[TonyM]

I looked for a thread like this and found none. I hope it isn't redundant.

Most woodworkers that I know have a tool under a bench or behind a saw somewhere that is basically crap yet they hang on to it with hopes of revival. Anybody else own up to harboring an ugly bench critter?

Mine is a planer that I found at a mill estate sale about thirty years ago. It is(was) an industrial-grade piece at one time. It has no brand and has more iron in it than all my other tools combined. At one point I had a pipe dream about disassembling it and reassembling it as a lathe using the heavy-weight drum and a treadle-like foot action device I found but once I awoke I forget the details. I have it hooked up and it gets used as a shaper once in awhile but if someone walked off with it I wouldn't report the loss. Besides, they wouldn't get far.

Any others?

TonyM

 

[Al B Thayer]

I have one of the first Proformax drum sanders. Even have the veritable speed drive for it. It has been sitting dismantled in the corner for 19 years. I paid so much for it I was going to make it work if it killed me. What a wicked destructive hunk of junk that tool was.

Al

Nails only hold themselves.

 

[Julie Mor]

I had an old Craftsman jointer and a Craftsman sanding center, both on wobbly Craftsman wheeled-leg sets that caused me nothing but grief. The jointer kept falling out of parallel and the sander disk wouldn't hold the PSA sheets and trying to move them around was an exercise in frustration, the wheel lifts kept failing. I couldn't sell them when I had garage sales and finally just gave them away. I probably owned them for 20 years.

 

[Hammer1]

Wish mine was small enough to fit under a bench. More like a ship anchor. I have an old 3PH J-Line lathe that I'll never restore. Getting the beast on a truck to go to the scrap yard isn't easy but it's too far gone for anything else.

 

[cabinetman]

The first time I moved to a larger shop, a paint shaker was there. I thought how cool...my own paint shaker. But, the first time I tried it, it hippity hopped all over the place. So, it got stashed and never used.

.

 

[Gene Howe]

I found a working tread mill and made a long belt sander out of it. I've never bought a belt for it. It sets in a corner and, having a flat horizontal surface, collects all sorts of stuff, as well as sawdust.
Like Al B, I HAD a Performax piece of junk. For a long time, it too sat in a corner. I finally unloaded it.

 

[TonyM]

BBQ Bucks

Just an info note for those who wish to salvage the metal to sell for scrap. My wife bought a huge SS BBQ from Costco and kept it spotless for it's lifespan. She told me I could keep it but she quickly changed her mind when I came home with $192. That's a lot of sawdust. I had to disassemble it first but clean metal sells for a good chunk of dough here and prices go up constantly. They put you thru a background check before letting you sell it due to the meth-heads.

TonyM

 

[Bill White 2]

I wish I had a "veritable" speed drive.:laughing:
Bill

 

[Gene Howe]

that was the problem with mine. It wasn't.:thumbdown:

I wish I had a "veritable" speed drive.:laughing:
Bill

 

[Al B Thayer]

I wish I had a "veritable" speed drive.:laughing:
Bill

Don't make funn of my spel cheque,

Nails only hold themselves.

 

[Dave Paine]

I will fess up to having some dust gathering machines, but may not be boat anchors.

a) A Craftsman Radial Drill Press. I upgraded to a floor standing Powermatic, so this now gathers dust.

b) A Bosch 3915 10in SCMS. I upgraded to the Bosch 12in glider, so this now gather dust.

c) A small anvil. Purchased years ago from Grizzly. I thought I would use it, but so far only as a dust magnet. Perhaps my closest to a good boat anchor due to the weight. :laughing:

d) Ridgid oscillating spindle sander. I got a dedicated spindle sander from Grizzly which works better than the Ridgid spindle and a 12in disc sander from Grizzly which works better than the belt. So now the Ridgid is on a bench gathering dust.

I should sell these, I just hate to hassle with CL buyers.

 

[unclefester]

I had a 1970 +/- Craftsman radial arm saw with all the vintage attachments I bought used in the late 70's. This thing couldn't hold square within 1/4" over its travel distance. Then thought it would be good for cross cutting saw for thin metal. Didn't use it for decades. I finally gave it away as scrap metal last month . I didn't want the liability of lawsuit selling on CL.