What have I done? I've squandered my family's financial future on this
monstrous creature from a 60's sci-fi movie. Or something like that
anyway.
I made it to auction just in time to bid on it. If you like wordy
stories,
you can read my original story of the purchase here.
Its a whole lot lot of machine for the money I paid, but what does it
do?
Well for one thing, it sits in your trailer until you can figure out
how
to get it out.
It is primarily a chain mortiser, a machine that cuts mortises with a toothed chain. Imagine driving the tip of a chain saw into wood. The wood is clamped onto the table which moves in 3 directions. The left-right movement is nearly the full length of the table. Pull down on the lever at the left and the head carrying the chain comes down, counterbalanced by a large weight at the back of the machine. It would seem you can leave the head in the down position while moving the table left/right, cutting the full length of the mortise.
A chisel mortiser is fitted to the left of the machine, seemingly as
an accessory. Even so, its a reasonable machine in its own right. The
lever
on the left hand side of the machine brings down the chisel assembly.
The
counterweight shown pulls everything back up. It also came with a
smaller
counterweight. When the handle is in the upmost position, a fork moves
the drive belt onto an idler pulley, disengaging the drive. There is
also
a small spindle on the left side of the pic, I'm guessing its the
remains
of a chain sharpener.
When I first saw it from this angle I felt like I was on a Doctor Who
set. This rear view showings the large counterweight. Its heavy -
significantly
more than I can lift without assistance.
I knocked off some paint so I could read the markings. I put together
a short company profile here.
Here's the drive for the chain mortiser. The lower, centre pulley
drives
the chain, the other two are idlers. When the head comes down, the
pulleys
left and centre come down with it, keeping the belt tension constant.
The
chain shown attaches to the counterweight.
The 3 phase, 3hp motor shown next to a single phase "3hp" motor from
a contractor saw. Hmm....
I ended up disassembling the machine to get it off my trailer. Just the base casting was a tricky and somewhat dangerous job for two people to get off.