I made an electrolysis bath to remove the rust on the book press. 4 steel rebar, cabled together in series as the anode to be connected to the positive lead on the battery charger. Dangled steel wire connected to the press to be connected to the negative end on the charger.
When I plug it in for several hours it should bubble all of the rust off the object and stick to the steel rods.
I picked up this York 100 Bullet vise used locally for $40. I’ll have to pretty it up and post some after shots. Still looking for a Wilton Bullet vise but they’re not common in Canada.
I saw this guy this morning on my porch. I haven’t seen one of these before, I think it’s called a wasp spider. It was big.
I always thought book presses were nifty. They’re old, solid, made of cast iron and built like a tank. I like the huge metal crank wheel on the top and the beefy threaded rod that raises and lowers the press. Although I don’t have a use for one I’ve always wanted one in my collection.
I picked this up used just out of town, it’s a STANDARD Levey Bros. (not sure of the year). It was nasty but I thought I would be able to clean it up well. So I did. Here is before and after. All I did was take it all apart, grind off the rust and old paint, used bondo where I wanted it smooth and painted it with Tremclad black gloss spray paint.
I’ve been searching for a decent low speed grinder that’s of equal quality to my high speed Baldor to use for sharpening my woodturning chisels. When in the store, every grinder I’ve tested all seen to have the same side to side wheel wobble. My Baldor never had that issue. I’ve wondered how so many turners can use the same import grinder and not complain. I’ve come to the conclusion that some aren’t as picky as I am OR they’re using shims to correct the issue, or use the special self aligning washers I came across, that absolutely worked.
Self-Aligning Spherical Washers:
Self-Aligning Spherical Washer, 3-piece set for one CBN Wheel
Machined Aluminum Washers:
Washers – Machined Aluminum 5/8"
Wheels purchased from woodturnerswonders.com:
Radius Edge CBN Wheel 8-inch, 5/8″ arbor – 80 grit
Mega Square 8″ CBN Wheel, 5/8″ arbor – 350 grit
Grinder: Rikon 80-808 slow speed 8″ wheels
My Hayward AquaVac Pool Cleaner recently stopped working. It would run for 10-20 seconds and quit. I checked for debris and free moving wheel bearings and impeller which were all fine. Only the motor was left, this is how I did it. Motor part is Hayward RCX40000DC. This fits the Aquavac as well as the TigerShark models.
This also includes how to remove and replace the wheel tracks and the impellor, although mine were fine.
Here are some pictures of the tea box completed. I’ve assembled the magnetic clasps with 4mm hemp rope and wrapped with 1mm hemp twine. I think it turned out great.
Here are some images on the progress of the wenge with curly/birdseye maple liner tea box.
I’ve started working on the dovetailed tea box, I did the tails for the sides of the inner wenge box.
