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It has been a very long time since I've had time to look at this - family health, moving house, redundant and then starting work as a contractor (which meant zero spare time). However, I felt a desire to counter a returning tendency just to drop into a chair after a day at work and turned again to this project.
The lathe had become a bit buried, so the first job was to clear around it and get it accessible, which took a whole evening. Both Drawers-O-Stuff having been cleared out and cleaned a little I was able to load most of the sorted components into them and reinstall them. I realize now that there's one missing. Restoring the cabinet is a whole nother stage of the job, but I will have to try and make a new drawer, as well as new doors and shelf for the other side. I stashed the planer and thicknesser in the left side as they are very much of interest. Saw table and morticer are under the desk at the right as they're low priority.
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Some of the painting I'd last done was unfinished, so I put some coats on things that needed it, including the tailstock that had got dinged after it was first painted. I finished reassembling the lock mechanism on the second saddle (the plungery bit on the left) and oiled both till they move properly.
The next part of the cleaning and re-fettling is the motor, headstock, pullies etc lump at the left hand end. Originally I'd planned to unhitch it all and winch it off to clean it, but I absolutely cannot face doing all that again, not least the wiring of the power feeds. Especially with very limited free time, I just do not have the appetite for it. So; clean in place it is then.
When Lizzie did the initial clean, she used Dad's acetone to loosen the crusted grease, dust and sawdust. She used all of it. Originally I was horrified but a bit of surfing found that you can get the stuff quite easily off Amazon, so I dug it out and started in with a mix of acetone, a small scraper, and wire wool.
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Starting at the A-Frame legs and working up, I got to the bracket that holds the saw table and realized that it's bolted on to the extension bar (lower right). After much lubrication, tea, swearing and a wedge in the grip, I managed to worm it off and stacked it with the saw table, clearing the area a bit (and scraping off a fair bit of the dreadful silver paint from the extension bar). Before I packed it up today, I'd cleaned the headstock drive assembly and the mountings that hold it all together. Just the motor lump to go and this lot should be ready for sanding and painting. It would ideally be better to dismantle it right down, but it works. I think I'll settle for cleaned, lubricated and painted.
I also took another look at the planer and thicknesser. My heart sank when it looked like a part was missing from the latter, but I found it lurking in a box of odd bits I'd put to one side as "probably not part of the lathe". Needs a few bolts and stuff to get it back together but that's no biggy.
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Likewise, it looked like there was a piece missing from the planer, a piece that goes over the wood to guide it or something. Then looking at the diagram I realized that it was present, and I'd mistaken it for part of the saw table. It's the piece on the right of this picture. The fact that it retains all its' original paint probably suggests that the planer had always been used with the thicknesser, and that this bit isn't essential. We shall see!
26th November 2016