2 Hour Baldor 221 Polishing Lathe Restoration

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 this up 3 years ago for $25 at an estate sale. It's ugly, the bearings are shot, and there is some side to side play in the rotor. It worked well enough to use and I did, but a year or two ago I upgraded to a 3/4HP buffer and this small polisher sat in the corner unused. In the process of reclaiming space in the garage I decided to tackle this project.



The first step is to remove the chuck and the arbor. They are friction fit on a tapered shaft. Ideally you only have to use the ejector handle to pop them off, but they were on a long time and didn't want to budge. A squirt of Kroil got the right side chuck off but the left side needed some heat before it would let go.



Next step is to remove the rest of the ejector assembly with 4 slotted screws on each side.



This exposed the bearings.


Left side - felt, washer, bearing


Right side - felt, 2 washers, wavy washer, 2 washers

Then flip it over to remove he base.


The rubber feet are hard and need to be replaced.


A bit dirty inside. Possibly water got in base and caused rust.

The wiring is simple - line goes to two wires marked L. 3 wires from stator marked 1, 2, and 3 connect to wires with same marks that go to the switch.

Removed the power cord and strain relief with a Heyco "strain relief bushing assembly pliers" which make easy work of it and preserves the strain relief for reuse. A great speciality tool to buy if you do restorations.



Next the switch is removed and the base is unbolted from the stator.




Ugly by the switch. Previous owner must have used the switch with wet hands.

End bells are marked with one punch on right and two on left to aid in reassembly.


On a previous motor restore I didn't punch deep enough and after blasting and painting I couldn't find my marks. This time I was sure to leave deep enough marks.

On the left side is a centrifugal switch that had to be disconnected.


They left enough slack in the wire to get good access to the two screws (some motors require you to put screwdriver through stator to reach the screws)

Next the drive rivets need to be removed so that the label can come off. This was done by prying from behind to push them out a little, then gripping them with a diagonal cutter to pull them out. This leaves rivets in original condition and doesn't damage the tag.





And here is the rotor.



A 3 jaw puller popped the bearings right off. They were 6203Z SKF bearings. Shield on one side, open on the other.





While the hardware soaked in the ultrasonic cleaner we went to the garage to blast the two end bells and base.



For several years I would blast with glass bead using the siphon gun in the cabinet. That was slow. For this job I hooked up a pressure blaster to the cabinet and filled it with aluminum oxide. It took less than a minute to fully blast the three parts with this setup. The deadman nozzle produces a heavy spray of media and it strips the metal bare very quickly. A pressure blaster also requires fewer CFMs. The compressor didn't even cycle during the blasting.





Here are the parts fresh out of the blaster



I use hot water and soap to clean off the media dust. The metal will flash rust so you have to dry them. Don't use a paper towel or little fibers will stick to he surface and ruin the paint job.

The stator and base cover were sanded with a RA sander working through 3 grits to 220.



Then to my primitive paint booth (a table covered with paper, some bad lighting and an exhaust fan blowing out window).

The pores in the iron will hold moisture so if I don't give the parts time to dry I use a torch to dry them. The heated parts also helps with the paint quality. You can see moisture getting chased away with the torch.



The bearing surfaces and the wiring is masked off.



And the tape is trimmed with a razor.



Then two light coats and it gets set down to dry.





By the time the bearings arrive the paint will be cured and I'll reassemble.

Some of that "moisture" is condensation from the propane flame. the theory of propane combustion is it produces water in a 1 to 1 ration with the amount of fuel burned.
I like restored old Made in North America anything. NICE job BTW.
A side story: I took an old GE motor apart and cleaned everything in an ultrasonic bath. I thought I had allowed enough drying time in an oven before the motor was assembled and painted. All went well with the assembly and installation as a drive for an 1883 WF and John Barnes 22 inch Camelback drillpress. The motor was wired for 220 volts. I hit the power switch and the armature exploded in a flash, after a few hundred turns, and there was copper spatter dancing around the shop floor.

fantastic job! esp with your son helping.
subscribed!

Thanks for taking time to post this. I am always amazed by these restorations, and enjoy reading them.

no metal prep on the bare metal before paint?

Good job, if you are using the 1725rpm speed you can probably order some standard 6203-2RS replacements if those don't cleanup properly (iow damaged internally). I'd recommend a tube or pipe sized just to press on the inner race only.

isb cornbinder said:

Some of that "moisture" is condensation from the propane flame. the theory of propane combustion is it produces water in a 1 to 1 ration with the amount of fuel burned.

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As I heated up each piece there was some moisture added with the flame (product of complete combustion), then as the temp went up it evaporated along with the residual moisture.

bgarrett said:

no metal prep on the bare metal before paint?

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Usually I do prime and then paint. But I ran out of primer and and wanted to get the paint on. I've had mixed results with primed vs unprimed on cast iron likely due to the added thickness of the primer. Anyway, if the paint fails I can strip it down to bare metal without much effort and start again, but I don't expect it to fail. I'm going to let it air cure a day or two then put it in a low temp oven to bake.

matt_i said:

Good job, if you are using the 1725rpm speed you can probably order some standard 6203-2RS replacements if those don't cleanup properly (iow damaged internally). I'd recommend a tube or pipe sized just to press on the inner race only.

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The bearing are going to be replaced, not cleaned up - I've tried cleaning in the past but wasn't happy with the results (maybe I just didn't do it well). It is only about $10-$12 for a set of decent bearings and that way I'm sure they are good. I'm leaning towards a 6203ZZ (shielded both sides). The RS bearing doesn't have as long a life due to higher friction between the seals.



I have a shop press to install the bearings. I'll post up photos once they come in (they shipped 1st class main from across the country, so it will be about a week).





This is my first father-son restoration project. Most times I dive into a project and don't have time (or clean hands) to properly document. It was nice to watch my son mostly do this himself.

That is a real restoration. Looking great!

isb cornbinder said:

Some of that "moisture" is condensation from the propane flame.

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This! I've seen the "drive off water with propane" on several forums - it's a myth. Prove it to yourself: let the piece cool for a few hours and do it all over again. Condensation will reappear.

matt:
Very well done! Fantastic job in not only the restoration work itself, but in documenting with words and pictures. As a father myself, I congratulate you in taking the time and showing the patience to do a project like this one with your son. Kudos my man!

Awesome! Thank you for taking the time to document and post these pictures/words. Love these restorations. As a son who lost his father, I can tell you those times together are invaluable.

nice job.

Had no idea there were special pliers for those strain relief's. always struggle with them.

now I need to go find a pair....

In to follow this thread. Nice work

nice work! following as well!!!

That was a great tutorial....thank you for the photos and the write up.

I recently picked up a similar baldor lathe, where do you get wheels for it? All of the wheels I have, the hole is too large.

gungatim said:

nice job.

Had no idea there were special pliers for those strain relief's. always struggle with them.

now I need to go find a pair....

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I too, have a new must-have tool to add to the list.

gungatim said:

Had no idea there were special pliers for those strain relief's. always struggle with them.

Click to expand...

Here's the official tool - Heyco No 29



Angled jaws to grip



I picked these up several years ago at an estate sale but it took me a few months before I figured out what they were. Then about a year ago at another estate sale I found a bin of 100s of the strain reliefs. A few are in the photo with the tool.

sickboi55 said:

I recently picked up a similar baldor lathe, where do you get wheels for it?

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I would recommend Rio Grande https://www.riogrande.com/category/tools-and-equipment/polishing-and-finishing/buffs they are listed under tools>polishing>buffs



There are a lot of options in buff size, plies, and firmness. Here are two that I have.

Nice work, and nice South Jersey buffing wheels, to boot.

Thanks for the tip on using a pressure blaster hooked up to the cabinet gun. I'm getting that set up ASAP! I have a Grizzly cabinet blaster and the pick up hose is constantly running dry. I even have the damn thing tipped to one side about 20 º.

My son and I spent another 2 hours this morning and put the polishing lathe back together. It looks new (except for original tag) and the bearings no longer rattle.

First step in reassembly was to make sure the paint was fully cured. Rustoleum can take weeks to get to full hardness, or longer if cold. In my old house we had radiators and I left painted parts on them for a few days and the paint got rock hard. This house doesn't have radiators so I heated parts up in the oven at 170F for 15 mins. (you will smell some fumes when you do this so put the vent on and make sure your wife is away!) After another 15 minutes cooling the paint was hard and would not scratch or take a fingernail impression.



A couple days ago we tried to restore the switch cover and the motor tag by painting them with black lacquer and then sanding off the high spots (letters are slightly recessed on the switch cover and raised on the motor tag). But the nickel plating was thin and came off after a few strokes with 600 paper. Quick wipe with lacquer thinner and it was back to the original condition (minus some nickel plating). That's too bad because the tag is the only thing that gives its age away.





The bearings arrived yesterday. They were about $10 total for both with shipping. These are 6203ZZ Nachi. I've used this brand in the past because they are good quality and are made in Japan. I will never install a made in China bearing.



Bearings can be pressed on, or you can shrink the shaft in the freezer or expand the bearing with heat to install them. The slight expansion with heat was enough to allow the first bearing to slide right on.



We set the bearing on a light bulb for a few minutes to heat up. Since the bulb is curved the inner race made contact with the bulb and the outer race remained cooler which made it easier to handle. You have to be careful not to overheat or the grease will ooze out. I flipped the bearing ever minute or two until it felt hot enough then let my son slide it on. It took him a few tries to get it right because you have to slide it on quickly and evenly and that takes some practice.

The second bearing didn't go as well. It was a tighter fit and got stuck before it fully seated. No problem - we headed to the garage to press it the rest of the way.



It's important to press only the inner race and to press evenly. I held the rotor as my son operated the press. We used a scrap inner race from an old slightly larger bearing to press against the inner race.


Fully seated

Next my son attached the centrifugal switch back to the left side bell housing and installed it onto the stator. Good thing we had left indicator marks - they made it easy to realign.



Then the rotor was installed and the right side bell housing was positioned.

4 studs with acorn nuts secured the bell housings to the stator.



The old power cord was missing the grounding pin so I pulled a wire from my box of wires to use as a replacement. The ground needed a crimped connector to attach to the grounding screw.



And the Heyco strain relief pliers compressed the strain relief enough (even with a new cord) to allow it to easily slide into the base.



Then he wired it back the same way it was taken apart. 1-1, 2-2, 3-3 and the power cord to L and L.



The rubber feet were replaced with new (I keep a dozen of them in my hardware drawer for quick replacements as needed)



And here is the final result.









And the original

Nice! I have a Baldor grinder and stand that needs restoration... I love these threads.

nice resto - esp so that you did it with your son. He will remember this forever - like every time he uses it when you are on the other side of the dirt. I get great memories anytime I use either one of my grandfathers tools they left me. One of them engraved his name on his quality tools - every time I see his initials it moves me.

Great work on the buffer.

mattblast said:

Here's the official tool - Heyco No 29



Angled jaws to grip



I picked these up several years ago at an estate sale but it took me a few months before I figured out what they were. Then about a year ago at another estate sale I found a bin of 100s of the strain reliefs. A few are in the photo with the tool.

Click to expand...

I've been getting by removing strain reliefs just fine for literally decades with small arc joint pliers, but now that you showed me these I have no choice but to do an ebay search...

Tommy

LS6 Tommy said:

I've been getting by removing strain reliefs just fine for literally decades with small arc joint pliers, but now that you showed me these I have no choice but to do an ebay search...

Tommy

Click to expand...

Me too!

Amazon has them, but $50 seems a bit pricey. "Heyco 0022 R-29 STANDARD STRAIN RELIEF PLIERS"

mattblast said:

Here's the official tool - Heyco No 29



Angled jaws to grip



I picked these up several years ago at an estate sale but it took me a few months before I figured out what they were. Then about a year ago at another estate sale I found a bin of 100s of the strain reliefs. A few are in the photo with the tool.

Click to expand...

These pliers bear an uncanny resemblance to the Eiffel Plierwrench. I could easily grind the jaws on mine to perform this function. Thinking back, all the other pliers I've tried to use for the strain relief removal and installation task failed mostly because of the jaws not being parallel. Problem solved!