# Restoration on a couple of rusted jonters



## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

By popular request of I'm sure hundreds, if not thousands, I'm posting the restoration of my Delta DJ-15 jointer. Ok, Herb asked but certainly there's one or two more who want to see this... :wink:

Actually, I'll cover rust removal on a couple of jointers - the DJ-15 and a PM 54a

You can read the back story on the Delta if you want to go back to the PM66 restoration but suffice it to say that I loaned it to a friend and this is how I retrieved it - 









The motor would spin but the cutterhead wouldn't move and the beds and fence would not move. I managed to get the fence to move back after several hours of penetrating liquid and gentle persuasion with a dead blow mallet. The rust was pretty bad, sort of like the table saw, so I started dry sanding and finally worked my way down to 320 wet or dry paper and WD-40. Here's the first bed and rabbet ledge completed - 









It took many nights and a couple of Saturdays to get to this point but it ended up looking pretty good - 









I didn't bother cleaning the cabinet because there was just a tiny bit of rust at the very bottom and frankly I wanted a Powermatic jointer anyway. That's what I tried to buy in 1990 when I bought the table saw and this jointer but the only place in town that had this sort of equipment on the floor happened to be out of the PM jointers. I had a fairly large job to do and needed the jointer so I bought the Delta. It's a good jointer but the motor is 3/4 HP and the PM is 1 HP and has longer beds.

This is what the cutterhead looked like when we picked it up from the 'hole in the roof' shop - 









I finally broke it free to where it would spin, took the knives out, and sanded the cutterhead like this - 









That worked very good and didn't take very long to do. I took the cutterhead out to further clean the rust and so I could replace the bearings. My goal in rebuilding this was to make the jointer better than when I bought it. One metric I used was vibration - I wanted a smooth running jointer! New bearings were essential - 









Amazingly enough it still had the original knives in the cutterhead. I doubt they were ever removed but even more astonishing is that they cleaned up and sharpened with no problem.









The major reason I got this running so smoothly is that I ditched the lightweight pot metal pulley and V-belt and replaced them with a heavy balanced cast iron pulley and link belt. I didn't do a comparison but I wouldn't be surprised if this pulley weighed 5 times what that pot metal pulley did and it was perfectly balanced.


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## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

This video isn't up to my standards today but it will suffice. My goal, as I said, was to have a smooth running jointer. You can see the nickel on the outfeed table and it stays standing while I start the jointer, joint a board, and never falls even after turning the jointer off (even though the video stops a couple of seconds early).






I'll post more in a little bit but I have since sold this jointer because I finally found a PM 54a. I was looking for the 8" jointer but none were to be found in town. Unfortunately, the PM was also rusted... so I'll post those photos shortly.

David


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Between this and the table saw, makes ya think anything is possible.... damn fine job David


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## honesttjohn (Feb 17, 2015)

You need some better friends I think!!

Darn good job!!!!!


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## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

Well, that was the rusted DJ-15. This is the rusted PM 54a story and it's short. 

About the time I brought the DJ-15 home I began looking for a Powermatic 8" jointer anywhere within a couple hundred miles. There was one in Shreveport right across the river but the gentleman that owned it wanted too much. He also had a 16" jointer - Oliver or Northfield, don't remember, but it looked like an aircraft carrier!! His PM jointer was the first generation of the gold model 60 and he wanted $1,200 - way too much.

But a short while after restoring the DJ-15 I found a PM 54a on Craigslist in Shreveport. The price on that was $500 but he threw in a framing gun with a box of nails - about 12" x 12" x 12" and overflowing - and a bunch of Honduras Mahogany. He had a cabinet business in Houston and shut it down but kept the PM66 and the PM 54a and put them into storage until he could build a shop. He was then in a wreck and could no longer do woodworking so I bought the jointer and he gave me the other things. 

This was in a storage unit, not climate controlled or with good light, and had been there a year or so. When I looked at it I saw what appeared to be very light surface rust. He said it was pristine when he stored it but that was not really relevant because I had seen worse and was buying it anyway.

When I got it home this is what I saw - 



























So I loaded it up with WD40 to soak for a couple of days and then prepared for a slightly different approach - electrolysis.









There's a thread where I've discussed the electrolysis process and on this jointer in particular so no need to repost all of that. You can read up on it here - Electrolysis rust removal - after you finish this little story (or you can go now, nobody is watching... :wink. I believe @Stick486 made a PDF of the electrolysis post so that may be available for download though I'm not sure where or how to get to that PDF.

When all was said and done I had removed the rust, replaced the bearings, replaced the V-belt with a link belt and though I didn't post the video this jointer also passes the nickel standing on edge from start to stop and never even tries to wobble or fall over (I did shoot a video, just looked at it again but no sense in posting it now).

Here's the final restoration -




































It's been running smoothly since April, 2013, and I use it almost every day. I still wish I had found an 8" jointer but until one comes along at a really decent price then I'll keep using this one and loving every minute of it. Btw, I sold the DJ-15 for about the same thing I paid for the PM 54a so it was a wash for me and I certainly didn't need two jointers, especially not two 6" jointers.

Hope y'all enjoyed these little jointer restoration stories!
David


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## jj777746 (Jan 17, 2015)

Hi David,the PM certainly wasn't pristine when you bought it,but it is now.Well done,a credit to you.Jamesjj777746


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Nicely done, David! Kinda feel bad for the guy that was in the accident; sounds like the end of his woodworking.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

Nicely done, David... VERY NICELY!!!!... 
SNORK Snot would have helped you out major like...
the PDF you asked about... hope it's the one you want...
thew in a couple of extras...
and what's it going to take to get you to deep six the WD????

........


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## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

jj777746 said:


> Hi David,the PM certainly wasn't pristine when you bought it,but it is now.Well done,a credit to you.Jamesjj777746


Thanks, James! It is one sweet jointer now, for sure.



DaninVan said:


> Nicely done, David! Kinda feel bad for the guy that was in the accident; sounds like the end of his woodworking.


I agree, Dan, felt bad for him when he was telling me the story. He has all kinds of health issues from the wreck but told me he was 80+ years old and there wasn't anything he wanted to build anyway. Still hate to see it happen to someone, though.


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## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

Stick486 said:


> Nicely done, David... VERY NICELY!!!!...
> SNORK Snot would have helped you out major like...
> the PDF you asked about... hope it's the one you want...
> threw in a couple of extras...
> ...


Thanks, Stick! Come on now, a little WD40 never hurt anyone - right?!? I used it for displacing water, well, dried up water that caused the rust... :grin:

For what it's worth I keep it on hand but don't use it much.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

difalkner said:


> Thanks, Stick! Come on now, a little WD40 never hurt anyone - right?!? I used it for displacing water, well, dried up water that caused the rust... :grin:
> 
> For what it's worth I keep it on hand but don't use it much.


what ever ya say Dave...
was that the complete edition PDF you were seeking...


pssssst...
read the tips PDF.....


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## TenGees (Sep 12, 2012)

Stick486 said:


> ...and what's it going to take to get you to deep six the WD????...


A good buddy of mine would much rather break a screw than use WD on it! Me... I'll try the WD, then break the screw.


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## Multiwood (Feb 24, 2013)

Very impressive David and a lot of work.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

TenGees said:


> A good buddy of mine would much rather break a screw than use WD on it! Me... I'll try the WD, then break the screw.


so many alternate methods that are so much better than WD far less w/ less repercussion...


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## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

Stick486 said:


> what ever ya say Dave...
> was that the complete edition PDF you were seeking...
> 
> 
> ...


Yes sir, that's the one. Thank you, sir!


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## Pots43 (Nov 4, 2012)

I wonder if they still make that liquid from the 70's you brush on and wash off. When we get back form our winter away, I'll look if I have any left. The name slips me.
Tom


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Nice work David. I have an 8" jointer, one of the better Taiwanese made ones, seems to me it has either a 1.5 or 2 hp motor on it and it's just the right amount of power. After using an 8" I don't know if I could go back to 6". Too often I would have stuff that would be just a little too wide or too long for it. Interestingly enough I've never had an occasion yet where 8 wasn't big enough. The only tool I have that I can say that about.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Are you thinking of RustMort?
https://www.semproducts.com/rust-and-corrosion-rust-converters-sealers/rust-morttm
Or maybe Naval Jelly? (It'll be on the same shelf as the Navel Lint...)


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

I have the 6 inch pm jointer and really like using it. Like you, I wish it was 8 inch instead, but it was way above my pay grade. Here's a video on a work around, using the planer to finish the job.


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## Pots43 (Nov 4, 2012)

That's it navel jelly. Thanks


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## woodknots (Mar 7, 2012)

Pots43 said:


> That's it navel jelly. Thanks


If you never used naval jelly before a word of warning - only work in a well ventilated area. I used it a number of years ago to remove rust from a table saw and nearly knocked myself out from the smell/fumes - it is strong stuff.


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## Chris Hachet (Dec 25, 2016)

DesertRatTom said:


> I have the 6 inch pm jointer and really like using it. Like you, I wish it was 8 inch instead, but it was way above my pay grade. Here's a video on a work around, using the planer to finish the job. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=casDTQ0y60Y


50 series PM jointer is on my wish list/quest list, I have a small shop and do mostly hand tool work anyways. :smile:

Liking your choices in tools more and more as time goes on.


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