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Old January 29, 2014, 07:54 PM   #26
603Country
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Harbor Freight's cheapest disc sander won't cost much. And a small belt sander, for what the OP wants to do, is worth the money. I have both (higher dollar versions, for sure) and use them all the time. Surely you can get one or the other and save all that hand work.

As for Ryobi tools, generally I avoid them but I have a couple of things that just won't die. The old belt sander, and couple of drills, a Sawzall copy, and a spindle sander still work fine. And the scroll saw is still alive and working well. But don't get me started on some of the junk that died early and ugly, like the two cycle weed eater that ran for 10 seconds. Yes...10 seconds. Even now it's hard to believe that all I got out of it was 10 seconds of running. Never ate the first weed. I returned it with bad feelings (yelled and jumped up and down for a while and said bad things). 10 seconds.....
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Old January 30, 2014, 01:32 AM   #27
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I got serious and did a little hand work tonight, with some 40 and 60 grit. It's coming along nicely.

In the process, I realized the original butt plate had been fitted very poorly - with uneven contours, and a funky taper. I don't know why, but I hadn't noticed before. So, I'm recontouring the entire butt, with the pad in place, to match.

I'm not really worried about trying to match any finish, because this stock is getting a textured pain job (it's already 90% done). Without the spray job, it looks like absolute garbage, since the shotgun was run over by a truck. (That, or a horse rolled over it ... but I'd say it was a truck.)

To make matters worse, someone continued shooting it with the mangled, shattered stock, until the recoil boss, screw holes, and all of the partitions in the inletting were ripped through/out by recoil. (Edit: For anyone unaware, the Stevens 258 is a bolt action.) By the time I got my hands on it, the only thing connecting the fore-end to the butt, was a 1/2" piece of wood. The two main cracks ran from behind the wrist, twisting through the inletting, and running beyond the front take-down screw. Aside from the wood between those cracks, the rest of the stock was held together by luck, workshop grime, and mouse crap.

So... the stock has had a lot of work done to it (14 cracks repaired, several holes filled, 3 threaded pins, 1 brass recoil boss reinforcement, 1 brass pin, 2 screws, and several dowels). It has actually gained over a pound of weight, with the added materials.

It was a bit of an exercise in "can I save something THIS effed up?".
Unfortunately, I can't locate my 'before' photos, or the stock repair photos. But I'll post a photo or two, once it's done.


Anyway... that's some history on the thing. I've been using it as a learning project, but the stupid thing is really growing on me. I may have to keep it, after all.....
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Old January 30, 2014, 04:56 PM   #28
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I have ask all of my friends and cant find anyone that dont have a belt sander, I thought it was standard equipment for any workshop. I have a 12 inch disc sander that I do mine on but I do 10 or 12 a year.
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Old January 30, 2014, 05:10 PM   #29
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See Frankenmauser the project pulled one of those course layers of skin you been wearing for years..... Sometimes it helps to take on a theraputic effort such as yours. I have one in my shop right now, its an old Hartfoed Connecticut Co. side by side, oh yeah No barrel, forearm is not much bigger than a 3.00 cigar and the reciever is missing parts, hows that for growing on you? It'll peel three layers off me in the end and it might well be damned worth it buddy....
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Old January 31, 2014, 06:30 AM   #30
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We'll see, hooligan. You're probably right, but there's only one way to find out...
I'm really looking forward to shooting it.
Most of all, I'm really happy to be nearly done with it. Right now, the textured paint is curing on the stock. After Sunday, maybe Monday, it'll be ready to be sealed. And, after that cures, I can put it all back together and try to find some time to test it.

But, there's no rest for the crazy.... I have a lot of other personal projects on the table right now. (Alot for me, anyway.)
I have two 80% polymer AR lowers arriving tomorrow. (Gonna have to get the drill press set back up - I just moved into a new house.)
There's a finished custom AR lower arriving soon.
There's a Marlin 336 at the 'smith, getting a .444 Marlin barrel chopped, installed, D&T'd for sights, having a bubba'd dovetail cleaned up and filled with a custom blank, and possibly getting ported. ...before I go to work on the action, itself, to convert it to .444 Marlin.

Tonight, I spent a little time with another Marlin 336, fitting a new ejector, cleaning up some idiot marks around the ejection port, and laying out the dimensions for a bearing strip to go on the bottom of the carrier (it's badly worn, and probably the cause of the "Marlin jam" that resulted in the ejection port idiot marks). And, I spent a little time taking macro photos of the crown, so I could see why it just doesn't look quite right (my eyes can't pick out the detail any more - so, using macro photography really brings out the defects). It is also going to have the magazine shortened, and the forward barrel band relocated. I wasn't expecting to have to do it, but I may have to refinish this rifle. After tearing it down, I found a substantial amount of rust and scale hiding under the caked-on grime.

There's also an H&R shotgun that needs some stock repair and a serious cleaning.
There's a Rossi model 62 that needs to have the front magazine band pin replaced and staked, along with replacing the magazine follower retaining pin.
There's a Remington 241 that needs to be troubleshot for erratic mis-feeds and short-cycling.
There's a Super Blackhawk hammer that needs to be properly fit to a Blackhawk frame.
And, I'm sure I forgot a few more...
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Old February 1, 2014, 02:38 PM   #31
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Come down here and go to work for me and I'll take over your projects you whiner, I'll take the little guy too.
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Old February 2, 2014, 02:04 AM   #32
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Quote:
Come down here and go to work for me and I'll take over your projects you whiner,
Nope.
That cesspool burns the lungs, sinuses, and eyes, and is now worse than Mexico City quite frequently.
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Old February 4, 2014, 06:33 PM   #33
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Buy the HF Belt Sander. Fifty bucks or so with the coupon. They work...while I might get "dissed" for actually using one in a commercial capacity, all they do is turn a sanding belt, and as long as the table is square to the belt, that's all it need do.

Mine runs every day, for nearly a year now, and hasn't burned up.

Get a recoil pad jig (I use Miles Gilbert). Fit the pad professionally with the jig, then put the jig up for sale on Ebay if you think you need to. They're cheap enough, but you'll be able to re-sell it for a few bucks less than you paid.
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Old February 5, 2014, 01:06 AM   #34
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tobnpr,

You shouldn't get dissed, a good majority of us are using HF tools, and since they are the same tools as Grizzly, Shopfox, and Enco sell, just different paint, nobody should complain.
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Old February 5, 2014, 08:44 AM   #35
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Quote:
You shouldn't get dissed, a good majority of us are using HF tools, and since they are the same tools as Grizzly, Shopfox, and Enco sell, just different paint, nobody should complain.
Not even close to being the same tool as Grizzly. Grizzly's tools aren't up to the same quality as Jet or Delta but they are better than HF's tools.
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Old February 5, 2014, 10:39 AM   #36
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Doyle,

The same belt sander, in question, the 4" that HF has, is the exact same sander that Grizzly did, and Enco now, still sale. I've looked at them all three, own two, and there is no difference in them. Even the large 6" floor model belt sander that HF did sale, mounted on legs, is the same one as Enco and Grizzly. Though HF don't have it now, their stock changes so much, they liable to have it next week.

Enco and Jet are one of the first to start importing this equipment, years ago, and others took up the pursuit. The difference is, the actual manufacturers will make the equipment the way you want it, different logo, paint, etc. The 4" belt sander from HF, number 97181, has been sold under many brands, see Enco number 163-4850. Grizzly quit selling this model, as did Jet, (who is tied up with Enco), and now only sells heavy-duty equipment, but I actually have the Grizzly here, along with the HF one, both the same, parts interchange, the whole enchilada. Actually, Grizzly has cut back on all the models they had. The Grizzly G0547 sander has been at HF before, and actually they sold it along side the 97181 for the same price, with coupon for around $79.00.

Take a look at HF number 69033, and Grizzly number H6070, 1" x 30" belt and 5" disc sander. Same sander, one orange, one green, except $30 difference.
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Old February 5, 2014, 01:26 PM   #37
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Dixie, if what you are saying is true then I'm truely disappointed with Grizzly. When I first started woodworking years ago, they were kind of the new kids on the block and seemed to be proud of their quality control. They were making their tools in Taiwan. It looks like they have cheapened out.

Thanks for setting me straight.
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Old February 5, 2014, 04:45 PM   #38
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Doyle,

There's nothing we can do, as hardly anything is made here anymore, but Grizzly actually does have a good parts department. Jet tools are of good quality, and so is Grizzly's heavy-duty stuff. What's really sad, is to go to Cincinnati, and see all those old-brand machine tool factories shut down.

One would think to go to Delta, but I swear, they are nothing like they used to be, well maybe their Unisaw is.

Here's another good one they have out now, and is available from HF, Grizzly, and I think Shop Fox. They brought out a copy of a 1/2" spindle shaper, which was actually designed and made by Delta all those years ago. It's a nice machine, and I've been contemplating buying one. The Asian's copied it to a tee. The differences I saw between the three was one was gray, one green, and the last was white, along with the cost.
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Old February 5, 2014, 05:50 PM   #39
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Dixie, let me tell you something I was told at a woodworking show about one of those "old brand-name factories". I was talking to a Jet factory rep just after they bought out Powermatic. I was asking about the Powermatic factory and whether production would stay there. I forget where it was located but he told me that the local high-school guidance councelors would take their students to the old factory as a "scared straight" event. The working conditions at that factory were so bad that it provided a good example of why the kids should stay in school and not go to work there like their parents had done.
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Old February 5, 2014, 06:39 PM   #40
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I suppose closing down all U.S. factories would be one way to keep kids in school and keep Americans on some kind of government dole, beholden to the party in power. I wonder if some of our politicians didn't think of that!

Jim
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Old February 5, 2014, 09:44 PM   #41
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Yep....

Imagine if only we HAD to buy US made products...
Jobs would increase. Costs would increase, too...
And because of the incredible demand for jobs once again,
Wages would increase, in step with the increased cost for domestic goods.
People on the "dole", that have left the workforce, might actually try to find a job again, and rejoin the workforce.

This is critical to economic output. People talk about jobs, but output is what's really important in terms of economic strength.

For cripes sake, is it so complicated for "the party in power" to understand that US produced goods simply cannot compete with foreign products produced with slave labor, when there are no tariffs to raise the price to "level the playing field".

This is economics 101. Just ask any business owner how he'd fare, if his direct competition had equally skilled workers employed for $1.00/hr.
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Old February 18, 2014, 06:07 PM   #42
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We had warm enough temperatures for me to finally spray this stock with the satin sealer, yesterday. So, for the guys that asked for some photos.....

(Sorry about the odd sizes. I had to do some non-standard cropping to get the file size small enough for an upload.)




After messing with the lighting a bit, I managed to get the images to show the color of the stock as true-to-life as possible. ...on my devices, anyway.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg 258_crop_resize2.jpg (210.1 KB, 747 views)
File Type: jpg 258_2_resize2.jpg (227.2 KB, 745 views)
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Old February 18, 2014, 08:17 PM   #43
PetahW
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.

Nice job, fitting the pad.......


.
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Old February 18, 2014, 11:58 PM   #44
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I've done a couple of hundred of them.

Use the Brownells hanging jig- it makes it fairly easy. We used a 17" 2000 rpm disc sander with a 60 grit pad. I used a sharp scribe and some bright light so I could see the line clearly while the rubber dust flew. And wear a respirator..

Set the "angle" of the jig to do the toe and the sides, then reset the jig to do the heel and sides.

The owner of my shop was of the opinion that we could have done them on the bandsaw- but I've never tied that trick.

Nice job Frankenmauser- I always look at the heel and toe first.
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Old February 19, 2014, 12:01 AM   #45
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Hey Frankenmauser its totally cool dude. I pictured something different and it surpassed my image of what you had. Nice, Nice.. When I come out there one day I want to shoot some prairie chickens with that dude.

Nice job man.....now quit showin off@##%&&&&&%&##.
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Old February 19, 2014, 01:04 AM   #46
FrankenMauser
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Thanks, guy.
It was a used pad, and was starting to deteriorate just a bit at the toe, so it isn't perfect. But, it passes the 3-foot inspection. So, I'm satisfied.
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