Spindle Sander Refurb Complete!!!!

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Alan in Little Washington

Alan Schaffter
Corporate Member
A Spindle Sander is reborn. For those who missed my earlier posts, I picked up an old Max spindle sander on Ebay. I haven't been able to discern the date of manufacture yet but the serial number makes it 1980 or newer, so at the oldest it is nearly 30 years old. It was made in USA by Max. After going through various iterations, the company started in the early 1900's, is still doing business and is now partnered with Tannewitz a maker of big "old iron" bandsaws.

It looks like it had been used in a shop environment (it is a heavy duty industrial quality machine). When I got it the top was heavily rusted, the pedestal very dirty and greasy, the switch was missing, and one spindle was seized in the socket, but the insides, the gear mechanism, looked new and will likely outlast me! As to cost- a new one lists for $4400. with a street price of $3500!!!! I paid about one tenth of that plus $25 shop fee and less that $20 for sand paper, paint, gear oil and grease.

I tore it completely down; took the spindle socket to a machine shop have the seized spindle removed; cleaned, de-greased, and de-rusted everything; replaced the gear box oil and grease; painted the formerly green pedestal and trunnions with rattle can smoke gray; applied red paint highlighting to the stamped and raised cast iron markings, including the "Made in USA"; and installed a single phase motor and new switch assembly (shop spares). Not only does it look new again, it works great and purrs like a kitten!!

Rather than refer you back to previously posted pics, here are both before and after shots:

Complete unit:

Before:


IMG_3039.jpg


After:

IMG_3069.jpg


The top:

Before:

IMG_3040.jpg


After:


IMG_30701.jpg


Spindle and dust housing:

Before:

IMG_3041.jpg


After:


IMG_30621.jpg


Pedestal and spindle shelf detail:

Before:

Pedestal_detail.jpg


After:

Pedestal_detail-R.jpg


Another pic:

IMG_3064.jpg
 

Carolina

Chris
User
Looks great Alan! I have the same Max sander. It's a very good machine. How many spindles came with your machine? Mine only came with three so I would like to find a few more.

Chris
 

Canuck

Wayne
Corporate Member
Beautiful restore there, Alan!:eusa_clap

Lot's of mileage left on that one!

Wayne
 

Alan in Little Washington

Alan Schaffter
Corporate Member
Looks great Alan! I have the same Max sander. It's a very good machine. How many spindles came with your machine? Mine only came with three so I would like to find a few more.

Chris

I think mine came with 9 of 10 although I seemed to have misplaced the 1/4" one. it also came with a 4" pneumatic drum and a 2" pneumatic drum spindle (w/o the bladder). You can get the spindles from Max but they aren't cheap! Do you have a manual? I can send you the pdf of what passes for a manual.
 

Tarhead

Mark
Corporate Member
Nice job Alan! Beautiful piece of equipment. I've heard of people fabricating spindles. Check with your machine shop. They can probably whip out what you need on their Bridgeport.
 

Alan in Little Washington

Alan Schaffter
Corporate Member
Nice job Alan! Beautiful piece of equipment. I've heard of people fabricating spindles. Check with your machine shop. They can probably whip out what you need on their Bridgeport.

My bother is just finishing up a restore of and a CNC conversion to a Bridgeport. I have a whole list of things for him to make for me- three more OSS inserts, an OSS spindle or two, one of those tablesaw throat plates that accept replaceable wooden zero clearance inserts.
 

cpowell

Chuck
Senior User
I would love to have the space for a stationary sander so I could just walk over and touch up curves at will!! You did a great job on the restore.

It looks great. :eusa_danc


Chuck
 
T

toolferone

Looks great Alan! Just curious on how the motor transmits it's power to the unit. Doesn't look like there is room for belts.
 

Alan in Little Washington

Alan Schaffter
Corporate Member
Looks great Alan! Just curious on how the motor transmits it's power to the unit. Doesn't look like there is room for belts.

Everything is in line. The male keyed shaft at the bottom of the spindle mechanism mates with a female keyed shaft. The shafts slide and overlap enough to allow for the 1-1/2" vertical oscillations. The female keyed shaft exits the bottom of the oil-filled gear box through a bearing/oil seal then connects to the motor shaft via a Lovejoy coupler. It has a hard rubber spider to reduce vibration. All is very well made and runs very smoothly.

6408kc1s.gif
 

Travis Porter

Travis
Corporate Member
Alan, how did you clean the top??? What chemicals, abrasives, etc, did you use and about how long did it take?

It looks great!!! Very nice restore!
 

Alan in Little Washington

Alan Schaffter
Corporate Member
Alan, how did you clean the top??? What chemicals, abrasives, etc, did you use and about how long did it take?

It looks great!!! Very nice restore!

I cleaned the top with a razor blade window scraper first, then used various abrasives from about 120 to 320 grit with WD-40 as a lubricant. It took a couple of hours because there was one fairly deep spot.

I wiped all painted parts with mineral spirits to remove the grease, using rags, and if necessary a brass toothbrush. Some of the aluminum casting was rough which knocked down easily with sandpaper. Then I wiped everything with acetone to remove any remaining grease or contaminants. I mounted the spindle dust shield in my lathe and used 320 grit to give it a polished machine look. Not visible in any of the pics, but I also removed the paint from the periphery of the trunnion lock knob and the table tilt hand wheel and polished the metal. It is not as nice as a chromed wheel but looks really good and much better than a totally painted hand wheel.
 

Alan in Little Washington

Alan Schaffter
Corporate Member
Any kind of dust collection?

It came with a small shroud with 4" port which will be totally inadequate (the gray structure in the background of the pic below). I will likely make one that encloses the sides and the back under the table using a soft shroud or sliding solid sections, and has a 6" port.

By the way, according to the Mas website that small POS dust shield/port is a $200 accessory!!!


IMG_3041.jpg
 

sawman101

Bruce Swanson
Corporate Member
Really great restoration. That will be a fine machine in your shop for a longgg time.:thumbs_up
 
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