GLIDER

MOTOR

DRIVE

BRAKES

BATTERY RACK

WIRING

INSTRUMENTS

TESTING

BODY

I expect everyone who attempts a conversion would have a basic set of hand tools, wrenches, sockets, screwdrivers and the like.  I have many of those and a few other tools that may not be found in the general hobby shop.

I am pretty much of a tool freak and have collected a fair assortment of tools.  Most of them have been purchased second hand and restored.

First is an early model CNC mill.  Manufactured by Hurco in the early 80s and capable of making a lot of the parts and pieces I wanted.  Sometimes I think that I am like the fellow with only a hammer.  "When all you have is a hammer, every problem begins to look like a nail."  I do a lot of things with the mill that most people would do some other way.

I also have a nice Miller TIG and Thermal Dynamics plasma cutter which come in very handy.

They were purchased to construct a piece of packaging equipment that I invented several years ago.  About the same time I got a mid size MIG or wire welder.

A former employee had this band saw that he wanted to sell and I picked it up before he left.

The Lathe is a very old Sheldon 10" and the drill press is about the same vintage Delta.  Both of these were inherited from my father when I first started out and I remember both of them as far back as I can remember in the mid 1950s.  They were used when dad got them I am sure so I expect they were built back about the 1930s or so.  Both of them have been modified to have AC frequency drives installed for speed adjustment and the motors were converted to 3 phase.

It is really nice to have the adjustable speed on the lathe and drill press and an added benefit is that the frequency drive allows them to run 3 phase motors on a single phase electrical service.

I also have a small Oxy-Acetylene torch set which I don't use very often.  I find the plasma cutter to do all the cutting I need and I prefer the TIG or MIG for welding.  The torch is mainly used for silver soldering when required.