bit to the front of the column is only 6 inches. This is how all Drill Presses are measured. One of the most versatile Drill Presses was the “Ram Radial” Drill Press. This was an industrial Drill Press that was used a lot, during the Second World War, in airplane factories. The head had a long appendage fastened to its back and that casting rolled inside a ball bearing track. What this allowed was that the head could be moved backwards and forwards almost 3 feet. I’m working off memory but as I recall this press could drill to the center of a 72-inch circle, or down to about an 8-inch circle…and any and all points in between. It was such a popular concept, but one that most home shop guys could not afford, that back in the 1970’s, Rockwell International created a home shop version that could drill to the center of a 32-inch circle. It could also slide in and out, just like its bigger brother, which enabled it to be just as versatile.

Next week we’ll outline a few tips to keep in mind when you’re out shopping for your new Drill Press.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

V3.6 - Oh, Those Little Tots

2012-02-08T05:08:00.000-08:00

We now interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for this important commercial. Well, it’s not really a commercial, but it does have to do with television. If you’ve been reading my columns for any length of time, you probably know about my love for the antique baby strollers that were made by The Frank Taylor Co. They were branded as “Taylor-Tots” and are the Model T’s of the baby stroller industry. There is no telling how many of them were made from the mid-1920’s until around 1975. I restore them, publish an e-newsletter with over 100 readers and sell some parts. As far as I know, I have the only website in the world that is about these little guys. (shameless plug alert: www.3r1enterprises.com)

Anyway, I also watch a program called “American Restoration” and last night the program guide said something about a “1930’s Taylor Tot walker”. So I was all eyes when the program came on. A little into the program it showed the fellows buying a Taylor-Tot from a local picker. (“picker”- where did that term come from? We used to call them “junkmen” or “scrounges”. If we liked them, they were “collectors”.) So the picker pulls out this little stroller and it’s kind ragged - no push handle, or foot tray and the seat was all busted – and he says “It’s from the 40’s”… BZZZZT. Wrongo, me Bucko. Right off I saw that it had plastic beads which were not put on the Tots until 1956. So I knew these guys were clueless as to what they really had. But don’t worry, the real punchline came later in the show. Then they settled on a price of 50 dollars and the picker went away happy.

So, as the show went along, it showed them taking it apart, media blasting all the parts, making a new foot tray and push handle and then putting it all back together. My wife and I are watching this and I kept going “Yep…done that… and that… and that…and that”. It’s a wonder she didn’t throw her bag of popcorn at me, but then she’s not like that. So, they get the stroller done and it doesn’t look too bad. Actually, it’s a LOT better looking than it was when they first got it. It was very apparent that they had looked at some other strollers to see how the handle and foot tray should be shaped, but they did good. THEN, they had a nice couple show up to buy this thing and when Rick (the shop owner) said that he wanted 1700 dollars for it, I almost fell out of my chair. I can do a complete restoration for around 500 and I’ll put my work up against theirs any day. But then, they have shop rent and higher labor rates in NV than I do in TN.

Maybe I need to raise my prices…

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

V3.5 - My friend, The Drill Press

2012-02-01T19:29:00.000-08:00

So… last year I got to thinking (yes, my wife was shocked at that, too), I write about tools and I’m sure that some readers see what I write and think, “What the dickens is he talking about?”… because they have never heard of a wood shaper or a drill press or a bandsaw. So, I thought that this year, for as long as it lasts (not the year, the tools) I would introduce the crowd to the tools. That was the reason for the intro columns about the Wood Shaper.

Our next series will be about what’s likely, my favorite shop tool, the Drill Press. I’ve done a few columns about the chuck and stuff, but not any about DP’s in general. I call this my favorite tool because it’s the only one that’s ever tried to seriously maim me…and it was MY fault. The story is that I was getting ready to race my dirt track stock car for the very first time and I needed to make an accelerator bracket. So I had this piece of flat steel that I had bent on one end and I needed to drill a hole in that end. I was “in a hurry” and set the bent end flat on the Drill Press table, which left the other end sticking up at an angle…and I thought ‘oh, I can just hold it and it will be fine’… yea, right. I held it, started drilling the hole and BAM! before I could move, the bit grabbed the metal and swung it around so fast…and I looked down at my arm and all of a sudden I had this huge slice in it…started bleeding like a stuck pig and all because I was in too big of a hurry to clamp my work or put it in a vise. To this very day, I have a scar on my left wrist that looks like I tried to commit suicide. Seriously.

Anyway, back to our lesson…the Drill Press (hereafter referred to as a DP) was originally designed for the metalworking trades; however, with the availability of woodworking techniques and of cutting tools, jigs and attachments, the DP is now one of the most versatile tools in the shop. It not only drills in metal, it bores in wood and performs other woodworking operations such as mortising and sanding. In fact, after the table saw, the DP can easily become the second most important piece of equipment in the average home shop. Notice one technical distinction: it “DRILLS” in metal and “BORES” in wood. Since I am a tech-guy, such nuances are important. They really are. We’ll talk more about DP’s next time.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

V3.4 - The Last Word on Wood Shapers

2012-01-25T12:40:00.001-08:00

Ok, so we’re gonna wrap up our informational series about Wood Shapers this week. That is, unless you folks come up with some questions that I can answer for everyone. I’m finding this sort of column a bit more difficult than I imagined because I can’t show you any pictures of what I’m talking about. I guess I’m just more used to writing Instruction Manuals when I’m talking about the features of a machine. Instruction Manuals have pictures. Now, if I’m discussing how to fix something…well, I did that over the phone for more than 20 years and Skype didn’t exist. So, “picture-less trouble-shooting” is right up my alley.
Alright, so where were we? Ah yes… another useful tool for Wood Shapers is called a ‘hold-down’. These are usually spring steel and the mount for them attaches to the fence. They apply downward (toward the table) and inward (toward the infeed fence) pressure to help keep the work snug against the fence as it enters the cutting circle. (see how a picture would be perfect right about here?)
No discussion about tools is complete without talking about Safety. A Wood Shaper is probably one of the most dangerous tools in a shop. It can cause kickback and loss of fingertips. Here are some good rules to follow when using your shaper.
1: Always wear the proper clothing. Generally it is a good idea to take off any wristwatches or bracelets and to wear tight-fitting clothing. The use of short-sleeved shirts will minimize the possibility of being pulled into the cutter. Never wear loose-fitting clothing or neckties when using a shaper. 2: Always use the appropriate hold-downs and guards. 3: Keep the cutters sharp. Sharp cutters will cut with less friction and minimum tear out. Less friction means that you will not need to use as much force to move the work thru the cutters. 4: With some cuts, it is better to make several light passes, rather than to try to make the cut in one pass. 5: Always minimize the open area around the cutters and the fence. In other words, keep the fence edges as close to the guard and cutter as possible. Too much open space can lead to snipes, gouges, kickbacks or nicks in the work. 6: Use work controlling devices such as hold-downs or stock feeders whenever possible to keep the work snug against the fence and table. 7: Always push the work past the cutters when completing the cut. Never release the work while it is still touching the cutter.

I’m not sure where we’ll go next time, but be sure to tune in. Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel. If you understand the reference, you’ve had more than a few birthdays.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

V3.3 - Wood Shapers, part 3

2012-01-19T04:40:00.000-08:00

Fences. Yep, that’s where we left off. So that’s where we shall resume.

On a shaper, the fence is placed on the table top and secured to the table with two long threaded rods, usually with knobs on top. The fence acts basically like the tables of a jointer, laid on their side. The infeed fence side controls the depth of the cut and the outfeed fence side supports the stock after it has passed the cutters. The biggest difference between the two is that the outfeed of the jointer is pretty much always higher than the infeed. That is not always true on a shaper. If the stock is not being removed from the entire edge of the workpiece, the outfeed fence will need to be level with the infeed so as to support it properly. Most shaper operations are this way.
One of the most innovative fence systems to come along in the past 20 years was the segmented fence. This fence consists of fence “fingers” that are small slats of material and they can be adjusted to conform more closely to the cutters and guard outline for better support and dust collection. For best results the opening between the fence halves should never be more than is just enough to clear the cutters and/or guard.
Speaking of guards, there are two basic types for most shapers. The “ring guard” is, as it sounds, a small ring that is mounted on an overhanging arm and it encircles the top of the spindle. The most familiar shaper guard nowadays is the polycarbonate/Lexan, clear or orange-colored disc guard with the rounded edge. It sits on top of the cutter(s) and comes with bushings and washer kits to allow it to fit most spindles. This disc has a high-speed, pre-lubricated ball bearing center that mounts directly on the spindle. It keeps the operators fingers out of harms way, away from the revolving cutter. It minimizes flying chips and yet allows excellent vision to see the work as it is being shaped.
One of the most necessary parts of a shaper is the sliding jig. Its purpose is to clamp the work securely so that it can be advanced into the cutters. It is primarily used in creating return moldings across the ends of narrow strips.
Of course each shaper has an on/off switch and most of them are mounted within easy access of the operator. Some shapers have a movable arm that can be raised above the rear of the table for very good switch access. The switch for reversing the motor is usually on the side of the motor itself.

For now, let’s end our discussion and we’ll see if we can find some more “good juice” for next week.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

V3.2 - Wood Shapers, part 2

2012-01-13T18:36:00.000-08:00

Last week, we started our series on the Wood Shaper. We’ll pick that back up this week and give you a bit more information about this vital wood shop machine.

Let’s talk about the shaper spindles; most spindles are solid, with different sized spindles or cutter holders on opposite ends, such as a collet to hold router bits or a stub spindle to hold cope cutters. All spindles can be raised and lowered which allows for adjustment of cutter height. Most shapers have the elevation handwheel at the front of the machine and a separate handle that locks the spindle in place at any desired height above the table.
A medium size shaper with a three-quarter horsepower motor is more than adequate for small cutters with a half-inch center bore. Cutters such as panel raising cutters or carbide cutters stacked for multiple cutting operations should be used only with shapers that have one and one-half horsepower, or larger, motors; and three-quarter inch or larger spindles. Some applications require the use of heavy-duty industrial shapers which can have motors as large as 7 horsepower.
On most shapers, the motor must have a speed of 3450 RPM in order to give the spindle the required speed. While there are certain applications the can better use a slower spindle speed, the optimum spindle speed is 10,000 RPM. Shapers may use a v-belt or a flat belt to transmit the motor speed to the spindle and some models have a reversing switch that will change the direction of rotation of the spindle and allow the user to turn the cutter over and feed in the opposite direction.
There are various spindles available that serve specific purposes. For example; the Stub Spindle is used for cope cutters; the Collet Spindle is used for router bits; the half-inch spindle is used for half-inch bore cutters; the three-quarter inch spindle is for three-quarter bore cutters and so on, up to inch and a half or larger spindles. Hollow spindle cartridges require auxiliary spindles with tie-rods so they can pass down thru the main outer spindle and be secured with a tapered nut that holds them tightly and safely while preforming shaper operations.

I’m not sure how much further we’ll get with this because it’s pretty difficult to describe things here on in, without using pictures… but we’ll see. I’ll do my best to give you some good mental visuals.

Every shaper has a fence. ‘What’s a fence’ you say? In some cases it’s used to keep cows in, but on shapers the fence is used to brace the stock that’s being shaped.
We’ll get more into that next time.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

V3.1 - Introducing the Wood Shaper

2012-01-06T19:36:00.000-08:00

Alrighty then, 2011 is over. Everyone is coming back down from the exhilarating high of celebrating Jesus’ birthday and it’s now back to the old grindstone… ain’t it fun??? Well, I hope so. Life is far too short to not have some fun at each and every chance. As for us, we’re gonna start the year off by talking about one of the wood shop’s most basic tools, the Wood Shaper. Some of this information was previously published by Delta, in 1937 and used with Authorization.

The modern Wood Shaper is a very flexible and versatile tool. Its application in woodworking allows one to create an infinite variety of shapes in wood with a wide selection of cutter heads, offering many different profiles. The wide adaptability to many woodworking techniques likewise allows one to create many unique woodworking projects. The wide selection of lightweight to heavy industrial models offers the user many options.
At its most basic, the Wood Shaper is a stationary power tool that is designed to cut shapes in wood. Makes sense, right? Most Wood Shapers have a vertical spindle on which a variety of cutters can be mounted. The cutters cut the actual shapes in the wood, thereby creating moldings and making wood joints or joinery. While there are other tools, such as routers, that also cut shapes in wood they generally do not have the power and flexibility that a shaper has. The Wood Shaper usually has the ability to reverse the rotation of the spindle, vary the speed of the cut and to have multiple cutters mounted on the spindle at a time, which allows several profiles to be done in one pass. In addition there are several cutter combinations that expand the shaper’s versatility. The work piece is supported by a cast-iron table (Please note: my discussion leans more towards those shapers that have cast-iron tables, not so much the table-top shapers that might have aluminum tables – although the basics of a Wood Shaper is the same between them) and is controlled by a variety of supports including a fence, depth collars or special jigs and fixtures. This allows an infinite variety of applications to be handled by the shaper.
The spindle assembly is driven by an electric motor. A drive belt connects the motor to the spindle via various sized pulleys that control the speed of the spindle. The spindle size can vary from one-half inch to one and one-half inch. The larger spindles are designed for heavy industrial machines. Some shapers have spindle cartridges that are hollow which allows spindles to be interchanged much like changing a drill bit in a chuck, except that the spindle is held in place with a draw bolt.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

V2.36 - Happy New Year

2012-01-05T18:11:00.000-08:00

So, here we are at the end of another year. Wow… I always heard that the older one gets, the faster time flies. After studying that for a few years, I think I know why. When you’re 2 years old, 1 year is one half of your entire life. When you get older, 1 year is only one-50 something of your entire life. So time really doesn’t go faster, it just seems shorter. That’s my story and I’m stickin to it.

2012
The year that “they” say we’re gonna expire. There’s a Greek word for that – Baloney. I’ve read the last chapter of THE Book and some things it says must come to pass have not. It also says that Man does not know when the end will come, only the Father knows (Matt 24:36). So, come next Dec 22, we’ll still be here, although there may be fewer of us around. Now, having said that, I fully believe that we are well on our way towards the end. My clues are taken from the Holy Bible and some of the things it mentions are lining right up.
Years ago, no one could imagine that ‘the whole world’ could see anything at the same time (Rev 11:9). Now, it is not only possible, but routine.
We’ll get to the point that we can’t buy or sell anything without a certain mark (Rev 13:16-17) and even now, we can see the technology maturing to the point that this would not be impossible like it was years ago. You know, I’ve always thought that this might play out like this… Gov’t handout money is put on ‘smart cards’ and big momma gets to the register and says “I lost my card, but you gotta give me stuff anyway”. So the gov’t says, “Here, we have come up with a way to be sure you never lose it again. We’ll put this mark on your hand or forehead and all you need to do is put your number in front of the scanner and all is well.” So big momma says, “I’ll do it and the guy who come up with this idea is sooo smart. He needs to be President of the World”.

Oh yea, I’m probably wrong, but it IS coming. If you are still here when the “President of the World” shows up, do whatever you need to do, but do not take that mark. If you do, you will shut the door on any chance you’d ever have of seeing heaven. (Rev 14:9-11)

God Bless you all and we’ll see you in 2012.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

V2.35 - When you get right down to it

2011-12-22T06:28:00.000-08:00

The only thing that really matters is Jesus.

I received this on a Christmas card this year, and it was too true not to share with you.
A few years ago, when my grand-daughter was 2 (yes, TWO) years old, our family was all together on Christmas Eve and her dad pulled her out front of the family and she started reciting the following bible verses. I DO mean ‘reciting’…by memory and with only a couple of prompts by her dad.

“And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
Needless to say, there wasn’t a dry eye left in the house when she finished.
It was really a touching moment and God has blessed her greatly.

I don’t usually (I said ”usually”) get on my soapbox, but folks, this world is not going to recover from the turmoil it is in. It’s too far gone. It has been written that we are in for perilous times that will only get worse and worse until Jesus returns to stop it. If you have never given your heart to Him, please do so while there is still time. This lifetime will seem like a blink of your eye 10,000 years from now. One day everyone will bow their knee and acknowledge Jesus as Lord. Why not start now? Merry Christmas.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

V2.34 - Some Tools Defined

2011-12-11T05:37:00.000-08:00

We’ve talked about some of these machines, so just in time for the holidays, here are some definitions for those who might be thinking about buying someone a tool for Christmas.

DRILL PRESS: A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings your coke across the room, denting the freshly-painted project which you had carefully set in the corner where nothing could get to it.
BAND SAW: A large stationary power saw primarily used by most shops to cut good aluminum sheet into smaller pieces that more easily fit into the trash can after you cut on the inside of the line instead of the outside edge.
WIRE WHEEL: Cleans paint off bolts and then throws them somewhere under the workbench at the speed of light. Also removes fingerprints and hard-earned calluses from fingers in about the time it takes you to say, 'Oh, dang!'
TABLE SAW: A large stationary power tool commonly used to launch wood projectiles for testing wall integrity.
HAMMER: Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the object we are trying to hit. It is especially valuable at being able to find the EXACT location of the thumb or index finger of the other hand.
TWO-TON ENGINE HOIST: A tool for testing the maximum tensile strength of everything you forgot to disconnect.
SKIL SAW: A portable cutting tool used to make studs too short.
PLIERS: Used to round off bolt heads. Sometimes used in the creation of blood-blisters.
PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER: Normally used to stab the vacuum seals under lids or for opening old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splashing oil on your shirt; but can also be used, as the name implies, to strip out Phillips screw heads.
STRAIGHT SCREWDRIVER: A tool for opening paint cans. Sometimes used to convert common slotted screws into non-removable screws and butchering your palms.
HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK: Used for lowering an automobile to the ground after you have installed your new brake shoes , trapping the jack handle firmly under the bumper.

Yes, these tool definitions are a bit ‘tongue-in-cheek’, but the underlying theme heads right back to: Be SAFE, not sorry.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

V2.33 - Rusty tools? What to do.

2011-12-10T05:16:00.000-08:00

We got a good question from Donald in Arlington, TN for this week (my, does our paper get around or what?). Donald says: “I don’t use my woodworking machines a lot, but when I do try to use them, they have a coat of rust on the tables. How do I stop that?” Hint: the more you use your tools, the less rust will be able to grow on them.

While I am tempted to just answer Donald’s question, I think you all might be better served by knowing what to do when you find the rust, then we can learn how to prevent it. First off is to clean the rust from the surface. How to do that really depends on how severe the rust is. For this column we’ll just deal with light surface rust. You can use fine or medium size steel wool, or a palm sander with 220 or 400 grit paper, or even wet or dry sandpaper and sand the rust off. My favorite method is to use a sanding block with 220 grit ‘wet or dry’ sandpaper and sprinkle a bit of nail polish remover (acetone) on the table and use that as the paper’s lubricant. Sand the whole table and then wipe the surface thoroughly with clean rags soaked in acetone. Once the surface is clean, dry the area very good…because now comes the ‘How do I stop that?’ part.

The ‘old school’ method is to coat a good rust-free surface with Johnsons paste floor wax and lightly buff it. Don’t remove all the wax, just try to make the coat spread evenly. The modern ‘hip’ method is to use a product called Boeshield T-9® (you can find it at Sears) and follow the directions on the package. CAUTION: Do NOT use automotive wax. Most of them have a high water content and will actually cause the rust you are trying to prevent.

On woodworking tool surfaces Boeshield T-9® recently topped all other surface treatments in Wood Magazine's article on “Rust Busters”.
The formulation is based on a unique combination of solvents and waxes and is designed to penetrate metal pores and dissolve minor corrosion, then leave a resilient waxy coating that lasts for many months.

During my years in Technical Service on woodworking machinery, we consistently recommended the paste floor wax and our customers had great success using it. It’s like a ‘tried and true’ method for preventing surface rust. Fortunately, I’ve heard so many good things about Boeshield T-9® that I am confident in that, also. Thanks for your question, Donald.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

V2.32 - Safety - it’s what’s for dinner

2011-12-04T15:04:00.001-08:00

Let’s shift gears a bit this week and introduce a subject that should be near and dear to all of us - Safety. Specifically- Personal Safety in the shop. This came to my mind because of the article I did about using safety belts.

Safety is one of the basic building blocks in any shop. In fact, safety is something that we all need to be aware of in every aspect of our everyday life. Without a constant mind-set of being concerned with your own safety, you might tend to drive without using your seat belt. Without this constant awareness, you might cross the street without looking both ways. Safe thinking is something that we all need to keep on our mind.

This is especially true in the woodshop. If you ask an experienced woodworker what their most prized possession is, many of them will proudly hold up a full set of 8 fingers and two thumbs. These are the woodworkers who have been safety conscious for a long time, yet many of them will also tell you stories of how they have been very fortunate in certain situations to have escaped serious injury due to their own lapse in judgment. Many of the stories one hears of “being lucky” start out with, “Well, I was in a hurry and thought I could just do this one thing quickly…and I almost didn’t get away with it. It was really stupid on my part.”
Remember, the best safety device that you have access to is your own good sense. If something you are doing creates hackles on the back of your neck, it just might be your intuition telling you to stop before you get hurt. Don’t get in a hurry. Think through your actions first and be prepared to work safely.

You should never work on, or operate, woodshop machines if you are taking medication that makes you drowsy, if you are very tired or if you are under the influence of alcohol. These substances may cause you to ignore potential safety hazards. You should always use proper safety equipment. Eye protection is first and foremost on any safety equipment list. It should comply with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Z87.1 standard. Hearing protection is also important and it should comply with the ANSI S3.19 standard. Even if you install the best dust collection system that money can buy, it is always wise to use a proper dust mask. Many people use the white disposable paper masks; however, those type masks typically allow too many smaller particles to pass thru them. I recommend using a good respirator mask that has replaceable cartridges. In extreme dust environments, there are other respirators that supply fresh air to an attached hood.

Send your questions or comments to:Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you

V2.31 - What a ‘shocking’ development

2011-11-18T04:41:00.000-08:00

With winter coming on, and it being the time of the year with very low humidity, I’m thinking it’s time to talk about the stuff that makes us jump out of our skin. Static electricity in your woodshop. I’m sure we’ve all experienced it when using our belt sanders. You’re just sanding along, minding your own business, and then your finger gets too close to the table and POW, all of a sudden you think your wife snuck into the shop and zapped you with her Taser. But no, it was just your ‘friend’ Static Electricity. It can show up on all rotating equipment and especially in your dust collector ducts.

Static electricity in a wood shop is mainly caused by two things. First is low humidity in the air. Static is especially troublesome in winter when the outside temperatures are low. A rule of thumb is the colder it is outside, the lower the humidity is inside a heated shop. As a result, static charge builds up easily and causes shocks when the electricity discharges through contact. The problem is even worse if a shop’s dust collection system exhausts its air outside the building. This builds an additional requirement for fresh air coming in and the fresh, cold air will have low humidity once it has been heated indoors.

The second thing that causes the static electricity problem is motion between two things. In the case of a belt sander, it is the motion between the belt, platen and pulleys that causes the build-up of electricity. In the case of the dust collector or Shop-Vac, it is the motion of the particles through the hose. There are two places where the charge can build up. One is in the machine the dust collector is attached to and the other is on the person who is operating it. Fortunately, grounding the frame of the machine will eliminate the buildup of the static charge. All fixed machinery, such as a table saw, jointer, planer etc., should have its frame grounded to a water pipe or at the very least, to the ground conductor or conduit sheath of the machine’s electrical wiring. Sometimes this is not possible, especially if the machine is electrically double insulated, as is the Shop-Vac.

Beyond grounding the machine, the best cure for static problems is to try to keep the humidity in the shop from getting too low. This can be done by using bag-type dust collectors that re-circulate the same air within the shop after the dust has been removed. These collectors will also reduce your heating bill. Other ways of adding moisture to the air, such as using humidifiers, are worth considering. Another thing you can do is wear shoes that bleed off the static charge rather than allowing it to build up.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

V2.30 - Bench Grinder: Tips & Techniques

2011-11-09T18:07:00.000-08:00

Ok, back to farm…We’ll finish up our look at Bench Grinders with a few Tips & Techniques. Every once in a while, we run across something new about Bench Grinders, but most of our knowledge is tried & true, and time-tested.

First off, every ‘store-bought’ grinding wheel that I know of has blotters on its sides. ‘Blotters’ are those pieces of paper, or cardboard, on each side of the wheel. While they might look like just a convenient place for the manufacturer to put warnings and such, they actually do serve a very critical purpose. When a wheel is put on a grinder, there are metal flanges that squeeze against the sides of the wheel. If the wheel had no blotters, those flanges would be tightening up against the actual rock of the wheel and you would stand a very good chance of cracking the wheel. Blotters provide a ‘buffer zone’ between the flanges and the wheel rock and thereby cushion and distribute the tightening force. Bottom line: Don’t buy a wheel that has no blotters or, if you do, don’t put it on your grinder without making some blotters and using them.

While we’re talking about blotters, they have another use. Most manufacturers put their product warnings on them and one of the major warnings is “Do not grind on side of wheel”. Now, do most of us follow this warning? Probably not, but I am here to tell you that if enough sideways force is applied to as grinding wheel, a wheel explosion is a very real possibility. Years ago, I saw a training film (yes, “film”- not tape or DVD- I’m dating myself) wherein a grinding wheel explosion was created and it is not a pretty sight. Even though I might use the side of the wheel to do some very light & delicate, precise grinding, I’m only able to do so because of my many years of experience with this and I know that I am not applying any sideways force at all. My general advice to everyone is: Don’t grind on the side of the wheel.

Lastly, always keep the tool rest adjusted as close to the wheel as possible, in order to provide the most support for what you are grinding on. Use your safety glasses. Keep the grinder’s eyeshield in place to provide added protection. Make sure the spark arrester is in place and adjusted to within 1/8” of the wheel and always keep an open container of water handy for cooling off your material. If your grinder has a factory water pot, that’s even better. Keep it full.

These hints, and our previous bench grinder columns, should help you get the most out of your Bench Grinder. Happy Grinding!

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

V2.29 - Seat Belts – buckle up, please

2011-11-06T18:35:00.000-08:00

If you’ve spent any of your precious time reading these little articles of mine, then you’re probably aware that I’m known to go off on a tangent at times. Welcome to the latest one.
We recently had another youngster die because she was not wearing her seatbelt and got ejected from her car in a vehicle accident. I’ve seen reports that ‘she was doing everything correct- not speeding, not drinking, etc’, but when she chose to drive without her seat belt buckled, she was putting her life at risk when this just did not have to be. Please understand, I am not ‘piling on’ and saying she caused her death. I have nothing but compassion for her friend and relatives. I am so sorry that they have to go thru this, but people, if you don’t want your folks to possibly go thru this - buckle your dad-burn seat belt.
How anyone can drive a car without fastening their seat belt is beyond my understanding…but it was not always this way. I used to drive cars that did not even HAVE seatbelts. (Please note that I have installed seat belts on all 3 of my antique cars. I will not drive without them) I can remember driving my 1950 Ford all over the country without it even having a seatbelt. It does now.
My ‘moment of realization’ came in 1990. I had been driving my dirt stock car for 3 seasons by then and wouldn’t even THINK of racing without wearing my 5-point harness. (On the side note, I wonder why all racecars have shoulder harnesses and lap belts? Perhaps because it can save the life of the driver in an accident?... well DUH) So, here I was driving down the interstate in Memphis, TN on my way to work in my 1982 Chevette (yes, I had one - don’t laugh) no seatbelt on and it was raining cats & dogs. Well, all of a sudden, I started hydroplaning and the car began to slide sideways on the road. Fortunately, there were no other cars close to me and I just let off the gas pedal and when the car slowed down enough, I got traction back. Well, I got to thinking, ‘what if I had slid far enough to slam into the guard rail? Most likely, I would have been thrown across the car and would not have even been behind the wheel any longer. You can’t drive if you are not behind the steering wheel.’ Those were my thoughts…and I immediately buckled my seat belt and have not driven a car without doing so since.
My point is, why risk your life if you don’t have to? EVERY time you get out on the public road, something my happen to you. They are called ‘accidents’ for a reason – no one plans them. PLEASE buckle your seat belts and live to tell about it.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you. _______________________________________________________________

V2.28 - Care of your Bench Grinder wheels

2011-10-28T18:09:00.000-07:00

Last week we talked about one of the staples in every shop, the Bench Grinder. This week, we’ll continue that theme and talk about the ‘care & feeding’ of your grinder.

Just for a bit of clarification from last week, my point about using a slow speed grinder (which is what a 1725rpm grinder is called in the industry) is that one needs to be careful when grinding metal and not heat the metal up too much. With a slow speed grinder, it is much easier to keep the grinding heat under control.

Ok, let’s talk about one of the natural problems with any grinder. After some grinding time, the face of the wheel will get ridges, or become tapered and one must “re-face” the wheel to get back to a smooth grinding surface. There are a couple of ways to do this.

Some grinders, the more professional models, usually have an accessory that is used to re-face the wheels. It bolts on in place of the tool rest and uses a diamond-tipped tool to re-face the wheel. Having one of these makes the task much easier. Unfortunately, not all grinders offer that. If your grinder isn’t that sophisticated, just buy the diamond-tipped tool and use it free-hand. The technique is not that hard to learn, in fact, if you have had enough grinding experience to get your wheel out of shape, you certainly have enough experience to re-face it.

So, let’s say that you don’t have the re-facing accessory and you must do it free-hand. The diamond-tipped facing tool I am most familiar with has a round shank, so that is what I will speak to. The technique is to place the tool on the tool rest as if you were trying to grind the diamond off of the end. Support it very well with your hands. In fact the tighter you hold it, and control it, the straighter your face finish will be.

Make sure you have your safety glasses on, and turn the grinder on. Put the tool on the tool rest. You would let the diamond tip touch the face of the wheel very lightly- you do not want to ‘deep grind’ this- and move the tool side to side as straight, and smooth, as possible. Keep the tool at 90degrees to the face of the wheel and realize that the high points of the wheel face will require a lot of material removal before you will get close to having a straight wheel face again. With patience and a bit of time, you will again have a smooth wheel face to use.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

V2.27 - Bench Grinders: one of the ‘must haves’

2011-10-28T04:31:00.001-07:00

I would wager that most anyone who has a shop, or works in one, would be among the first to tell you that one of the most necessary tools in their shop would be their bench grinder. This may not apply for some specific woodshops, but since Toolsmartz is about ALL shops, we can cover it.
Bench grinders come in many different sizes and the major defining factor about them is the wheel diameter. Most people would not say, ‘yea, I have a one half horsepower bench grinder’. No, they will be saying, ‘yea, I have an Eight-inch bench grinder’. Even the bench grinder manufacturers set up their advertising literature in this fashion. The grinder’s horsepower and speed are somewhat of a secondary matter, after the wheel diameter, but don’t mis-understand, the horsepower and speed are critical factors when selecting the correct bench grinder, but what is usually seen is that as the wheel diameter gets larger, so does the horsepower. This allows the bench grinder to tackle harder jobs.

The deal is, when you have a large item to grind on, you really need a decent sized bench grinder. My personal philosophy is that if you have a large (meaning Ten-inch wheels) bench grinder and need to do a small job, it can handle it. On the other hand if you have a small (meaning Four or Six-inch wheels) bench grinder and need to do a big job, you can’t…or if you try to, you may burn up your small grinder. So yes, when considering what bench grinder to purchase, size does matter.

Another factor to consider is the bench grinder’s speed. This is also known as the RPM of the grinder. For most grinding operations, I prefer a speed of 1725RPM. Many grinders only come in a speed of 3450RPM, which is fine for many operations, but again, if you have a 1725RPM speed, you can pretty much always do whatever it is that you need to do. If you only have a 3450RPM grinder, I can promise you that you will overheat some items real fast.

As I suppose you have gathered, my personal favorite bench grinder is my Ten-inch, 1725RPM unit. It has no problem grinding small parts and it can handle all of my lawnmower blades without overheating them and burning them up.

Next week, we’ll continue this Bench Grinder discussion and get into some of the typical problems that you might encounter and recommendations for solving them.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

V2.26 - Hospitals are pretty- from the outside

2011-10-27T19:35:00.000-07:00

KIDNEY STONES. Yes, I know that is a strange way to lead off a column, but this is the month for Halloween and I can promise you that those who have had them just now felt that familiar stab of pain.
As I sit writing this, I was recently a ‘preferred customer’ of the Nashville VA Hospital for 3 days. I went to their Emergency Room last Monday and didn’t leave until Wednesday noonish. Just the fact that they let me come back home is a huge plus. According to their tests, I was ½ way to dialysis when I got there.
I had my first stone in 1994 and it moved out of my kidney while I was in a college class - THAT was the worst pain I had ever felt - someone snuck up behind me and stabbed me with a foot-long butcher knife. I just KNEW that was what happened. It wasn’t, but you understand. Between 1994 and 2007, there was nothing at all, but starting in ’07, every 6 months or so, one of those little buggers would get loose and it would find its way out over the next few days. So I’m thinking, ‘as long as they keep coming out, I’m OK’.
Well, I had another one get loose on the first of OCT…and I waited, and drank water by the gallon…and waited, and it never came out. The pain stopped, so I was functional. Until last Sunday night (10-9) and it hit me again. This time I couldn’t even keep water down. Monday morning it was no better, so off to the E-room I went.
I had discussed this with the folks at the Murfreesboro VA. They had even done a CT scan and had me talk to the urologist and he had told me that if something did not go right, go ahead and get to the Nashville VA. So I did.They started doing tests, did another CT scan and slammed me into the Hospital. I kept hearing words like ‘stent’, ‘laser’, Operating Room, etc. For sure NOT what someone wants to hear, but I was hurting and dehydrated and hungry..so ‘let’s go- do what ya gotta do’. And they DID.
It was not a fun time. I think the procedure was about 2 hours long- I really don’t remember most of it. Which was a VERY good thing – it HAD to hurt like crazy.
Anyway, long story shorter, my test results improved enough that they let me come home and God Bless the folks where I work, they told me not to come back until Monday. So, here I sit – recuperating and telling you about it.
Oh, one final word. When a nurse comes to draw blood, and begins to feel around in an area that you KNOW is a tendon and she is mistaking it as a vein (because you had this experience before) and you TELL her what it is and to don’t DO that…and she does it anyway- just go ahead and punch her in the nose, the pain can’t get any worse for you.

V2.25 - Getting good help when you need it

2011-10-18T05:02:00.000-07:00

After 4 weeks of Bandsaw stuff, it’s time to take a sideways swing. I believe I have already mentioned that I am currently a consulting resource for DELTA Power Equipment Corp out of Anderson, SC. These guys are the brand new owners of the DELTA brand, and there is so much DELTA gray in my blood that if I can help them, I’m going to. The simple fact is that over the past 11 years, DELTA lost (I say ‘lost’ but as I spent a few weeks writing about, ‘gave away’ and ‘run off’ are also words that could be justifiably used) the great majority of its knowledge and documentation (old parts list, instruction manuals, etc). Seriously, I have more old catalogs, Parts Lists and Instruction Manuals in my garage than the new DPEC has inside their whole company. To a certain degree, this is because the initial company organizational setup has DPEC Service still being done by Stanley/Black & Decker. One would think that when Service is finally brought in-house (meaning DPEC controls it) that DPEC would gain access to the materials that S/B&D are currently using. I hope that turns out to be the case. If that happens, I’d still have more old catalogs, but their OLD Parts Lists would outdo mine.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I’m getting referral emails from people asking for Parts List and Manuals that go something like this: “I have a 10-inch table saw and I need a manual. Can you help me?” All well and good…except that DELTA made probably 100 different models of ‘10-inch table saws’ over the years. So here’s the meat for this week: When you’re looking for service on your tool, make sure you have noted the Model Number, Serial Number and Type Number off of the tool’s ID plate. This will go a long way to obtaining help on the first try instead of finding more questions coming back at you. Many stationary tools did not use a Type Number, that was used more in the Portable Tool world, but there are some, so that is important also. If you will pass that information along to the Service Provider, they can be better informed as to what you have and thereby be able to help you quicker. Truthfully, this advice can apply to most every product that you would get service for - washers, dryers, TV’s. Of course, cars have the VIN but the principal is still the same.
And one other thing, just within the past week, I have agreed to consult on the Parts Lists of new machines that DELTA is bringing to the market. I get to review them and see what parts should be offered as assemblies and how many should be in stock… and I get paid to do it!
Til next week…

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

V2.24 - Calming your Band Saw down

2011-10-08T05:32:00.000-07:00

Well, unless I hear from someone, we’ve about run our course on band saws. All that might be left is a column on how to keep them from walking across the floor. I’m talking about wheel vibration in your stationary Bandsaw. Usually they are a 12”, 14”, or 16” size. For the purpose of this column, I’m talking about those Bandsaws that have a drive belt from the motor to the bottom wheel.

So, let’s say that you have one of those Bandsaws and you’ve always noticed that it seems to vibrate rather bad while you’re using it. You’ve taken the blade off and run it with just the bottom wheel in action and it still ‘shakes, rattles and rolls’. Or maybe you took the blade off and just running the bottom wheel shows that it runs as smooth as a Hunter ceiling fan. What to do?

First off, isolate the vibration – chase it down. If your saw is vibrating, take the blade off and run just the motor and the bottom wheel. If that smoothes it out, your problem is in the upper wheel. If you run the bottom wheel only and it still vibrates, the problem is in the bottom wheel or the drive system. Take the drive belt off and run just the motor. If it still vibrates with only the motor running, check the tightness of the motor pulley. If the pulley is tight and yet it still has excessive vibration with only the motor running, I’d suspect you have a bad motor. But to be sure - take the motor pulley off and run it again – still shakin? Yep, the motor.

From this point, let’s say it smoothed out after you took the blade off. You’ve got the wheel guard open, so you can get to the top wheel. Give the wheel a good spin - enough so that it can rotate for at least 10 revolutions. When it finally stops, make a witness mark at the bottom of the wheel so that you can see it. Give it another good spin and let it stop again. Check where your witness mark is. If the mark is close to the same spot at the bottom, do the spin test again and see where the mark ends up. Do this 5 times and if the mark ends up stopping in the same area at the bottom of the wheel 3 times out of 5 tests, your top wheel is off-balance and needs to be replaced.

The test for bottom wheel balance is the same, but you will need to remove the drive belt before the test. The idea is to spin just the bottom wheel, not the motor and drive belt, too.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

V2.23 - Choose the correct Band Saw blade.

2011-10-08T05:31:00.001-07:00

Alright, we’ve got the saw cutting straight and the blade is tracking properly, but is it really cutting as good as it could? Let’s talk about that.

A band saw blade is a delicate piece of steel that is subjected to a tremendous strain. If you treat the blade right, you can get a pretty long life out of it. Basically, you’ll need to be sure to select a blade of the proper thickness, width, and temper for the material that you’re going to cut.
Always use the widest blade possible. Narrow blades should be used only when sawing small, delicate items or when making abrupt curves. Using narrow blades for resawing or heavy-duty work will just cause them to fail all the sooner.
Some band saws are made to cut ferrous metals (iron & steel) and the blades for that should be selected based on the particular job they are going to do. A metal-cutting blade should always have two teeth on the cross-section of the metal. For instance, if the cross-section of the metal is ¼” thick, you would want two blade teeth in contact with that, and since there are four ¼ sections in one inch, the blade should have 8 teeth per inch. If fewer teeth are used, the teeth will straddle the work and may be torn off and the blade ruined. If too many teeth are used (say, a 16 teeth per inch blade) the metal chips cannot clear out properly and the blade may overheat and ruin its temper… again making the blade worthless.
In general, the thicker the stock to be cut, the more teeth the blade needs to have and, in the case of a wood-cutting blade, they need to be larger teeth. Also, the thicker the stock, the slower the cutting speed needs to be.
So, what if you have used care in selecting the proper blade and you keep breaking your blades? Any one of a number of conditions may cause a band saw blade to break. Sometimes it’s just gonna happen no matter what you do, but most of the time, it can be traced to some basic things: 1- faulty alignments and adjustments of the blade guides, 2- forcing or twisting a wider blade around a short curve, 3-shoving the stock through too fast, 4 using a dull blade and trying to force it to cut anyway, 5- excessive tightening of the blade, 6- top guide set too high above the work being cut and lastly, but certainly not least 7– using a small 3-wheel band saw. Those little beasts just EAT blades… they can’t help it, they just do.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

V2.22 - Tracking your Band Saw blade.

2011-09-23T05:07:00.000-07:00

Let’s talk a little more about the bandsaw this week.

Bandsaws can do things that table saws can only dream of, which makes them pretty much a necessity in a shop; however, they need to be set up properly and to do that one needs to keep a few things in mind.

Just to start with a proper definition, bandsaw “wheels” are the spoked or solid items/wheels that are mounted on the axles. Bandsaw “tires” are the rubber, or urethane, coatings on the rim of the wheels that the blade actually rides on. Typically, the tires can be removed from the wheels.
Most good bandsaws use a wheel/tire combination that is ‘crowned’. In other words, where the blade rides, the surface has a distinct ‘hump’ in it. This hump/crown allows the blade to be tracked (def: - centered on the tire) with much more precision than if the tire/wheel were simply flat. On the Delta 14” bandsaws that I am most familiar with, the wheel had the crown machined into it and the rubber tire was just flat rubber. When the tire was installed, it conformed to the crown of the wheel.
There are some ‘bandsaw guys’ that say the crown gives the operator the ability to adjust the blade to compensate for blade drift (our last week’s discussion), but in over 25 years, I never saw that as a workable option.
Setting up the blade tracking is not really a difficult thing, but like most adjustable items, one can wind up chasing their tail if they aren’t careful.
Tracking the blade first requires that you center the blade on the bottom tire and the top tire. Once you have the blade centered, blade tension should be applied. I like to start out with only ½ to ¾ of full tension, until the tracking gets fully set. Ok, the blade is on, the tension is set at ½ and the blade is centered on the tires. At this point, roll the wheels and see if the blade stays centered on the tires. If it does, go ahead and apply full tension and roll the wheels again. If the blade stays on and centered, you are probably good to go. If your initial testing shows the blade trying to creep towards the edge of the wheel, you will need to use the saw’s tracking adjustment to coax the blade back towards the center of the tire. When the blade stays close to the center of the tires, the saw should do its job just fine.

Next week we’ll have a lesson or two about proper Band Saw blade selection.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

V2.21 - Make a Straight Cutting Band Saw

2011-09-16T04:50:00.000-07:00

Let’s go visit our old friend the bandsaw, this week. One of the most common problems with a bandsaw is getting it to cut straight. You start out with a nice straight line and start the cut and before you know it, the blade has decided that it wants to shoot off at an angle and destroy the part you did not want to cut. Some of the ‘old pros’ call this ‘blade drift’- I call it ‘don’t cut straight’.

Most often, here is what happens. Looking directly at the blade teeth, one notices that each tooth on the blade is bent out at a precise distance. This is called the ‘set’ of the blade. Having the teeth set outward provides clearance for the back of the blade to move through the work. It also provides some clearance for the blade to cut around a curve. However, if (for example) the teeth that are bent to the right stick out further than the teeth that are bent to the left, the blade will cut towards the right. The best solution to this problem is to purchase a high-quality blade, but I have even seen those drift sideways - right out of the box.

Another solution is to make the ‘set’ more equal - more balanced, if you will.
One way to do that would be to increase the bend of the teeth that are not sticking out as far; however, that is a very difficult thing to do. The more practical solution would be to slightly file the tips of the teeth that are sticking out too far- actually you would be ‘dulling’ them ever so little.
A method I have used is to hold a whetstone against the running blade and let the blade teeth lightly skim across the surface of the stone. A fine touch is a must, but with some practice, it isn’t hard to manage. Take your time and test the blade often by taking a test cut, so that you don’t dull them down too far.

Another thing that causes blade drift is when the number of blade teeth per inch is too high and the wood chips cannot escape from in between them. This typically shows up when doing resawing – sawing very thick wood – because the blade spends a lot of time inside the wood and can actually heat up and bow inside the wood, thereby causing a warped cut. The solution is simple: Use a blade with fewer teeth per inch.

Next week, we’ll talk a little about how to get your blade to track properly. It’s always a scary thing to be cutting along and POW! the blade pops off the wheels.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________

V2.20 - Yes, I Remember

2011-09-03T06:04:00.000-07:00

Ok, we’re going on one of my famous (or is that infamous?) detours again. Like many folks I suppose, I have memories of the day America was attacked by faithful followers of Islam. Make no mistake, it WAS an attack. It wasn’t a “tragedy” as I have heard it called. Yes, it was that for the families of those killed and hurt, but it was an attack upon us. Yes, this is not going to be a ‘politically correct’ column.
Anyway, Tuesday, September 11, 2001 started out like any other day. I was working as the Technical Support Manager for Porter-Cable/Delta in Jackson, TN. I got to work about 6:45 that morning and proceeded to go about my day. Around 10 minutes till 8, someone poked their head into my office and asked me ‘if I had heard about the plane hitting the World Trade Center- it’s on the TV in the break room’. I didn’t think too much about it, but I did get up and mosey along to the break room to check it out. When I got there, there were a few people standing around looking at the TV and as we were watching, another plane hit the other tower. Immediately everyone realized that this was not just a tragic accident. We were being attacked. The rest of the day was just really weird. We didn’t get much work done.
Frankly, until 9/11/2001, I had not given much thought to Muslims. Oh, I knew they were ‘over there’ and that they had a tendency to commit terrorism and blow themselves up (once), but to say that I had studied their ‘religion’ and knew much about it, I did not.
9-11 changed that. I have since learned much about Islam- more than I ever wanted to know, but my thinking is that if someone is going to be your enemy, you’d best know something about them. So, I’ve studied and God has put me in a place to be friends with an ex-Islamic Imam. He has been a fountain of Truth about Islam. In my opinion, those who attacked us on 9-11 were not ‘Islamic Radicals’ as everyone wants to paint them. They were true-blue followers of Islam. “Fundamentalists?” Yes, you could call them that. They are following the Quran and its message, faithfully. All one needs to do to find this out is simply read it, in its proper context. There is no ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ code in Islam. Here in Murfreesboro, we have an ongoing concern about a huge new mosque being built and in defense of this some people put themselves forward as being ‘peaceful Muslims’. Perhaps they are, but perhaps they are simply following the Quran and lying to us…OR they could truly be ‘peaceful’…in which case they are acting just like those so-called “Christians” who approve of abortion or homosexuality. They are NOT truly following Islam…they are only following the parts they agree with…BUT- How do we KNOW?

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

V2.19 - Drill Press know-how

2011-08-27T06:11:00.001-07:00

I thought that for this week, I would just go over some of the little tidbits of information that I like to call ‘Tips & Techniques’. Since we have been discussing Drill Presses the past 2 weeks, we might as well stay on topic.

One of the areas that folks need some assistance with is that of choosing the correct bit speed for their particular project. The main rule of thumb is: ‘The harder the material, the slower the bit needs to turn.’ Right behind that comes this: ‘The bigger the bit, the slower it needs to turn’. How that plays out is like this. If you’re drilling the same size hole in wood and metal, the speed will need to be slowed down for drilling into metal because it is a harder material. By the same token, if you’re drilling into pine wood and making a ¼” hole and a 2-1/4” hole, slow it down for the 2-1/4” hole. It may be that not much speed change is needed between these two, but the idea is that you don’t usually want a 2-1/4” cutter turning as fast as a small ¼” bit.

Now, let’s talk safety. First and foremost, dress appropriately when using a Drill Press. Wear your safety glasses, roll up your long sleeves and pull your hair back out of the way (IF your hair is that long). I once saw a training film that showed what happened when a lady got her long hair tangled in the Drill Press she was operating. It was not a pretty sight. She reminded me of what Custer’s men must have looked like after being scalped.

After you have all those bases covered, here’s another ‘first and foremost’- ALWAYS clamp your work. I cannot over-emphasize this. Yes, it’s a pain and not always convenient but it IS necessary. I have a nice 2” long scar on my left wrist that is a constant reminder of the need to clamp your work. The very afternoon that I was going to drive my dirt track racecar for the first time, I was making an accelerator bracket and need to drill a hole in it. The bracket was just 8” long, ¾” flat stock, with one end bent at a 45 and that was where I needed the hole. So I go to my DP and hold the long part and place the bent area on the table under the bit. I started drilling the hole and OOPS…it grabbed and swung around 360 degrees and in the blink of an eye it made a few revolutions before I could get it shut off. Unfortunately, on that first swing, the top end of the stock sliced my wrist open and I wear that reminder to this day. It looks like I tried to commit suicide. So, I tell everyone - clamp your stock.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________

V2.18 - Drill Presses and their chucks: part 2

2011-08-23T18:59:00.000-07:00

Last week we talked about putting your drill chuck on your Drill Press. I ran out of room to fully explore the subject, so here we are again.

We were at the point of what steps to take when the chuck won’t stay on the taper… it keeps falling off when you try to use it, or maybe it won’t even stay on when you try to put it on. So, we said, the first thing to do is to check and clean VERY THOUROUGHLY the taper on the DP and the chuck’s taper.

NOTE: while you are checking/cleaning those tapers, this is a good time to inspect the surface of the tapers closely. The tapers need to be smooth and free from any galling. ‘Galling’ is a machinists term that refers to the tendency of metals, when scrubbing together under force, to grind and scar each other. If your chuck has been loose on the spindle nose (unknown to you) for a while, the two parts may have galled their surfaces. IF they have, it is usually useless to try to get them to properly seat again. (The prescription is to replace both parts and start fresh.)

Ok, let’s say that you’ve checked for galling and found both the chuck and the spindle nose taper to be smooth and in good shape. Now, you’ve cleaned them again and they are absolutely oil-free and dry as a bone. Take the chuck and ram it sharply onto the spindle nose.
Now, it’s time for the 2x4 and small sledge hammer again. Swing the table out of the way so that you can get a pretty decent swing with your sledge. Retract the chuck jaws to prevent them from getting bent and put your 2x4 under the chuck. Hold the 2x4 with your ‘weak’ hand and use your dominant hand to swing that sledge upward and SMACK the 2x4 (which is against the chuck) very hard.

As I said last week, Tapers seat best with a shock to them. A good 3lb sledge and a 2x4 block will allow you to deliver that shock to the chuck without risking damage to your chuck or Drill Press.

If you continue to have your chuck fall off, there may be a misfit between the two parts, or you may be asking the Drill Press to do something it was not designed to do (like milling, or using an out of balance item in the chuck) and the design of the chuck/spindle taper was not intended to account for that.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

V2.17 - Drill Press - Chucks ‘n Stuff

2011-08-12T04:52:00.000-07:00

Drill presses are usually found in almost every shop. I was one of those ‘poor folks’ who didn’t have a drill press during my ‘learning how to work on stuff’ years and let me tell you what, by the time I got older and realized what I had been missing…hoo-boy, was life in the shop so much easier with one around.

Most of today’s ‘home/hobbyist’ drill presses use a taper to hold the chuck onto the spindle. Some manufacturers have the chuck already installed, while others ask the buyer to do it. In any event, the following information will come in handy.

Drill Press Tapers & Chucks usually fall into one of two categories: A spindle with a male taper and the chuck having a female taper; or a spindle with a female taper, a chuck with a female taper and an adapter with a male taper on each end that goes between the chuck and spindle. Each style has their place, with the adaptor style being used more on the bigger Presses.

Alright, there’s your ‘taper background’, now let’s get specific. Drill Press tapers engage (‘seat’) best with a shock. I know some manufacturers will tell you to just push them together, but that’s not the best way. Let’s say that you have a Drill Press with a female tapered chuck and the spindle has the male taper sticking down. First, clean the tapers completely to remove any oil, grease or coating that could prevent metal on metal contact. My favorite solution to this is an old rag saturated with acetone (NOTE: if you use acetone, be aware that it is highly combustible). Next, once you have the tapers cleaned, turn the chuck so as to retract the chuck jaws. Next, Place the chuck onto the spindle taper by hand. Finally comes the ‘shock’ part. Put a small 2X4 underneath the chuck jaw opening and use a small mallet (I have a 3lb sledge for this) to hit upward on the 2X4 (chuck bottom). One good sharp whack ought to do it. Once the tapers are seated properly, they will usually remain engaged unless something too large or out of balance is put into the chuck.
Let’s say that you get the chuck installed and all appears to be well. But then, one day, you turn your DP on and the chuck falls off of the spindle nose. Now, what to do?
Well first, you’d want to make sure that the inside of the chuck taper is clean and free from any oil or contaminants. Once you’ve checked and cleaned the chuck, check and clean the spindle nose also. We’ll continue here next time.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

V2.16 - Collecting dust from all over

2011-08-06T09:53:00.000-07:00

I got a question past week that might be good to pass along to my readers. Here’s the issue: “Samples are being cut from defective units. Once the employee rough trims the pieces to approximate sizes with a circular saw they use a tile saw to finish trim them and a belt sander to clean up the edges. The samples are made from Gel-Coat, resin, wood and ½” X 1” metal bar stock. What would be the best dust collection system for this?”
In his email, he gave 3 separate issues. #1-wood, #2- not wood, #3- metal. Each of these need separate consideration. The easiest is wood. Both Delta, Jet and many others make wood dust collectors. Most units are now the single-stage style- meaning the incoming material travels right thru, and impacts, the wheel. Steel is more resistant to the material’s impact and steel wheels are what is found in the single-stage units.
With that in mind, let’s look at each: wood would be fine with single-stage units and standard bags- no issues, however, with ‘not wood’, you’d need to be concerned about the bags themselves. At its most basic, wood is a porous material- meaning if the airflow was hard enough, *some* air could pass thru it. Not so with ‘not wood’. If the inside of the bag was coated with Gel-coat or resin, the airflow would stop and either it just wouldn’t work, or the pressure would build up and cause a bag seam to rupture. Your best bet here is to just collect it in a two-stage system like Cincinnati Fan has. This was the company that Delta used to get their 50-180-series units from. You’d want your dust to just drop into the barrel and not get to the bag to clog it up. Now for metal; metal is a whole different ballgame. If you are collecting wood and metal at the same time and using a single-stage, STEEL wheel, once the wood dust got to the critical ‘lower explosion level’ of 40 grams per cubic meter of air, and a metal spark was injected into the mix, a dust explosion is a real possibility. It would be safer to use the Cincinnati Fan style, two-stage collector as they use cast aluminum radial wheels so sparking is not as much of a concern; however, if you have a pile of wood dust in the bottom of the barrel and a grinding spark of metal made it thru to that pile, you could have a smoldering fire occur. Mixing metal and combustible material is never a good thing. Metal dust collection is best handled by a dedicated unit such as Delta’s old 49-826. (for those who’ve read this far and might need a good ferrous metal dust collector, I happen to have a brand new one- never used- $4000.00 value for only $1500.00) But it will not do the multi-material collecting either. It’s not good for anything but ferrous metals.

Send your questions or comments to:

Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________

V2.15 - Now, back to our roots

2011-07-29T05:05:00.000-07:00

Last week I let you in on the undercover work I’m doing for the Delta Power Equipment Corp. out of Anderson, SC. These were the folks who bought the Delta brand back from Stanley-Black & Decker-DeWalt, et al… I really hope they succeed at reviving the brand and I’ll do whatever I can to help them. Right now, my role is as a consultant for knowledge on old machines and helping provide folks with copies of my personal owner’s manuals and parts lists.
A few weeks ago, I got a referred email from a Pastor in Texas who had found a 6” jointer for 50$. That’s a pretty good bargain because it was one of the ‘old school’ jointers like those that used to be in the school shops all around the USA. No aluminum fence, non-adjustable outfeed table, lightweight machine here- no sir. He really did find a good deal…but-it-didn’t-run. However, this guy was savvy enough to be able to get her running…but there were other issues.
First off, it wouldn’t run with the drive belt on. If he took the belt off AND rolled the motor shaft by hand- while it was powered up- the motor would start running and get up to speed. It just couldn’t do it like it should be able to.
When a single-phase motor acts that way, there really are only a couple of things to look at. First is the centrifugal start switch. Make sure it is not stuck in the open position. If it is, this has to be corrected or the start windings inside the motor cannot do their job of ‘kick-starting’ the motor. Second, if the start capacitor has gone bad, you’d see the same results. A simple capacitor check will reveal that. I had Mr. Pastor check both of those items and the next report I got was, ’yes, the capacitor had gone bad. I replaced it and the motor runs fine now…BUT...(here it comes)…it will plane down a 1” board just fine, but anything wider causes it to just bogg right down’. ’
Ah, now we get to the second part of his problem. My reply to him was just this: “There's no way 'anything wider than 1 inch ' should bogg a 6" jointer.
How could one ever do a 6" board, if it did?... Something's still a bit hinky...You might want to verify that the motor is actually wired for the voltage you are inputting. You're describing what happens when a motor is wired for 220v and is only getting 115v put in.”
So, Mr. Pastor re-checked the wiring of the motor and guess what? Yep, it was wired to use 220v. He changed the wiring and at last report he was ‘blowing thru 5 inch boards like butter and thanking God for his 50$ deal.’

Send your questions or comments to:

Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

Column V2.14 - Murfreesboro, How do you do?

2011-07-23T06:07:00.000-07:00

Winding down our tragic tale of woe, 2004 was a year to go in the record books. February was when NO-CS decided to move me to the South Campus and remove me from Tech Service. After 23 years of employment at Delta, it was also when I decided to put out some feelers about working for someone else. In the grand scope of things, there is only so much one can take before it’s time to move on. We had seen our company disintegrated and our brand taken over by people who just did not have what it took to manage it properly. It was pretty traumatic for those of us who actually gave a flip. Then came the huge hammer. In October, it was announced that Black & Decker had bought Porter-Cable/Delta from Pentair. This was for sure one of those Good News-Bad News kind of deals. Good News in that B&D had way more $$$ to spend on the brands; Bad News in that a purchase like this usually results in a round of layoffs… and there I sat, in a ‘Training manager’ position…more often than not, one of the first to be shown the door when the beancounters look for heads to cut.
What to do, what to do?…well, what I did was land another position over in Middle Tennessee with Porter-Cable/Delta’s main competitor. I could not have written a better fit than this was. It was doing just what I had been doing for 23 years. This move is what brought us to Murfreesboro. Unfortunately, in the long run, it did not work out, but we are still here. The area has become our home and until God changes that, here we will remain.
Obviously, much happened after I left Delta. Sorry to say, the product line was trimmed, cut and almost disappeared. For instance, in 1967, Delta (then Rockwell) invented the first Motorized Miter Box. At the time of the purchase by Black & Decker in 2004, Delta had about 10-15 miter saws in their offering. By 2011, when Black & Decker sold the Delta brand (which was the catalyst for this series of articles in the first place), there were NO miter saws in Delta’s catalog. Can you believe it? - not one.
As I said, B&D sold the Delta brand and a new group has a chance to restore a once market-leading brand to its proper place. I wish them all the best. In fact, I am doing some consulting work for them already. It seems that I have a better set of Historical files than they do, so customers looking for information on their older tools are being sent my way… Only God knows where this could lead. Maybe somewhere…maybe nowhere. He’s the Boss.

Send your questions or comments to:

Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

Column V2.13 - Mr. Tech Service no more

2011-07-17T18:27:00.000-07:00

So, while the obsoleted-parts fiasco was transpiring, NO-CS was hard at work disrupting our tried and true methods of Technical Service. I get called into his office in early 2004 and get told (Note: not asked; not ‘do you think this is a good idea?’…) that I am being moved out of Technical Service and into a full-time training role. At the same time, my office will be relocating to the South Campus so that I could be segregated from the day-to-day Technical Operations.
Several things came to mind when I was told this was happening. Not really in order, but: 1] I turned down the Call Center Manager job because it would have removed me from Technical Service; 2] I was NOT a “Training Manager”. Yes, I could DO it, but it was not where my strengths lay; 3] Customers still needed the Service that only I could provide-I would still get the harder calls whether that was NO-CS’ idea or not; 4] the new office location meant doubling my commute distance each way. (the “South Campus” was the DeVilbiss manufacturing plant- about 15 miles from my home in Oakfield. The Jackson PC/Delta plant-AKA: “North Campus”-was 7 miles from my home); 5] Yes, NO-CS is the Boss and he has the Authority to do with me what he will. Was this a good idea? Not in my opinion; 6] I did NOT want to be forced into a “Training Manager” role. Mainly because I had seen first-hand what happens to ‘Training Managers’ when the company belt gets tightened up…they are usually among the first out the door.
OK, so being the trooper I am, I gave it my best shot. My first project was to serve as the Technical Advisor on a repair video for portable planers. It took about 3 days to shoot and 3 weeks to edit and organize, but the final result was a good thing. We sent it out to all of the Service Branches. My second project was to design a Flat-rate manual for woodworking machines. If you know anything about servicing cars, there exists a ‘flat rate manual’ that tells the mechanic how long each job should take. Dealerships use this manual for their job estimates. Up till this point in time-2004-no such manual existed for woodworking machines. That can’t be said any more. I designed it, wrote it, used my 23+ years of working on these machines and created one from scratch. On its face, it might have been a good idea, but NO-CS intended to use it has a hammer over the heads of our Service Branches and Authorized Service Stations. When they happened to send a claim in that was longer than what I had assigned, he was going to reduce the reimbursement rate.

Next week, same time, same place…

Send your questions or comments to:

Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

Column V2.12 - Oops, they did it again

2011-07-09T15:12:00.000-07:00

As we return to our tale of incompetence… we were talking about how we used to send John the parts that were headed for the trash bin… When Black & Decker bought the Pentair Tools Group, they had all of their parts handled by a third-party parts warehouse in the Northeast. I suppose they should remain nameless, but they were the ones who required the ultimate purge of parts. Their criterion for keeping something in stock was unrealistic to say the least. While I don’t recall the exact numbers, their decision resulted in about 8- 40foot trailer loads of parts being scrapped and sent to John. Needless to say that John was overwhelmed. What started out as a sideline to supplement his income suddenly became a full-time gig. Just trying to keep up with the inventory and identifying each part was way beyond what he had signed up for.
But John was good. He set up his own website and was posting photos and prices - a real professional operation… and then comes the “unintended consequences” of the ignorance of that ‘third-party parts warehouse’ and Black & Decker. Calls started coming in that sounded like this; Customer: “I need to order part number, 907869” – B&D: “I’m sorry, that part has been discontinued” – Customer: “WHAT? I just bought this tool 4 weeks ago and I need this part to get it working again”. Sounds like fun, huh? Yes, some parts for brand new tools got dumped onto John simply because no one had ordered one of them in the past 6 months…well no wonder- they were NEW parts for NEW tools. Now B&D was left in a pickle…the parts had been deleted from their inventory and sent to John. So, they finally did what any rational person would do when the realization hit that they had mightily messed up…they called John and asked if he could send the customer their part. Maybe ONE part would not have been so bad, but it was hundreds of parts on an ongoing basis. In other words, they wanted John to act as their source for the same parts they had just scrapped. I recall that John called me when the realization of what they wanted finally hit him. He said that he was not prepared to act as their supplier/shipper. Me being the gracious guy that I am, I told him, ‘John, you’re in the catbird’s seat. If I were you, I would make a list of all of the parts they want you to ship out- use the price list that we gave you when we started this deal and triple the prices. Then sell them back to B&D and when you have their money, ship them right back to them. THEY can then pack and ship to their customers. If they come up with more, and I am sure they will, sell them back at a 300% profit for you.’

I really don’t know how that worked out- I’ll see if I can track it down and let you know.

Send your questions or comments to:

Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

Column V2.11 - Riverside IS racin… 7/2/11

2011-07-09T15:09:00.000-07:00

I know we were supposed to continue our story of scrapping parts and such, but I feel one of those infamous ‘detours’ coming on. Actually, we did something last Saturday that makes this a tale worth telling. First a little background. Back in 1988, I built a race car to race at Riverside Speedway in West Memphis, AR. My dad had raced there from 1958-1960 and as a little kid, I got bit by the ‘racing bug’. Heck, I used to eat some of the mud that came off his car. Yea, I know…but you probably ate some Play-Doh or Elmers glue, now didn’t you? Anyway, it was a lifelong dream of mine to race at Riverside. So, being single and back in Frayser in 1988, I built one and raced there for the next 6 years. But this isn’t about me.
My grandkids, as far as I know, had never been to an actual car race. Since my dad’s birthday was the 30th, we decided to make a Memphis run, celebrate his BD, go to the races that Saturday night (6-25) AND take the kids. Turned out their parents decided to go with us and that was good, too.
Anyway, we got there and I had taken my camera in case a ‘kodak moment’ happened. We’re sitting in the stands and I see an old friend of mine on the track. Bud Ward is still racing and winning. So, during a break in the action, I went down and talked to Bud and after we caught up on the past a bit- we hadn’t seen each other since 1994 - I asked if he would mind if I brought the kids down and let them sit in his car and took some pictures. He gave me a big ‘ol “heck no - man, bring ‘em on”. So I went up and let everyone know what was going to happen after the races and the kids then cheered for Bud to win his feature race. As I expected, Bud ran away with the race and led flag to flag. There was one close call when a lapped car got completely sideways in front of Bud, but he dodged it and won going away.

After the races, we went to Bud’s pit area and proceeded to take some pictures. At first the 5yr old boy-kid wasn’t sure he wanted to get in the car, then his 7yr old sister showed him it was a breeze and she got her pictures taken first. She looked like a natural behind the wheel...she might need a racing kart to drive before too long. Well, then the boy gets behind the wheel and he might need watching also. His expression looked like a driver who was about to put Kyle Busch into the 3rd turn wall (which is fine with his grand-dad).

Needless to say, it was a very memorable night and it won’t be the last one.

Send your questions or comments to:

Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

Column V2.10 - Scrapping parts; Left & Right 6/30/11

2011-07-09T15:07:00.000-07:00

So we mentioned the continuing slide… some things just made no sense and some things were simply a difference in corporate philosophies.
For instance; pre-‘merger’ Delta used to hang on to service parts for E-V-E-R. In fact, in over 19 years in Memphis, I can never remember a wholesale reduction in parts inventory of the type that we immediately got exposed to in Jackson. Actually, the first one I remember was after the ‘merger’ was announced and I suppose someone at PC told them to purge some stock. We were filling up tubs with parts that I could personally ID as being from 1970 bench-top tools. We probably scrapped (a business term meaning- throwed in the trash bin) 6 or 7, 3x4x3size tubs of parts. Would we have ever sold them? Who knows, but it’s a good example of Delta’s concern for those tool buyers who love their older units and wanted to keep them running. On the opposite side of the coin, Porter-Cable had no qualms at all about tossing every service part that they had not sold a certain amount of during the year. It was almost funny. We got to Jackson and one of the first projects we had to do was go thru our parts sales record and see what we sold and quite literally, if we had not sold 5 of that part in the past year, we had to scrap them and discontinue offering it… and here we (Delta guys) thought we had done such a great job getting rid of old parts before we came to Jackson… oh, well…so, we did that…and 5, 18-wheeler trailers later…yes, FIVE… we had a mess of parts that were going to the scrap yard.
Fortunately, I had a boss who would listen to me at the time and I told him this was ‘cutting our nose off to spite our face’…but what to do? Well, the timing was good in that I had just met a fellow in Richmond, IN and he was a stay-at-home-dad looking for something to do. We discussed it and he created his own business selling discontinued Delta parts, from what we GAVE him. Yep, those 5 trailer loads of parts. I don’t recall who paid the freight, but I think it was PC-Delta. Anyway, John had a nice racket for a while. When we discontinued a part, we shipped the remaining inventory to him and he sold them to whoever sent him some money.
This went along well until Black& Decker took over. They narrowed their criteria down to having sold 10 or 15 of that part during the year, so they ‘purged’ 8 more trailer loads and thankfully, they were sent right to John, per our agreement.

I’ll let you know how that worked out next week.

Send your questions or comments to:

Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

Column V2.9 - Thanks, 007 6/23/11

2011-07-09T15:04:00.000-07:00

Our long sordid tale is winding down…we’ve finally gotten to the point of NO-CS asking me, point blank, if I was Delta007, and I told him yes. I really did not know what to expect, but I guess I should have. What I got was ‘This is an unmoderated forum and you’re not authorized to be helping Delta customers on there. You need to stop.’ I didn’t even try to argue. By this time, we had seen enough of NO-CS that I knew he couldn’t be reasoned with - no use to try.
Looking back over the years and having dealt with many different personalities and managers, being faced with this sort of a short-sighted control-freak was probably the ‘straw that broke the camel’s back’ and started me to seriously consider that my time with Delta was over. I had never been faced with such disdain for customers in my life. Making me cease helping them went against everything that I had spent more than23 years doing…I was not happy…. and neither were our customers. Here’s a few direct quotes: “There used to be a member from Delta that helped us on his own and Delta made him stop. Delta007, IIRC. Great guy, great Idea, Dumb Delta move. He defused many a complaint.” One of Woodnet’s members sent this message to the Co. President: “I feel obligated to drop you a note to express my appreciation for your employees. I am an avid woodworker and a member of the Woodnet forum. Several of your employees frequent this forum sometimes providing information and assistance. In my opinion these people are your best public relations tool. Due to their input, my last few tool purchases have gone to Delta. With all things being equal, the decision to go with Delta tools is swayed by the genuine interest of these individuals….While they have never claimed to represent Delta tools, they have not disguised the fact they are employed by Delta…As a corporation you should be proud of these individuals and encourage their efforts….Please take the time to recognize these people for all the good will efforts they put forth.” THAT was the way a decent manager should have responded to my involvement with those forums…but not NO-CS. No Way.
We used to get compliments all over the place for just doing very simple things for those folks… check out some of these comments… “Delta007 has gone above and beyond and I appreciate it.”… “That was a classy assist, 007! Nice to see that” …“Now that's customer service, my friends. This is why my shop is mostly grey. Nice job 007.”
As you can see, we did a LOT of good for Delta and a pathetic manager came along and destroyed it. That was just one of the reasons that, within the year, Porter-Cable / Delta was purchased by Black & Decker… and it continued to slide down the hill from there…

Send your questions or comments to:

Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

Column V2.8 - WoodNet is a nice place 6/11/11

2011-07-09T15:02:00.000-07:00

Ok, back to our tale of the trials and tribulations of seeing a once great company sink to the bottom, mainly due to the lack of knowledge/experience of those who got put ‘in charge’. When we spoke last I mentioned that I was involved with an effort that should have resulted in some HUGE brownie points for me and I sincerely believe that if NO-CS had not been so territorial and controlling, he would have seen the good I was doing and given me a raise for my dedication and ingenuity.
Here’s the story: think back to 2001, the internet was nowhere near as huge as it has become. There were a few forums, but again nothing like it is now. Well, a company call August Home created a woodworking forum called WoodNet and lots of woodworkers started hanging out there. I found out about it thru one of the engineers at Delta and he thought it would be a good idea for me to get on there and participate because many folks were Delta users. I was hesitant to put my name out there because that might open me up to direct emails and I really didn’t have time for that. BUT, I could see where I might become a ‘friendly face’ to those loyal Delta customers and that seemed to be a good thing to me. So, I created a ‘secret identity’ as Delta007. Yea, maybe not so secret, except that only one other person knew who I really was- that being my engineering buddy-I just felt it was better to stay un-ID’d. I started replying to posts a little at a time, mostly simple stuff like “Does anyone know how old this Delta machine is?” and they’d post a serial number. Well, I’d run the number and reply back with the model number and the year it was built. Boy, were these folks impressed! A few times someone would post a complaint that, if left alone would have really given Delta a black eye. How so, you ask? Because the ‘net was growing and a posted-complaint is like a signal for everyone to pile on and dog out the manufacturer. It’s not a pretty sight.
Anyway, this went along for a couple of years. I never made a big deal of my participation, I was always entirely Professional in my postings and VERY conscious that my words would be around forever. I became good friends with many of the members and they knew that they could count on me to be fair, candid and above all helpful. There is literally no telling how many Delta machines were bought simply because I was a member. People knew it and were highly appreciative. Well, that is, most people were… One day in 2004, I got called into NO-CS’s office and was asked, point-blank “Are you Delta007 on WoodNet?” Naturally, being the honest person that I am, I said “yes”… and the game was on…

Send your questions or comments to:

Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

Column V2.7 - Who IS this guy?… 6/4/11

2011-07-08T05:32:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I decided to take another detour this week and to top it off, it’s all about my own self-interest. Hey, when you’ve got a bully-pulpit, sometimes ya just gotta use it.
Seriously tho, I am currently working in Shelbyville for a company that’s been around for over 35 years. It’s a nice place – took a little getting used to the looser dress code, and I’m excellent at what I do for them- but it’s not a career (Well, not MY career anyway) AND it’s 37 miles from my house. With gas prices the way they have been, it is really dragging down the ROI of making the trip every day. So I just thought that this week I would put out some information about what I am looking for and what I can do, in the hopes that someone in the Murfreesboro area might have a lead or two on a position that’s closer to home. One of the best resources that job seekers have nowadays is LinkedIn and my profile can be found here: http://www.linkedin.com/in/tommurrah . Here is my LinkedIn Summary: “I have over 25 solid years of service experience within both military settings and industrial organizations which required strong supervisory, technical and organizational skills. I'm a team player with a personal commitment to high ethical standards and a proven track record of recognizing needs, developing solutions and implementing them. My passion is in 'Wowing' my customers by molding a team of experienced electro-mechanical machinery professionals into a cohesive unit that specializes in correct answers, exceeding the customer’s expectations and going the 'extra mile'. I am very analytical, detailed and committed to excellence and I have above average written communication skills. My past Specialties include: Maximum Customer focus; Call center management; Machinery troubleshooting and problem diagnosis; engineering liaison; OSHA, NEC, ANSI requirements for machinery; editing and publishing service newsletters; writing Technical manuals; creating a Brand presence on internet forums; Technical Training classes; emergency response teams; safety consultant & engineering liaison.
As you can see, I’ve worn many different hats during my career. I’ve been a Technical Service (as in woodworking machines, not IT) Specialist that was on the front line; a Technical Support Manager that took care of the department and the Service Center network; a Technical Training instructor; a Quality Assurance Inspector; a newsletter writer/editor and a Training manual creator- just to name a few.
Once upon a time, I had a boss who told me that I ‘shouldn’t be answering direct customer calls because I was the manager’ and I thought ‘Hot Dawg- not more whiney customers to talk to’. Well, years down the road, I have discovered that talking to customers was what made the jobs variable and interesting. I actually enjoy it.
If you have some leads, please send me some contact information and let’s talk.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

Column V2.6 - This is NOT Service… 5/27/11

2011-07-08T05:30:00.000-07:00

So, when we left last week, we were discussing Mr. NO-CS – the new Director of Customer Service for the Tool Group. I’m sure I sounded pretty harsh when I said he had no business being over customer service, but let me give you a couple of examples. First off, in the very first meeting that NO-CS had with my team of Tech Guys, one of the fellows said something like “..but our customers love us…” and that’s all it took for NO-CS to raise the roof: ‘How do you know?.. you can’t quantify that…and besides that’s just their opinion’ Well yes, it was. Get this, right outside that very room, we had a wall with 3, 4foot by 8foot bulletin boards that were just covered with thank you letters from customers. Yes, that was their OPINION. I tell you, when NO-CS popped out with that, we all kind of looked at each other and finally realized what a dire mess we were going to be in. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of it. Shortly thereafter, No-CS decided to “make the phone system more efficient”. How, you might ask? By setting up a phone tree that routed the incoming calls “to where they belong”... A call would come in and the caller would be asked if they were a Dealer? Punch no, and you get sent to the call center. Punch yes and you get routed to the call center’s back door. Same place, same people. Then you get asked if you want to order parts or need Tech Service. It is a well-proven fact that most people, whether they need it or not, will opt for the Tech Guys over the ‘normal’ service folks. As a result, we’d have callers come to Tech Service when they might only need a part number for a v-belt. THIS was why, for over 15 years, we trained the call center people to handle the routine questions and held the Tech Guys back behind the scenes. NO-CS didn’t see it that way. He wanted the Tech group to act as a call center group. So, in his phone tree, if you wanted Tech Service; weren’t a Dealer & didn’t know your part number, your call got disconnected. Yep. Cut off. After all, it was YOUR fault that you punched the wrong button. That was the philosophy of the new Customer Service Director. Never mind that we had a 15 year track record of giving the best service in the industry. Nope, all that went out the window…and quickly.
Sadly, that wasn’t the end of the Customer Service deterioration. I was involved with an effort that should have resulted in some HUGE brownie points for me, but not in NO-CS’s world…not on your life. We’ll ‘go there’ next time.

Send your questions or comments to:

Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

Column V2.5 - Friends in High Places… 5/21/11

2011-07-08T05:28:00.000-07:00

Continuing with our tale… the President of DeVilbiss, when DeVilbiss was purchased by Pentair, was let go after the purchase. I wasn’t privy as to why, but looking over the chain of command, there didn’t really seem to be a place for him at the time. So, he went and started his own business in the Jackson area. Here we are a couple of years down the road when the ‘new guy’ and the HR-VP were let go. Pentair decided to re-hire the ex-DeVilbiss President and gave him custody of the Tool Group as “acting President”. I suppose, with consideration as to the sort of results they had NOT achieved, the ex-DeVilbiss guy was as good as any, except that he made one of the most bone-headed decisions we could have ever imagined and we couldn’t see it coming.
In my opinion, a good Manager needs to know his people AND he needs to be able to tell the difference between his ‘friends’ and the person who might best fit a particular position. Mr. X-DP (my shorter name for the ex-DeVilbiss President) had this friend who had worked for him at DeVilbiss for a few years and instantly, this friend (let’s call him ‘NO-CS’) became the Director of Customer Service. He was placed over the Call Center and the Service Branch network. One of his first decisions was to hire HIS friend to manage the Call Center and Tech Service. See a pattern emerging here? These people weren’t getting those positions because of their ability to do the job – only because they were friends. Sad part was, the friend that NO-CS put over the Call Center and Tech Service was the same person who was over the Customer Dept in Feb 2000. This person was removed from that job and transferred elsewhere because, from what I understand, they could not interact with customers and employees in a Professional Manner. Yet, now they are back again, and with even more Authority. Dumb.
So, NO-CS is now over the Product Service Division of the Tool Group because he was friends with X-DP. Nice job. I have a reason for calling him NO-CS, Simply put, it was because he didn’t really seem to care about the Customer. Us Delta and Porter-Cable folks had made our reputation on taking care of our customers – sometimes even to the point of absurdity- we once had a fellow bring a Craftsman Bench Grinder to our Distribution Center in Memphis, in the hopes that we could help him fix it. We didn’t fix it, but he walked out of there with a brand new Delta Bench Grinder in hand. Crazy? Maybe… ‘out of the box’? For sure. But I can assure you, the next time he thought about buying a tool, what brand do you think he looked at first?

Send your questions or comments to:

Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

Column V2.4 - Now, Back to the Story 5/14/11

2011-07-08T05:26:00.000-07:00

Alright, time to get back to the Porter-Cable/Delta story…no matter how sad it is. If I recall correctly, before the Great Computer Crash of 2011 we had just re-established the 1-800-223-7278 hotline center and its manager was the ex-Delta hotline Manager from Memphis. What a coup! She had her act together and getting her was the best hope for the success of this department.
As it turned out, things were not quite so rosy further up the food chain. The original Porter-Cable President – the one who had the responsibility to make this new “merger” work, and didn’t- lost his job around the end of 2001- I think. (dates do get blurred after a few years) Anyway, once he was gone, the search for another President got underway. After a period of searching, a fellow was selected that seemed to have all the answers. He was a motivator. He talked about how our recovery was going to be one that “books would be written about”. It sounded great. Our new call center was up and rolling and for a while, it looked like we might get the ship headed in the right direction.
That lasted a few months, maybe a little over a year and then the ‘new guy’ and our original VP of Human Resources were both cut loose. The “Word on the Street” was that Pentair (who owned the Tool Group) had discovered that the ‘new guy’ and the HR-VP were very fond of golf. Which in itself is not a bad thing at all- I enjoy it myself – However, when your company is still floundering around and not making the money that it’s owners and shareholders expect, it’s probably not too wise to take a golfing trip to Europe..and have the company pay for it. Again, “Street Word” was that there were more than one excursions of this nature and it cost both of them their jobs. So, here we are again…leaderless and floundering. It’s Déjà vu all over again and we’re searching for another President.
To backtrack a bit, Just before the “Merger” of 2000 Pentair ad purchased a Jackson Company called DeVilbiss. They make air compressors, portable generators and pressure washers. This purchase was intended to compliment Porter-Cable’s offerings of air-powered tools. Also, at the time of the purchase, the Y2K event had the sales of generators at an all-time high. Actually, it was the worst time ever to buy this company because their value was highly inflated due to all of the generator sales. Once Y2K fizzled out, we got thousands of generators back.. go figure..

Send your questions or comments to:

Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

Column V2.3 - Truth IS important: 5/7/11

2011-07-07T04:29:00.000-07:00

It seems that I’m still not quite ready to get back to my tale of woe…that, and I’m still trying to get used to this new keyboard. For someone like me that does not type with all 10 fingers, (I got up to eight once…once) when the keys are not where they are supposed to be, it’s a bit unnerving/confusing. Oh, don’t get me wrong, the letters are all in the right place, but they have monkeyed with the delete key and the home, and page up & page down buttons. I keep hitting the wrong thing…
and the enter key is higher up… “shift” doesn’t quite do the same job.
Anyway, let’s talk. The news this week was that Osama bin Laden is now with the fish. While I do believe it is a well-deserved outcome, I would love to be able to say that I believe everything the President has told us about it. Unfortunately, I just can’t. I suppose it’s simply a result of the many times that the President has ‘put the spin on’ something, ‘mis-spoke’ or ‘mis-stated’ (which are all simply other names for lying). For me personally, once you’ve been caught in a lie, what reason do I have to believe anything you say - unless I have independent verification- from someone who has not lied to me? As I’ve heard back in the day, “Don’t pee on my leg and tell me it’s raining”. For example, the President says, “After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.” Only, now we find out the truth. There was no “firefight”. See what I mean?
I relate the same way to people in my personal life. If you lie to me, I will most likely confront you with it and hack you off in doing so. It’s rather interesting how easily liars get upset when they get caught. Once you and I both know you’re a liar, I’ll generally have nothing else to do with you. Life is far too short to deal with people who can’t be believed. I’m sure some of this comes from the fact that I used to be married to a liar. Thank God, I’m not anymore.
Ok, so OBL is dead…or is he? We don’t yet have any proof, other than the word of a liar. So here we are, stuck again..
Maybe next week we’ll get back to our history lesson about Delta. I think we left it around 2002. We got a new Porter-Cable/Delta President…but he didn’t last too long.

Send your questions or comments to:

Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

Column V2-2 - In the Midst of Darkness: 4/30/11

2011-07-07T04:26:00.000-07:00

Well, now that my system has returned to ‘close to normal’, we could get back to our ongoing saga of how the once great brands of Delta and Porter-Cable got decimated by arrogance & pride…but sometimes there are stories worth interrupting the bad news. I ran across one of those this week. My current position is as an Account Executive for National Pen Company in Shelbyville. One of our products is this decent-looking little flashlight with a key chain loop. It has 3 LED bulbs and puts out some good light for something that is only about 2.5 inches long. One of our methods for getting customers exposed to our product is to randomly send out samples so they can be touched and tested. Anyway, I got a call from a fellow and after listening to him, I had him send me his story.
“Tom, this is a note to let you know how helpful the free sample light key chain came in this past Monday April 25th 2011. That morning I received the light in the mail at my office in Lonsdale, AR. I thought it was a cool light so I put it in my pocket to show my wife when I got home from work that evening. That evening is when bad weather hit our area. We were watching the weather alerts on TV when a tornado stuck our property and damaged many homes in the Royal and Sunshine communities. My wife and I barely had time to reach a safe place in our home and no time to collect a flashlight or supplies. In the darkness and confusion I remembered the key chain light in my pocket. The light is not a toy and put out more than enough lumen's for us to evaluate our surroundings and safely find our way around the house. I am still using it now 5 days later. So, thanks for the sample that helped us more than you would have dreamed when you sent it. This experience also convinced me to make an order for us to use in our camp retreat center. The tornado destroyed or damaged many homes, hundreds of trees, and destroyed the power grid with hundreds of poles and lines down. Many families incurred severe damages to property, and mental and physical damage to their person. We were very blessed to have only property damage. It is encouraging to see the Churches and families come together to help the community. So Thanks Again and Blessings to You.”

A story like this helps you realize how the Lord can take care of His people in some truly interesting ways.

Send your questions or comments to:

Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

Column # V2-1 - When stuff works, life is better: 4/25/11

2011-07-07T04:22:00.000-07:00

You’ve possibly noticed that this column was missing in action for the past few weeks. There’s a reason for that. When one’s only computer decides to take a nose dive into the dirt…it causes a person to become dead in the water as far as writing columns, doing resumes, getting club newsletters finished...or…anything else that I used to do with the silly thing.
But you know, even in the midst of such a devastating event, one that I am quite sure our own Ken Ivey could use for a column idea (ie: “Have Enough Sense to BACK YOUR FILES UP”- actually I did...it was last August, tho.), I have seen God’s Hand at work once again. A friend of mine that I have known for the past 39 years found out that I would be in Jackson, TN a few weeks ago and he was absolutely adamant about meeting with me. So, we met at the Old Country Store for breakfast and had a real good time. As we were finishing up, he said, ‘stick your hand out’, so I did… and he stuffed some folded up money into my palm. He said. “Here, God says to give this to you.” Of course, I was a bit confused and said so. So then he said
”Look, what you do with it is your business, all I know is that, as sure as I am sitting here talking to you, God spoke to me and told me to give this to you - and He even told me how much.” Well, I just put the money in my pocket and we finished our breakfast and went on. Later, on the way back to the ‘boro, I looked at what he had given me and it was 7 one hundred dollar bills. Unbelievable. Ok, so I get home and like any good husband (right fellers?) I tell my wife what happened. Our dilemma was, ‘yes, we have some things that we could use the money for… but what if God knows that something is coming and we will need this for that?’ So, we decided to just stick it back and see what developed. This was on April 2nd.
On Friday night, April 8th, I came home from work and got ready to do my Reader column…and…got the dreaded Microsoft blue screen of death. I kid you not…less than ONE WEEK after getting an unexpected financial blessing. After trying everything that I could to save the computer and try to recover the data…there was no alternative but to go buy a new one… and I will only say that the cost of the new one left me with about 40 dollars. Yes, my God is an Awesome God!

Send your questions or comments to:

Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

Column # 61 - Evidence of Sanity after all 3/31/11

2011-07-07T04:18:00.000-07:00

You might notice agap between when I wrote these and when they now appear on my blog.
That's because my computer blew up in April and this blog has been far down the list of things to recreate. I was reminded that I actually do have an audience, so here we go, getting this thing caught back up... T

Now, let’s see, where were we...oh yea, the meeting with the VP…well, maybe this needs a bit of background. As I told you, the ‘powers that were’ got so tired of getting beat up by customers and dealers for shutting down the Delta Hotline that they finally decided to create a new one in Jackson.
Since I was from Memphis and used to work very closely with, and support the 800 group, I was heavily involved in passing on some knowledge about how to best set it up. Evidently the new VP was impressed and asked me if I wanted the job of managing the new call center. Early on, my response was “Well sure, I’ll manage that and Tech Service…” but he cut me off at the knees when he said “Oh no, that would be too much for one person to handle. If you take the call center, and I REALLY do want you to, you’d have to leave Tech Service.” After a couple of weeks, he finally cornered me and told me that he needed an answer the next day. Well, after over 20 years of being ‘Mr. Tech Service’…it was not an easy choice…THAT was why I was up all night. But I will testify to this, most of the night was spent praying and asking God, ‘what do I do?’
So dawn comes, as it always does…but during the night, the peace came and I knew what I needed to do. Here we go, meeting about 8:30. I went in and sat down and he asked for my decision and I laid it out on the table… “I just can’t do that…and here’s why. I AM Tech Service, I’ll manage the Tech group AND the call center, but I can’t leave Tech. Everyone who knows Delta, knows Tom and I don’t care if you hid me in a broom closet, if they needed some knowledge that I have, they would find me. So I’d have two jobs any way you look at it and you’d only be paying me for one…you just need to let me take them both’ Well, he didn’t go for that, but he did ask me who would I get to manage it and I told him that I had been talking to Delta’s former 800-line manager and she was interested in coming to talk to them. As time went on, that was exactly what happened. Delta’s former call center manager moved to Jackson and created a new department. I was tasked with getting them enough training that they could handle all but the most Technical calls. The beauty of this is that all I had to do was drag out my old Memphis training files and update them slightly. They were good to go.

Send your questions or comments to:

Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________

Column #60 - Where did the Knowledge go? 3/26/11

2011-07-07T04:15:00.000-07:00

So, here sat the customer; calling a place they hadn’t done business with; talking to people who had no clue as to what they were needing; and not being able to get the same level of response from the new organization that they had been used to…is it any wonder they complained to high heaven and took their business elsewhere if they could? I could not blame them.
Now, lest it seems like I am dissing the service branch employees, allow me to explain. These were Porter-Cable service branches. These folks were PORTER-CABLE experts. They KNEW their PC stuff…but they were NOT Delta experts. Delta had always used PC as Authorized Service Centers for service and there were a few branches that had folks in them who really wanted to learn Delta stuff (the Chicago, Kansas City and Dallas branches come to mind). Consequently, those branches faired better when Delta business got dumped on them, than some of the others did. But most of the branch people looked on Delta as an albatross around their neck…and even if they didn’t, they simply did not have the Delta experience that the customer expected them to have.
We even went so far as to have some ‘Train The Trainer’ classes in Jackson (conducted by yours truly) that were designed to show them the machines, how to troubleshoot them, and give them a very good reference manual that contained much of that ‘obscure information’ that customers usually asked for...then they were to return to their branch and pass that knowledge on to the other folks. Again, some branches took to it like fish in water, and others took to it like a lead balloon in air.
On top of that, Delta Memphis had employees answering the 800 line that had been there for years and years. It was a great place to work and employee turnover was very minor. Over the years, this was one of our best assets. Stay somewhere long enough and you absorb knowledge that you just can’t get in a class.
So, the customers complained, the selling dealers complained, company Presidents complained and finally… those in charge listened. In the fall of 2000 the decision was made to re-staff the Delta 800 line and house it in Jackson. Finally, a good, logical decision in the middle of all of this hoopla… I was approached about heading up the call center, but it meant giving up my role as Technical Support Manager and after a sleepless night, I went into a meeting with the VP in charge of the effort… and next week, I’ll tell you how that went.

Send your questions or comments to:

Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

Column # 59 - Service Expectations Take a Beating

2011-03-26T07:21:00.000-07:00

Ok, so let’s go back to our tale of woe. Mid-year 2000… someone finally decided to do the unthinkable and simply listen to our customers. Our customers were telling them, loud and clear and no uncertain terms, that closing Delta’s 800 line was a huge mistake. Just to recap, in 1983 Delta had created an 800 line (800-223-7278, aka; 800-BAD-PART) to service their customers. By calling that one number, the customer could get anything done, be it order parts, get Technical Service, ask an obscure question about a 50yr old machine, complain about anything, or…well, you get the idea. That little number was THE connection between Delta and the customer… and one of the first things those in charge of the “merger” had done was cut it off. The phone system was re-targeted so that, depending on where the caller was calling from, their call would then be routed to the nearest Porter-Cable/Delta service branch, who would handle their service needs. All well and good…on the surface. But then the differences in the two businesses began to show its face. As I related above, “service” was only one aspect of Delta’s 800 line, and while we are on ‘service’, there were some startling differences in the definition of that word between Porter-Cable and Delta. For instance, the PC service branches kept a pretty good stock of replacement parts at each branch. Not too hard to do with small portable tool parts. It’s a far different story when dealing with large stationary machine parts- there simply wasn’t enough room inside the branches to store it all. So the deal was that the branches had their parts stock and each week they would receive one of those huge export boxes shipped to them to replenish their supply. That worked great for them and their customers…on the other hand Delta had no service branches just a 200,000 sq.ft. warehouse in Memphis. So when a customer called and needed a part, it was shipped out to them directly, no waiting. If it was a warranty item, the customer usually had it in 2-3 days, depending on the urgency of the situation. Now, with the closing of the Memphis 800 line, customers immediately discovered a few things: their call no longer went to Delta Memphis; their parts had to be shipped to the service branch first, then to them; and (bless their little hearts) the people who answered the re-routed 800 lines were practically clueless about most things Delta. Many of these callers were long-time Delta customers and the perception (which actually WAS reality in this case) was that the “merger” had just dumped Delta customers out in the cold, without a lifeline.

Send your questions or comments to:

Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

Column # 58 - Take a breather…for now

2011-03-26T07:20:00.000-07:00

Ok let’s take a short break from the tale specifics of the disastrous, so-called “merger” of Porter-Cable and Delta International. I think it’s time to re-affirm that my story does not necessarily cast a bad light on all aspects of this fiasco. Yes, the overall event was indeed, a fiasco and it hurt many, many employees; it ran off our customers and killed two very well-fed cash cow companies. On the other hand, it brought some new life into a few stagnant careers (mine included) and brought some folks together, that would have never otherwise met. In my case, my new boss at P-C/D turned out to be an outstanding friend and mentor. One of my new co-workers was friendly enough to strike up a conversation with the ‘new guy’ when we were on a sales meeting trip to Las Vegas and we became golfing buddies and remain very good friends until this day. Lastly, but absolutely not “least”, I met my wife when I relocated to Jackson and had this “merger” not happened I’m sure that would not have occurred. God does indeed work in mysterious ways.
I was telling one of the guys who used to work for me about my series of stories and he told me about an event that I was unaware of. It seems that the CEO of the new “Pentair Tools Group” (and this guy was one of the MAJOR architects of this “merger” – he also lost his job because of the results…or lack thereof) was in the new-fangled PC-D warehouse one day and he was standing at the bottom of one of the slides that I told you about- remember those, they started at the top of the warehouse and slid down 25 feet below, ending at a pack-out table- well, there he was, with his back to the slide and a 50lb box of nailgun nails started coming down the slide…gaining speed and momentum all the way. Just like those 80lb motors I told you about, the box of nails hit the rubber surface of the pack-out table…and…not just ‘went tumbling’…it literally exploded! Blew apart… and threw 2.5 inch-long nails EVERYWHERE…including all over the back of the head honcho. It wasn’t long after that until the slides got a conveyor-belt covering and everything just kind of moseyed down the slides...aww shoot, no more lunchtime entertainment.
I guess the main point of this week’s column is that while there were some honest-to-goodness cost savings and logistical benefits that could have been realized from combining SOME aspects of the two companies, the method of how it was ultimately done and the personal motives behind the way it was done shot most all of the positive possibilities down the tubes.

Send your questions or comments to:

Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

Column #57 - Is it really THAT heavy?

2011-03-12T05:51:00.001-08:00

Well, from the tumbling, rumbling of an 80 lb motor free-sliding down a ramp and then blowing out across the warehouse floor, we have this tendency; let’s say that as the parts come to the down ramp and there are parts backed all the way up the ramp. This keeps the motor from sliding down…it just follows the chain of parts to the bottom rather slowly. Once it gets there, the packout person puts the 80lb motor box into that big ‘ol 4x4 export box that’s full of parts for the Service Branches. Under that heavy motor was bandsaw blades, motor brushes, envelopes of small parts, etc. Do I need to describe the condition of those small parts after being squashed by a heavy motor for hundreds of miles? I think you get the idea. There was no telling how many tens of thousands of dollars of product had to be junked because of damage like this. There again, in the minds of the ‘new guys’…the computer ‘told us how the stuff had to go in the export box’- instead of treating the Warehouse system as a TOOL, they treated it as the Master…and it cost us dearly. One could make a good case, that neither Porter-Cable nor Delta ever recovered from this fiasco.

So OK, after several months of time (like 6 or 8), extra computer professionals being brought in, the P-C Distribution VP losing his job (as he should have), the President of the new Porter-Cable/Delta losing his job (as he should have), we FINALLY started shipping…sort of rationally. Parts were getting out and they had the light-weight stuff on TOP of the heavy stuff, we sort of settled down…or so we thought.

Oh, as a side note, us Tech Guys had our Tech-Lab in the warehouse, right outside our office…underneath that overhead conveyor that contained all those parts that were headed to the down ramps. Well, we would be out there working and all of a sudden we hear a CRASH, right beside us. We looked around and there on the floor was an 8 lb router inside its box.
What tha???
As it turned out, the conveyor would fill up with items headed to packout and things would stack up and jam up and eventually something would jump the side rails and come crashing down at us. We had several close calls and it finally led to us placing a trapeze net under the conveyor, over our Lab area, to catch the incoming missiles. What “fun” that was…

More of the continuing adventure, next week.

Send your questions or comments to:

Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

Column #56 - Yes, Martha, there IS a difference..

2011-03-05T06:03:00.000-08:00

So we left last week by mentioning that Delta means stationary machines and Porter-Cable means portable power tools…the largest part of a P-C tool was maybe the body of a Porta-BandSaw. Weight maybe 6 to 8 lbs or so. On the Delta side, there were many 60 to 80lb motors, castings that could be 200lbs, stuff like that. So, we mentioned this huge box that ALL of these parts are going into…at the same time, to be shipped out to the Service Branches. [I need to inject a detail about the way the warehouse was made. Remember it was state-of-the-art. There were several ‘picking stations’ scattered around the warehouse. The pickers would pull the product from the rack/bin, place it on the ramp, where it would then go up to a track that was around the top of the warehouse (app. 25 feet up in the air). From there, it would ride the conveyor belt around to the front of the warehouse, where it would run into several down ramps that let the scanners direct it to the right packout station down on the warehouse floor. I think there were 8 packout stations along the front.] So, here come the parts along the belt, the system would direct & deflect the item to the proper down ramp and the part would slide down the ramp to be met by a packer who would then put it into the export box.

Now, get the picture of a 6lb part sliding down one of these slides. The slide is polished metal and it ends at floor level to be stopped by a rubber-covered packout table. All well and good for that 6lb part…but what do you suppose happens when the part is an 80lb electric motor? I’ll tell you what happened…the motor went sliding down the ramp-uh, gaining speed all the way-and when it hit the rubber, the bottom of the motor’s box stopped…but the top kept right on going. In case it’s not clear, this is better known and a ‘tumbling box, with an 80lb motor inside it’. Yep, the boxed-up motor proceeded to start flipping and rolling with all of its might and then flew out across the warehouse floor. Scratch one 300-400$ motor…oh, and anything else that might have been in its way…including worker’s ankles.

If this had been an isolated incident, it might have just been ‘one of those things’, but it got so commonplace that it was our lunchtime entertainment.

Pretty sad, huh? Well, it just gets more ‘interesting’.…

Send your questions or comments to:

Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

Column #55 - You must be smarter than that

2011-02-26T05:35:00.000-08:00

Customers needing parts… new system don’t work, what ever are we to do? For the next 4-6 weeks, I can recall sending my men into the warehouse to pull a part from the brand new shelf, write it up by hand and then take it to downtown Jackson’s UPS store to ship it out. It was not a fun time. One of the real ‘burners’ was that the head of P-C sent out a nice little letter to our dealers about the situation – did he accept responsibility for too little testing? Nope. The letter told everyone that there was a deteriorating situation in Memphis that caused an earlier than expected start date for the new warehouse. Problem was, this was a bogus deflection because Memphis had been working off of Jackson’s time table- not the other way around. It was just one of many side-steps by the ‘new guys in charge’.

The real problem was that there had simply not been enough system testing to ensure that it would work properly. It took an untold amount of man hours with extra systems engineers working almost around the clock, to finally begin to see some daylight at the end of the tunnel. In my opinion much, if not all of this could have been avoided by the easy fix of hiring the most experienced person to manage the new warehouse, but the personal bias curse, prevented that…and we suffered for it.

In the grand scope of things, the people who were trying to move out of the 80’s, skip the learning curve of the 90’s, and jump right into the 00’s of paperless warehouse management systems were way in over their head, but they had too much pride to admit it. They had neither the education, nor experience, to pull this off. Case in point: early on, my guys and I detected a trend in the warehouse management team - they thought the ‘system’ was god. By that I mean all of the computer-generated instructions were followed…even when they made no logical sense.

Check this out- at that time there were 23 or 24 Factory Service Branches and once a week, the warehouse would pack up a 4x4x4 export box with all of the parts they had ordered and ship it out. OK, so along comes the new system, a bunch of new Delta parts and you must remember the difference in the 2 companies: Porter-Cable = portable power tools, Delta = stationary woodworking machines.

Stay tuned next week for the continuing adventure…

Send your questions or comments to:

Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

Column #54 - Technology must be controlled.

2011-02-25T19:07:00.000-08:00

Installment number 6 of our continuing saga of how Pentair killed their cash cows that were Delta and Porter-Cable.

In 1999, before the ‘merger’, I was told that P-C was still writing incoming inventory receipts on index cards. Their VP of Distribution was very ‘old school’ to say the least. OK, so on the Delta side. We had a Warehouse Manager who turned himself into a ‘tech-geek’. He got educated and brought Delta into the 90’s with a WMS that, in 1999, was ONE piece of paper away from being a ‘paperless’ WMS. The only thing left was the actual shipper that got pinned to each skid on the loading dock. That was it.

OK, so the die had been cast. The decision was made that when the ‘merger’ occurred, a brand new state-of-the-art, 500,000sq.ft. warehouse would be built in Jackson. This new warehouse would be a year 2000-ready warehouse. In other words, it would BE paperless. Great. Grand idea. Now, Mr. VP of Porter-Cable Distribution (who had been placed in charge of that part of the ‘merger’- remember that bias?) has an opportunity to utilize the expertise of the Delta Warehouse Manager, who knows this stuff like the back of his hand…right? Not so fast. Back in the early 80’s, the Delta WM had worked for the P-C VP as one of his warehouse supervisors (the P-C VP was Rockwell’s Distribution manager at the time - over Memphis operations).
So, the P-C VP decided to lowball the Delta WM and ‘offer’ him a make-do job. Naturally, the Delta WM said ‘no thanks’…and the result of that decision did more to make the next few months a complete disaster than most anything else that was done.

So, they were going to ‘merge’ Porter-Cable, who was still using a 1980’s style warehouse management “system” (and yes, writing inventory down on index cards was a ‘system’. Albeit a very outdated one) with Delta, who was once piece of paper from having a paperless warehouse management system...and they were going to do it without the expertise of the Delta manager who got Delta to that point. OK, here we go. New warehouse is built and staffed with folks who were great using the ‘80’s style system…but practically clueless about what they were getting into. They moved all the product into the new warehouse and…then…the…system…wouldn’t…work.

There had been very little - read: next to none – trial testing of the system and it wouldn’t ship anything. This was what met us when we got to Jackson on Feb 1, 2000. But we still had customers who needed parts to keep their machines running.

Send your questions or comments to:

Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

Column #53 - The Continuing Delta Downfall

2011-02-19T05:43:00.000-08:00

If I’m right this article will come out right in front of Valentine’s Day weekend,…well, it IS on the next Monday anyway, so I just MUST wish my lovely wife a Happy Valentine’s Day. My dear Celia, God knew I needed you and I thank Him for sending you along…and for that girl with the ‘two cats in a tow sack’… I love you babydoll.

Ok, back to the story…The HR VP of Porter-Cable and a few other folks came to Memphis and made some ‘offers’. After the dust settled, 15 people, out of 125, transferred to Jackson. 5 of those were me and my department. The other 10 were 2 Reconditioning Mechanics, their Supervisor and 7 call center ladies. If you’ve been keeping up, that means that the Call Center Manager (no call center= no manager), the Service Operations Manager, the Distribution Center Manager, the Warehouse Manager and the Technical Service Manager didn’t relocate. That was a huge hit to the heart of Delta. Now, about the Technical Service Manager job, that was my boss. He ultimately decided not to ‘merge’ and I got his job...sort of. Yes, I got promoted - as a Technical Support Manager - and I reported to the Porter-Cable Technical Service Manager. I must say that my new boss turned out to be a great guy. He and I developed a great friendship and he taught me a lot about things I didn’t know…and I did the same for him. We’re both mechanical geeks, so it worked out very well. So far, it was the best career move I have ever made.

Alright, so, out of over 250 Delta people, a grand total of 23 people were ‘merged’ into the new Pentair Tools Group…and they expected it to make even more money, and grow, and grow, and grow…. Nope. Didn’t happen.
That good ole’ ‘personal bias’ kicked in on a key area and it blew up in their face. Remember the Delta Warehouse Manager that didn’t relocate? Here’s the backstory. In 1999, Porter-Cable and Delta were making good money and the decision to consolidate was made. Now, don’t get me wrong, “Some” consolidation did make sense. Since both businesses sold to the same sort of customer, merging accounts payable, finance, maybe even HR and some sales functions kinda made sense. But there was a HUGE culture difference between Delta and P-C and no one seemed to be able to manage that. When Delta had a need or problem, our tendency was to leverage technology and use it to work smarter. On the other hand, in the same situation, P-C just hired more people. Technology was not at the forefront of their operation, therefore, they had been ‘left behind’ on a lot of new systems…in particular, their Warehouse Management System (WMS).

Send your questions or comments to:

Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

Column #52 - Cut Out the Heart and the Body Dies.

2011-02-04T18:30:00.000-08:00

So, eight people from Pittsburgh decided to relocate to Jackson. There were six salesmen and their Director, and one Risk Management person. The Memphis team didn’t fair much better. We had about 125 people working at the Memphis Distribution Center. Now, one could not reasonably expect that forklift drivers, order pullers and phone operators would be asked to transfer, but we also had the Service Operations Manager, Technical Service Manager, Call Center Manager, the Director of Distribution and the Warehouse Manager in house.
If Pittsburgh was the ‘brain center’ of Delta, Memphis was its ‘heart’. When someone called Delta’s Toll-Free number, they got Memphis. No matter if they wanted to complain, order a shop full of parts or just find out when an old tool was made- Memphis got the call. This was by design. Back in 1983-84, when the shake-up was going on and the Rockwell Stationary Tool Div. was struggling to find its identity, and then Delta got created, it was decided that having one toll-free phone number, for Service, would be the best thing for our customers. So, the legendary number 1-800-223-7278 was created (just as a side note, and we could never find out if it was intentional but it probably was…that number spelled out is 1-800-BAD-PART). This 800# connected directly into our call center and it had been doing that for the better part of 16 years by the time 2000 rolled around. To say that Delta had created a customer service ‘diamond’ would be an understatement. Our 800 line was staffed with people who knew their stuff. We had many multi-decade employees on hand who really cared about the customer on the other end of the phone. On top of that, we had the Technical Service Dept. backing them up. By 1999’s ‘merger’ announcement, I was the ‘acting Supervisor’ and had had 3 other guys with me.
Remember what I said about personal bias showing up in some of the decisions at the time? Here’s a good example: One of the first decisions about Memphis was…to close the 800 call center. The number wouldn’t be disconnected but the incoming call would now be routed to the nearest Porter-Cable (soon to be billed as “Porter-Cable/Delta”) Service Center. Someone’s expectation was that people whose expertise was in the portable electric power tool market would suddenly be able to handle all types of questions and service concerns relating to stationary machinery. It didn’t turn out quite as planned- but that’s a story for another day- let’s get back to the Memphis staff and what happened with them.

Send your questions or comments to:

Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

Column #51 - It takes ‘how many’ to run a Co?

2011-01-29T06:27:00.000-08:00

So as we said last week, Jackson, TN just doesn’t seem to fit the bill for a major distribution hub. Naturally, there may be some who would disagree with me, and that’s fine. This series of articles are just MY opinion. They are written from one that lived through the time and recalls it very well. After all, this was MY company. One we had built pretty much from the scrap heap over 15 years. It wasn’t easy seeing corporate decisions being implemented that seemed to arise more from personal bias than any sense of best business practices.

Then there was another logistics issue. Delta International Machinery worked from 3 locations: Pittsburgh, PA was Delta HQ, with admin, engineering, finance, sales and HR on hand. Tupelo, MS was the factory where almost all of the ‘made in USA’ machines were built. Memphis, TN housed distribution, Customer Service and Technical Service. So now, due to the ‘merger’, the staffs of Pittsburgh and Memphis were headed for Jackson…or were they?
Granted, I am more familiar with the events that related to the Memphis operation, but I have enough friends in Pittsburgh that I have a pretty good grasp of what transpired. Maybe we’d best just put it like this: Out of over 100 people in the Pittsburgh facility, (and remember, these were the ‘brains of Delta’, the people who spearheaded the growth of the company and oversaw it’s becoming the powerhouse that it was by 1999) 8, yes E-I-G-H-T, people accepted positions in Jackson, with the new Pentair Tools Group. I have been told that there were 2 major factors involved that decimated the ‘brains of Delta’. First; those who were in control of assembling the Pentair Tools Group did not make any “serious offers” to those in Pittsburgh. What I mean by that is this for example. Let’s say that a person was the Director of Engineering at Delta Pittsburgh and they got an offer to relocate to Jackson and become the Engineering Manager reporting to the Director of Porter-Cable Engineering. This would not be considered a comparable offer in anyone’s book. The Second factor was that most ‘Pittsburghers’ simply did not want to leave Pittsburgh and move to Jackson, TN. In truth, that was the reason that Delta had not consolidated its operations in Memphis, or even Tupelo back in the Mid-80’s. The ‘Pittsburgh gang’ were mostly folks who had worked for the Rockwell Power Tool Division and it was based in Pittsburgh- so they had some deep roots there and we worked it out for them to stay there. At times, it was frustrating having our ‘honchos’ so far away, but we managed to make it work and made a ton of money with it that way, so it was OK.

Send your questions or comments to:

Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

Column #50 - The backstory of the downhill slide

2011-01-23T19:25:00.000-08:00

So, here we are, along about 1984 in our story of how Delta became an ‘un-legend’. Just so that it’s clear, I will name no names in my stories and I’m really not going to fault any one individual, but I sure will tell what happened and dog-out the corporate mentality that allowed it happen. Also, please understand, I still have a LOT of Delta gray in my blood. Yes, the brand is still alive, but in MY humble opinion, it is a shell of it’s former self. I do wish it well in the future but it has a long way to go and it must get back to its roots.

1984. It was the first year back from the grave of a time-honored name- Delta. Once we got on our feet, the very next year we decided to create a Technical Service Department, of which, yours truly was a founding member.
As a whole, Delta was starting to regain its footing in the industry. Pentair gave us the financial backing to create new tools and helped us maintain a measure of stability. Other than that, they pretty much stayed out of our way. As a reward for that, Delta became an absolute cash cow for them for the next 15 years. Along about this time, Porter-Cable had risen to the top of the heap of the portable electric tool market and it too became a cash cow for Pentair. From 1984 thru 1999, both Delta and Porter-Cable were ‘strokin’. We introduced new tools, had numerous inventions and patents and basically had the markets by the tail…and oh yes, we were making Pentair a ton of money. And then came 1999…

1999. The announcement came that Delta and Porter-Cable were going to “merge” and move into a state-of-the-art 500,000 sq.ft. distribution and Group headquarters facility in Jackson, TN and henceforth be called “Pentair Tools Group”. Right away, we saw that someone had more than a reasonable amount of influence with the management at Pentair. Think about it… when one thinks of a distribution hub for America, Jackson, TN is not it. On the other hand, Memphis would qualify very well. The problem was that Porter-Cable was a ‘big fish’ in a small pond in Jackson and their management team had no desire to move to the Memphis area. Not that I can blame them- Jackson is like heaven when compared to Memphis. But still, the basic idea of having your corporate distribution efforts locked into Jackson, TN, which is about 80 miles from the rail yards and trucking hubs in Memphis (leading to untold amounts of extra shipping dollars) does not seem to make good sense.

Send your questions or comments to:

Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

Column #49 - My, how things do keep changing

2011-01-22T08:19:00.000-08:00

Last week we discussed how to get a flat, unbowed piece of stock ready for “thicknessing” in our planer. That method needs to be used on any stock you send thru your planer. Sure, you can send a warped or bowed piece thru. I’ve seen it done hundreds of times, but 99.75 times out of 100, the piece will come out with the bow or twist intact. I cannot stress it more; planers are just designed to make an item the same thickness – not flat.

Now, how does this fit with my column header? Well, it doesn’t. But here’s what does. Just yesterday, Jan 7, I learned that my old company, Delta, has been agreed to be sold to a company in Anderson, SC. The Delta brand has been owned by Black & Decker since October of 2004. That purchase was one of the major factors in me leaving them with over 23 years of service. Early last year, Black & Decker was bought by Stanley. The new company name was Stanley Black & Decker/DeWalt/Delta/Porter-Cable, etc, etc. It was kind of sad looking.

The story of how Delta became such a liability is one of classic corporate mis-management. (It reminds me a lot of what Harley-Davidson went through) Delta has a long history since being founded in a garage in 1919. It went thru the war years and became THE leader in the woodworking machine industry through its involvement with governments and schools. I think more students, during the 1940-1990 years, were introduced to woodworking by virtue of their school having Delta machines, than any other brand.

At one point, Delta was bought by Rockwell and absorbed into their Power Tool Division, which contained another iconic tool brand, Porter-Cable. Porter-Cable was started in 1906 and was a portable electric tool company.
Rockwell controlled the purse strings and because of a lot of cost-cutting measures in the late 1970’s, the machines just weren’t quite as good as they had been.

Along about 1982, a company out of MN, Pentair, bought the portable tool part of Rockwell’s Power Tool Division, resurrected the old Porter-Cable name and headquartered it at their factory in Jackson, TN. (I had started work with Rockwell in mid-1981, and about 8 months later got to watch half of the Memphis warehouse get emptied) It was not a pretty time for those of us who were experts on the stationary machines. Well lo & behold, 2 years later, Pentair came back and bought the rest of Rockwell’s Power Tool Division. They resurrected the old Delta name…and we’ll tell you more next week.

Send your questions or comments to:

Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

Column #48 - Straightening Warped & Bowed Stock

2011-01-15T08:00:00.000-08:00

2011…well, here we are. Now, can we get back to where we were? We were talking about Industrial Planers (IP’s for short) and snipeing, but there is so much more to them than just snipe. Perhaps we had better start at the beginning. Some of this stuff is going to be good info for ALL planers.

So, we’ve discussed that planers are really ‘thicknessers’ and to let them do the best job they can, they need a flat board to start with. Let’s talk about shop setup. I’ve often been asked ‘when I’m putting a shop together, what are the first machines I should buy?’ It does depend on what your shop’s purpose will be, but just for this week, let’s say that the goal is a decent little Woodshop.

Your shop’s heart is the Table Saw. You really can’t get anywhere without one of those and a 10-inch Table Saw will be fine for all but the largest projects. I believe the next purchase is a good Jointer. The bigger, the better if you will be doing larger projects. Naturally, if you intend to build model airplanes, a 4-inch jointer would be fine. After that, it’s the Planer. Again, you’ll need to choose an appropriate size. Follow this up with a good Drill Press and then perhaps a good Bandsaw. Most projects can be done with this group. Sanders, Shapers, Lathes and Hand Power Tools are also part of a complete Woodshop.

Alright, so you now have a basic woodshop and have this board you need to make flat, so you can run it through your planer. First, use your Jointer and surface one side of it. “Surface” is the technique of flattening one of the wide ‘faces’ until it is smooth and flat. Once you’ve done that, place your surfaced face against the fence and make passes until one edge has been jointed. At this point, you will have two parts of the board flat and smooth, and they will be 90degrees to each other.

Now, take your piece to your Table Saw, place the surfaced face on the table, and the jointed edge against your fence. Rip the board to the width you need. Now you have a board with 3 flat and straight surfaces. Now you are ready to place the surfaced face on the Planer’s bed, set your thickness adjustment and run the stock through the Planer.

You now have a straight board, that is flat and the proper thickness. All that remains is to cut it to the proper length. Remember, measure twice, cut once.

Send your questions or comments to:

Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

Column #47 - Toodle-oo to 2010

2010-12-31T10:52:00.000-08:00

So long, 2010, 2011 is upon us. Back in 1985, I could not even conceive of still being around in 2011, but here we almost are.

Sitting here trying to think up something cool to say for the New Year is coming close to leaving me fingerless (which is the same thing as ‘speechless’, if I were a radio talk show host). I know we were in the middle of talking about Industrial Planers but Christmas, and then New Years, only comes around once a year. So, here I sit.

One thing I would like to know for next year is: What do YOU need to know about? I really have no idea how many people may be reading these columns, but whoever you may be, on my best day this column is for you.
Do you have tools? Is there something wrong that you may be wondering about? Ask Me. It’s what I did for over 25 years and I’m doggone good at it.

I’m also pretty good at making people laugh, so I thought I’d close out the year with a short story: A man is flying in a hot air balloon and realizes he is lost. He reduces height and spots a man down below. He lowers the balloon further and shouts: "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised my friend I would meet him half an hour ago, but I don't know where I am." The man below says: "Yes. You are in a hot air balloon, hovering approximately 30 feet above this field. You are between 40 and 42 degrees N. latitude, and between 58 and 60 degrees W. longitude." "You must be an engineer," says the balloonist. "I am," replies the man. "How did you know?" "Well," says the balloonist, "everything you have told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I am still lost."
The man below says "You must be a manager."
"I am," replies the balloonist, "but how did you know?"
"Well," says the man, "you don't know where you are, or where you are going. You have made a promise which you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. The fact is you are in the exact same position you were in before we met, but now it is somehow my fault."

Enjoy the New Years holiday weekend, may Our Lord Jesus Bless you all - send me your comments - and we’ll see you next year.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

Column #46 - The True Reason for the Season

2010-12-19T14:18:00.000-08:00

“Happy Holidays”…what? Uh…”Happy Holydays”? Well, that’s a little better. How about “MERRY CHRISTMAS”??? It really frosts my pumpkin to hear happy holidays. Sure some say that this time of year was a pagan holiday long before Christmas- so what? It isn’t now, and hasn’t been for hundreds of years.

Christmas 2010 is here this weekend. We hustle, we bustle and we shop until we drop. Sadly, so many of us seem to ignore the true reason for the celebration. The birth of Our Lord Jesus. My pastor has some good thoughts about the commercialization of Christmas. If I remember correctly, he says that it is really a cool deal when everyone, no matter HOW they do it, is celebrating Jesus’ birth. I must agree.

For this weekend’s column, I could find no more appropriate words than these: “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.” So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS.” (NKJV)

The words are there and we read them… but do they sink in? God’s Son was born… not in a palace, but in a barn. We love barns in Tennessee, but would we want our kids to be born there? Little Jesus, Son of the Most High God…in a cradle. It strains our imagination, but the written record is there. All we need do is believe.

Merry Christmas to all and May God Bless us - everyone.

Send your questions or comments to: Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

Column #45 - The continuing saga of snipe

2010-12-12T13:51:00.000-08:00

As I had said a week or two ago, I am still a rookie at the newspaper column business and it reared its head in my column from last week.

There was a very important paragraph that got mangled up because I used odd characters. Here is what came out… “In other words, if you need a _” thick piece, take your adjustment to 1” and bring it down to _. Do not start at _” and go up to _ and then plane it. If you do that, you are leaving the backlash in the lead screws & nuts and that will be increasing your chance of snipe.”

As you can see, the dimensions I was referencing got obliterated. I thought I had best rewrite the paragraph so that my meaning is crystal clear. Here is what I meant to say. ”In other words, if you need a Three-Quarter-Inch thick piece, take your adjustment to One-Inch and bring it down to Three-Quarter-Inch. Do not start at One-Half-Inch and go up to Three-Quarter-Inch and then plane it. If you do that, you are leaving the backlash in the lead screws & nuts and that will be increasing your chance of snipe.” Hopefully, you can see the difference and why it is important.

Alright on to new business - the Industrial Planer. Most Industrial Planers have bed rollers and they are height-adjustable. Ideally, bed rollers are for use when you are planning very rough or warped boards. Yes, planning warped boards is not a good idea; however, in certain instances (like sawmills) one needs to make a pass through a planer and then go on to other machines. In most IP’s, the bed rollers are directly underneath the infeed rollers. This helps put the ‘squeeze’ on the stock as its going through the planer. As I said, the bed rollers are usually height-adjustable and very rough boards can use a bed roller height at 5 to 10 thousandths. If one is trying to get a snipe-free surface, the height of the bed rollers should be level with the bed or even 1 to 2 thousandths below the bed. If a smooth surface is the objective, having the bed rollers above the surface of the bed can actually create snipe because of the upward force of the board as it bumps up onto the bed roller.

Yes, there are many issues with an Industrial Planer, and it’s gonna take quite a few columns to work through them. I’ve got time, do you?
See ya next weekl

Send your questions or comments to:

Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

Column #44 - Our ‘snipe hunt’ continues.

2010-12-12T13:49:00.000-08:00

Last week, I gave you the most basic description of what snipe is and how it happens. The “why” it happens and how to minimize it, is the subject of this week’s column.

Setting the stage, your lunchbox planer has a movable head for depth of cut. It has no bed rollers, and the distance between the infeed roller and the outfeed roller is 4 inches. With that foundation, our snipe would be 2” long at the front and 2” long at the rear of the board. “Why” do you ask? Good question.

Here’s why- as long as the board is underneath both rollers, the head will be shoved upward by the force of the rollers pushing down against the board.
The early lunchbox planer designs were notorious for the problem of snipe. Later designs, and the ones most often found now, had a head locking mechanism made into the planer that allowed the operator to actually lock the head in place, which has pretty much eliminated snipeing on this design.

One thing that will do much to decrease your snipeing is [on the movable head style] to ALWAYS make your final depth of cut setting by moving the head downward. If you will do this, it will remove the backlash out of the lead screws [the threaded rods that the planer head moves up and down on] and their nuts. In other words, if you need a ¾” thick piece, take your adjustment to 1” and bring it down to ¾. Do not start at ½” and go up to ¾ and then plane it. If you do that, you are leaving the backlash in the lead screws & nuts and that will be increasing your chance of snipe.

On the early design lunchboxes, there were many different methods attempted to eliminate snipe. Some were easy, some were weird and most did not work every time. Once the planer makers figured out that customers were not in the mood to accept snipe as a way of life, they went back to the drawing board and did something about it. Hence, the head lock I mentioned earlier.

So far, we’ve been talking only about the lunchbox planers. Let me tell you straight up, snipe on industrial planers is a real happening, too. The Industrial planers have an inherent advantage because most of them have a movable bed, not head. This design difference makes snipe a lot easier to control, but there are so many adjustments that other things can go wrong. We’ll ‘go there’ next time.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

Column #43 - Yes, a ‘snipe hunt’ is a real thing.

2010-12-05T13:56:00.000-08:00

It’s Thanksgiving weekend as I write this and since I am new to the art of writing a weekly column- well, yea, I’ve done a few, but this is my first Holiday season- I am just learning that I should be a week ahead if I want my column to seem ‘on time’. Point being, I should have used last week’s column to wish everyone Happy Thanksgiving! Now, by the time you read this, T-day will have been gone for a week. Anyway, I’ll get better and more timely as I learn.

This week I’d like to introduce you to one of the most frequent problems of a planer. Snipe. Yes, it really IS called that…among other things. The basic symptom is that after the board has been run through the planer, the thickness of the ends is thinner than the middle of the board. Remembering that the purpose of a planer is to make the board the same thickness in all areas, Snipe is not an acceptable outcome.

Snipe can also be known as ‘cut out’; ‘dip out’; ‘notching’- names like that.
Essentially tho, one looks at the board surface and sees where, for the first few inches and usually the last few inches, the knives have made a deeper cut than they do on the rest of the board. For the purpose of our discussion, we’re going to limit ourselves to lunchbox planers that do not have bed rollers. [Bed rollers, which are mostly found on industrial planers. create other situations that we aren’t ready to talk about].

Alright, so you’ve sent a board thru and you see and feel snipe on the ends of the board. The first thing to realize is that this is being caused by the head of the planer rising as the board gets underneath both feed rollers. Again, we’re talking about lunchbox planers that usually are pretty simple- they have a fixed bed and a movable head. The head moves up and down to adjust the thickness of the cut.

So what happens- as the board is placed on the bed and pushed into the planer, the infeed roller grabs it and pulls it in, about 2 inches into the planer, the board runs underneath the knives and starts being cut. About 2 inches after that, the board runs underneath the outfeed roller and starts being pulled by both rollers, AND this is where the snipe stops… on the front end of the board. As it comes out, it leaves the infeed roller and snipe starts on the trailing end of the board. In this case you would have a 2” snipe on each end of the board.

Lots of background I know, but knowing the basics is essential to knowing why snipe occurs and what to do about it.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided

Column #42 - Is it Dull Knives, or something else?

2010-11-19T18:31:00.000-08:00

I just got to thinking that these past couple of columns have been more and more like a Saturday morning cliff-hanger…I set out the problem and just when you think I’m gonna give up the answer, I put it off until next week…?
Alright, this week, I really will give you the final solution to the problem.

We do need to recap, if we have some new readers…So here it is: you’ve been using your lunchbox planer, and it has been working just fine…but all of a sudden, it refuses to plane the wood. You can’t even shove the wood in and get it to work. It used to be that it practically pulled the wood out of your hand as you fed it…now, it ain’t happening. Last week, we brought up a dirty, or pitch encrusted bed surface and dirty or wood flour-caked-up feed rollers.
I left you with a teaser about there being one more solution that many people think should be number 1 on the list.

Here it is… Dull knives. Yep, that’s it. I have seen many a planer, just quit planning and the owner changes the knives, or flips his over to a fresh edge, and the planer resumes ‘doing it’s thing’ just fine. One needs to understand that when the knives get dull, they start beating on the wood and they actually create more resistance to the job the feed rollers can do (that being push the wood through the planer). Yes, changing the knives CAN do that.

Now, if you’ve read the past couple of columns, you may be asking: “If it’s that simple, why didn’t he just say so?” Well, here’s why… let’s pretend that your planer quit working as we have described and you change the knives…and…it…still…doesn’t…feed. Now what? Well. More than likely, your problem was a dirty bed or caked up feed rollers (or maybe both)…which you will now have to clean, with those freshly sharpened knives right within a finger’s reach. Do you know how easily fresh knives will cut flesh? LIKE BUTTER.

So, as I suggested, clean the bed and the rollers first. That way, your fingers are at least close to used knives. Don’t get me wrong, they will still cut the mess out of you, but not quite as easy as fresh knives will.

Also, there is a possibility that you will get more board feet cut with your knives before you need to change them, if you will clean the bed and rollers first. That was my thinking behind my suggestions.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

Column #39 - The ‘Hidden Art’ of the Wood Planer

2010-11-04T17:59:00.000-07:00

This week is the lead off column of a series on a machine that many woodworkers find to have an almost ‘mystical’ air about it. This is the Wood Planer or, as it is known in Europe, the wood thicknesser. In all fairness, “thicknesser” is a more appropriate description of what the machine actually does, than is the name ‘planer’. While handtool history is not my ‘thing’, I suspect that the thicknessers acquired the name ‘planer’ simply because what they did was so similar to a hand plane that smoothes a boards surface.

Over my many years in the industry, I don’t suppose there was ever another machine that caused as many headaches and problems for my customers as did the planer. I think most of that was because the average woodworker just doesn’t understand how these things work, and because the typical planer has so many adjustments that it is a bit intimidating.

The best starting place for our discussions is most likely to define the types of planers that are out there. Decent sized shops would have a planer that would be capable of planing 18” – 20” – 24” or even 36” wide stock. These types of planers are the ones with all those adjustments I mentioned because they have chipbreakers, pressure bars, spring-loaded infeed and outfeed rollers and bed rollers. All of those components must be adjusted properly and they have to be adjusted with consideration given to each of the other components. This is what I call an Industrial Planer.
Further down the scale is the planer that is typically found in home workshops. It’s easily portable and usually has a capacity of only 12”- 15” wide. These planers do not have pressure bars or chipbreakers or bed rollers. As you can see, the number of adjustments is way down from the Industrial types. These planers are fondly called “lunchbox” planers.

I think we will start or series off talking about lunchbox planers because I think that is the most likely type of planer my readers would have. Now, I could be wrong and if I am, I trust those of you who may have industrial planers in your shop to drop me a note and let me know.

Most lunchbox planers are ready to use, right out of the box. Oh, there might be some accessory tables to add or a stand to put together, but essentially the planer is ready to plane wood… and that is a bonus for the buyer.

Let’s pause here for the week. See ya next time…

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

Column #38 - The Adventure of the 1955 Nomad

2010-11-04T17:58:00.000-07:00

Well, let’s see, after 5 hard weeks of ‘machine talkin’ it’s about time for another of my famous ‘detours’. This one is into the world of car shows and the adventures that come with ‘em.

Back on October 16th, I took Mrs. Mayberry over to Cool Springs for the Battleground AACA Region’s annual show. They wound up having a record turnout of almost 300 cars. The 1966 Batmobile was even there - how kool is that? I had an ulterior motive for going because of a couple of reasons. First, I needed to hand out some flyers about our cruise-in at Cannonsburgh and second, back last summer our club renovated our clubhouse and we found a poster from Battleground’s 2nd car show. It was in great shape for a poster that had been hanging on our bathroom wall for over 20 years. Anyway, I thought that club would be glad to see one of their old posters returned to them, so I took it over. They were thrilled to see it, much less actually have it given to them. I think we spread some real good will on that one.

As it sometimes the case, this show did not go down without an “adventure”.
An “adventure” is what I call it when things do not go as I plan – and you can read that as “things get really messed UP!”.

During the day I had noticed this really pretty 1955 Chevrolet Nomad wagon sitting in front of Sears and the owner was elbows deep under the hood. I had stopped by early in the day to check in and he seemed to have enough tools to do whatever needed doing, so I wished him well and went about the day. Well, sure enough, the show ended and during the wrap up, I noticed the Nomad again - still sitting where it had been all day long…and the guy’s feet were hanging out from under the dash. This cannot be good.

It wasn’t. As it turned out, the poor fellow had lost power in his electrical system and he was trying to find it again. I just happened to have a multi-meter in my tool box, so he borrowed it and started checking for voltage. We even had a fellow stop who owns a restoration shop and we all had at it. We found where the problem should have been and thought that we could jumper around that area and at least get him home. We actually got the car cranked for the first time in about 7 hours. Only…yea, I know…inside an “adventure” there is pretty much always an “only”…the underdash wiring started getting hot, caught on fire, burned a spot on his dash and we sprayed fire extinguisher dust all under the dash… what a mess…but we did NOT let his car burn down. At last report, they called AAA and got the car back to McMinnville where it remains bedded down in its nest. The Nomad’s owner and his wife seem to be real nice folks, who I would not have minded meeting on any day…I just hate that it was because of his car problem.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

Column #37 - Keeping iron dust off your floor

2010-11-04T17:57:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, when your columnist started this effort, he was told that no subject was unapproachable. We may be fixing to find out if that is true or not, because this column is a thinly disguised want ad. You will learn something you may not have known, but you will also get a sales pitch.

Ferrous metal dust (dust with iron in it) is obviously a problem in those shops where a lot of grinding is done, and I suspect that more than one local shop has had some issues with OSHA because of it. Way back when I was with Delta, we sold a fantastic ferrous metal dust collector. The unit was made by Torit and they are among the best at what they do. As it turned out, I became the owner of a brand new 3/4HP single phase unit. It was either take it home, or watch it go in the dumpster. So, being the tool hoarder that I am… anyway, it is a great machine that I have never run. It would be great hooked to an industrial pedestal grinder, it has two suction inlets.

This type of dust collector is strictly made for ferrous metal. One would not want to use it on aluminum or wood, and heaven forbid, aluminum AND wood. Here’s the learning part I mentioned: If you collect aluminum and wood dust in the same container, you have the basic compound of gunpowder…and all it would take is a spark of hot metal tossed into it, to produce an explosion or at least a decent fire. NEVER do this.

So, to prevent this type of event, Torit made (and Delta sold) these dust collectors strictly for ferrous metal use. It is capable of moving 500 CFM and develops a static suction of 3.5 inches of water. It has a set of filter bags in the bottom of the cabinet and the dust is shaken out of them by means of a foot pedal.

Alright - bottom line - I have this thing and I need to sell it. The last list prices of what I have were: the unit itself= $2044.00 ; a new extra set of filter bags= $875.00 ; an accessory air filtration unit= $250.00. As I said, I have never even fired it up. These prices were current in 1993. Heavens knows what they would cost today.

If you’d like to research this a bit more, the Delta model Number was 49-826- I don’t think they sell these any more. If you’re interested in this- send me an email and let’s talk, I’m very easy to negotiate with.

‘Til next week.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________

#36- RAS-styles & alignment

2010-09-26T20:08:00.000-07:00

Radial Arm Saws (RAS) are best known for being used to perform repetitive cutoffs on wider, or longer, boards. I have seen extension tables that would allow someone to lay up 30-foot boards and cut them shorter. This would be very hard to do on a table saw. A RAS can do that very easy because the head moves, not the actual workpiece.

Speaking of the head moving, there are two types of RAS’s. The first and most economical is the “regular style”. I call it that because I don’t believe there is an actual name for it. This RAS simply has an upright column at the rear and that has an arm attached to it that is sticking out from it towards the user. That arm has a grooved track built into it and the head’s roller bearings ride along those grooves to allow it to slide fore & aft. This saw is the one most seen in home shops and it is very fussy about aligning properly. At the outer end of the track, arm flex can be an issue.

The more professional design is the “turret-arm” RAS. The rear column is still there, as is the arm coming towards the user…but that arm is only ½ as long and it has a pivot point for the actual arm that has the track in it. The track arm- picture an upside down T, with the track being in the crossbar of the T and the stem being the pivot point- contains the grooves for the head’s roller bearings. This type RAS is far easier to align and has much less flex than the ‘regular’ design.

With a turret-arm RAS, achieving proper saw alignment is easier because having the track pivot in the middle allows the adjustment to better control the track arm. With the regular style, when the head is at the end closest to the user, there is always some flex. Maybe not much, but some…and the user has to factor that in when making their cuts.

Aligning a RAS is not all that complicated. I always suggest that the user get a piece of stock that is as wide as their saw can handle, lay it on the table, make a cutoff pass and check it with a framing square. Note: I don’t like using framing squares under normal conditions, but it’s about the only thing that has the capacity to check a wide-cutting RAS. Once the cutoff is checked, then the adjustments can be made. On a regular RAS, the alignment screws are located at the rear junction of the track arm and the column. On a turret-arm, the adjustment is made at the centered pivot point.

Follow your owner’s manual, check your adjustment results by making another cut off of the wide board and you’ll have your saw cutting straight in no time.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

#35 - RAS- choose the best blade

2010-09-26T20:07:00.000-07:00

More of our on-going discussion about the Radial Arm Saw… Let’s see, where were we?... oh yes, we ended up talking about Positive and Negative blade hook angles.

My best description of how to check a sawblade’s hook angle was the ‘intersecting line method’ that I outlined last week. My second-most used visual to help understand this is that of a swimmer’s hand. If the hand is scooping the water, he is using a ‘positive hook angle’, but if the hand is laid back and just slapping water, it is a ‘negative hook angle’ effect. The swimmer won’t go anywhere using a ‘negative hook’ hand angle, but such is not the case with a spinning sawblade. It still cuts just fine when a negative hook angle is used, but because it is not digging or scooping, the operator has maximum control over the head and blade.

High-speed steel sawblades (those without carbide tips) are not really described in terms of ‘hook angles’ because a HSS blade truly cuts through the wood, whereas a carbide-tipped blade ‘scrapes’ its way thru.

Years ago, on any saw where the blade was suspended over the workpiece (ex: a miter saw; Delta’s “Sawbuck”, a sliding miter saw, or even a sliding compound miter saw) one would never see any blade on it, other than a negative hook. For some reason, that has changed. Now, one might see a 12 to 15degree positive hook blade installed on one of these saws, right out of the factory. While I am not going to speculate as to why the manufacturer’s decided that they could do this, I will say that I, personally, am not comfortable with it. As I told about in my example of testing, a negative hook blade offers the user so much more control over the sliding head, that to use any positive hook blade just invites ‘climb-cutting’.

On miter saws, where the head does not slide, a positive hook blade could be used and it still be as safe as using it in a table saw (which is another discussion entirely) because the head is ‘locked in’. There is no sliding movement as there is on a Radial Arm Saw or a sliding miter saw. With this in mind, I can understand it, but on a sliding miter saw? Not for me.

Hopefully, from our discussions, you have a better understanding of some of the techniques of a Radial Arm Saw’s blade needs. Next week, we’ll take a look at the different styles of RAS’s and get a tip or two about how to go about properly aligning a RAS

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

#34- Radial Arm Saw- How’s your Hook?

2010-09-26T20:06:00.000-07:00

Last week, we started a discussion about the Radial Arm Saw and I covered a couple of the reasons as to why I am a member of the ‘pull the blade through the workpiece’ camp. We’ll continue the discussion this week with reason #3.

Third, IF the proper negative-hook sawblade is used, the operator has complete control over the force of the blade thru the wood. Now, IF a positive-hook blade is used, the blade will try to ‘climb’ thru the workpiece and make the operator push back against it. ALWAYS use a negative-hook sawblade on your Radial Arm Saw.

I did some testing years ago and it really is true. Using the ‘pull-through’ method, with a 20 degree positive-hook blade, I had to push back against the saw head slightly to keep the blade from trying to ‘run’ towards me. On the other hand (again using the pull-through method), when I used a 15 degree negative-hook blade, I could use one finger to pull the blade thru the wood and it did not try to climb at all. In fact, I would let the head stop every couple of inches and just let it sit there…and it wouldn’t move, even though the blade was spinning at 3450rpm and buried in the wood.

This might be a good place for a talk about negative and positive blade “hook angles” because they do have an effect on how smoothly a RAS blade can pass thru a workpiece. For this discussion, we are talking about carbide tipped blades. Picture, if you will, a circle. On that circle, we draw a straight line vertically and a straight line horizontally - with the intersection of the two lines dead center in the middle of the blade’s hole. Now, we give that circle some blade teeth and let’s say that the ‘blade’ is going to rotate, and cut, counter-clockwise. Align one particular tooth right on the vertical line.

With that picture firmly in mind, here are your three ‘hook angle’ definitions:
If the flat of a tooth is exactly aligned with the vertical line, that blade is a ‘zero hook angle’ blade.
If the flat of the tooth has its upper tip tilted in the cutting direction (in our example, that would be counter-clockwise) this blade is a ’Positive hook angle’ blade.
If the flat of the tooth has its upper tip tilted AWAY from the cutting direction (in our example, that would be counter-clockwise) this blade is a ’Negative hook angle’ blade.

We’ll pick up here, next week.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

#33- The mysterious Radial Arm Saw

2010-09-26T20:04:00.000-07:00

OK, let’s get back to the task of learning more about our many shop tools and machines. This week, we’ll take a look at one of the most versatile machines, but also one of the most dangerous.
The Radial Arm Saw. Sometimes, the very words can make a grizzled woodworking veteran recheck his hands to make sure he still has all of his fingers and thumbs. This machine requires THAT much caution when using it.
But, as with most machines, if you respect it and realize what it can do to you in a heartbeat… you simply must be careful.

Just so that we are all on the same page, let’s outline a few parts of the saw.
The “head” is the part of the saw that holds the “sawblade” and slides fore and aft on the “track”. The “track” is the “arm” of the saw that holds the “head”, which is sometimes also called the “carriage”. The “fence” is the barrier that the workpiece is held against while laying on the “table” which references the workpiece, prior to being cut. The “off” position of the head/blade is when the head is fully retracted towards the rear of the saw, behind the fence.

Alright, now let’s take a look at one of the more frequent questions that I’ve been asked: “Should I pull the blade thru the wood, or push it through?” While I am sure that I may get some pushback, I will state my case and the reasons that I believe as I do. In my opinion, the blade should be pulled thru the workpiece. Here’s why.

First, when the blade and head are at rest, they are retracted behind the fence, away from the operator. That is a good position to then start the saw up, without it being hung out in space next to the operator.

Second, the proper blade rotation is over the top towards the operator, and down and under and away from the operator. Given this, if the head is retracted behind the fence and turned on, then pulled into the wood, the first contact the blade has with the stock will be pushing the stock down into the table and towards the fence. That places all of the cutting force downward towards the table, and rearwards towards the fence – both are very good things because they properly brace the workpiece.
If the blade were to be pushed into the stock, the first blade contact would tend to lift the workpiece…NOT good.

Next week, we’ll tell you more about the Radial Arm Saw.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

#32 - Reviving The Dead Hot Rod - part 3

2010-09-26T20:03:00.000-07:00

Picking up from last week… the little ’34 Ford coupe is painted and suffering from a worn out coil. Run it until it gets warm and it’ll stop working until it cools off. We finally decided to make a homemade adaptor to be able to use a new coil (we didn’t even know enough to realize that somebody, somewhere probably made new ones). So, the car runs and I go into the Navy for a few years. For some reason, dad just never again had any desire to drive the coupe around- so every time I’d come home on leave, I’d charge the battery, drive her around a bit and then park it until next time.

In 1996, dad finally decided to put hydraulic brakes on it. He found a good deal on some parts in Halls, TN that would make the job fairly easy…and guess who got commissioned to do the work? His one and only son, me.

Well, we changed the front end, the rearend, ran hydraulic lines and fabricated a mount for the master cylinder. It did stop better after that.
But after that spurt, she went right back into the garage. It’s really amazing what damage a car can suffer just simply sitting in a garage. Things fall over on it, stuff gets spilled on the fenders and dust grows by the pound. It sounds bad, but it really gave the little car some ‘character’…like it had been used all those years. It’s a secret that only we know.

Well, time does pass and one day in 2001, I was visiting dad and he asked me for a dollar. Sure I asked for what, but he hounded me until I gave him one and he handed me the title to the coupe. Wow. Now I had my own real Hot Rod.

Since then I have tried to make the car as safe as possible and look like it was built in the 50’s. I changed the electric system to 12 volt, split the front wishbone, added tube shocks, put in safety belts, changed to late model wire wheels and radial tires, revived a 2 carb intake that dad used to run on his dirt track race car in the late 50’s, got a new radiator and electric fan and installed a set of finned aluminum heads. Without the hood is my chosen method of running it, and it really looks like it would do a hundred miles an hour.

Keep an eye out for us around the ‘boro and if you see us, honk & wave. We spend a lot of time at our AACA club’s garage down in Cannonsburgh.

#31- Reviving The Dead Hot Rod - part 2

2010-09-06T09:27:00.000-07:00

Picking up from last week… the little ’34 Ford coupe is sitting in our backyard in Memphis, and has been for 9 years. It was my junior year in high school and the 1st Street Rod Nationals, for cars built in 1948 or earlier, had been held in Peoria, IL in 1970. I read all about it Rod & Custom magazine, but of course, I wasn’t there…Well, lo & behold, in 1971 the 2nd Street Rod Nationals came to the bluff city. I drove down to Highland Ave at night and all those Hot Rods and beautiful cars in the street lights was a sight to see. I was in ‘car nut’ heaven!

So, I’m hanging out checking out all those hot rods and thinking “Wow, I wish I had a car like these…HOLD IT!...There’s one of them in our back yard!!!” So, over the next few weeks, I talked my dad into footing the bills and me doing the labor to fix up the old ’34 and he agreed.

The first thing we did was get the car ready for the engine and believe it or not, when we went to my dad’s friend’s garage, the fresh 1936 motor was still there in it’s plastic bag. We towed the car up there and used his engine hoist to put the motor back in the car. Over the next few weeks, we got the motor running - fall of 1971.

That turned out to be the easy part. Mechanically, I am a wiz, but I found out real quick that body work is not my strong suit. I just don’t have the ‘touch’. I can lay down paint with the best of them, but don’t ask me to smooth out a body panel…even now, when people see the car, I tell them “If the body work looks like a 16 year old kid did it…it was me”. Over the course of the next 2 years, I disassembled the car, right down to the point of removing the body from the frame. We didn’t do that because we had no garage to store it in. But we had the fenders off and sanded everything down to bare metal so that we could put lacquer paint back on it.

By the summer of 1973, we had painted the car black & yellow and we had figured out that the distributor coil was bad. It would run fine until the coil got hot and then it would leave you stranded until it cooled down.

Next week, we’ll finish up the story of the Hot Rod.

#30- The Hot Rod Detour- part 1

2010-09-06T09:25:00.000-07:00

I think we’ll take a ‘detour’ this week and let you know more about my other passion - aside from the care and feeding of woodworking machines and Taylor-Tot strollers. I love Hot Rods - Ol’ Skool, fire-breathing Hot Rods.

You might recognize those words from column #13, but they sounded so good, I decided to use them again and let you know a bit more about our 1934 Ford coupe’. In the mid 1950’s my dad was a Memphis/Mid-South area truck driver who delivered auto parts to those mom ‘n pop parts stores (that have almost faded away, thanks to AutoZone, Advance, etc…) and he was actively seeking a decent 1934 car because it was the year he was born in.

Well, on one of his trips, he wound up in Greenville, MS and ran across a nice little ’34 Ford. The kid that had it had hit the back end of another car and his mom was making him sell his car…for $100. That was quite a bit of money back in 1958, but dad scraped it together and bought the car in November.

He brought it home and proceeded to use it for driving back and forth to work. At that time he had to get up around 4am and I remember my mom getting up many a morning to push him down the street, so the ’34 would start. Around 1962, the motor’s block cracked and needed to be replaced. Dad pulled the engine out and during one of his runs to Blytheville, Arkansas, he found a freshly rebuilt 1936 short block for $50. (yes, ½ the price he paid for the whole car) The ’36 motor is better because it has insert bearings. The original ’34 motor uses babbited bearings, which is much harder to repair, if need be.

Anyway, he purchased the rebuilt block and brought it home, but since we didn’t have a garage at the time, he took it to a friend who lived in the next block and stored it in his garage.

Well, time moves along and one thing led to another and after 9 years, that motor still sat in his friend’s garage, and the ’34 still sat in our backyard without a motor. Yes, I had gotten in trouble a few times for ’playing’ on it, and there is no telling how many people stopped by our house to see about buying the little coupe...no matter how hard we tried to hide it from view of the road. Dad never sold it. Next week, I’ll tell you how it came back from the dead…’til then.

#29 - Bench Grinder: Tips & Techniques

2010-08-28T06:23:00.000-07:00

We’ll finish up our look at Bench Grinders with a few Tips & Techniques.
Every once in a while, we run across something new about Bench Grinders, but most of our knowledge is tried & true, and time-tested.

First off, every ‘store-bought’ grinding wheel that I know of has blotters on its sides. ‘Blotters’ are those pieces of paper, or cardboard, on each side of the wheel. While they might look like just a convenient place for the manufacturer to put warnings and such, they actually do serve a very critical purpose. When a wheel is put on a grinder, there are metal flanges that squeeze against the sides of the wheel. If the wheel had no blotters, those flanges would be tightening up against the actual rock of the wheel and you would stand a very good chance of cracking the wheel. Blotters provide a ‘buffer’ between the flanges and the wheel rock and thereby cushion and distribute the tightening force. Bottom line: Don’t buy a wheel that has no blotters or, if you do, don’t put it on your grinder without making some blotters and using them.

While we’re talking about blotters, they have another use. Most manufacturers put their product warnings on them and one of the major warnings is “Do not grind on side of wheel”. Now, do most of us follow this warning? Probably not, but I am here to tell you that if enough sideways force is applied to as grinding wheel, a wheel explosion is a very real possibility. Years ago, I saw a training film (yes, “film”- not tape or DVD- I’m dating myself) wherein a grinding wheel explosion was created and it is not a pretty sight. Even though I might use the side of the wheel to do some very light & delicate, precise grinding, I’m only able to do so because of my many years of experience with this and I know that I am not applying any sideways force at all. My general advice to everyone is: Don’t grind on the side of the wheel.

Lastly, always keep the tool rest adjusted as close to the wheel as possible, in order to provide the most support for what you are grinding on. Use your safety glasses. Keep the grinder’s eyeshield in place to provide added protection. Make sure the spark arrester is in place and adjusted to within 1/8” of the wheel and always keep an open container of water handy for cooling off your material. If your grinder has a factory water pot, that’s even better. Keep it full.

These hints, and our last two columns, should help you get the most out of your Bench Grinder. Happy Grinding!

#28 - Dressing your Bench Grinder wheels

2010-08-28T06:22:00.000-07:00

#27 - A shop ‘must have’: The Bench Grinder

2010-08-28T06:17:00.000-07:00

I would wager that most anyone who has a shop, or works in one, would be among the first to tell you that one of the most necessary tools in their shop would be their bench grinder. This may not apply for some specific woodshops, but since Toolsmartz is about ALL shops, we can cover it.

Bench grinders come in many different sizes and the major defining factor about them is the wheel diameter. Most people would not say, ‘yea, I have a ½ horsepower bench grinder’. No, they will be saying, ‘yea, I have an 8” bench grinder’. Even the bench grinder manufacturers set up their advertising literature in this fashion. The grinder’s horsepower and speed are somewhat of a secondary matter, after the wheel diameter, but don’t mis-understand, the horsepower and speed are critical factors when selecting the correct bench grinder, but what is usually seen is that as the wheel diameter gets larger, so does the horsepower. This allows the bench grinder to tackle harder jobs.

The deal is, when you have a large item to grind on, you really need a decent sized bench grinder. My personal philosophy is that if you have a large (meaning 10” wheels) bench grinder and need to do a small job, it can handle it. On the other hand if you have a small (meaning 4” or 6” wheels) bench grinder and need to do a big job, you can’t…or if you try to, you may burn up your small grinder. So yes, when considering what bench grinder to choose, size does matter.

Another factor to consider is the bench grinder’s speed. This is also known as the RPM of the grinder. For most grinding operations, I prefer a speed of 1725RPM. Many grinders only come in a speed of 3450RPM, which is fine for many operations, but again, if you have a 1725RPM speed, you can pretty much always do whatever it is that you need to do. If you only have a 3450RPM grinder, I can promise you that you will overheat some items real fast.

As I suppose you have gathered, my personal favorite bench grinder is my 10”, 1725RPM unit. It has no problem grinding small parts and it can handle all of my lawnmower blades without overheating them and burning them up.

Next week, we’ll continue this Bench Grinder discussion and get into some of the typical problems that you might encounter and recommendations for solving them.

#26 - Drill Press ‘Tips & Techniques’

2010-07-30T08:41:00.000-07:00

I thought that for this week, I would just go over some of the little tidbits of information that I like to call ‘Tips & Techniques’. Since we have been discussing Drill Presses the past 2 weeks, we might as well stay on topic.

One of the areas that folks need some assistance with is that of choosing the right DP speed for their particular project. The main rule of thumb is: ‘The harder the material, the slower the bit needs to turn.’ Right behind that comes this: ‘The bigger your bit, the slower it needs to turn’. How that plays out is like this. If you’re drilling the same size hole in wood and metal, the speed will need to be slowed down for drilling into metal. By the same token, if you’re drilling into pine wood and making a ¼” hole and a 2-1/4” hole, slow it down for the 2-1/4” hole. It may be that not much speed change is needed between these two, but the idea is that you don’t usually want a 2-1/4 cutter turning as fast as a small ¼ bit.

Now, let’s talk safety. First and foremost, dress appropriately when using a Drill Press. Wear your safety glasses, roll up your long sleeves and pull your hair back out of the way (IF your hair is that long). I once saw a training film that showed what happened when a lady got her long hair tangled in the Drill Press she was operating. It was not a pretty sight. She reminded me of what Custer’s men must have looked like after being scalped.

After you have all those bases covered, here’s another ‘first and foremost’- ALWAYS clamp your work. I cannot over-emphasize this. Yes, it’s a pain and not always convenient but it IS necessary. I have a nice 2” long scar on my left forearm that is a constant reminder of this. The very afternoon that I was going to drive my dirt track racecar for the first time, I was making an accelerator bracket and need to drill a hole in it. The bracket was just 8” long, ¾” flat stock, with one end bent at a 45 and that was where I needed the hole. So I go to my DP and hold the long part and place the bent area on the table under the bit. I started drilling the hole and OOPS…it grabbed and swung around 360 degrees and in the blink of an eye, it made a few revolutions before I could get it shut off. Unfortunately, on that first swing, the top end of the stock sliced my wrist open and I wear that reminder to this day. It looks like I tried to commit suicide. So, I tell everyone - clamp your stock.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

New adventures on the horizon

2010-07-26T05:41:00.000-07:00

I am PUMPED.

I have accepted a new position with National Pen Co. In Shelbyville, TN and I start next Monday (8-2). This is the first job that I have taken in over 3 years that I truly feel is a solid fit for my skills. I KNOW how to take care of my customers and that is what I will be doing for National Pen.

Please join me in prayer that I will exceed my employer's expectations and that they will recognize my abilities and potential.

#25 - Keeping your Drill Press ‘chucked up’: part 2

2010-07-22T17:42:00.001-07:00

Last week we talked about putting your drill chuck on your Drill Press. I ran out of room to fully explore the subject, so here we go again.

Let’s say that you get the chuck installed and all appears to be well. But then, one day, you turn your DP on and the chuck falls off of the spindle nose. Now, what to do?
Well first, you’d want to make sure that the inside of the chuck taper is clean and free from any oil or contaminants. Once you’ve checked/cleaned the chuck, check/clean the spindle nose also.

NOTE: while you are checking/cleaning those tapers, this is a good time to inspect the surface of the tapers closely. The tapers need to be smooth and free from any galling. ‘Galling’ is a machinists term that refers to the tendency of metals, scrubbing together under force, to grind and scar each other. If your chuck has been loose on the spindle nose (unknown to you) for a while, the two parts may have galled their surfaces. IF they have, it is usually useless to try to get them to properly seat again. (The prescription is to replace both parts and start fresh.)

Ok, let’s say that you’ve checked for galling and found both the chuck and the spindle nose to be smooth and in good shape. Now, you’ve cleaned them again and they are now absolutely oil-free and dry as a bone. Take the chuck and ram it sharply onto the spindle nose.
Now, it’s time for the 2x4 and small sledge hammer again. Swing the table out of the way so that you can get a pretty decent swing with your sledge. Retract the chuck jaws to prevent them from getting bent and put your 2x4 under the chuck. Hold the 2x4 with your ‘weak’ hand and use your dominant hand to swing that sledge upward and SMACK the 2x4 (which is against the chuck) very hard.

As I said last week, Tapers seat best with a shock to them. A good 3lb sledge and a 2x4 block will allow you to deliver that shock to the chuck without risking damage to your chuck or Drill Press.

If you continue to have your chuck fall off, there may be a misfit between the two parts, or you may be asking the Drill Press to do something it was not designed to do (like milling, or using an out of balance item in the chuck) and the design of the chuck/spindle taper was not intended to account for that.

#24 - Keeping your Drill Press ‘chucked up’

2010-07-22T17:41:00.001-07:00

Well, Mrs. Mayberry is doing good and you all know a lot more about her now, than you did. After a short commercial, let’s get back on the Tooltrack this week. Your columnist is always networking and open to new career opportunities. You can find me on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/tommurrah and I’d be happy to talk with you. If you’re aware of something, drop me a note and we’ll connect.

Now, what about Drill Press chucks?
I was one of those ‘poor folks’ who didn’t have a drill press during my ‘learning how to work on stuff’ years and let me tell you what, by the time I got older and realized what I had been missing…Hoo-boy, was life in the shop so much easier with one around.

Most of today’s ‘home/hobbyist’ drill presses use a taper to hold the chuck onto the spindle. Some manufacturers have the chuck already installed, while others ask the buyer to do it. In any event, the following information will come in handy.

Drill Press Tapers & Chucks usually fall into one of two categories: A spindle with a male taper and the chuck having a female taper; or a spindle with a female taper, a chuck with a female taper and an adapter with a male taper on each end that goes between the chuck and spindle. Each style has their place, with the adaptor style being used more on the bigger Presses.

Alright, there’s your ‘taper background’, now let’s get specific. Drill Press tapers engage (‘seat’) best with a shock. I know some manufacturers who tell you to just push them together, but that’s not the best way. Let’s say that you have a Drill Press with a female tapered chuck and the spindle has the male taper sticking down. First, clean the tapers completely to remove any oil, grease or coating that could prevent metal on metal contact. My favorite solution to this is an old rag saturated with acetone (NOTE: if you use acetone, be aware that it is highly combustible). Next, once the tapers are cleaned, turn the chuck so as to retract the chuck jaws. Next, Place the chuck onto the spindle taper by hand. Finally comes the ‘shock’ part. Put a small 2X4 underneath the chuck jaw opening and use a small mallet (I have a 3lb sledge for this) to hit upward on the 2X4 (chuck bottom). One good sharp whack ought to do it.

Once the tapers are seated properly, they will usually remain engaged unless something too large or out of balance is put into the chuck.

#23 - The Story of Mrs. Mayberry - Part 4

2010-07-22T17:38:00.000-07:00

Picking up where we left off, with Mrs. Mayberry back on the road and us thoroughly enjoying her…We’ve won a “people’s choice” award, a second in class at an antique auto show and had her in a Christmas parade in Millington, TN…and the adventure is just beginning.

Since the time I originally wrote this story, we put another 6000 miles on Mrs. Mayberry and even drove her all the way to Branson, MO for a show. Unfortunately in 2005, time, and not being used for those 10 years, took its toll and the motor lost its compression. We just couldn’t get her cranked again. It wasn’t unexpected because getting 60,000 miles out of a car back in 1955 was doing pretty good, even for one that was maintained perfectly. It was still kind of sad, tho.

Due to a job change and relocating to Murfreesboro from Jackson, I wasn’t able to get to work on the motor until 2008. But work on her, we did. I had Mike’s Speed Shop do the machine work (by the way- those guys are great!) We bored her out, put hardened valve seats in and a new camshaft. I even found a decent ‘how-to’ book about the Ford Y-blocks and put a couple of tricks into the motor to keep her lubricated far better than she was out of the Ford factory.

Anyway, we got her going again and have been going to shows and cruise-ins for over 2 years now and but for a leaky top radiator hose, she has been just fine. We even drove her back to Mt. Airy to visit the daughter of the original owner- that was a 7 hour, 410 mile trip –one way. I must say that big old 281 (it was a 272 but we bored it out, remember?) just rolled on down the highway. She wasn’t designed for interstates because there weren’t any back in 1955, so we cruise down the State roads whenever possible and practical.

We do hang out at the Auto Garage in Cannonsburgh a lot and it’s quite possible that you might see us out on the roads when the weather is good. We even had occasion to display her at our church (World Outreach) last father’s day and it was really a hoot talking to the folks about her. There was one particular lady about my age (maybe a few years older) who said she had learned to drive on a ’55 Ford. She stopped by before service, and then was back again after service, so, me being me, I told her “If you can remember the trick to starting it, here’s the keys, take her for a spin.” She looked flabbergasted…and then you could see the wheels in her mind turning…trying to remember what the ‘trick’ is.

She didn’t recall it, but I love connecting with people’s fond memories of their past - that’s what it’s all about.

#22 - The Story of Mrs. Mayberry - Part 3

2010-07-09T20:00:00.000-07:00

Picking up where we left off, with us going back to Mt. Airy and trying to get Ms. Mayberry on the trailer for the trip home, and finding a dead battery… Even though I was never a Boy Scout, I have always believed in being prepared so I went to my truck and took a 6 volt battery out of the back. I had used this battery in my 1934 Ford, but had recently changed that car to a 12 volt system, so this battery was sitting there waiting to be used elsewhere. Little did I know that it would be in a 1955 Ford Fairlane. When Mr. Mittman saw me take the battery out, he said, “Wow, you really did come ready for anything.” We put my 6 volt battery in Mrs. Mayberry, cranked her up, loaded her up, and headed for home.

The trip home was uneventful and once we got back, I put the car in the air and proceeded to give her a good once over. The brake cylinders were corroded, the exhaust pipes were rotted and the master cylinder leaked. Even the heater core was leaking onto the carpet. I replaced all the brake components (hoses, shoes, cylinders, etc) and bypassed the heater. It still ran kind of rough on take off, but I thought a good tune-up was in order. To my surprise, I took her down to get new exhaust pipes, and mufflers, installed and once those were in, she ran like a new car. The old mufflers had corroded and collapsed internally.

But Mrs. Mayberry was on the road…July of 2003.

We put about 1000 miles on her and only had one real scare. On the way back home from a cruise in Union City, TN, she started running horribly, almost like on 2 cylinders. I thought we had broken a rocker arm or something internal in the engine. As we limped along, I decided to try the choke to see if the carburetor was plugged. Lo and behold, she perked right up and we made it back home fine. After getting home, I decided to rebuild the carburetor and in my “junk box” I found a carburetor that my dad had used on one of his dirt track stock cars back in the late 1950’s. It was exactly the right carb for Mrs. Mayberry, so I rebuilt it and put it in. Boy, did that wake that big 272 cubic inch motor up! After a while I had to put in smaller carburetor jets, but that’s not surprising…Ms. Mayberry isn’t a race car. She is just a sweet old car that has found herself a new home with folks who appreciate her and who will enjoy making new family memories with her.

Next week - part 4.

#21 - The Story of Ms. Mayberry - Part 2

2010-07-08T15:14:00.000-07:00

Picking up where we left off, with Ms. Mayberry (a one-owner, 1955 Ford Fairlane, Town Sedan) getting banished to a garage for 10 years….Unfortunately, this was the same garage that she used for sheltering her cats. Sometime around 2001, Mr. Mittman bought the car from Mr. Harris’s daughter and took it down to his shop. Once there, the damage from the cat urine was evident. Some parts of the lower body and the chrome bumpers and guards needed attention. The most fortunate part of it was that the car’s windows were always up, so no cat ever got inside.

Mr. Mittman had the bumpers and accessory bumper guards re-chromed and the gas tank boiled out and ‘re-nued’ (which is an operation to coat the inside of the tank with epoxy). He had the front door upholstery redone because of wear around the door handles and did the bodywork necessary to be able to repaint the car in its original colors: Sea Sprite Green and Snowshoe White. Once he had the car looking good, he parked it alongside his shop and waited for the right folks to come by.

It looks like my wife and I were “the right folks” because after talking to Mr. Mittman, and hearing what his price for the car was, we decided to go back and take a closer look…and this time, we’d take the car trailer with us.

The third weekend of June, we made a flying trip back to Mt. Airy to seriously check the car out. When we drove up to Mr. Mittman’s shop the car was sitting there running and I had to look twice at the turning fan blade to make sure…it was smooth. We got in it to take a test drive and started off down the street. At the first traffic light, I stepped on the brakes and the right front tire locked into a skid. That squealing tire sure made lots of folks sit up and take notice. Then, after taking off again, she stumbled a bit, like she might need a tune-up. We drove over to Ms. Starr’s house (the daughter of the original owner) and the brakes wouldn’t stop the car. Luckily, the parking brake worked ok, so we made it up her driveway just fine.

Ms. Starr came out and talked with us and told us of how many fond memories she had of being in the car with her folks. She even made the comment that my wife reminded her of her own mother getting out of the car. After a while, we decided we needed to get on the road, so we headed back to Mr. Mittman’s shop, to finalize the deal. Once we had completed the paperwork, we went outside to crank the car and put it on the trailer for the trip back to Jackson, TN…and the battery was dead.

Next week- part 3.

#20 - The Story of Ms. Mayberry - Part 1

2010-06-24T13:33:00.000-07:00

I decided it was time for another ‘detour’ this week. Tools are kool, but there are other things going on that you might want to read about.

On the 5th of June, 2003, my wife and I were on our honeymoon. We were cruising the backloads of Virginia and North Carolina, and we decided to visit Mt. Airy, NC…the real “Mayberry”…Andy Griffith’s hometown.

We toured the local museum and the “Mayberry” jail, and even had our picture taken with “Floyd the barber”. He was a cool old fellow and the wall in his shop – yes, he really is a barber – is just covered with pictures of people and celebrities who have been in there.

We started out of Mt. Airy, attempting to take route 601 South but unknowingly, I turned a block too early. As we headed down a hill toward an intersection, we passed an Auto Body Shop and noticed a long row of cars sitting facing the road. Among the cars was a really pretty 1955 Ford. It caught our attention, so we turned around and drove back to take a look. There was no “for sale” sign, but this Ford was looking real good. It had an unusual paint pattern on because the color was above the white. We had never seen that before. The chrome was nice, the paint did look sharp and the interior looked like it had just rolled out of the factory. We could tell that it was an original interior because of the small cigarette burns that occur when a smoking driver doesn’t quite get the cigarette out of the vent window and instead burns the upholstery. We checked it out for a bit and then got back in the truck and headed on our way.

Once home and back into the daily routine (if that’s even an accurate statement for newlyweds), I couldn’t get that ’55 off my mind. So, I called back to Mt. Airy and after a few days of talking to the Chamber of Commerce and several other area people, I was able to find out that Mr. John Mittman owned the Body Shop, and presumably the ’55.

After a few tries, I was able to talk to Mr. Mittman, who relayed to story of “Ms. Mayberry” (our new name for the ’55) to me.

A fellow named Mr. Watson Harris had bought his car new, in 1955. Mr. Harris only drove it to church and to Florida once or twice over the 46 years that he used it. The car had only 56,300 miles on it when Mr. Harris passed away in 1991. Mr. Harris’s daughter put the ’55 into a one-car garage and left it there for the next 10years.

Next week- part 2.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

#19 - Setting your bandsaw blade to track properly.

2010-06-03T05:08:00.001-07:00

Let’s talk a little more about the bandsaw this week.

Bandsaws can do things that table saws can only dream of, which makes them pretty much a necessity in a shop; however, they need to be set up properly and to do that one needs to keep a few things in mind.

Just to start with a proper definition, bandsaw “wheels” are the spoked or solid items/wheels that are mounted on the axles. Bandsaw “tires” are the rubber, or urethane, coatings on the rim of the wheels, that the blade actually rides on. Typically, the tires can be removed from the wheels.

Most good bandsaws use a wheel/tire combination that is ‘crowned’. In other words, where the blade rides, the surface has a distinct ‘hump’ in it. This hump/crown allows the blade to be tracked (def: - centered on the tire) with much more precision than if the tire/wheel were simply flat. On the Delta 14” bandsaws that I am most familiar with, the wheel itself had the crown machined into it and the rubber tire was just flat rubber. When the tire was installed, it conformed to the crown of the wheel.

There are some ‘bandsaw guys’ that say the crown gives the operator the ability to adjust the blade to compensate for blade drift (our last week’s discussion), but in over 25 years, I never saw that as a workable option.
Setting up the blade tracking is not really a difficult thing, but like most adjustable items, one can wind up chasing their tail if they aren’t careful.

Tracking the blade first requires that you center the blade on the bottom tire and the top tire. Once you have the blade centered, blade tension should be applied. I like to start out with only ½ to ¾ of full tension, until the tracking gets fully set. Ok, the blade is on, the tension is set at ½ and the blade is centered on the tires. At this point, roll the wheels and see if the blade stays centered on the tires. If it does, go ahead and apply full tension and roll the wheels again. If the blade stays on and centered, you are probably good to go.

If your initial testing shows the blade trying to creep towards the edge of the wheel, you will need to use the saw’s tracking adjustment to coax the blade back towards the center of the tire. When the blade stays close to the center of the tires, the saw should do its job just fine.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

#18 - Making your bandsaw give a straight cut.

2010-06-03T05:06:00.000-07:00

We finally got to go see the movie, “Letters to God” and I must say that living that life episode must have been incredibly difficult for everyone who loved Tyler. Go see the movie; it’s a good ‘un.

Let’s go back and visit our old friend the bandsaw, this week. One of the most common problems with a bandsaw is getting it to cut straight. You start out with a nice straight line and start the cut and before you know it, the blade has decided that it wants to shoot off at an angle and destroy the part you did not want cut. Some of the ‘old pros’ call this ‘blade drift’- I call it ‘don’t cut straight’.

Most often, here is what happens. Looking directly at the blade teeth, one notices that each tooth on the blade is bent out at a precise distance. This is called the ‘set’ of the blade. Having the teeth set outward provides clearance for the back of the blade to move through the work. It also provides some clearance for the blade to cut around a curve. However, if (for example) the teeth that are bent to the right stick out further than the teeth that are bent to the left, the blade will cut towards the right. The best solution to this problem is to purchase a high-quality blade, but I have even seen those drift sideways - right out of the box.

Another solution is to make the ‘set’ more equal - more balanced, if you will.
One way to do that would be to increase the bend of the teeth that are not sticking out as far; however, that is a very difficult thing to do. The more practical solution would be to slightly file the tips of the teeth that are sticking out too far- actually you would be ‘dulling’ them ever so little.
A method I have used is to hold a whetstone against the running blade and let the blade teeth lightly skim across the surface of the stone. A fine touch is a must, but with some practice, it isn’t hard to manage. Take your time and test the blade often by taking a test cut, so that you don’t dull them down too far.

Another thing that causes blade drift is when the number of blade teeth per inch is too high and the wood chips cannot escape from in between them. This typically shows up when doing resawing – sawing very thick wood – because the blade spends a lot of time inside the wood and can actually heat up and bow inside the wood, thereby causing a warped cut. The solution is simple: Use a blade with fewer teeth per inch.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

#17 - What to do with flood-drenched machines - Part 2

2010-05-22T08:23:00.000-07:00

As we talked about last issue, we’re trying to help those folks who need to get their machines running again…but not just ‘get them running’ but KEEP them running, with minimal damage.

If you have someone whose machines have been submerged in the flood water, please let them know about this week’s column and if they need to see Part 1 (last week’s column) send me an email and I will forward them a copy. Also, about a month ago, I answered a question about rusty table tops - anyone who is interested in checking that column out, drop me an email and I will send it out.

Alright, back to business. We were discussing motors and had stopped before we stepped off the cliff and brought up those small brush motors, also known as ‘Universal’ motors. These are your miter saw motors, benchtop planer motors and even your battery tool motors. The design as been time-tested and proven to be a good choice in small tools, but when those tools find themselves under flood water, there is a real choice to make.

Given what we talked about last week- the extremely abrasive nature of flood water- the choices are limited to spending a good amount of time taking the motor apart and cleaning/drying it out, or just replacing the motor. Only you can make that choice, but if you decide to clean/dry it, here are a few things you need to consider. Your motor bearings and all associated bearings need replacing. The commutator/brush mating surface needs to be cleaned with a commutator stone. All of the internal gear grease associated with the motor will need changing. At this point, depending on the size of the affected motor, it might cost less to replace the motor. Obviously, all of them CAN be cleaned, but on the smaller motors/tools…I’d opt for getting a new one.

OK, let’s talk about bearings. A good rule of thumb is: if the bearings are sealed and they were only under water for less than 15 minutes, and they were immediately washed and dried, they might be OK…ALL other bearings need to be replaced. Remember our discussion about the microscopic grit that permeates flood water? I can’t think of anything that will eat up your bearings faster. Just be safe, rather than sorry, and replace all of them.

Hopefully, these two columns have been useful to some of you. If you have any questions or comments please send me an email at:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

#16 - What to do with flood-drenched machines - Part 1

2010-05-15T13:55:00.000-07:00

We’ve had many areas under water from the flooding last weekend and I was thinking that there might be some folks who had their machines get drowned. So, I decided to pull in some resources to help me put out some practical information that some might find useful in this situation. My main resource for this column is my friend Bob Vaughan from Roanoke, VA. Bob and I go way back to my days at Delta Tech Service and he has been on the frontlines ‘fighting the good fight’ of keeping machines alive for longer than he’d care to admit, I’m sure.

If you have someone whose machines have been submerged in the flood water, please let them know about the next two columns- maybe they could use the advice.

First off, what we do NOT want to do is wash the machines off and just let them dry. Here’s why: Flood water carries silt which is fine, microscopic rock. These little rocks are very abrasive. In fact, it would not surprise me if sandpaper was made from silt rock. Point being, anything exposed to the water will have a fine coating of this abrasive on it. The flood water abrasive needs to be cleaned off of ALL working surfaces and shafts that are prone to friction. For instance, table saw trunnions, driven and drive gears, dovetail ways, ANY mating surfaces that move on each other must all be cleaned - not just dried.

The machine’s motor starter would need to be disassembled, wiped out and have its internal contact tips cleaned. If you only have a toggle style switch, I would suggest replacing it, unless it happens to be the kind of toggle switch that you can take apart and thoroughly clean.

The motor itself needs particular attention. The easiest motor to revive would be a 3-phase motor because it has no brushes or centrifugal switch to be concerned about. If you have a 3-phase motor, take it apart, wash it completely, change the bearings and let it dry a few days - preferably in a dehumidified environment. Reassemble it and it should be fine.

For a standard 1 phase motor, take it apart (including the capacitor housings if it has them), wash it completely, replace the bearings, clean the centrifugal switch and its contact tips and let it dry a few days (again, in the dehumidified environment). Once it is dry, put it back together and it should be good to go.

Next week we’ll talk about those little universal (brush) motors and your bearings.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

#15 - Proper Saw Blade Alignment is a must.

2010-05-07T18:52:00.000-07:00

Ok, let’s see if, after a couple of trips to never-never land, we can get back on track this week.

Let’s talk table saws.
One of the most common adjustments on table saws is that of making sure the blade is properly aligned within the saw. There are several indicators that let one know that the blade is not in proper alignment. The operator could see some burning on the side of the stock. There could be some excessive roughness on the sides of the cut. There might be a tendency for the stock to lift at the back of the cut or even kickback at the operator. This isn’t a complete list, just those that are the most common.

When those conditions are showing up in your work, it’s time to do a bit of blade alignment checking. It’s not difficult when done the right way.

First, choose an accurate ruler with which to measure. Personally, for this task, I use a combination square because it can be locked to a length and you can hang it inside the miter slot. Raise the blade to maximum height and pick one blade tooth and mark it. Rotate the blade so as to put the chosen tooth at the front of the saw. Measure the distance from that tooth to the miter slot in the table and write it down. (This is where the combination square comes in handy- it can be locked into that distance and you know it stays accurate) Then rotate the blade backwards which puts the chosen tooth at the rear of the saw. Measure the distance from that tooth to the miter slot. These two measurements must be the same.
The reason for using one particular tooth is to eliminate any possibility of the blade being warped and that causing your measurement to be inaccurate.

Once it has been determined that the measurements are not the same, it’s time to get the blade properly aligned. In my experience all table saws, no matter their size, have the means to align the blade to the miter slot. What needs to be done is to determine exactly how this is accomplished on the particular saw that is being checked. Start by looking at the undercarriage of the saw and see how the saw arbor is hanging from the table. That should tell you where you need to loosen to be able to shift the saw arbor to properly align the blade. Most Contractor-style saws have 4 bolts that hang the undercarriage to the bottom of the table. Most larger saws have an independent table and the undercarriage hangs from the cabinet. On those saws, simply loosening the table to cabinet bolts allow for the alignment adjustment.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

#14 - The Story of Thunder Road

2010-05-05T04:11:00.000-07:00

Well, due to a ‘special request’, we taking another ‘detour’ this week. This a story about my first car, and yes, I do still have it.

We lived in Memphis, TN and my dad was a truck driver. One Friday night in 1972, he came home and told my mom that they had to make a road trip the next day. He wouldn’t tell me why. They got up early on Saturday and late that afternoon, they came back, with my mom driving our ‘normal’ car and dad was driving…well...what was that? It turned out to be a 1950 Ford Crestliner that he found in Gordo, AL. His first words about it were- “You need to fix the brakes”.
The drivetrain had been replaced with 1964 Falcon Sprint components – a 260ci V8, a four speed trans and an 8 inch rear. The vinyl top had been sprayed on and the original Coronation Red metallic had some funky green painted over it…but it was MINE!
Over the next few months I learned to arc weld because I had to constantly change out the exhaust system. I’d go thru city inspection with a normal muffler and get home and swap it out for a Thrush glasspack.
The speedometer didn’t work, so there is no telling how many miles I racked up on that car over the next 6-7 years. I joined the Navy in ’73 and took the car to Virginia and back, several times. Then we transferred to Florida and drove it down there…breaking the rearend gear when we hit the state line.
We went thru 5 different paint jobs over the next 33 years, one engine overhaul, a fresh rearend and many, many gallons of gas. In 1980, I swapped in a 1965, 396ci Chevy motor with a powerglide. While the ‘Ford guy’ in me wanted to keep it all Ford, that 396 dropped in so sweetly that it would have been a crime not to put it in.
When I remarried in 2003, I still had my Crestliner- still in primer, didn’t run, no interior…a true ‘project car’. My new, lovely wife, decided she had seen enough of the primer and she wanted to go cruising, so we had the car done right by The Hot Rod Shop in Corinth, MS. The 50’s parts list reads like a who’s who of automotive goodies: 1965 Chevy 396, 700r4 trans, Fatman spindles, power windows, killer stereo system, front disc brakes, 2003 Mustang Laser Red and ’73 GMC Sliver paint, 2003 Chrysler Sebring convertible front seats and whitewall radials.
This is our cruiser and there is no telling where we might show up…not too bad for a 60 year old car that I have owned for 38 years…

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

#13 - Yes, Martha, she is a movie star.

2010-04-23T18:12:00.000-07:00

I think we’ll take a ‘detour’ this week and let you know more about my other passion - aside from the care and feeding of woodworking machines and Taylor-Tot strollers. I love Hot Rods - Ol’ Skool, fire-breathing Hot Rods.

I have a 1934 Ford 5-window coupe that my dad bought in MS in 1958. You might have seen us driving it around the area. It’s yellow and black with whitewall tires and a 1936 flathead motor. We’re members of the Stones River Region of The Antique Automobile Club of America and our clubhouse is the old car garage at Cannonsburgh. Come see us sometime when there is an event at Cannonsburgh. We’re usually there.

What brings this up is that we finally got to see the movie about Billy Graham’s early years and my little Hot Rod is in it. Back in the spring of 2008, I got a call from a fellow who supplies cars for movies in this area and he said they needed some early 30’s era cars for a tent revival scene that was being shot on the back acreage of the Wilson County Fairgrounds. So, I put the full hood on the car and drove up there. Back in the day, they used to line the cars up around those tents and use their headlights to light up the inside. So, the first thing we did was set up for the scene where everyone is headed into the tent. The camera was on a real high boom and looking down on the area. In the movie, you can see my Hot Rod on the right side of the tent, all the way back at the end, but she IS there.

The next scene we did involved a lot of shooting inside the tent, so they moved me to the back side of the tent. I think it was because I have changed my car over to 12volt and my headlights were brighter than the other cars. Anyway, we sat on the back side thru all of the ‘under the tent’ dialogue and if you look closely when they show those scenes, you can see the front end of our car over the actor’s shoulders. We’re the one with those incredibly bright lights.

It was a really interesting night, and yes, I do mean night because it took ALL night to get the shots they wanted. Let me tell you, I was one tired motor-scooter that next day. Sleeping in a small 1934 Ford with no heat will do that for ya.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

Writer's NOTE: there is a related blog post on April 21, 2008.

#12- Is there a ‘whole lotta shakin goin on’?

2010-04-18T06:10:00.000-07:00

Not in California or Haiti – Although, that was the case recently when the Earth decided to move underneath them. I’m talking about wheel vibration in your stationary Bandsaw. Usually they are a 12”, 14”, or 16” size. For the purpose of this column, I’m talking about those Bandsaws that have a drive belt from the motor to the bottom wheel.

So, let’s say that you have one of those Bandsaws and you’ve always noticed that it seems to vibrate rather bad while you’re using it. You’ve taken the blade off and run it with just the bottom wheel in action and it still ‘shakes, rattles and rolls’. Or maybe you took the blade off and just running the bottom wheel shows that it runs as smooth as a Hunter ceiling fan. What to do?

First off, isolate the vibration – chase it down. If your saw is vibrating, take the blade off and run just the motor and the bottom wheel. If that smoothes it out, your problem is in the upper wheel. If you run the bottom wheel only and it still vibrates, the problem is in the bottom wheel or the drive system. Take the drive belt off and run just the motor. If it still vibrates with only the motor running, check the tightness of the motor pulley. If the pulley’s tight and yet it still has excessive vibration with only the motor running, I’d suspect you have a bad motor.

From this point, let’s say it smoothed out after you took the blade off. You’ve got the wheel guard open, so you can get to the top wheel. Give the wheel a good spin - enough so that it can rotate for at least 10 revolutions. When it finally stops, make a witness mark at the bottom of the wheel so that you can see it. Give it another good spin and let it stop again. Check where your witness mark is. If the mark is close to the same spot at the bottom, do the spin test again and see where the mark ends up. Do this 5 times and if the mark ends up stopping in the same area at the bottom of the wheel 3 times out of 5 tests, your top wheel is off-balance and needs to be replaced.

The test for bottom wheel balance is the same, but you will need to remove the drive belt before the test. The idea is to spin just the bottom wheel, not the motor and drive belt, too.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

#11 - What about surface rusting on your tools?

2010-04-09T19:17:00.000-07:00

We got a good question from Donald in Arlington, TN for this week (my, does our paper get around or what?). Donald says: “I don’t use my woodworking machines a lot, but when I do try to use them, they have a coat of rust on the tables. How do I stop that?” Hint: the more you use your tools, the less rust will be able to grow on them.

While I am tempted to just answer Donald’s question, I think you all might be better served by knowing what to do when you find the rust, then we can learn how to prevent it. First off is to clean the rust from the surface. How to do that really depends on how severe the rust is. For this column we’ll just deal with light surface rust. You can use fine or medium size steel wool, or a palm sander with 220 or 400 grit paper, or even wet or dry sandpaper and sand the rust off. My favorite method is to use a sanding block with 220 grit ‘wet or dry’ sandpaper and sprinkle a bit of nail polish remover (acetone) on the table and use that as the paper’s lubricant. Sand the whole table and then wipe the surface thoroughly with clean rags soaked in acetone. Once the surface is clean, dry the area very good…because now comes the ‘How do I stop that?’ part.

The ‘old school’ method is to coat a good rust-free surface with Johnsons paste floor wax and lightly buff it. Don’t remove all the wax, just try to make the coat spread evenly. The modern ‘hip’ method is to use a product called Boeshield T-9® (you can find it at Sears) and follow the directions on the package. CAUTION: Do NOT use automotive wax. Most of them have a high water content and will actually cause the rust you are trying to prevent.

On woodworking tool surfaces Boeshield T-9® recently topped all other surface treatments in Wood Magazine's article on “Rust Busters”.
The formulation is based on a unique combination of solvents and waxes and is designed to penetrate metal pores and dissolve minor corrosion, then leave a resilient waxy coating that lasts for many months.

During my years in Technical Service on woodworking machinery, we consistently recommended the paste floor wax and our customers had great success using it. It’s like a ‘tried and true’ method for preventing surface rust. Fortunately, I’ve heard so many good things about Boeshield T-9® that I am confident in it, also. Thanks for your question, Donald.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

Love them little young'uns...and their parents, too!

2010-04-02T10:01:00.000-07:00

We had a really good weekend last weekend. My daughter and her family came over from Arlington to visit with us for a few days and it was a real hoot.

I had wondered how the interaction between the kids and our rescued Cocker Spaniel would go and I don't think it could have gone much better at all. Once the kids got past the idea that Winston was going to bite their faces off, they had a good time. Wintston was a trooper - he heard 'squeaky' (his toy) squeaked more times that he had ever heard and had to really listen close to obey the kids when they told him to sit or play dead or speak... but the kids were amazed that he obeyed them. Actually, I was too - I had no idea how he would act...but he IS a good dog.

We had a couple of treasured moments that I just HAD to put on here...

First is a picture of all of our 'pets' in their "on your back" pose..

And then we had them all playing "Dead Dog".

It really was a sight with Evan running thru the house with Winston right behind...or Ella sitting within reach and getting a fresh 'kiss' from Winston.

I think they all had fun and we did too.

# 10- Static Electricity in your Woodshop

2010-04-02T09:59:00.000-07:00

This week let’s talk about static electricity in your woodshop. I’m sure we’ve all experienced it when using our belt sanders, but it can show up on all rotating equipment and especially in your dust collector ducts.

Static electricity in a wood shop is mainly caused by two things. First is low humidity in the air. Static is especially troublesome in winter when the outside temperatures are low. A rule of thumb is the colder it is outside, the lower the humidity is inside a heated shop. As a result, static charge builds up easily and causes shocks when the electricity discharges through contact. The problem is even worse if a shop’s dust collection system exhausts its air outside the building. This builds an additional requirement for fresh air coming in and the fresh, cold air will have low humidity once it has been heated indoors.

The second thing that causes the static electricity problem is motion between two things. In the case of a belt sander, it is the motion between the belt, platen and pulleys that causes the build-up of electricity. In the case of the dust collector or Shop-Vac, it is the motion of the particles through the hose. There are two places where the charge can build up. One is in the machine the dust collector is attached to and the other is on the person who is operating it. Fortunately, grounding the frame of the machine will eliminate the buildup of the static charge. All fixed machinery, such as a table saw, jointer, planer etc., should have its frame grounded to a water pipe or at the very least, to the ground conductor or conduit sheath of the machine’s electrical wiring. Sometimes this is not possible, especially if the machine is electrically double insulated, as is the Shop-Vac.

Beyond grounding the machine, the best cure for static problems is to try to keep the humidity in the shop from getting too low. This can be done by using bag-type dust collectors that re-circulate the same air within the shop after the dust has been removed. These collectors will also reduce your heating bill. Other ways of adding moisture to the air, such as using humidifiers, are worth considering. Another thing you can do is wear shoes that bleed off the static charge rather than allowing it to build up.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

Column #9 - WoodShop Safety

2010-03-26T12:14:00.000-07:00

Let’s shift gears a bit this week and introduce a subject that should be near and dear to all of us - Safety. Specifically- Personal Safety in the shop

Safety is one of the basic building blocks in any shop. In fact, safety is something that we all need to be aware of in every aspect of our everyday life. Without a constant mind-set of being concerned with your own safety, you might tend to drive without using your seat belt. Without this constant awareness, you might cross the street without looking both ways. Safe thinking is something that we all need to keep on our mind.

This is especially true in the woodshop. If you ask an experienced woodworker what their most prized possession is, many of them will proudly hold up a full set of 8 fingers and two thumbs. These are the woodworkers who have been safety conscious for a long time, yet many of them will also tell you stories of how they have been very fortunate in certain situations to have escaped serious injury due to their own lapse in judgment. Many of the stories one hears of “being lucky” start out with, “Well, I was in a hurry and thought I could just do this one thing quickly…and I almost didn’t get away with it. It was really stupid on my part.”
Remember, the best safety device that you have access to is your own good sense. If something you are doing creates hackles on the back of your neck, it just might be your intuition telling you to stop before you get hurt. Don’t get in a hurry. Think through your actions first and be prepared to work safely.

You should never work on, or operate, woodshop machines if you are taking medication that makes you drowsy, if you are very tired or if you are under the influence of alcohol. These substances may cause you to ignore potential safety hazards. You should always use proper safety equipment. Eye protection is first and foremost on any safety equipment list. It should comply with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Z87.1 standard. Hearing protection is also important and it should comply with the ANSI S3.19 standard. Even if you install the best dust collection system that money can buy, it is always wise to use a proper dust mask. Many people use the white disposable paper masks; however, those type masks typically allow too many smaller particles to pass thru them. I recommend using a good respirator mask that has replaceable cartridges. In extreme dust environments, there are other respirators that supply fresh air to an attached hood.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

Column #8- Taylor-Tot pt.3

2010-03-20T05:41:00.000-07:00

Let’s finish up the Taylor-Tot story and next week we may talk Tips & Techniques again. I completely disassembled the entire stroller, blasted everything on it and primed it. I had the original color matched at ColorMatch, shot it with color, and then went back and sprayed it with a hardening clear coat. It turned out real nice…but it has to be just RIGHT. That leaves the decals, buggy bumpers and wooden roller beads to get the same attention.

During the time I was restoring the body parts and the mechanical parts, I was also looking at the various decals that came on them. As I said earlier, the professor sent me a copy of his front decal - it was paper. I suppose I could have glued it on and no one would have been the wiser…but I would know. Ya understand?... and if I’m going to go ‘all out’, the seat decal needed reviving too. So I took the paper front decal down to my local sign shop and had them make one in vinyl. The seat decal was a bit tougher. The wording was not completely readable, but as my good fortune lasted, I kept watching the eBay ads and someone posted the wording from their stroller seat decal and WALLA (that’s a Southern term for “Hot DOG”!) mine made perfect sense. So I took what I had back to the sign shop and after 2 tries, they got the thing just right.

The wooden roller beads (1956 and up used plastic roller beads) sit on a rail around the package tray that sits right in front of the rider. They are something for the rider to play with. As it turned out, Hobby Lobby has fresh wooden beads. All I had to do was drill holes thru them and paint them with a child-safe paint.

The buggy bumpers had rubber tubing over them and the tubing is readily available by using…well…I think I’ll keep that to myself. You never know when I might make up some kits and sell them on eBay for a little walking around money.

So, now you know. I’m the resident expert on Taylor Tot strollers. You can see my handiwork at www.3r1enterprises.com. I have reproduced more decals than I needed and have sold a few sets to other restorers. By the way, in my searching, I found that someone had restored one of these Taylor-Tots, gold plated the bumpers…and they wanted $3000.00 for it. YIKES!

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

Toolsmartz -Column #7- Taylor-Tot pt. 2

2010-03-11T15:41:00.000-08:00

I think Mark knows a bit more about how to keep his cordless tools running longer. I sure appreciate you folks writing in and asking those questions. That’s what this whole deal is about. I’m only using my stories as filler while wondering what sorts of questions you will ask.

I guess, let’s go with part 2 of the Taylor-Tot story. We’ll pick up where I left off, right after I got the little beast home.

Now I go trolling for the name “Taylor-Tot”…and lo and behold, I find a guy who was a college professor who was restoring the actual Taylor-Tot stroller from his childhood. Man, he had his lookin sweeet! So I emailed him and we started talking.

Well, during this time of reworking and learning all I can about them, I found another one on ebay and it had the ‘high-class options’ of “wheel pants” and a foot tray. These are groovy little fenders that cover the wheels and don’t let the rider’s feet scrub on the tires and a tray that is put under the rider’s feet when the stroller is used as a ‘pusher’. Lucky me, I won the auction- so now I had 2. (it really does end, but who knows where?). So I get the second one and right off, I discover that it still has the date code that was stamped underneath the seat AND it has most of an original seat decal still in place – oh, my…a prize catch indeed! This thing was made in 1949. Ok, change of priorities… the one from ebay became the project.

We’ll stop here for this week, just so that I can squeeze in my ‘elevator speech’. That’s the speech that one gives during a ride up the elevator when you’re making connections looking for that next career opportunity. So here you are: “You know how there are teams of highly-skilled mechanical and electrical technicians that seem to know all things technical, but just don’t have the skills necessary to effectively communicate to the other departments or write service manuals or the inclination to manage themselves properly? That’s where I come in. I manage groups like that and keep them focused on the straight and narrow in order to provide outstanding service to our internal and external customers.” Since I’m looking for that new career opportunity, if you know of one, or have a connection that might be beneficial, please let me know.

Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
_______________________________________________________________
Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

Toolsmartz - Column #6 -Cordless battery life

2010-03-08T14:37:00.000-08:00

Part 2 of the Taylor-Tot story will need to wait for a bit, we’ve got a question from Mark that needs answering…and it’s a goody. “Tom: Why do the batteries for cordless devices fail and what can be done to extend their life?” Mark, today’s cordless tool batteries are way beyond the technology of what they used to be, but they still get the most cordless tool complaints.

I’ll tell you what I know. Basically, batteries are devices that convert chemical energy into electrical energy. When the chemical reaction is depleted the battery is "dead". To my knowledge nothing can be done to "extend" the battery life. Eventually, batteries will just get ‘used up’. There are steps which help slow the chemical reaction, but nothing will take a battery that was designed for 1000 charge cycles to 1500 charge cycles.

The best method for slowing that chemical reaction is to avoid deep discharges. Use the battery in the tool until it will no longer do the job you’re attempting, and then charge it. Also, make sure your charger is a ‘smart charger’. Most chargers of the name brands have this feature. It reduces the charger output level as the battery’s charge comes back up. Some of the lower cost brands may not have that and when a charger keeps slamming a full charge into the battery – the heat it creates really shortens the battery life. Batteries hate heat.

Naturally, dropping a battery may crack the case or damage internal components, so you want to avoid that. I personally have an older 19.2v Porter-Cable drill and I have 3 batteries for it. Two of them work just fine and have for over 5 years. The third one just barely holds a charge for a really short time and probably should be recycled. My point being that if one takes good care of their batteries, it is possible to get some good life out of them, but when they are dead…there’s no way to revive them and it’s time to buy a fresh battery.

Keep them cool and they will help keep you from ‘losing your cool’.
I hope that info helps you, Mark. Thanks for writing!

Hopefully, we’ll have another answer for our readers next week, but if not, tune in for Part 2 of the Taylor-Tot story that we missed.
Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and we’ll see what we can do to help you.
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Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper. Neither the author, nor this newspaper, accepts any liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

ToolSmartz- Column #5- Taylor-Tot

2010-02-26T10:17:00.000-08:00

I hope Jim found his zero clearance insert. Those do come in handy when sawing small pieces on your table saw.

This week I decided to write a little more about myself and what I’m doing during this season of career transition. We hear a lot along the line of “What would you do, if you didn’t get paid for it.” Naturally, one of my answers is “Help people fix their tools”, but another has to be “Work on my Taylor-Tot”

The who?...Oh, the singer?...no?.... The blog guy?... uh, no….

Believe it or not, Taylor Tot is a … stroller. But not just any stroller…it was the premiere baby stroller of the 20th century. From hours on hours of research, it seems they were made from the 1920’s till the 1970’s. The company was the Frank F. Taylor Company of Cincinnati, Ohio.

So, how did I get in such a shape?... Well, you may not have already figured it out, but I love old stuff. If I had my way (and the moola of course) my home would not have anything newer than 1960 inside it…well, other than the TV, the washer/dryer and the computer…but you get the idea.

Here’s the tale… in May of 2004, my wife and I were at a West Tennessee Antique Auto Club car show around the square in Jackson, TN. We were walking along and checking things out and one side street was the location of the ‘swap meet’ (EVERY car show has to have one of those areas - it’s in the rules). Anyway, I spotted this kool looking stroller sitting there and told my wife, ‘Hey, that’s gotta be old’. So we looked it over a bit- thinking wow, this would be a neat thing to restore and use for the grandkids. There were no nameplates on it anywhere, so I had no idea what brand it was or how ‘old’ it really was, only that it looked ‘old’. I asked the fellow who was in the area how much he wanted for it and he said “40 bucks”… Well, we started to walk away, slightly wondering what we would do with one anyway…but then, the deal clincher… “But I’ll let YOU have it for 35”… yep - SOLD.

Well, we get the thing home and I start trolling the internet to find out more about what we had. It turns out that ebay had some pictures that looked just like it…and that’s how I found out the name; Taylor Tot. At least I now knew what it was….