THE JUNK WORKSHOP
05/10/2012 07:09 PM +0800
Wood lathe out of salvaged parts.
This was a live center (spindle) but I couldn't yet resolve how to mount it. I made another a spindle using a small saw arbor.
The new spindle was bolted to a piece of angle iron . The angle iron was then fixed to an improvised slide.
I used a disk sander to shape the tip of the spindle.
The shaft vibrated badly as it was supported only by one bearing behind the fan motor. To cure this problem I supported the front bearing with a 1/8 inch mild still strip shaped to cradle the bearing. After this the shaft ran smoothly.
I constructed this lathe for turning clock faces. But I could still short items (like a drawer knob ,for example) by placing the spindle a short distance from the face plate.
The washing motor had connections that enable it to run either way. I wired it to run clockwise.
My hardy drill
I had a Black and Decker drill that was almost 30 years old. This drill was permanently attached to a Black and Decker drill stand which was also about the same age as the drill. I fixed the drill permanently to the stand after its switch was spoiled. I removed the switch and made a direct connection, that is bypassing the switch so that it would operate as soon as the mains switch was on. It was more convenient to attach it t a stand to operate it that way.
Recently the drill was noisy and I was determined to cure it. I have never disassemble any drill completely before but disassembling was simple as the parts were secured by screws.
First I took out the chuck , then the drill head. After removing the head the armature slid out by itsef. This caused the the pair of brushes to slip off the end of the drill contact drum. The brushes had to be removed before the armature could be placed back in position. To do this the back part of the drill which was also a cover for the bearing and the brushes. I had to remove the cover anyway to apply some grease to the bearing.
After greasing the gears and bearings I reassembled the drill. It was then that I noticed some thin flexible washers had dropped out without me realizing it. Those shims stopped the ends of the drill from jamming. I had to dismantle the drill again and had to use my common sense to relocate the shims. But there were two more shims left and I could not figure out which parts they belonged to. That was why the drill produced a high pitch sound.
I had a problem with the drill stand though as it could accept only black and Decker drill. If not I could just fix another drill I had to the stand.
Revolving spray table
I salvaged an old stand fan stand and a useless ceiling fan motor to make a revolving spray table. Now it is no longer necessary moving around an object I am spraying as I can turn around the table so that the object faces the direction I am spraying.
Only the motor and its shaft are used. The motor cover is removed so that a 10mm thick,18inches square plywood can be screwed to the motor face. There is no need to make new screw holes as many screw holes are already there. As the shaft protrudes an inch above the motor face I cut it off with a metal cutter blade fixed to my angle grinder.
The other end of the motor shaft goes into the steel tube of the fan stand. The table can be raised or lowered just like you could do to a fan.
here is the picture of the table without the top.
Of course I cannot place heavy objects, like a piece of furniture on the table. It is meant for light objects. I also use the table as a welding table (with a piece of metal plate to cover the top) and as an assembly and disassembly table.
Capacitor start AC motor
A capacitor start ac motor would not run if the starting capacitor was accidentally became disconnected or spoiled. First we had to make sure the bearing did not seize up.
If the motor could still turn freely check the capacitor before sending a "dead" motor to a motor service shop .
A fire alarm became a door alarm
I was looking for something else in one of my junk boxes containing electronic items and I found this, a fire alarm module made by Eagle of Japan.
I remember buying this module at Proops in London , England in 1983.
The connection tabs are at the bottom, two for a temperature switch and one for the 6v power supply and two for a 8ohm speaker.
As I did not have a temperature switch I substituted it with a reed alarm switch. it worked and the siren volume from the horn loudspeaker is acceptably loud.
Then I connected it to a light detector . This also worked.
As I did not want a fire alarm I fixed the module to work as a door alarm. The alarm switch was a normally off reed switch. A normally on switch will need an additional circuit.
Here is the document which was included with the module.
Added storage
shelves to my workshop.
Bradnailer
Leaky compressor connections
Convert an unused flatbed scanner into a PCB light box.
Use
salvaged step-down transformers, rectifiers, bridge rectifiers and electrolytic
capacitors in power supply projects.
Clock parts
Testing zener diodes
Read article about zener diode tester for more information.
Other articles
My Electronics page. (All about electronics)
Links to other web pages
http://www.electronicrepairguide.com/l
http://www.Jestine Yong.com
https://diyelectronicshobby.wordpress.com
http://abangteh.blogspot.com/
http://asm23.wordpress.com
www.gizmaz.com
http://www.zen22142.zen.co.uk/