Not today, since it is still early, but yesterday I received my new buffer.
My old one had crapped out at the old house.
I figure it was weak line voltage that may have caused the problem to build up during a big job I was working.
When I took it apart to try and fix it, I found that two of the three stator windings had burned and shorted inside. Had it been the armature I could have replaced it or rewound it and gotten the old beast going again, fairly inexpensively.
Stators burning is a no go usually.
Not sure how much I have told about one of my hobby jobs I do to raise a bit of coin when I have time. I know I've brushed past this on many occasions, but I polish small things for members of the local hot rod club.
This was a bigger job. I usually do carburetors and linkages or brake valves. Intake manifold for a Triumph something or other was a bigger endeavor.
Not my style of car, but I want them shiny, if they pay!
I was working up the disgustingly rough British intake manifold when my old buffer went south. I mean I had started with the grinder, then a hand grinder, big coarse files and a smaller arsenal of riffling files for about a week before I even introduced my buffer to this horrible aluminum casting.
I was almost done when my buffer started smoking from inside, instead of outside. I finished it up on my bench mount buffing station, to get the guy going and get paid.
That was two years ago and I just got a new, more powerful, larger ten inch three HP buffer.
Today I will mount it on the stand that I had commissioned a build with a local welder many years ago for the old buffer.
The stand is a 42" square (the size he had as scrap) by half inch base that I can stand on, an eight inch drill pipe for a riser and a one inch twelve by eight (again, a piece of cheap scrap) mounting top.
I had it drilled and anchored to the concrete at the old place.
I am going to try it without anchoring it at first. This buffer is so smooth and even quiet, doesn't even walk on a slick bench top when I powered it up. I think I can just stand on the base of the mount and that will be enough to stabilize it.
We'll see.
I don't have any jobs lined up, yet, but I have some tools in need of TLC. Lots to polish as I get used to my new buffer!
