Metal Planer Restoration 38: Clapper Box Disassembly - What a MESS.....

I finally tore into the last major component of my New Haven Mfg Co Metal Planer - taking the clapper box assembly apart. It turned out to be quite the challenge to get apart and had a few surprises in it. What a mess.... Lots of new parts are going to have to be made to restore this part of the machine.... Pieces that will have to be made new include the gib, new hold down studs, several missing screws, two bronze bevel gears. Also several pieces to be repaired. Some unexpected challenges for me....\
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[@dolvaran]

I'm really looking forward to seeing how you make those bevel gears - should be fun to watch!

[@nerd1000ify]

You can't make 'real' bevel gears without a special gear shaping machine :( There are approximations that can be done on a mill, e.g. the 'parallel depth' bevel gear. Should be interesting, I wonder if Keith will use that approach.

[@jstephenallington8431]

@@nerd1000ify I don't see why he wouldn't be able to make "Real Bevel Gears" . I`ve done it myself on a shaper before. He just needs a divider head, set it at the proper angle and grind a piece of tool steel to the right angle and go to work. He doesn't absolutely have to have a gear hob to do it with. Even if it might be easier that way.

[@nerd1000ify]

@@jstephenallington8431 true bevel gears are made on gear shapers, you can't hob them. The issue is that the involute profile tapers from the big end of the gear to the small end, so you can't make it with a form tool. Instead it has to be generated by single point cutting, which as you'd expect means you need a special machine. The parallel depth method is a way of making an approximation of a bevel gear with a form tool. I'm guessing you did something similar. It is my understanding that these approximate bevel gears work fine for many applications, but are noisier at high rpm and won't last as long as the 'real' kind. Should be fine for the planer, I think.

[@kenzokendrick5464]

I guess it is quite randomly asking but does anybody know of a good site to stream new movies online?

[@conradkeith9093]

@Kenzo Kendrick i use FlixZone. You can find it on google =)

[@organbuilder272]

It seems, Keith, that your history of working with these old and venerable tools has given you great insight into the thinking of those who designed and built these machines 100 or more years ago. Add that to your acquired skills in your youth has given you an most unusual set of skills. I think that most people, seeing the condition of some of the pieces you have worked on, would have given up and scrapped the thing. You have an inordinate amount of patience and single minded devotion to the restoration of these wonderful old machines. Thanks fro being responsible for preserving the creations of generations of guys like yourself who lived generations ago. What they built has been improved upon, The feeling they had for the look of their machines has been lost. Not many appreciate it. Great work, Kieth, Thanks for your posts, Many people have learned so much.

[@silasmarner7586]

hear hear! He has his work cut out for himself but he is easily up to the task. When the clapper is done it will be a thing of beauty like the rest. I suspect the ways on the clapper were ok since it couldn't be moved back and forth for decades!!

[@johnlee8231]

Proper restoration time! Not just fixing wore out parts but broken stuff too! This is the stuff that drew me to being a machinist. the ability to make and repair stuff most people would walk away from.

[@geneard639]

From "We're just going to have to do some scraping" to "Well, it looks like we got some machinging to do" ....is soooo 2020. 4 studs, 4 nuts, 1 threaded rod, 2 bevel gears...that bronze nut the threaded rod goes thru needs a close look over since it looks like it was at crash central... and a clamping bar. OH, and a gib and gib screw almost forgot that. Then, some scraping. hahahaha On the bright side, about 8 more episodes of This Old Metal Planer.

[@carlthor91]

The threaded rod and bronze nut will work once the clearance is taken up, by the bevel gears advancing the cut. I am very interested to see what bronze alloy Keith will use for the bevel gears. Best wishes all

[@geneard639]

...the threaded rod looked like it had some damage, rethreading it might clean it up. Same for the bronze nut, if the damage of both can't be cleaned up.... or, turns out the threading wasn't right to start with and what caused the jam that destoryed the gear teeth...

[@richardreynolds9389]

@@geneard639 Just from the pictures, it does look as if several things all contributed to the failures.

[@geneard639]

I've worked on helicopters quite a lot, and in my experience if there is a gear jam that results in damage as bad as I see there.... I look 18 inches around because that damage happened when things were moving and rotating. Things break for a reason and broken things leave scars of their moment of drama....

[@reelmoody2376]

I’m sure this Keith can getter done. The manufacturer assumed bubba and his brothers would be running their machines. So they made soft gears that would be difficult to duplicate in the field, but would stop operations before something serious got broken.

[@kevinreardon2558]

I love to watch this antique piece of machinery come back to life. We are a smart spices and its nice to see how we solved a technical problem based on the technology available. You should see what some of those ancient Egyptians were able to accomplish.

[@JTLaser1]

Hi Keith, a few years ago my family business designed and manufactured, by hand, a medical LASER. To me the best part was that we were loaned a Bridgeport style knee mill. I WAS IN LOVE! I’ve always considered machinists to be the World’s real magicians and to have the chance to experience one of their tools was pure joy! (And I finally get the real difference between 0.000 and 0.0000 in actual terms!) Thanks for the window into your world.

[@SciPunk215]

Don't be disappointed, Keith. More content for the channel, and your audience will be happy to see how you make those gears.

[@leeroyholloway4277]

I'm impressed with your ball pein hammer collection back there.

[@jdmccorful]

Good eye!

[@johnsherborne3245]

It's funny, you can have a shop full of hammers, but keep coming back to certain favourites.

[@jessefoulk]

I was just about to comment that very thing on those hammers.

[@jstephenallington8431]

Right? I couldn't help but look at them as well. Keith, help us out, could you give us a quick look at your collection of ballpeens in the background? Inquiring minds would like to know! I mean, do they have handles on them?

[@Bodi2000]

Very impressed with 19th century engineering that got that 2" square aligned perfectly when screwed in tight!

[@silasmarner7586]

At that point making machines to make the machines was/were quite a challenge, and a testament to their ingenuity.

[@5tr41ghtGuy]

You can do this yourself on any threaded assembly with a custom thickness shim - just compute how thick the shim needs to be to by knowing the thread pitch and how much change in rotation you want when the nut is tight.

[@5tr41ghtGuy]

@jacktheripped yes it is, but if you wish to do this for any threaded part which is already made, the custom shim/washer trick will work. For example: some handle for tightening which needs to be in a certain position when tight.

[@fosterlewis7360]

Don’t lose heart, Keith! Super cool project. And we are all grateful for the additional machining video content it’s going to result in. Yes, it’s going to take quite a bit more time and effort. But it’s going to be in excellent function and appearance when you’re done. Certainly you’ll feel it will have been worth the effort. Stay awesome.

[@clydebalcom8252]

I really appreciate your attitude and sense of humor.

[@howder1951]

Wow,did you ever uncover a lot of work, but the light at the end is getting brighter and we will have swarf, cheers Keith!

[@clydebalcom8252]

Oh My Giddy Aunt! You have a remarkable gift for understatement. That's a disaster. You might just be the first person to see the guts of that clapper.

[@NikColyerMachineWorks]

What a great series. I've been following along religiously. Thanks, Nik

[@blipblip88]

Wow! That Gib is really Stayin' Alive!

[@cavemansmancave9025]

I’ve cut bevels. Cut a couple practice bevels to help get your clearance and backlash right. Read Machinery’s Handbook to understand the geometry. Draw the gear set up in your favorite cad system. The set I cut weren’t precision high speed gears so I used standard straight tooth spur gear cutters. Let me know if you want to talk about it. Thanks, John

[@aserta]

Cut a few myself. Not that complicated once you understand what they are and how they need to behave. One thing that i found difficult at first was selecting the proper cutters, there's a metric ton load of them and the variety can get overwhelming at first.

[@cavemansmancave9025]

aserta agreed

[@motivatedpeon]

Disappointed? Nooo, this thing promises to make up for the most interesting parts of this build! Not that this bulid was not interesting, but I did not expect the tension to rise THAT much on the last steps! Great series and thanks for sharing!

[@fowletm1992]

I guess the washer stack was to get the worn nuts onto un worn thread

[@markfryer9880]

A pretty standard work around to quickly keep a machine working.

[@fowletm1992]

@@markfryer9880 Im a farmer I know all about quick work arounds Nothing is as permanent as a temporary fix Lol

[@davesalzer3220]

I absolutely love this series.

[@jerrycoleman2610]

Keith, Very intriguing and intricate pieces to deal with in all I bet you will have the best planer on planet, thanks for sharing your video.!.!.!.

[@sunny71169]

Great episode! Loved watching you puzzle your way through the disassembly and sharing your thought process as you went.

[@chrisretusn]

Enjoyed.

[@Zerostar369]

This is great! So many opportunities to learn new techniques from you Keith. Thank you!

[@tonyrmathis]

Love that you didn't edit out that brain fart. Good to see smart people sometimes make the same mistakes I do.

[@andyZ3500s]

Keith, you need to invest in a hand impact driver set. It will pay for itself 100 times over for anyone working on older equipment. Looking forward to future episodes on the Clapper box assembly.

[@martyhuberty9739]

Keith, another great video. I know it looks like a lot of work, but we will enjoy going through it with you. Always learn something everytime I watch! Please keep 'em coming!

[@carloscordero4204]

Hello Keith! Wow just when your getting close something always comes up to set you back . that turned out to be a lot more work to be done!! keep moving forward though we can see the light at the end getting closer. KEEP IT UP YOU ARE DOING GREAT!!!

[@erichoff7926]

You have such perseverance! Excellent work Keith.

[@radiohirsch]

I can honestly understand that Keith is disappointed seeing all the work required to get this to working condition. But for me its great news since we will see some nice machining of special parts like the bevel gears. Thanks for sharing, great episode to watch at least!

[@jerryglen986]

I knew you can do it 😊👍 always enjoy these well produced videos 😊👍

[@elsdp-4560]

THANK YOU...for sharing. Watched and very much enjoyed.

[@dianemcewen8922]

That 2 inch nut looks very artistic ,they really dresses up machinery back in those days,great video thanks Mike McEwen

[@one4stevo]

Wow..... you sure got a lot of parts to make to fix one part of the machine . Good luck looking forward to them bevel gears.

[@piotrlenarczyk5803]

Thank you for the movie. Some old way of lubricating stucked nuts is usage of brake fluid. Then single punch with hammer for parts move, and another few drops of brake fluid for next few dozen of minutes. Heating externall parts helps a lot, before actual unscrewing.

[@garvinalfter5974]

Hay, don’t be disappointed in having to do more than you anticipated. I’m loving every minute of it.

[@thomasmccourt215]

I'd be tempted to rename this video "Pandora's Box Disassembly" On the positive side it gives us a whole new mini-series to look forward to !

[@seanrodden6151]

thomas mccourt Pandora's Clapper Box :D

[@aserta]

Eh...not, that bad. I've seen worse. On a side note, i think this might be what sidelined the machine. I mean think about it, if that doesn't work, it's just a big paper weight. In perspective, if that's true, this is why Keith can no restore it, because i've seen other such machines, and they are worn down to the core. Some, even, completely modified to meet up demands for more modern purposes, which would've been impossible to restore after. Like, 1 or 2 weeks after Keith got his machine i was looking for similar stuff here in Europe and i found one such machine, and someone had modified it at some point to make the primitive variant of a CNC machine (i forget what they're called). So, maybe a good thing that this was broken. Saved the machine in the long term.

[@BruceBoschek]

Wow! That really turned into a big job. I bet those washers were there just to take up for the bad threads on those studs. Enjoyed the video very much, as always. Thanks.

[@jerrywallen8327]

I love your videos. You seem to take difficult projects in stride looking forward to seeing the completion of this huge project! Thanks.

[@scottvolage1752]

I often wonder watching these videos if the people who made this in the first place had any idea what would happen to what they worked on over a hundred years ago. Keep up the good work Keith.

[@C2DSolutions]

All of the work for the bevel gear re-make will be set-up. I would make spares (especially the bronze ones) at the same time. Thanks for sharing the video.

[@kerrygleeson4409]

Thanks for sharing Keith always very interesting 👍🇦🇺👀

[@DavoShed]

Lots of interesting bits coming up in your clapper box. I have a little compound slide to rebuild so a lot of the stuff you do will be the same. No bevel gears but I have always wondered how hard they are to make. Looking forward to the next instalment.

[@marknewsome9563]

Looking forward to you making the bevel gears Keith as I have a couple to make myself, but have no idea on exactly how!!!

[@giantman261]

Looking forward to making bevel gears!!! Really like gear making. On step closer to seeing this machine back in action!

[@MadMotorDoc]

Had to laugh when you pulled that pin... Found alot of what I thought would be tough jobs to go smoothly & easy jobs to be the most time consuming. Going to be some very interesting things to come...I enjoy learning from your videos...Keep up the great work.

[@garys9694]

Very interesting video Keith. I think one of your best. It's gonna be fun watching you fix'er up! I'm actually excited about you making this like new! I think you did an excellent job with the teardown.

[@wdhewson]

A fine lesson in persistence. Thanks.

[@sanchopansa1092]

Sometimes it doesn't look like much work. Yes but in some cases there are some surprises. Looking really forward for the next video's

[@lstearns7639]

9:45 to 10:30 is a useful technique. Thanks for sharing.

[@5tr41ghtGuy]

I had no idea how fascinating it would be to watch someone else figure out how to disassemble old frozen up machinery without any documentation. Awesome job and awesome video Keith!

[@JourneymanRandy]

You're on the home stretch. Looking good Keith

[@avoirdupois1]

Tough break with those gears. Having taken much smaller vintage machinery apart, it is incredibly satisfying just to figure out how it comes apart. It is good to see your interest in these classic machines, and I am looking forward to seeing more of this restoration.

[@alanmahaffey3265]

“If I had to take another one apart it would be easy cause now I know how.” Is the motto of all my time working in the shop.

[@davidcallista8618]

Typical of projects that look simple at first blush, and then turn into something more complicated. I'm sure you will get it back right again, and I will certainly enjoy viewing the process. Also looking forward to more work on the stoker engine, especially since my dad worked for the Standard Stoker co. until it closed in the early 1940's.

[@clydecessna737]

I am looking forward to seeing a bevel gear made.

[@phillipyannone3195]

You will have that knocked out in no time. Looking forward to the making of the bevel gears.

[@petermagoun7457]

I really enjoy this channel Keith, keep up the great projects. I just watched Windy Hill Foundry cast the cylinder liner for your Stoker Engine Project. Very anxious to see you machine those components and work towards completion. Fascinating material!

[@kevinm3751]

Cant wait to see you create the gears and other parts...

[@wolfgtweb]

I know how it feels to think you are almost done with something and then find a load of work. But, you did gain one big positive out of this. You now get to do a video on making the bevel gears since both of the bronze ones are trash. I'm looking forward to that video. Keep up the great work. Thanks for sharing.

[@frankdeegan8974]

Well we must admit you did a good job of keeping a positive edge to your voice all the while getting kicked around during the tear down of the clapper box.

[@woodsmn8047]

This is quite a machine..I'll be interested in projects done on it when it is finished..I always wanted such a machine in my own shop when I had it back then...you could make the bed for a small lathe on there for instance..fantastic..!

[@FutopiaAD]

That clapper-box crash is what parked that thing. No one wanted to take the time to fix it again.

[@jonathanrichards593]

+1 Came here to say just this. That's not wear, that's going to have spoiled someone's entire day (if not career!) and I guess the machine never worked again... but now, Mr Rucker is on the case :)

[@jcopley100]

Futopia A.D. what do you suppose caused the damage? Did it hit something immovable, or did someone try to adjust it improperly?

[@Henning_S.]

@@jcopley100 I think someone did not turn off the auto feed before the end of travel got reached

[@FutopiaAD]

@@jcopley100 When an irresistible force meets an immovable object!

[@tropifiori]

Little bevel gears would make cool cuff links and tie tack

[@5x535]

for us gear-heads. great idea!

[@Smallathe]

Lovely puzzle pulling apart challange - and I'd love to see you rebuild it. Thanks for sharing - fascinating content. p.s. I fully agree that the "small parts" may be more complex and challanging than big ones... :)

[@johnfithian-franks8276]

Hi if threads are damaged you can use washers to raise the stud up to an undamaged part and use that to tighten down the clamps.

[@stumccabe]

Thanks Keith. I'll be really interested in the machining of the bevel gears.

[@gwharton68]

It is beautiful to see the overbuild from yesteryear. You have a lot of work ahead of you.

[@leeh.4453]

Sorry you've got much left to do, but happy that it will be interesting to watch, especially bronze bevel gears. You might have to find a time machine to find a close match. Waaay back.

[@mcatees]

If anyone can do it Keith you are the man for the job

[@I8THEmagictoaster]

When its finally finished you need to plane a comically small part, like a 1 imch cube.

[@markthompson4885]

I love that contoured part with the 2" square nut. It is beautiful. LOL you thought you were almost done. with just some clean up.

[@ElmerJFudd-oi9kj]

So do I, back in the days this machine was built they cared more about apearance then now.

[@sleeptyper]

Looking at the old power/pump/whatever stations, industrial people back then had eye for art.

[@ElmerJFudd-oi9kj]

@@sleeptyper Zet iz wat I said you fjuul.

[@sleeptyper]

@@ElmerJFudd-oi9kj lolwut

[@sunny71169]

@@ElmerJFudd-oi9kj Chris, always looking to expand my vocabulary, could I trouble you for a rough definition of "fjuul?" Sounds like it might come in handy from time to time. Thanks.

[@harbermachineworks3927]

Can't wait to see making new bevel gears!! Thanks for sharing it inspires me to work on my American tool works lathe that I actually got from a post you shared on Facebook little over a year ago!! Thanks for sharing and for all you do for the machinist community!!👍👍

[@mcgam2000]

I also am looking forward to making bevel gears.... I have drawn them but never made them....

[@alfredneumann4692]

all appears for the first time..... great videos!

[@organbuilder272]

Time for school - it never stops, Keith.

[@LightAndSportyGuy]

I thought you had a hand impact driver for those stubborn slotted screws... (But, not that you needed it, eh? More of that clean living? :-) ) Really enjoying this project ('specially cause I am not the one who has do the work) - thanks for taking us along for the ride!

[@MichaelLloyd]

Looking forward to seeing you make the bevel gears and I'm 100% confident that you can do it.

[@SunnnyDay]

Great segment, looking forward to this part of the re-build !!

[@nickprescottskymap3dltd348]

Hi Keith, yet another great video (I love the ‘warts and all’ approach - shows you’re human and it’s not all staged - also helps people like me who are very new to this world as we make many more mistakes so seeing how to overcome things is so useful.) I’m really looking forward to the bevel gear cutting - please do your usual excellent job of explaining what and why you’re doing things as I will eventually have to make bevel gears for the large (1/3) traction engine I plan to make once I’ve got some smaller projects under my belt. I know you’ll make it easy to understand so I can learn from you - I don’t have contacts in the machining world to ask. Thanks again, please keep up the good work - from Robin Hood’s county in the UK.

[@martindworak]

Love this channel, I’ve never done this kind of work but my dad did and that’s what made me interested in it. I actually came across the Abom79 channel first but, it’s hard to watch one without being interested in the other. Thank you Keith for the awesome content!

[@Ham68229]

Pending on the handle on your screwdriver, (hexagonal shaped), you can use a box end wrench on them. That's why those handles are designed the way they are. Just for future reference that is. Great video, cheers :)

[@superdansilverman]

Love the clamped battens for work holding at 10:10!! You must be a woodworker ;)

[@chieft3357]

As always with old machinery, just when you think you got it licked it jumps up and bites you. I know how ya' feel cause I've been there with old gas and diesel engines but to me it's fun.

[@chadstrutzenberg9171]

Clap on clap off the clapper!

[@jonbobtrader]

I love it when Keith misses something. His mistakes make me feel Oh So Much better about my own. :) Keep on keeping on Keith. You are doing great and I'm learning more with every episode.

[@MrPatdeeee]

Great Job Keith. Well done. May Jesus continue to bless you with talents that are VERY rare. And also a kind Sir.

[@GUSMIX22]

Hi Keith: Love all your videos !! Please, Please invest in a "complete set of Brass punches" when disassembling and or assembling your projects ! It makes me cringe every time I see a shaft or ? hit with a steel punch etc...Thanks Brian !

[@componenx]

I don't know how many times I've had to pause a project in order to figure out how it get something apart. It's worst when things that should come apart don't due to burrs, ridges on rotating parts or petrified lubricants. On the Karger mill I'm working on, the table lead screw refused to come out after removing everything from both ends and opening up the half nut completely. Turned out there was a ring of petrified oil around it that might as well have been steel. Brushing on acetone for a few hours finally got it free. (The half nut allows the table to be moved either with the hand wheel / power feed, or a lever).

[@thebear5454]

"The best laid plans...". Always more work than meets the eye Kieth.

[@fredygump5578]

That bevel gear is the definition of "Chowdered"!

[@okcantbelieveit294]

I bet there was some muttering going on off camera. As usual a most informative and enjoyable video. 👍

[@robertbamford8266]

“Time to go to Plan B. Now I have to figure out what Plan B is.” 😁. Looking forward to watching you make the bevel gears. My sympathy for the goal line moving - just when you thought it was getting close. Reality strikes. Thanks again!

[@erikjoven2388]

Can't wait to see how you tackle those bevel gears!

[@timshelton4041]

Lots of interesting thread and bevel gear work coming up!

[@jimsvideos7201]

That thing sure put up a fight, but if nothing else you can use whatever thread pitch you like on the replacement studs.

[@oldpup2182]

From the looks of those studs, they may have put all those washers on there just to get to better threads for the nuts to clamp on. :)

[@chrisjennings4569]

Gosh, THAT SUCKS. But I am impressed at the engineering. The bronze/brass bevel gears were made of a softer material so that they will end up as you found them, this is to save the more critical parts. If you need any help with the bevel gears, give me a shout. I have the Navy Training Manual for Machinists and it has great descriptions of the math involved. I'm actually a little jealous. My first tip, make a couple of blanks out of aluminum and give those a whirl.

[@douglaspierce316]

we enjoy your work, so for use this is great news. thank you for sharing. that elephant is bigger than you thought. enjoy your meal. desert time is getting closer. thanks

[@cbhirsch]

Cool, Keith found a thing to do that he has never done before, we will be learning about bevel gears at about the same time as you : )

[@boldford]

I'm looking forward to seeing how you go about making the replacement bevel gears.