Repowering the lathe.

Removing the dodgy wiring from a 60-year-old wood lathe.

Last year a buddy asked me if I wanted his Grandad’s lathe. Without missing a beat, I said when can I pick it up?

When I got to his place the next weekend, I knew this was going to be another project.

Why is there 30 extra feet of wire here? And wire nuts in space!?!?
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Free Lathe

There’s tons of old tools sitting in people’s basements & garages. Tools that granddad or dad used to use, but that the current generation doesn’t have time or space for. Once people learn that you enjoy restoring and using old tools, they start being offered to you, as most people would rather see their tools being used than collecting dust & turning to rust.

Look what I dragged in.

A buddy of mine is retiring and moving into a condo. Last week at a party he asked me if I wanted his grandfather’s lathe.

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Band saw cabinet design

When I bought the bandsaw a few years ago, it was on this angle iron base. Perfectly functional, and purely functional. It works, but it looks like a bunch of angle iron off cuts (which is what it is).

Once I built the base for the drill press, I decided that the band saw needed a matching base.

Let’s take a little tour of my mental processes when designing a project like this.

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