Repairing machinery is a must if you have a shop, or just a garage. Most times repairs are minor and doing it yourself will save you a lot of money in the long run.
This is an old, obsolete Powermatic oscillating spindle sander. A OSS is a great tool to have with many functions and such a time saver. I got this one for free and it worked fine, until it stopped oscillating, which is the up and down movement of the sander. Unfortunately, Powermatic no longer makes this sander and part for it are impossible to find.
This particular model is a good solid piece for industrial use. I just have a garage shop, but since it is is such a solid piece of equipment I didn't want to get rid of it, so I decided to fix it. It turned out to be quite an ordeal to fix it. But I did!
I had to find a sander similar in style to this old Powermatic model 14, and modify the new parts to make the oscillating feature function again. The closest I found, which is ALMOST identical was the Jet JBOS-5. Those run about $1600 brand new. I learned a lot about how an OSS works, and it just feels good to problem solve and figure out a way to fix a problem.
All together, I spent about $400 for replacement parts, which is still a little less than a used industrial sander similar in style. Or I could have bought 2 OSS from Harbor Freight and had money left over for a steak dinner. I'm still happy with the outcome, I wanted an OSS and now I have a fully functional, industrial quality piece of machinery to add to my arsenal.
If you are reading this, Thank you!