My Delta DJ-20 Restoration (Part 5)

Paint stripping
I needed to find a way to effectively remove all the paint. There were several spots where the paint had flaked off and was replaced with spots of rust. I figured I might as well do a full strip and repaint as that would give me the most durable finish.
The first thing I tried was Citristrip since it seemed like a low odor, eco-friendly option.

It kinda works if you put enough of it on and wait long enough, but for me it was just too slow and too messy. You still have to wipe out all of the paint that has dissolved and because of all the crevices in the castings its just too much work. Also it didn't work so well on some of the black paint (which might be some kind of epoxy paint). At that point I decided I'd have to resort to some blasting.

Abrasive Blasting
I've watched a lot of American Restoration on the History channel and they always use blasting for paint removal so I thought I'd give that a try. After doing some research, it seems that using regular sand for sand blasting is pretty bad for you (go figure). Apparently the silica in sand can really screw up your lungs. Coupled with the fact that i'm doing this in my backyard where I'd like to one day grow some vegetables, I needed to find a safe and eco-friendly abrasive. I also needed to find a cheap blasting machine so off to Harbor Freight I went. I settled on the Portable Abrasive Blaster Kit

My first choice for blast media was ground walnut shells since I've seen it used on American Restoration I figured that would be good. I was wrong. It's definitely an eco-friendly option. But on the tougher paints it was pretty slow or not working. Also it was only available in courser grits which I later learned makes the process even slower. I finally tried using this company's proprietary abrasive known as Kleen Blast. Its deemed safe enough for even CA, so it should be fairly safe. Still you want to be wearing the full respirator setup. This worked like a charm, especially using the fine grit size.

To contain the mess and allow me to reuse the abrasive, I made a "blasting tent" out of lots of 6 mil plastic, ladders, and a 10ft long aluminum screed/straightedge. Between each blasting session, I had to dry out the abrasive in the sun, otherwise it would clump just enough to clog up the machine. Ideally, you should have enough abrasive to do a whole session without needing to recycle any of it.

Christmas Dinner

We made Julia Child's famous Boeuf Bourguignon (aka Beef Burgundy). Our guests loved it. It takes about 5 hrs to prepare from start to finish. 3 hrs of that time is cooking in the oven but part of that time is needed to prep the onions and mushrooms which are cooked separately.

I got the recipe here. I found this format a little difficult to use while cooking. I later found Julia's original version straight from her book here, and its much easier to use while cooking. I can't believe no one's copied this format for recipes before, its so simple yet so easy to use.

My Delta DJ-20 Restoration (Part 4)

A lot has happened since my last post. Bear in mind that what I'm presenting may seem like chronological order, I've been doing a little bit of everything as I wait for supplies, parts, or opportunities to do things.

Basically the process of cleaning everything, derusting, and stripping is very time consuming.
I was able to clean all the small stuff in a hot bath w/ soapy water followed by soak in 1 Gallon Evapo-Rust. Parts in Evapo-Rust tend to develope a dark grey film that's easily removed with a wire brush and more hot water. I then used an old tshirt and blow dryer to keep everything dry. Another good thing about Evapo-Rust was you can just leave the parts in there indefinitely until you've got time to meticulously rinse them off and dry them. Water would always stay in the head of the socket cap screws so I found that holding them up to your lips and just blowing the water out was the fastest method most effective method of drying out that recess.


Parts after clean and Evapo-Rust

Next was disassembly of the cutter head. Don't make my mistake of not covering the cutterhead in something before removal. You could hear and feel the carbide cutters scraping against the cast iron as I slid the whole thing out. I think wrapping the cutterhead in packing tape before removal would be a wise idea. I ended up covering the cutterhead anyways so I could get these bearing blocks off.

Cutterhead removed from base

Removing the bearings is a bit of work too. The block on the left comes out fairly easily with a few taps from a rubber mallet. The block on the right has a snap ring inside that captures the bearing inside. You have to remove block w/ the bearing together from the cutterhead shaft. The only way to do this is with some sort of puller (believe me when I say no amount of beating with a rubber mallet will work). Luckily the gear puller that I had could be adapter from 3 leg to 2 leg to accommodate the not so gear like shape of the bearing blocks. I guess my puller was a little small so I also had to use a clamp to keep the legs on the block. One note here, you should probably screw the socket cap screw back into the threaded end of the head so that the point on the puller doesn't mess up the threads. I ended up retapping the threads after the pull. Here you can also see my protective cover made of a Harbor Freight ad and packing tape.

Setup for pulling the bearing block off the cutterhead

Once the blocks are removed, there's the issue of getting the snap ring out of the blocks so that the bearings can be replaced.

Bearing block with snapring

Unfortunately, my cheap HF snap ring pliers were no match for this tough ring so off to the HomeDepot and I got these: Channellock 927 8-Inch Retaining Ring Pliers they are night and day better than the HF version (but they also have a big price to match).

This is really the best time to replace these bearings. I could already feel some grit inside them as I spun them. I then ordered the same size Nachi C3 bearings (6004 and 6005) from vxb.com. I think they are the cheapest place to find bearings. The new bearings feel like they have a really tight tolerance. I can't feel even the slightest play between the races. I'll have to wait until I repaint the blocks before I get the new bearings pressed in at a local auto shop (so to be continued...)

Paint stripping was another big task I'll cover in my next post.

ATK: Pork Shoulder Roast Recipe

I saw this recipe on America's Test Kitchen and upon finding that pork shoulder roast was less than $3/lb decided I couldn't afford to not make it. In my version I substituted dried thyme for fresh sprigs and Dijon mustard for whole-grain mustard.

INGREDIENTS
Pork Roast

• 1 bone-in pork butt , 6 to 8 pounds (see note)
• 1/3 cup kosher salt
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
•  Ground black pepper

Peach Sauce

• 10 ounces frozen peaches , cut into 1-inch chunks (about 2 cups) or 2 fresh peaches, cut into 1/2-inch wedges
• 2 cups dry white wine
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

INSTRUCTIONS

1. FOR THE ROAST: Using sharp knife, cut slits 1 inch apart in crosshatch pattern in fat cap of roast, being careful not to cut into meat. Combine salt and brown sugar in medium bowl. Rub salt mixture over entire pork shoulder and into slits. Wrap roast tightly in double layer of plastic wrap, place on rimmed baking sheet, and refrigerate at least 12 and up to 24 hours.
2. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Unwrap roast and brush off any excess salt mixture from surface. Season roast with pepper. Transfer roast to V-rack coated with nonstick cooking spray set in large roasting pan and add 1 quart water to roasting pan.
3. Cook roast, basting twice during cooking, until meat is extremely tender and instant-read thermometer inserted into roast near but not touching bone registers 190 degrees, 5 to 6 hours. Transfer roast to carving board and let rest, loosely tented with foil, 1 hour. Transfer liquid in roasting pan to fat separator and let stand 5 minutes. Pour off ¼ cup jus; discard fat and reserve remaining jus for another use.
4. FOR THE SAUCE: Bring peaches, wine, granulated sugar, ¼ cup vinegar, ¼ cup defatted jus, and thyme to simmer in small saucepan; cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced to 2 cups, about 30 minutes. Stir in remaining tablespoon vinegar and mustard. Remove thyme, cover, and keep warm.
5. Using sharp paring knife, cut around inverted T-shaped bone until it can be pulled free from roast (use clean kitchen towel to grasp bone). Using serrated knife, slice roast. Serve, passing sauce separately.

TIPS FOR LEFTOVERS

MuShu Pork rolls

INGREDIENTS

• roasted pork shoulder
• pita or tortilla wraps
• hoisin sauce
• green onions

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Shred the pork shoulder into bit sized pieces.
2. Slice green into 3-4 inch segments and then slice length wise into several slivers (juliene).
3. Place a pita/tortilla wrap on a plate.
4. Spread a generous amount of hoisin sauce, pork, and green onion in a line down the middle of the wrap.
5. Roll up the wrap and enjoy!

Beef Stroganoff

Planning to make this tonight. I saw it on tv a while back.


Skillet Beef Stroganoff 
America's Test Kitchen Easy Skillet Suppers 

1 1/2 pounds sirloin steak tips, pounded and cut thin across the grain (I used ground beef) 
Salt and pepper 
4 tablespoons vegetable oil 
10 ounces white mushrooms, sliced thin 
1 onion, chopped fine 
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 
1 1/2 cups chicken broth 
1 1/2 cups beef broth 
1/3 cup brandy 
1/3 pound wide egg noodles (3 cups) 
2/3 cup sour cream 
2 teaspoons lemon juice 

1. Pat beef dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Cook half of beef until well browned, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer to medium bowl and repeat with 1 tablespoon more oil and remaining beef. (I just browned all the ground beef in a skillet and then removed to a bowl). 

2. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in now-empty skillet until shimmering. Cook mushrooms, onion, and 1/2 teaspoon salt until liquid from mushrooms has evaporated, about 8 minutes. Stir in flour and cook for 30 seconds, then add both broths and the brandy, and return beef and accumulated juices to pan. Bring to simmer, cover, and cook over low heat until beef is tender, 30 to 35 minutes. (Once I added the ground beef I continued right on to the next step). 

3. Stir noodles into beef mixture, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until noodles are tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Off heat, stir in sour cream and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.

My Delta DJ-20 Restoration (Part 3)

Turns out, you have to unbolt the jointer from the base and flip it on its side to be able to access the inner screws holding the tables down.

The next issue was trying to remove the spring that makes raising the tables easier. Its basically impossible to remove the spring while under tension. You have to remove the tables as best you can and position it so that it will release the tension on the springs. After that its easy to use some pliers to get the spring off.

Here's a pic with the tables off. It took some time to remove the eccentric bushings used to level the tables. You have to remember to remove the 2 set screws for each bushing (one stacked on top of another). Removing them gives you a nice port for squirting a little WD40 to help loosen the bushing. Then I used a 19mm socket and a rubber mallet to tap the bushings out.

My Delta DJ-20 Restoration (Part 2)

I'm trying to remove the tables, but I just can't seem to figure out how to do it.
The tables have rods on which the arms for the parallelogram mechanism clamp onto.

Here I have loosened the socket cap screws that clamp the black plates to the rod. (Plates rotated 90 degrees)

Its hard to see, but there is another set of socket cap screws way in the back. I can't figure out how to loosen those screws. And if I did, I'm not sure how I would but the tables back on. 

Here is a spring that helps counter-act the weight of the tables for easy adjustment. If I remove it, I'm still not sure how I can put the springs back.

My Delta DJ-20 8" Jointer Restoration Project (Part 1)

I have been looking on Craigslist for an 8" parallelogram jointer for over a year now. I finally managed to score this Delta DJ-20 8" jointer (model 37-350) with a Byrd Shelix head for $800. There is some rust, but the tables only have a little bit of pitting in about 3 spots.

You can see here there is a bit of rust on the fence assembly.

Here the paint on the aluminum guard is pretty worn.

Here the table height adjustment mechanism is covered in a combination of sawdust and rust.