New Belt Sander (Need Servicing?)

V

Vastvosau

Joined
Apr 22, 2016
Messages
4
Hello everyone. This is my first time posting to this forum. I’m just getting into the hobby of knifemaking, so I bought a 2x42 belt sander off of craigslist. It is a Craftsman 1HP model from the late 90’s (built super solid and HEAVY). The guy I bought it from said his dad got it for woodworking, but hardly ever used it.

Anyways, there is some rust on the machine, and I haven’t taken a look at the condition of the engine. When I ran it, it worked smoothly, with a little wobble (it was sitting in a wheel barrel). Before I begin to use it, I want to make sure that it is fully ready to go. What are some things I should do to take good care of this machine that I hope to get lots of mileage from?

I have a couple of pictures of the machine if you need it, but I need to figure out how to post them from my phone.
 
I have an old (pre-1990) Craftsman 1x42 up North at the cabin, which is kinda similar (if not congruent mind you) to your recent acquisition. That sucker will not die.................... I give the bushings a spritz of lube now and again, not fancy lube either (c'mon its in the UP). It gets blown off if I switch from wood to metal also, no need to encourage a fire in the dust. That's about it. Tighten the various screws/nuts/bolts but don't overdo it. I believe it may be drilled for cotter pins in a couple of places, you might wanna put those in place if they're missing.

A word of advice, it runs very fast and will eat metal in a hurry. I'm not sure how one would go about slowing that machine down but that might be worth thinking about.

Good luck with that.
 
Thank you so much for the advice! Your post is very encouraging to read. I’ll give it a general cleanup and then tighten loose screws/lube the bushings before putting it to good use.
 
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