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I found a great deal on a 6” metal lathe on Facebook marketplace. It was about 30 mins away and even though I was the 3rd to respond, I was closest he decided to sell it to me! (Lots of times people promise to come by but never do) Its a Craftsman 101.21400 which is a rebranded Atlas 618. Got...

It’s easy to pack and ship a vintage grinder. Proper packing means it will arrive safely even if UPS drops the box. My rule of thumb is that it has to survive a 2ft drop with no damage. I pack the grinder in recycled boxes I get from work. The box is 22” x 14” x 12” and made of triple wall...

A few weeks ago I was at an estate sale that had lots of interesting tools in the basement. A jewelers rolling mill, casting oven, wet saw for lapidary, and sets of broaches for cutting key ways with an arbor press. This was on the table by the casting oven. Maybe used for jewelry making...

I’m visiting my parents in Wynnewood PA and we stopped by a local bagel place to grab breakfast this morning. They recently added some convenience outlets under the bench seats to charge up. But to do so they wired one power strip into another. You can see 3 here but there’s a 4th outside the...

This weekend I found a huge arbor press at a local estate sale. It was in pieces but the seller assured me that all the parts were there, but one important part was missing. As found: Should look like this: They were only asking $50 for this 516lb press with 20” of travel on the ram! It was...

My 17 year old daughter drove into a stationary barrier and tore off the front bumper. Got the car back home to figure out what to do next and today I noticed a wet spot on the driveway under the front driver side of the car. What is this? Looks like the edge got bent a little and needs to be...

For sale:

Last night while sitting down for dinner I heard an odd noise which seemed to be coming from the kitchen light. Kind of a faint crackling noise. The fixture has three bulbs which I recently replaced with LEDs. I’ve had a few LEDs go bad prematurely but never heard a sound from them. To test my...

I’m helping a friend sell his dads watchmaker tools. Looks like a very small brass lathe. What is this?

I picked up a vintage porter cable belt sander at a local estate sale. It was used by a professional flooring contractor and had lots of use over the years. Though it worked I wanted to restore it back to original condition. It was packed with oily sawdust that covered everything. It took some...

I picked up two older Lista cabinets a few weeks ago off Craigslist. The slides were improperly lubricated with gummed up grease. After removing all the drawers I soaked each bearing in kerosene and then lubricated with a few drops of 3-in-1 oil. Got it all back together and drawers are...

A beat up old sticker on a newly restored grinder makes it look bad. Many restorations require that the label be removed (and destroyed in the process) to repaint. When I restore a grinder I go all out - sandblast, paint, new bearings, replace cord, replace rubber feet, etc. I want my old...

I had a couple hours of free time this afternoon and decided to restore this Baldor 221 polishing lathe with my 18 year old son. He did everything but the sand blasting and the painting. 2 hours later and the only thing left is waiting for the paint to dry and then to reassemble. I picked...

I came across good deal for a big old air compressor on Craigslist Friday evening. It looked interesting but was 60 miles away plus I really didn't need a new project to work on. The garage just started getting cleaned up so there was a little space, but the point of cleaning it up was to have...

I'm going Monday and Tuesday to the STAFDA show (Specialty Tools & Fasteners Distributors Association) in Atlanta. This is my first time to the show and I'm not sure what to expect. I'm looking to bring on some new products and learn more about existing products. Most of my vendors will have...

I use this air purifier whenever I have a home project that generates dust. It does a good job of cleaning the air and removing the particles of drywall dust. It's worked great for a few projects so far - couple bathrooms and a kitchen. Was working on another bathroom and it worked great for a...

AC wouldn't blow cold air so my wife made a call to the local hvac company. They have several crews and have a good reputation around here. Inside fan would blow but outside fan would not so we only got warm air. We Jane a second zone with identical unit that was working fine on the 2nd floor...

Lye is a great degreaser and you can make 5-7 gallons for about $3.50. It can be reused many times without losing its potency. I first used lye to clean earlier this week when I picked up some vintage cast iron pans. They had so much built up grease that I couldn't see the maker on one of...

For years I've been looking for a Quincy compressor. Even though I found a great Saylor Beall a couple years ago I never stopped looking for a Quincy. Every few months one would appear on the local Craigslist but be too much, in poor shape or already sold. Well last week I saw what appeared to...

The 1940s Craftsman grinder I picked up a few weeks ago and posted on vintage grinder thread is almost fully restored. Got it torn down, de-rusted and painted. (original post - http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=5109194&postcount=828 The original 1940s bearings were shot so I put...