mobile base+expansion joint=disaster

[mel]

I'm a little pissed off at myself. I was cleaning out the shop so I could show it off to my dad at Xmas and I was moving the jointer back inside. Wheels caught on the expansion joint and jointer took a tumble cracking the base where the fence mounts. I stood over it and noticed a piece of cast iron lying a foot away with it's jagged edges...little curls of walnut and maple lay strewn all around.... it was horrible.. just horrible. I bent to upright it and the fence comes off in my hands and the jointer falls again to the concrete almost taking off my toes with it. I stood with fence in hand trying to decide if I should pack it in ice for reattachment or what. I gently sat down the fence and bent to upright my friend again, pausing to rotate the cutter head in case it lashed out in pain to try to bite me. After close inspection the corner of the base is broke off but still intact. The bolt to the belt guard took most of the brunt of the fall. The base for the fence slides down on 2 bolts and the jolt had simply knocked it loose. I fixed the bolt, replaced the fence, straighten out the belt guard. I stood back to look at it. I think it's going to be ok.... the jointer just looked back as if it doesn't trust me anymore.

[Bay Area Dave]

what have you been smoking, Mel? The jointer "looked back as if.."

I filled the expansion joint between my garage and driveway years ago, right after I got a couple pieces of mobile equipment. MY POS Craftsman TS would get stuck going over the joint; I used to wheel it outside to use it before dedicating the garage to a wood shop. I used quick setting cement for a smooth transition. Try that before something else breaks.

dave

mel wrote:

[mel]

yeah I plan to do that after Xmas... right now my extension cord is neatly tucked in the joint to power the Xmas lights...I had to draw off the 20amp in the garage... 15 amp kept tripping on front porch. Can you say Clark Griswall a.k.a. Sparky?

[Bay Area Dave]

Vacation and Christmas Vacation are 2 of our favorite movies!

dave

mel wrote:

[mel]

same here... every year we drive to Mississippi to see her parents and we watch Christmas Vacation on the DVD along the way....sort of tradition.

[Dave Mundt]

Yea...a pretty sad tale. I was down at MSC for their fall tent sale, and saw a large, expensive lathe that had turned to scrap when they dropped it off the forklift - twice. The bed was broken through right in front of the headstock - and by the by, this bed was a good, solid 8" thick. Cast Iron is brittle. Now...the good news is that it is likely not TOTALLY dead. There are a couple of ways to fix it. Probably the least painful, but, likely most expensive and timeconsuming option is to contacty the mfg. and get a replacement part. Disassemble and replace... Also, it might be possible to get it welded. Although it takes some special skills, Cast Iron can be welded and brought back to full strength. Find a local shop that rebuilds diesel engine heads and ask them where they get theirs rewelded. Make sure that whoever does it, though, DOES a lot of CI welding. It is too easy to screw it up. I have heard of a process that uses small holes, drilled through the part into the body of CI, and special screws that are coated with an epoxy. This works in many cases because Cast iron, like glass, is brittle enough that when it breaks it does not deform first. The break SHOULD fit back together quite tightly. I have not used this process, though.... Of course, this could also be an excellent excuse for that larger jointer.... Put the broken one on Ebay for an opening bid of $1.00 and get what you can. Regards Dave Mundt

[Jerry Gilreath]

Man, I hope I'm not on the road while your watching the movie! It's bad enough with the wimmen putting on makeup, talking on the cellphone, and reading the morning paper!!! :-)

[mel]

not visible from the driver's seat

[Jerry Gilreath]

Good! :-)