I have been looking for one of these machines for about 6 years now and thanks to my good friend Andy, who found it for me, I am now the proud owner of a Max VS1-18 Oscillating Vertical Spindle Sander.

 

Picked up from a school auction. I paid a little more than I wanted, almost more than any other machine in my shop, but it will be worth it.  It came with all 10 spindles and all 3 table insert rings, and a 1 hp 3 phase motor.  I think I will move this one up in que ahead of my Newman planer and do a full restoration on it as soon as I finish the Crescent Universal Wood Worker.

 

Congratulations of the new find and addition to the shop. Can't wait to see it finished. I am sure it will be great.

 

Mind if I ask about the quest for this particular spindle sander?

John I wasn't necessarily looking for a Max sander, just any good old oscillating spindle sander.

Top of my list would of been a big old Oliver or Wysong & Miles, next would be either a State or Max, and I would of been happy with a smaller Boice Crane or Yates. The big ones just don't come up for sale in my area so I am happy with finding the Max.

I'll keep looking for a big one and if one comes up I can sell this one to help pay for it.

That's how I have acquired most of the big machines in my shop, start with a small one and keep upgrading. I started with a 4 inch jointer, sold it for a 6, then the 6 for an 8, then the 8 for an 18 inch.

John Moody said:

Mind if I ask about the quest for this particular spindle sander?

You know Shane that is how it works. I here people tell other to buy the best to start with, but sometimes it is fun to just work up through the different models and learn what each one will do.

 

Thanks for sharing the quest.

Great core Shane. That looks to be the best looking OSS I've ever seen. I have an OSS and I couldn't live without it but mine is a mere toy compared to yours. Congrats.

Nice machine Shane. Those are a real top of the line unit. And it is complete. I have an old porter cable with the funny foot base. I love mine and use it all the time. Can't wait to see what you do to this machine. How is the big Universal woodworker coming along?

Yup nice score...looks like a heavy old beast.

 

-Ace-

I hope you have help when you move it!

 

Thanks for the comments guys

 

I was able to wire it up to the 3 phase tonight after work and fire it up .. sounds great 

 

Bob I love the looks of those old Porter Cables with the ducks foot base.  The restoration on the Crescent is going slow. I am having a hard time finding any time to work on it, luckily I was given another month to get it done. I have all four machines pulled off the base and each one is stripped down to the bare metal. I've got the base all painted, underneath and on top, and now just gotta start painting the other machines and start putting it all back together. I spent one afternoon making over 250 brass washers on the lathe, that was some tedious work, but they will look nice on the satin black paint.

 

Ace and Ron, the machine only weighs around 350 lbs. Light compared to the last couple of machines I unloaded into my shop, each pushing around 4,000 lbs. Most of the sander is made from cast aluminum so my son in-law and I was able to just muscle it out of the truck and into the shop.

 

Thanks again,

Shane

Shane I know you will do it justice with the work you are doing on all those machines. Wow, 250 hand turned washers! I bet that will look just super on that . You bring machine restoration to a whole new level my friend. It is great you are here. Looking forward to seeing the machines when you are done with them. bob

Thanks Bob, I appreciate the comment

 

Gene, my experience with a metal lathe is pretty limited, so I pretty much just do stuff for myself. If its something simple I could probably knock it out but my schedule is crazy busy right now. Send me a message and we can talk about it.

Gene Howe said:

Do you do metal lathe work for others. If you do, I have a very small, one off I'd like to discuss with you. 

Thanks,

Gene Howe in Snowflake, AZ

Nice Work horse!!  how much did you buy it for?

Shane,

I am behind on my posts on the forum, but I think you will like the Max.........that is until an Oliver comes along.

 

I have a couple duck footed Porter Cable / Syracuse oscillating spindle sanders, but one hasn't yet made it home from up around Chicago as Scott Andrews picked it up for me. He has one and is using that one for ideas on how to fix his and I took the other one apart that I have here and loaned the gear box / drive mechanism to him also to get the gears copied that he needs for to repair his. I am getting anxious to get them back home and restore em, but I have plenty to do ......ho ho.

 

For those that don't know what we are talking about when we mentioned the Porter Cable oss with the odd foot here is a picture of one and if you know of one please contact me as I could use an extra parts machine. Thanks 

 

 

Take care my friend ~ Dan

Life is funny sometimes. I looked for years for a good spindle sander and finally found the Max sander above. Then last week I ended up finding another sander. It's a Boice Crane / GMC sander, not quite as heavy duty as the Max but still a nice sander, and for 50 bucks it was a lot less than what I paid for the Max.

When I got it home I plugged it in and the spindle would spin but it wouldn't move up and down. I drained the oil and took a look inside. One of the set screws was loose which allowed the lower bearing housing to spin and the crankshaft assembly to fall off. It was a simple fix to get it back together, make new gaskets, and fill it up with new oil. Everything is now working as it should be.

No cracks in the trunnions and the teeth for tilting the table look good.  It came with two throat rings but no spindles. However, the spindles are just a shaft with a No. 1 morse tapper so it should be easy enough to make some new ones on lathe.

Shane

Great find on the old machine. After looking at the other one I can say you do excellent work. Can't wait to see this one when you get her done.

 

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Wayne Mahler
God bless and protect our troops that serve so we can be free.

Shane, your work is always first class. It is fun just seeing what you have when you get done. Thanks for the update. bob

 

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Bob Kloes
www.bobkloes.com

Hey Shane,

I've seen your pics on the OWWM site.  You are a real inspiration.  I have been lucky enough to find a couple of old machines.  Any ideas where to look for these beauties before they end up in the trash?

 

Tom

Very nice find Shane.

 

Congratulations.

 

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John Moody
John Moody Woodworks
http://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com

Great finds Shane.........

 

Thanks ~ Dan

You'll have fun with the max.

 

funny how they show up in groups

 

I found a state b4, in Montreal ,PQ

with the same problem for $140 

it was restored in a day