12" Jointer

[Acelectric]

I am going to be in Asheville this weekend. Would this be worth looking at while I am there? Not much info on it. What do you guys think about it?

http://asheville.craigslist.org/tls/4022638852.html

 

[Bill Clemmons]

The first question would be how are you going to get it back to your shop and unloaded. Second question is: Do you need a jointer that big? I'm sure it would be nice to have for those really big jobs, but how often is that.

Personally, I would keep looking for an 8" that can be upgraded w/ a spiral head.

 

[Hmerkle]

It's the babbett bearings that worry me most...
Unless you know how to do it or they have been taken care of (usually not)

$500 is a lot of money of you have to fix anything - CHEAP if it is in good condition!
another thing - the motor is mounted on a pallet and "held" in place by the weight of the machine...
certainly using ingenuity, but probably not the best way to operate... JMHO

 

[Mark Gottesman]

I would suggest that you spend some time reading over at OWWM.org (Old Wood Working Machinery). Seems I've seen several threads on the older 2 blade systems and the care and feeding of babbitt bearings. Seems people spend a fair amount of time and effort to convert the 2 blade systems. Also, besides weight and space do you have the electric and dust collection to handle it.

I have restored several smaller machines, nothing remotely that large, and my takeaway is that:
A. I've been very happy with the quality and ability to fix them.
B. It is a labor of love since , like the pyramids, it always takes more time and money than I would ever have thought I would spend.
C. I have always taken a beating on the resale due to that investment of time of money. I now look on the $$ loss as "Rental" fees and am quite happy with that.

Let us know what happens.

 

[Tarhead]

" 2 knife, square cutter head"
Danger Will Robinson!!! It will eat your fingers, hand and forearm if it has a chance. Definitely needs a round cutter head and a blade guard. McRabbet (Rob Payne) and a friend refurbed a jointer from the same era 6-7 years ago. I can't find the thread but if you do get it (we call large jointers Aircraft Carriers btw) he would be who I would call for advise.

 

[HMH]

That would make a fantastic machine, with a somewhat manageable footprint, but it would need some work and investment to get there.

I'm an OWWM guy, but have rarely found a machine that didn't need a bit of love before I'd be comfortable using it at length, this one looks to be no exception. I personally enjoy the mechanical side of re-building/ overhauling a machine, and prefer the finished product to newer imports, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It would all depend on your comfort level w/ machinery re-work, and your overall budget.

From a mechanical perspective, the points that caught my eye:

Babbit is not un-do-able, but is not for the timid. Not terribly expensive.

Square cutterhead aka "finger eater, widow maker, cannibal cutter, etc": It's debated on a lot on the OWWM sites, (a modern round head wouldn't be too pleasant to come into contact with while running either), but the square nature of the head would definitely cause more carnage. I personally wouldn't want to use one. This would be a good time to upgrade to a shelix while you're re-pouring the babbit if your budget allows.

The motor: While undeniably awesome - I'd plan on replacing the bearings at a minimum.

All in all, it would be a great machine once rebuilt. If you're still thinking about it, maybe you can use a bit of the above for negotiating purposes?

Good luck either way - Cheers,

 

[Acelectric]

Thanks for all the replies. You guys have raised a lot of questions that I was already thinking about.

Replacing the cutter head would definitely be one of the first things I would look into. I was hoping the bit about it being only 2 blades was a mistake, but I guess not. I have never had any dealing with babbit bearings but I'm sure some of the guys I work with could tell me all about them.

My work in industrial maintenance gives me access to machines that would help with the rebuilding of it. I have never owned anything that I didn't modify. It's just in my nature. Re-mounting the motor and getting power to it will be no problem. Dust collection is something that will have to be addressed.

One of the main things I would worry about is if the beds are true and straight. Is there an easy way to check them for flatness and parallelism? I will also be sure to look into every nook and corner for any cracks in the cast iron.

I certainly don't need a 12" jointer but I wouldn't ever have to worry about selling to upgrade to a larger one lol. An 8" jointer is all I really need but I thought this might be worth looking into.

If I don't find anything major wrong with it and it does a pretty good job of jointing a test board what would be a reasonable price?

Edit:
I just checked Grizzly's site and a shelix head for one of their 12" jointers is 625.00. Perhaps I could retrofit one of those into this jointer.

 

[Mark Gottesman]

Flatness: Take a straightedge that will span one side and check both sides and diagonal. It may have a hollow if it was used in a high production environment.Especially if used with a power feeder. Keep and eye out for odd holes that might have been used to mount one.

Parallelism: if both tables are flat then you can adjust and or shim the tables to be parallel to each other.

Again, if you know what maker and model it is you can do some research over at OWWM.org

Good Hunting

 

[Acelectric]

Flatness: Take a straightedge that will span one side and check both sides and diagonal. It may have a hollow if it was used in a high production environment.Especially if used with a power feeder. Keep and eye out for odd holes that might have been used to mount one.

Parallelism: if both tables are flat then you can adjust and or shim the tables to be parallel to each other.

Again, if you know what maker and model it is you can do some research over at OWWM.org

Good Hunting

I will check out OWWM for sure.

The ad states that there is no identifying marks on it so its anybodies guess as to the make and model.

 

[Mark Gottesman]

Looks like a Woodking or Greaves. May have had an ID plate that got lost.

 

[red f]

Well?

Did you check the jointer out?

 

[Acelectric]

I took a look it yesterday. It looked to be in pretty good shape for something that old. Tables were flat as near as I could tell. It sounded fine running.

I'm still debating on making him an offer on it. It will take up a lot of space and that is something I don't have a lot of. And that 2 knife cutter head looks scary as ####.