The future of reclaimed lumber?

 Seems like every week, I get an email or a call from someone asking me to build something out of reclaimed lumber. That's always dicey, as the chance for finding nails or screws in the wood is a real concern.  

Finding bullets in boards is pretty common, too. Most people don't think about that, but shooters often attach targets to trees, and aim at them. So trees can be riddled with bullets, which make their way to lumber mills, which end up on your workbench. Running a board through my planer - and discovering a piece of metal embedded in it can be a nightmare. Blades are expensive, and the downtime for replacing the blades is a real concern. 

My buddy Eric sent this video, and I was fascinated to see that someone has come up with a machine that will inspect a board for metal, and then remove it. After it is removed, the machine then x-rays the board to ensure there's nothing left!

How does this all get accomplished? That's even more interesting - the metal fragments are targeted with induction heat, thus charring the wood around the screw or nail. This makes it easier to pull out the metal culprit. Brilliant!

This ten-minute video is worth a look!

Finishing up the Porter Cable 690 router repair

The router parts finally arrived - the two new bearings and a new set of brushes. 

Installing the larger bearing was simple.

 It slipped very nicely in place, and I re-installed the snap ring that holds it in place. 

But then I turned to the armature, where the smaller bearing was to be installed. 

It was a super tight fit, and I had to grease it, in order for it to slide on.

 I slipped a socket over the top of it, so that even pressure was applied when I tapped it into place.  

The armature fit nicely back in the body, 

and this nut holds everything in place. It's a 1" nut, and I tightened it down with an impact driver, all while holding the armature on the other end with a rag. 

There are a lot of sharp fan blades on the other end of the armature, so the rag is definitely needed!

Finally - I put the top cap in place, making sure that all of the wiring was pushed away from moving parts, and that nothing would bind. 

 Last thing to replace were the two brushes - and WOW - those were a PAIN to install. My hands are pretty small, but even so - my fingers got in the way of holding down the brush spring, all while slipping the top plastic cap in place. 

Seriously - it took longer to install the two brushes than the whole time it did to replace the bearings. There must be a trick to it that I was missing. 

But finally - the router was buttoned up, plugged in and working fine. 

 If you ever see one of these (Porter-Cable 690 series router) at a garage sale or flea market, I highly recommend that you snap it up! They are out of production and when they're gone, you'll be out of luck! Just the fact that they made two differently sized collets for it, as well as a fixed and plunge base makes this one of the most versatile routers out available.