Posts: 4,188
Threads: 0
Joined: Feb 2003
A friend if a friend recently had his wood working shop flooded up to the roof and has decided to shut it down since he is in his 80's. He is getting rid if everything and I'm curious what items to avoid considering it was all under water for at least 2-3 days? What can be easily repaired and which will be difficult or expensive? I know there is a Steel City cabinet saw and a large planer, band saw, routers, etc.
SteveL in St. Louis
<<...But, Darwinism has proven that any "person-proof" items simply muster the creative juices of the 'person' pool....>>> orig. posted by MichaelS on 8/14/06
Posts: 848
Threads: 0
Joined: Apr 2006
Location: Central MA
I wouldn't pay more than scrap weight for it, if that. Anything that sat under flood water for several days is going to need a complete tear down and replacement of all bearings and electrical components at a bare minimum.
The more I think about it the more I'm inclined to say that even free might be too expensive if your time has any value at all.
Posts: 2,493
Threads: 0
Joined: Oct 2005
jlanciani said:
The more I think about it the more I'm inclined to say that even free might be too expensive if your time has any value at all.
+1
"There is no such thing as stupid questions, just stupid people"
Posts: 16,470
Threads: 0
Joined: Mar 2005
Fresh water isn't that bad under water. Things start to deteriorate after it hits the air.
Saltwater starts its destructive process almost immediately.
So, if it salt water, run. If it is fresh water, and very recent, much can be saved with a little work. A good dousing of WD-40 (WD stands for water displacement) should be step one.
--
See ya later,
Bill
Posts: 16,604
Threads: 0
Joined: Oct 2002
Location: Ra-cha-cha, NY
Depending on how valuable your time is, if you find something that's rather rare, or very desirable, or very valuable (at least before it got dunked), it might be worth the trouble if you can get to it before too much damage is done. Routine stuff, like a router, I wouldn't bother with. Though I would bother with a plunge base for a router if I needed one and it fit one I had, as things like that don't have much to them, and could be salvaged with little effort.
I might also consider grabbing something like a PM66, again if it's fresh water dunked, as the motor may be salvageable, and possibly the control, if I could get to it right away. And if I wanted a PM66 (or whatever high-dollar, quality tool). I would put effort into a tool like that, but only if I got it for very little money.
Tough call. Depends on the item, and its condition.
Tom
“This place smells like that odd combination of flop sweat, hopelessness, aaaand feet"
Posts: 829
Threads: 1
Joined: Oct 1999
Location: Burlington, ND
I was flooded about 4 years ago.
All my tools were under water for over 2 weeks.
I was able to get only about half of my power tools to work again.
I had to pull apart the motors, let them dry out, clean them up, reassemble, and some worked.
The ones that didn't I threw out or replaced the motor.
The one I didn't get to right away was my table saw, when I pulled the motor apart 6 months after the flood, there was still water in the motor, I couldn't get it to work so I bought a new one.
It took a lot of work to get the rust off the top.
It is smooth but badly stained.
___________________________________________________________________________
Randy, Burlington, ND
It always works on paper!
Posts: 833
Threads: 0
Joined: Nov 2006
Most hand tools can be salvaged unless the rust has gone too deep. Hand plane irons may be part their prime due to rust pits on their backs.... but replacement irons can surely be found. After all they are likely to be in better condition than the tools I have bought secondhand....
Bad quality tools aren't worth anything secondhand in any condition but all good quality tools are worth a good bit of money and effort.
Handheld power tools may be a bit tricky....... if you get them for free you could give them a try but I wouldn't pay anything for them if I was in your shoes.
Stationary power tools can surely be salvaged after a freshwater bath. Salt water is a lot worse but they may still be worth salvaging if the quality was good to start with.
Switches and contactors may be beyond repair but they are standard components and can be bought off the shelf.
You will most likely end up taking everything apart and cleaning and shifting bearings and lubricating but after all that is the normal process I go through with almost every stationary power tool I have ever bought. I think you should take the motors apart and flush them out with clean fresh water and let them dry thoroughly before assembly with new bearings.
So....it all depends on the quality of the machines. A good quality planer or bandsaw or table saw is surely worth some money even after a bath. Not too much money though because you will spend quite a bit of effort on it. Low end hobby machines have no value whatsoever in that condition and aren't worth rebuilding even if they were free.
By the way I recently finished my "new" band saw. Some 100 years of heavy use and lots of neglect had taken its toll and the line shaft power and the guards weren't up to modern standards. Now it is as good as any new saw and ready for another century.
Good luck!
Part timer living on the western coast of Finland. Not a native speaker of English
Posts: 7,079
Threads: 0
Joined: Feb 2005
Location: Kansas Territory
How long since they've been out of the water?
I bought a biesmeyer fence that went through Katrina. It was rusty and nasty but I brought it back and it looks like a new one. Quite a bit of time and labor though. Like most things, it "depends".
Wish I was back there with you. Do you still have that sandblaster? If the milled surfaces aren't bad I wouldn't hesitate to take it on. We've all seen neglected, abused stuff before and you know where to find motors/parts and so forth if need be.
How ya been?
Buck
Business Meetings - None of us is as dumb as all of us.
Posts: 4,188
Threads: 0
Joined: Feb 2003
Buckaroo said:
How long since they've been out of the water?
I bought a biesmeyer fence that went through Katrina. It was rusty and nasty but I brought it back and it looks like a new one. Quite a bit of time and labor though. Like most things, it "depends".
Wish I was back there with you. Do you still have that sandblaster? If the milled surfaces aren't bad I wouldn't hesitate to take it on. We've all seen neglected, abused stuff before and you know where to find motors/parts and so forth if need be.
How ya been?
Yep, still have the blast cabinet and doing great now that I retired a month ago.
How's things with you?
I've been through the the rebuild process as I have a '39 Unisaw and a '43 Delta 6" jointer that I had to refurbish so I'm familiar with the amount of effort needed to bring an old machine back to life. Most everything was under water for about 2 days and has been out of the water since yesterday. Fresh water by the way all be it a bit muddy. This is from the big Meramec River flood that hit St. Louis last week. I should find out more of what's available tonight.
Appreciate all the feed back.
SteveL in St. Louis
<<...But, Darwinism has proven that any "person-proof" items simply muster the creative juices of the 'person' pool....>>> orig. posted by MichaelS on 8/14/06
Posts: 91
Threads: 0
Joined: May 2011
Cabinet saws band saws planers are all pretty simple things. Shafts with bearings.
I recently took my Hammar JP apart to install a shellix cutter and the toughest part was manhandling the table
The electronics and motors are the most likely things to be wrecked. Bearings however are easy to replace.
A Lathe like a PM 3250 would present some challenges only because the bearings are not terribly easy to get at.
But if you are handy and have tools, you can take the bearings out of anything and replace or just clean them up repack them with grease.
Somebody mentioned WD40 - it is almost all just deodorized kerosene. Kerosene displaces water from metal.
