your oldest power tool

mine is a skil saw from the 70s i think

seems to run fine

am curious because i wonder if they can become unsafe to use in the electrical sense and what to do besides replacemnt

guessing that replacement parts might be hard to come by

Reply to
Electric Comet
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I'd guess that my Craftsman circular saw is about the vintage -- I've relegated it to the dirty task of masonry cutting. I did have an even older electric drill but it got dropped from a stepladder and bent the shaft and, seeing no way to repair it, I junked it.

Reply to
John McGaw

Oldest still in active use would be B&D 1/2" drill in press that had been around quite a while when I was a pup...I'd guess it dates from mid-50s; certainly had been in the shop for a number of years by time I finished HS in '63; I don't remember ever _not_ having it.

There are several others of roughly same vintage in hand drills, saws, etc. The small B&D saw is one of "go to's". All that's been done to any of 'em replace power cords and a couple of bearings that I know of.

As long as internals don't fail as in wearing out or breaking gears, etc., what's to do?

Oh, I did replace the power switch on the saw a few years ago...a close-enough match to fit was in the selection at the local Ace; of course there are no actual parts available.

The latter bugs me immensely as I have at least three 3x24 belt sanders (B&D 7440 iirc) that have the motor mounted _between_ the wheels so the balance is better than anything on the market today. Unfortunately, the drive gear matching the end of the rotor wears out and there are no replacements available any longer (nor have been for 20+ yr now) and haven't been able to find anything on open source that fits. Having one machined was excessively expensive altho that raises the recent question of what might be done with new 3D printer technology? Maybe I'll take one in to the local community college machining class and see what they can do...

Reply to
dpb

Does "I could have had but decided against it" count?

When I cleaned out Grandpa's shop last year I could have kept his table saw, which easily dates back to the 40's.

This one looks brand new compared to Gramp's unit, but the style is the same, right down to the bench top that it's mounted to.

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Reply to
DerbyDad03

I bought my Crapsman RAS in '76.

Not likely. If you're worried about it, use it with a GFCI.

Likely, though you'd be surprised what you can find in an good hardware store (and, of course, online).

Reply to
krw

I've got a 1958 8 inch Skill Worm Drive saw - replaced the power cord on it last summer. I also have a Stanley J4A power door planer from about 1954 - in perfect original operating condition.

Reply to
Clare Snyder

I sold my old 8 inch Beaver table saw about 5 years ago - it was mid-fifties. My 4 inch jointer was the same age, roughly. Sold it too.

Reply to
Clare Snyder

snipped-for-privacy@notreal.com on Thu, 18 Jan 2018 20:45:17 -0500 typed in rec.woodworking the following:

Operative term "good"hardware store.

Reply to
pyotr filipivich

Electric Comet on Thu, 18 Jan 2018

12:01:36 -0800 typed in rec.woodworking the following:

Some times, you get to bite the bullet, and replace with a newer one.

I've a 3/8 variable speed craftsman drill. It still gets hauled out for the occasional task, but mostly I'm using the cordless.

Reply to
pyotr filipivich

I've got a circa-1980 Skil Xtra Tool. 3/8" variable speed drill with 3 settings: Drill, Hammer Drill and Hammer Only, also known as chisel mode.

It came with some long bits that you could (supposedly) use for scraping paint, cutting grooves, etc. when in chisel mode.

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I used to work at a company that had point-based safety program. There was catalog of stuff from which you could redeem your days-witout-an-incident points or points earned for reporting an unsafe situation. That's where I got the Xtra Tool.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

My oldest is the Craftsman radial arm saw. I had a Milwaukee 3/8 inch corded drill that I gave away to somebody who was doing some major home renovations, and a Bosch jigsaw that died the death (It's repairable but the part isn't in stock closer than England and I couldn't figure out a process for ordering it).

Reply to
J. Clarke

Anybody know how old a Rockford R-6 bench grinder might be? I've got one that is in great shape.

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Reply to
DerbyDad03

dpb wrote in news:p3r7nt$8eo$ snipped-for-privacy@gioia.aioe.org:

*snip*

How big of gear are we talking? How many teeth and what's the OD?

Puckdropper

Reply to
Puckdropper

I'd say late seventies - it's made in Taiwan. Generally post vietnam war era would be a pretty safe bet.

Reply to
Clare Snyder

It's been too long to recall exactly otomh so I'll have to dig one out to be precise, but roughly 2"OD, probably 60-tooth or so...that's probably a little high; more like in 40-ish neighborhood probably.

Reply to
dpb

My dad used to work for Western Electric back in the lat 40's and early

50's. I inherited his company soldering iron and it has to be at least 63 years old, he no longer worked for Western Electric when I was born.

My oldest power tools that I still have is a B&D drill, I got for Christmas, when I was 13.

Reply to
Leon

I don't have any really old tools, but do have a couple of 50 year old electric appliances. Age alone does not make them unsafe, usually mishandling of cords causing them to fray or crack where it bends. Check the insulation. Of course, tools stored in a damp shed or garage may be damaged from years of corrosion and bearings can dry up.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

Tell that to the people in California. ;~) Where a water sprinkler now causes cancer.

Reply to
Leon

Davis-Wells 20" bandsaw, I suppose it's the serial that's on the table - #2251. Looks like the 1947 model shown on OWWM site.

'56 Craftsman lathe; '64 (I think) Rockwell drill press - model 62-413 or 52-413, hard to read the label; '60s (I think) Rockwell router 150 M; 60s? Rockwell circular saw (Cat # 70)

*My shaving horse was made from the limbs of a 200 yr old walnut tree. Does that count?

Sonny

Reply to
Sonny

dpb wrote in news:p3s3om$1bq1$ snipped-for-privacy@gioia.aioe.org:

That sounds doable for both 3D printing and flat milling. Most gears are hobbed from rod, but you can also just cut the gear from flat stock using a mill.

3D Printing: Shapeways can probably do that, all you need is the file. (I have not tried this, but it looks like you'll be well within the capabilities of their machine.) Here's the trick: That OD is not the OD the gear goes by. You need to figure out the pitch circle diameter. I usually do that by plugging in the number of teeth (count, count, count and count again) and OD where it says pitch circle diameter, then selecting a standard diametrical pitch or mod and recalculating the pitch circle diameter.

Depending on the tool you use, you can then print at full scale and place your gear on top of the print out. Any errors will show up.

Milling: My handy drawing program says for a 60T 2" gear, the maximum endmill is .050", I run .031" EMs in my mill all the time. It depends on how thick that gear is as to whether that tiny EM can cut it from flat stock, though. More than about 1/4" and it'll just be too big. (I might be able to carefully flip the gear over and get 1/2", but it's hard to get that exactly exact.

I'd be willing to give it a try, it'll be nice to see a usable gear come out of the machine. I often work on models with .3 mod gears and the teeth are just too fine to cut with an end mill. (If you just look at those tiny mills wrong, they break.)

Puckdropper

Reply to
Puckdropper

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