1929 South Bend 11-Inch Lathe With Quick Change Gearbox

What do we have here in the back of the pickup, a lathe? Yup. Not just any lathe though. This one was acquired by my wife's dad Jon 50 or 60 years ago.

1946 John Deere Model LA Tractor Gets New Transmission Bearings - Part 5 of 5

The brake lining material finally came in, so it's time to refurbish the one brake band that had lost most of its lining. The brake "drum" in the final drive had been wearing quite a bit on the metal brake band.

1946 John Deere Model LA Tractor Gets New Transmission Bearings - Part 4 of 5

With the rear cover plate on the differential, the transmission/differential assembly is ready to reinstall in the tractor and it's time to look at the few other details I need to work on. The first order of business was to free up the brake rods and adjusting yokes that are in the final drives. Well, while trying to free the first yoke with heat and penetrating oil, it snapped the brake rod. I found a bolt that had the same 5/16-24 thread pitch, cut the head off, then ground tapers on the bolt and rod to prepare for welding.

1946 John Deere Model LA Tractor Gets New Transmission Bearings - Part 3 of 5

 New bearings have arrived!

1946 John Deere Model LA Tractor Gets New Transmission Bearings - Part 2 of 5

This next set of photos shows more of the greasy mess inside the differential. See that green stuff on the left side? That's a glob of grease that was plugging a through-hole between the transmission and differential.

1946 John Deere Model LA Tractor Gets New Transmission Bearings - Part 1 of 5

 Here is my recent acquisition, a 1946 John Deere model LA tractor.

Singer 111W155 Gets A New Servo Motor And Needle Positioner

It's about time. I bit the dust and purchased a servo motor for my industrial Singer 111W155 sewing machine. I had hemmed and hawed for several years whether or not I should buy one. On the one hand I'm old school and like things the way they were built way back when, clutch motor and all. On the other hand, a servo motor would make a much more desirable experience when using the ol' beast. So practicality won out in the end. This photo shows the old clutch motor next to the new servo motor and controller. Now I just need to find space to store the old clutch motor as I won't be getting rid of it.

Gas Trimmer Problems

I worked on a friend's gas trimmer today. What I thought would be a short tune-up turned into a five-hour job. Not knowing what issues there might be, I started with the fuel tank on the machine. I pulled off the cap and looked inside. Hmm, that might be the problem:

Hydronic Heating System Zone Valve Repair - Micro Switch

Last week I realized a Caleffi  Z-One zone control valve for our main in-floor hot water heat wasn't functioning correctly, so I'd pulled the valve control box off the valve and when I tested its internal micro switch, I found that it wasn't working reliably. The micro switch is responsible for turning on the recirculating pump on the heating system after the zone valve opens. Without the pump coming on, there would be no heated water flowing through the pipes to heat this zone. I ordered a new switch online (takes a week to get it).

Gibson Model D Muffler Relocation

The muffler location, rather, the output direction of the muffler, is not ideal on the Petter AC1Z diesel engine on my Gibson D. Exhaust seems to blow back to the operator (me) fairly regularly. The muffler, as seen in the photo below, is forward of the air cleaner and shoots the exhaust out to the left and back a bit, so some exhaust drifts straight back.

Gibson Model D New Paint

I thought I'd throw a quick coat of paint on the new Gibson. It came to me with a coating of primer. It came from the factory in gray with red wheels, so I was going to stick to factory colors as much as possible. Here's a before shot:

Gibson Model D Remote Run/Stop and Throttle Controls

I'm guessing the person who installed the Petter AC1Z diesel engine on this Gibson tractor just hadn't gotten around to installing engine controls where the operator could reach them from the driver's seat, as both the throttle and stop lever were only on the engine. This photo below shows the Run/Stop lever, and under it is the throttle control, in which the threaded knob is turned out to slow the engine down and turned in to speed up the engine. You can kind of see a string on the stop lever, which was a less-than-ideal method of shutting the engine down from the driver's seat.

1948 Gibson Model D - Clutch Remedy

Hmm, a couple days ago I had a Gibson tractor in the garage. Now I have two. Was my Super D2 pregnant when I bought it? Apparently, because now I have two Gibson tractors in the garage, the Super D2 and now a D.

The D is older than the SuD2 by a couple years. It was also quite a bit more of a bare-bones offering by the Gibson company. Whereas my SuD2 has a proper steering wheel, hood, fenders, dash, and hydraulics, the D is absent all those "luxury" features. So, how do you steer, you ask, if there is no steering wheel? Tiller, of course. While it isn't very visible in this photo, it is there near the engine air cleaner. Pull the tiller to the rear to go right, push forward to go left.

Gibson Super D2 Tractor T96 Shifter Repair

When I bought this tractor, I knew either the shifter or transmission needed help, as it was sometimes almost impossible to shift between gears, and on a couple of occasions got stuck in two gears at once. I've had the shift tower off the transmission several times, greasing and oiling to no avail, and finally the last time I had it off (always the last time, right), I realized what was going on. The shift lever was twisting sideways and causing the square bottom end of the shift lever to bind between the two shift forks when in gear (red arrow below).

Gibson Super D2 Tractor Hydraulic Valve Repairs

I recently purchased this 1950 Gibson Super D2 tractor and have been slowly fixing the issues it came with. I've wanted another Gibson for some time as I'd owned one a number of years ago that I bought from my brother. Here is the Super D2 in all its glory a couple days after I got it home:

Onan 5KW CCK Generator Current Transformer Mod

I wanted to add a pair of Volt/Amp/Hertz displays to my 1973 Onan CCK generator so I knew how much load I could safely pull from it without damaging anything. I bought two small digital Voltage-Current-Hertz meters on Amazon and mounted them in a plastic box I also purchased from Amazon.

The Green Disease - Onan Generator

I've been looking for a 5 to 6 kilowatt 120/240 generator for a while now. You know, as a backup to the backup to the main generator. I finally found one that was close by and priced less than $200. Mind you, I wasn't looking for just any ol' run of the mill 5kw, but an Onan, and preferably the cast iron engine 1800 RPM CCK variety. Yes, I have the well-known and often diagnosed Onan green disease. As I've mentioned in the past, I have a 1950s Onan AJ 2500 watt 3600 RPM generator that my dad bought at a phone company auction back in the early 70's. Then in 2011 I picked up an Onan LK 2500 watt 1800 RPM generator out of a motorhome for thirty five bucks. Then in August 2019 the Onan CCK 3500 watt 1800 RPM generator fell into my lap free from Craigslist. All three of those are 120 volts only though, thus the desire to get a 120/240 unit. You know, as a backup....

1960 Onan 305 CCK Quit Running - Hmm

So my fairly-new-to-me propane-fueled 3.5kw Onan CCK was purring along nicely last week when I was test running it for fun. All of a sudden it just up and died after about 20 minutes of run time. I pulled the spark plugs, which revealed there was no spark. Where do I start looking?

1953 Kohler L600 Propane Powered 3.5KW Generator - Various Projects

I've been working on my new-to-me Kohler L600-powered 3.5Kw generator. It is both hand-crank start and electric start. I much prefer hand cranking because it is just that much more satisfying to me to hand-crank an old engine to life. Only problem was, I couldn't get it to start by hand on propane unless I used a starting aid. That wouldn't do. Nope, not at all.

Fortunately I ran across a photo of a propane mixer on a guy's generator that is the same as mine. Well, almost the same. These next two photos are of a piece from his propane mixer and the same piece out of my mixer:

How Many Generators Is Too Many..... Oh, Wait.

I guess I already titled a blog post with those "How Many" words. But wait, there's more, as the TV commercial says. Yes, since that posting, I've acquired two, yes two, more generators. Another green Onan and a blue Kohler.

1969 Cub Cadet Model 105 Hydrostatic Drive Garden Tractor - Part 2

Grab a warm cup of cocoa, sit down in your favorite chair, pull a warm blanket over yourself, and get comfortable. This may take a while.

I had no idea it would be so difficult to get a small engine crankshaft reground. I took my crankshaft to the local NAPA machine shop, the only place locally that does this sort of thing, and left in their capable hands.....

Current Transformers In Parallel - Lister Generator

My Lister/Lima generator has the two usual 120-volt legs to create its 240 volts. The power meter I bought came with one current transformer, so I could only read one leg through the meter. Here is a photo of the meter:

Old Hobbies Die Hard - Pfaff 1212 Garage Sale Find

I thought I was doing pretty well in keeping my sewing machine purchases pretty much non-existent lately, now that I'd cleaned out the basement of 100-something sewing machines. Alas, a garage sale did me in. The sticky note on the sewing machine said, "Needs Service $15." I'm a sucker for a good deal, and even more of a sucker for a good deal that needs some tinkering.

 

1969 Cub Cadet Model 105 Hydrostatic Drive Garden Tractor - Part 1

I purchased this 1969 Cub Cadet garden tractor in 2011 from a good friend who had purchased it used in 1972. They put it to good use up until the time I got it. It was garage-kept throughout their ownership, so it was in fairly good overall condition, including original paint on the hood and most of the body/frame. The seat also looks like it is original to the tractor. A rear-mounted Model 1 rototiller came with the package. The seller was in her late 60's when she finally decided to part with her baby.

How Many Generators Is Too Many?

When I bought my big diesel generator last month (click here), I had no idea what it would start. I have a Generac 5000 watt generator that I'd use during power outages, as it was 120/240 volt, but I also had buried in the depths of my garage two ancient Onan generators of the 120 volt variety. These old generators worked but they weren't powerful enough to run the things in the house, thus the Generac (and more recently, the diesel Lister). Once I started tinkering with the Lister, it got me thinking more about the old Onans, so a few days ago I un-buried them, dragged them out of their cozy hole, and hoped they still ran. Both generators are rated at 2500 watts.

Here's one:

Lister Generator Fuel Dipstick

The fuel tank on my Lister generator has a fuel gauge sender but no gauge is present on the generator. Turning to that age-old standby, the dipstick, I decided I'd make one out of a steel rod. A rusty steel rod to be more precise.

Lister Generator - Making A Camshaft Extension Safety Guard and Repairing The Air Cleaner Stud

The old Lister workshop manual I found online showed a guard for the camshaft extension that pokes out the front of the engine. I thought that was a very good piece of gear to be at the top of my list of things to do to this generator. Here's the finished product:

Lister Generator - New Electrics

When I got this old Lister generator, it was wired for 3-phase, and it didn't have much in the way of overload protection. The previous owner said the generator came off a boat, and I'm thinking it was a commercial vessel of some sort, as the generator is quite loud. The outlets on it were also on the sketchy side.

Lister Generator Hand-Start Crank Handle

It didn't take long for me to decide to attempt to make a starting handle for my new generator. I looked online and saw that the handles are still being sold in the UK, where Lister engines were originally manufactured. It would probably be $60 or $70 to have one shipped to my door so I figured it wouldn't be too terribly difficult to make a handle. And, bingo, here's a photo of the finished product:

Lister ST3A Diesel Generator

I picked up a new toy. Most folks probably wouldn't consider it a toy, but to me it's something to play with. Ok, maybe "tinker with" is more accurate than "play with". The new acquisition is a 15KVA/12KW 3-phase diesel generator. The engine is a Lister 3-cylinder air-cooled direct-injected diesel of about 21 horsepower at 1800 RPM.

Shoe Mender / Leather Stitching Machine

Several days ago someone who's channel on Youtube I'm subscribed to posted a video of a leather stitching machine he bought for $115. If you're interested in watching the video, here is a link (Chris Zeppieri of Make Everything):
Leather Stitching Machine

Intrigued, I went on Amazon and started doing a bit of research into these interesting machines. Well what do you know, there they are, with many different names and prices. I happened to find one for $99 plus a 5% discount, totaling $102 and change including tax (free shipping). After a week or so of patiently waiting, it arrived today on the UPS truck. Below is a photo after I assembled the contraption.

1966 Barracuda Clutch Z-Bar Installation

Continuing with the Z-bar refurbishment, I purchased some new bushings, clips and seals for the Z-bar from Brewer's (seals aren't in the photo), a company that specializes in MoPar manual transmissions. The parts were about $40 shipped to my PO box.

1966 Barracuda Clutch Z-Bar Repair

I just couldn't seem to get the clutch in my Barracuda adjusted right. I'd push the clutch pedal to the floor and there was still a little resistance in the shifter handle when shifting into gear, which meant to me that the clutch wasn't releasing fully. It was almost there but not quite. And I had the adjusting rod to the point that the throwout bearing was just clear of the pressure plate fingers when the clutch pedal was all the way released. Another issue was when I released the clutch, there sometimes would be quite the shudder. Something just wasn't right. So I delved into the problem, and found that the Z-bar had a lot of play in it. And it had been repaired at some point in its past.

More PETG Printer Settings

Something doesn't look right in this photo. I just can't put my finger on it.....

3D Printing With PETG

When I bought my 3D printer I knew I wanted to print with something more durable and heat-resistant than PLA. PETG was the obvious choice, as that was what many folks on the internet said was becoming the new PLA. One very real downside with PETG though was the fact that it was a lot more finicky to print with. The first photo below shows how a skirt came out, not sticking to the bed at all.

The next photo shows the globby infill.

Can You Say, "Layer Shifting"?

Yeah, I'd never heard the term before either. Apparently it's a thing with 3D printers.

My Very Own 3D Printer - WooHoo!

My dear wife got me a 3D printer for Christmas. She let me pick out what I wanted, and I went with a Creality CR-10S Pro. Here's my first try at making something, some soft jaws for my Columbian 603 vise:

1994 E350 Club Van PCU Fix

Our church van's engine recently started missing occasionally, so I delved into the problem to see what I could find out. It's a 1994 van with the 5.8L (351 cu-in) engine, and has only 95,000 miles on it. First thing I noticed was that the Check Engine light wasn't on, which means the van didn't know there was a problem. Hmm. So on to the internet. One thing I noticed when researching was that it was a fairly common problem. People would replace a myriad of parts, only to have the issue persist. Among the parts people would replace would be spark plugs and wires, cap, rotor, coil, distributor, Ignition Control Module, fuel pump, fuel filter, along with vacuum leak checks, fuel injector cleaning, and so on. Wow. I wasn't about to go down all those rabbit holes. Well OK, so I did replace the cap and rotor, but they were well pitted and corroded anyway, so it was a good idea. Anyway, where to start? Not much room under that hood, is there.

Angle Grinder Flap Disc Modification

I've got an old 4-1/2 inch angle grinder from Harbor Freight that just keeps on chugging away. It has a 5/8-inch arbor and most discs these days seem to be made for a 7/8-inch arbor. Fortunately it should be an easy fix to get discs with a larger hole to work with my grinder. I figure I'll just put a 7/8" diameter shoulder on the round nut to hold the larger-holed discs, and just flip the nut over to use smaller-holed discs.

Sheldon 11-Inch Lathe Reversing Tumbler Repair - Again - Arg!

Sigh. Sometimes old machinery is a bit of a bother. Take for instance my Sheldon 11-inch metal lathe from 1941. I got it a year ago and the lead screw reversing tumbler casting was broken. It had been repaired previously any number of times but was broken again by the time I bought it. I fixed it shortly after I got it but noticed when the left quick-change gear selector was in position B, the gearbox would lock up tight. I looked into the issue a few weeks ago and found what the problem was. A pin inside the gearbox was too long, which would contact a gear when the pin came rotating around. I didn't want to pull the gearbox off so I tried to reach in with a cold chisel and knock off the end of the pin. I was somewhat successful, or so I thought. I rotated things by hand and the problem seemed to disappear. I put the lathe in gear, turned it on, and it seemed to run fine too. Shut it off, turn it on, shut it off, turn it on, shut it off. Cool, it's working. Turn it on again and whang! The braze broke. Again. Sigh.

1966 Barracuda Sun Visor Repair

The preferred fix for a sun visor that has lost its stitching is generally not to drill holes in the thing and use rivets. Someone previously decided to do just that though. And it didn't hold up all that well to boot.

Dash Circuit Board Pin Repair - Barracuda

A few nights ago I was driving my 1966 Barracuda and decided it was time to fix the wiper motor issue, and it was also then that I happened to notice a couple dash lights weren't working. Then my high-beam indicator light went out. I tapped on the instrument cluster and the dash and high beam indicator lights all came back on. So since I had the dash out of the car to work on the wiper motor, I also did some detective work to fix the dash lights. Here's what I found:

Sluggish Windshield Wiper Motor Repair - Barracuda

Living in Washington State comes with certain things deemed necessities that may be considered optional in some states. Windshield wipers come to mind. Yes, I know wipers are mandatory equipment in all states but if you lived in SoCal for instance, you could probably get by most of the year without needing them. Not here. We may need 'em any month of the year.

So here I am, driving the Plymouth Barracuda home the day I bought it from my brother earlier this year and it starts raining lightly. I try the wipers and they swipe up, then stop. Hmmm. My brother was right, the wipers do need some attention. So a couple days ago I pulled the dash out of the car and removed the wiper motor to see what's up.

Farewell To Another 40-some Sewing Machines

Today was a big day. Forty-plus sewing machines left the building. The new owners had to make two trips to get them all hauled off in their minivan.

AMMCO (Not AAMCO) Metal Shaper - Reunited

When my mother-in-law decided to clean up her basement 30 years ago, she had a few metal working machines there that her late husband had acquired during his all-too-short years on this earth. Among them was this AMMCO (two "M"s) 7" shaper, circa early 1940's. (For those that may not know, AAMCO (two "A"s) is a transmission rebuilding company but I've seen people refer to AMMCO shapers as AAMCO.)

Vises........ Vices? No, definitely Vises.

(2018) One of the definitions of "vice" (with a "c") in the Oxford English Dictionary, and probably the one that most folks associate with a hoard of items, is this: "a bad habit." In a lighthearted vein, a lot of guys (and gals) have 'vices' in which they collect things. I am one of those guys. Take my sewing machines. Please. (ha ha) Seriously though, I have way too many sewing machines. A lot of people would say I have a bad habit of buying old, decrepit sewing machines. It's one of my vices. I am trying to thin the herd though, and have made progress, and most importantly I haven't purchases a sewing machine in a very long time. Another possible vice is collecting various types of tools, say, vises (with an "s"). Prior to two years ago, I had but one vise, a fairly inexpensive Alltrade "Professional" (shown below), that I bought around 1990 I'm guessing. Rugged, Chinese import no doubt, and heavy enough to take a beating (although in 2022 I snapped a vise jaw insert in two and had to weld it together).