New Tool: Powermatic PWBS-14 Band Saw
Found this on Craigslist for a pretty good deal, but had some work to do it as you can see by the pictures. It ought to be a crime to treat a fine piece of machinery the way Michael did... Maybe it's buyer's remorse, but I feel like I should've haggled a bit on it, but didn't feel like dealing with Michael (previous owner) in his extremely drunken stupor. Besides, I got tired of hearing about how he was once nationally-acclaimed, etc and Chris looked like he was getting high off Michael's breath.
On to the saw... The top was fairly corroded (in a leaky barn/workshop), but the rest of the saw reflected Michael's claim that he had only used it a few times -- especially the remaining corrosion inhibitor long dried out and now an apparent permanent part of the top. You can see by the images below that the 3 hours of work cleaning, and 2 hours dialing everything in paid off (ok, so you can't see the dialing in, but will have to trust me).
Click on the thumbnails below to view full-size 12MP images
This is after a bit of scraping with a putty knife -- I hadn't thought to take pictures until after I did this.
After 1st and 2nd pass...
After the 3rd pass, most of the corrosion is gone except for a few reminder spots. In the last picture, you can see the remnants of the preservative Michael never bothered to remove.
After some heavy sanding and the 5th (or 8th) pass , it looks like a real cast iron top. Time to move on to the roller bearings...
This is the collection of everything I scraped together to restore the top.
Dining Island
Here's an 18-month endeavor of my own design that was filled with more challenges than I expected, especially the top. It's not warped as the pictures show (lens setting?), and is constructed entirely of solid birds-eye maple with mahogany trim. We use it in the breakfast area of our kitchen just behind the family room, primarily as a place to snack or eat light meals while watching TV.
Click on the thumbnails below to view full-size 12MP images
Use the Contact page if you're interested in more details, plans, or a custom build (it won't take 18 months).