12-2-2023 We got this machine in the same deal and delivery as the Oliver#361 planer, which is shown in a separate post. Here are some arrival pics;
So initial observation was previous owner has about 1/4" thick red grease on the tables. I think Smitty covered it with a blue tarp to protect his straps, that tarp was nasty and couldn't get it in the dumpster fast enough. You can see I set it in the driveway until I had a chance to do an initial grease scraping, before bringing it in the shop.
So couple things I learned right away is this is a facer; the biggest difference is it never had a fence mounted on it and the infeed adjustment wheel is under the infeed table instead of on the back like a jointer. This also never had a starter or push button mounted on it, I guess all the electricals would have been on the feed works that the previous owner unfortunately scrapped. On the badge the stamped model # is 300 CM, but the C is backwards. New guy at factory or secret code? The cutter head spins very freely, that's a good sign and the knives look like they are full height; there has not been many grindings. I also started really liking this machine and can't wait to fire it off for the first time! So I cleaned the first half of the table and started working on the electrical. Super cool motor badges! Don't see that Delta diagram very often!
I was very surprised the Porter is/was wired for 240 volts, I thought for sure it would be wired for 480. Since there was no other electrical I had to open the pecker head to determine voltage. It is 240 volts delta wound, 240 is better for me anyway. So I already had the size 2 starter and correct heaters but had to shop for a 240 coil for it. Got lucky and had the #8 SO wire in the shop, they don't give that away. I also found, in my stash, a really cool old push button switch with a cast box and cover called the Monitor.
Now that the electrical is half done my ADHD kicked in and I wanted to remove the front bearing cap. I can see that there was probably an oil cup that is broken off. That's a big and expensive Fafnir bearing. Doesn't look bad for being in storage for so long. It really reeked of gear lube, but I am putting Mobile Vactra back in it.
12-30-2023 Progress is slow, I am mostly working a little here and there after supper and have a lot of different projects going right now.
Happy New Year everybody!!!
11-18-2024 Finally fired this up today for the first time! That was exciting! She was running backwards the first time but switched the red and blue wires and performance was dramatically improved! Runs great, comes up to speed in about 1 1/2 seconds.
I want to clean up the cutterhead and started taking all the knives and gibs out. Head has a serial # 6721 and stamped with company info. There are 2 sets of witness punch marks on the head and gibs, so that is a little confusing since they are not the same. Those ones in the center of the cutter head, next to the serial number, seem to be older so I'll use those. The knives are full width and appear to have the factory grind on them. That's really nice since a set of 4 of these would be pretty spendy.
Exploring the web to understand details of the machinery after reading a post which states an Austin, TX sawmill company has one for sale. View post from 10-1-2024 on Instagram below:
https://www.instagram.com/berdollsawmill?igsh=eDYxMHg2aDdub21s