As I wrote the previous 2 posts, another Type C was on it's way. It has arrived, and due to the interest that the other one had generated, and my inability to demonstrate its power to the Bard, and Young Kubrick, who recently was indoctrinated to the ways of the White Cross.
Yesterday I went over to the Bard's to help put her kitchen back together after repainting, and took with the new, and hastily cleaned up Type C. Once we were finished with the appliance wrangling and related post-painting tasks, the hilarity could really begin.
We move into the living room, the Bard goes and fishes out the White Cross from the bedroom, for comparison. I get the Type C out of the case, having only done a bit of cleaning/polishing on it the night before. We briefly compare the differences in size between the two, with the Type C being bigger in every dimension. It doesn't seem so different until you put them next to each other. I plug each in and we start out with the WC, being the benchmark by which the Type C shall be judged. Both the Bard and Kubrick have previously experienced the WC, so it's a short refresher course. With some trepidation and amusement, we set the WC aside, and fire up the Type C.
It's noticeably louder than the WC, which is partially because it is looser fitting since some of the output bushings have deteriorated and shrank over time. These are similar to the leather washers from the WC, but shaped differently. The other instantly obvious difference to whoever is wielding it, is the amount of vibration that is being transmitted into the handle and operators hand. After shutting it off, your hand still feels like its shaking and tingly, as though using a weedwacker.
At first, the Bard runs her fingertips along the edge of the ball attachment that was currently screwed into it. She shuddered at the difference in intensity, then became wide eyed, almost giggly with the order of magnitude it has over the WC.
Kubrick is next, and puts it onto his leg, about an inch above the knee, as I suggested. The vibration is so strong that it will be felt all the way to the toes. His gaze snaps forward, equally impressed and amazed at the difference in intensity. He then puts it onto the back of his neck, craning his head a bit and continues on about how this is the strongest thing he has ever felt. There is no argument it is the strongest vibrator we've ever encountered.
Following that, I took out the disc attachment, which is a flat bakelite disc about 3" in diameter. I start it up again, and put it down on the Bard's thigh, just above the knee as with Kubrick, and the increase in strength of the sensation is also apparent. The ball is better for deep tissue, but there is just so much power on tap the disc is almost better because it can disperse that force over a wider area, but still with the same effect. It's amazing.
I'll dedicate another post to visually introducing it, and the evening's cleanup work that went into it later.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Hamilton Beach Type C 767, starting to look like something...
Following on the work in the previous post, the Type C is really starting to look like something.
With the rear housing now separated from the internal components, cleaning and polishing could finally begin. It started with the usual treatment: Dawn, an old toothbrush and hot water. Following that, was Brasso and toothbrush. The Brasso seems to do very well on getting out anything that remains, but even with the softest of toothbrushes, leaves extremely fine scratches behind on the polished surfaces. This is not a huge problem, because the next step with the felt wheel and polishing compound is more than capable of smoothing these out. I elected to not use the fine abrasive, and try instead one of the more aggressive polishing compounds. The front housing elements needing still more polishing to remove the abrasive wheel marks after 2 rounds of effort was enough incentive to try a different way. In the end, the more aggressive compound proved to be a superior means of getting the job done. I did follow up the more aggressive compound with some jeweler's rouge. There's still room for improvement, but I don't think it is likely without better equipment.
The front housing pieces also received more of the wheel/compound treatment, in what amounts to their third round of polishing. Each round has consisted of at least 2 applications, usually one each of aggressive (emery) and fine (jeweler's rouge). Tripoli has also been used, with results on the aluminum similar to jeweler's rouge. After every session, the parts have been getting cleaned up with Mother's Mag and Aluminum Wheel Polish, too. This is mostly to remove the oily residues of the polishing compounds, and because it darkens as it is worked over the surface, it fills in and helps identify problem areas that need more attention. It does tend to take the wind out of the sails a bit after spending hours meticulously polishing these parts to what looks like perfection, only to find more that needs to be done, but I digress.
Depending on the previous owners, some of these have been rather meticulously cared for, and others look (and often smell) like they've been left in a barn for the last 30 years. This Type C is not terribly worse for wear, all things considered. Similarly, the other Type A's that I am working on vary a bit, with almost no dents at all, and some are pretty beat up. Fortunately, these are only cosmetic issues.
Speaking of cosmetic issues, one of the next things on the agenda is to find an effective sealant/coating/finish to keep the now brightly polished aluminum from oxidizing. I've discovered a couple of possible options, but have yet to test them. So far I've tested, and ruled out, using automotive paste wax. It's not quite enough to prevent minor surface oxidation. The way I tested it was simply by leaving them wrapped up in a towel after being polished and waxed, and left alone for about a month, and when I unwrapped them, small areas were dull or dark. I can only imagine that it would be worse if they had been handled and used, and then put away.
I did spend a small amount of time polishing the adapter for the handle, but only working on the areas that would be visible after reassembly. It appears chromed, but the rough machining marks are reminiscent of their aluminum parts (compare with the bottom housings of the Type A's where the handle goes.) It cleaned up rather well. Finding a shop that will do small batch chroming jobs is becoming more of a necessity than luxury so I can get some of these sorts of parts looking new again if not better than new.
Without further delay, the visual portion of the show:
With the rear housing now separated from the internal components, cleaning and polishing could finally begin. It started with the usual treatment: Dawn, an old toothbrush and hot water. Following that, was Brasso and toothbrush. The Brasso seems to do very well on getting out anything that remains, but even with the softest of toothbrushes, leaves extremely fine scratches behind on the polished surfaces. This is not a huge problem, because the next step with the felt wheel and polishing compound is more than capable of smoothing these out. I elected to not use the fine abrasive, and try instead one of the more aggressive polishing compounds. The front housing elements needing still more polishing to remove the abrasive wheel marks after 2 rounds of effort was enough incentive to try a different way. In the end, the more aggressive compound proved to be a superior means of getting the job done. I did follow up the more aggressive compound with some jeweler's rouge. There's still room for improvement, but I don't think it is likely without better equipment.
The front housing pieces also received more of the wheel/compound treatment, in what amounts to their third round of polishing. Each round has consisted of at least 2 applications, usually one each of aggressive (emery) and fine (jeweler's rouge). Tripoli has also been used, with results on the aluminum similar to jeweler's rouge. After every session, the parts have been getting cleaned up with Mother's Mag and Aluminum Wheel Polish, too. This is mostly to remove the oily residues of the polishing compounds, and because it darkens as it is worked over the surface, it fills in and helps identify problem areas that need more attention. It does tend to take the wind out of the sails a bit after spending hours meticulously polishing these parts to what looks like perfection, only to find more that needs to be done, but I digress.
Depending on the previous owners, some of these have been rather meticulously cared for, and others look (and often smell) like they've been left in a barn for the last 30 years. This Type C is not terribly worse for wear, all things considered. Similarly, the other Type A's that I am working on vary a bit, with almost no dents at all, and some are pretty beat up. Fortunately, these are only cosmetic issues.
Speaking of cosmetic issues, one of the next things on the agenda is to find an effective sealant/coating/finish to keep the now brightly polished aluminum from oxidizing. I've discovered a couple of possible options, but have yet to test them. So far I've tested, and ruled out, using automotive paste wax. It's not quite enough to prevent minor surface oxidation. The way I tested it was simply by leaving them wrapped up in a towel after being polished and waxed, and left alone for about a month, and when I unwrapped them, small areas were dull or dark. I can only imagine that it would be worse if they had been handled and used, and then put away.
I did spend a small amount of time polishing the adapter for the handle, but only working on the areas that would be visible after reassembly. It appears chromed, but the rough machining marks are reminiscent of their aluminum parts (compare with the bottom housings of the Type A's where the handle goes.) It cleaned up rather well. Finding a shop that will do small batch chroming jobs is becoming more of a necessity than luxury so I can get some of these sorts of parts looking new again if not better than new.
Without further delay, the visual portion of the show:
More work on the Type C 767...
After getting about as far as I could otherwise, the time came to get the rear housing broken down on the Type C. I was sort of dreading it, because it is assembled in a different way than the previous HB's I've worked on. The reason for this is that the those half moon shaped contacts for the speed controls? They're not only screwed onto the insulated posts, but soldered onto the wires coming off the field coils as well. In all the other type A's, a screw terminal is soldered onto each wire from the field coils, and the screw that holds the contact onto the insulated post simply secured the terminal with it.
Here's why this is a pain: In order to take the field coils/stator ring out, you have to unscrew the contacts, and carefully remove them from the insulated posts. However, you have to get the field coil assembly partially out to expose the screws enough to actually be able to get the contacts out, and the wires are pretty short. The other consideration is not moving the wires attached to the contacts too much, in the quite possible event that after 90+ years of being in the same orientation, and buzzing about, that they wouldn't simply crack or break off.
So, once that was done, and all was seemed to be well, it was time to take a couple pictures of the greasy, carbon encrusted goodness, and then start washing almost a century's worth of oil residue and motor brush remains away. The before pictures are included, the after pictures will come with the next update. (I've already done the work, just need to post it.)
Aside from the further breakdown, there has been more and more polishing of the front half of the housing parts, and despite the fact it is difficult to see in pictures, slowly removing the fine scratches and abrasive wheel marks has happened.
Here's why this is a pain: In order to take the field coils/stator ring out, you have to unscrew the contacts, and carefully remove them from the insulated posts. However, you have to get the field coil assembly partially out to expose the screws enough to actually be able to get the contacts out, and the wires are pretty short. The other consideration is not moving the wires attached to the contacts too much, in the quite possible event that after 90+ years of being in the same orientation, and buzzing about, that they wouldn't simply crack or break off.
So, once that was done, and all was seemed to be well, it was time to take a couple pictures of the greasy, carbon encrusted goodness, and then start washing almost a century's worth of oil residue and motor brush remains away. The before pictures are included, the after pictures will come with the next update. (I've already done the work, just need to post it.)
Aside from the further breakdown, there has been more and more polishing of the front half of the housing parts, and despite the fact it is difficult to see in pictures, slowly removing the fine scratches and abrasive wheel marks has happened.
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