An old friend bites the dust.

My old Craftsman router died on me tonight. My dad bought this new in 1970 and I got it when he passed away in '89. You know how you have those particular tools that just feel good in your hands and are the first thing you pick up? Well this was that one for me. 1HP, 6 amp, 1/4" collet; not exactly a powerhouse router but it was lightweight and dependable and was my choice for just about anything that required free hand routing. This was the first router I ever used and it probably had more sentimental value than anything and it served my dad and I both well for 42 years.
 

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If it's that old, it just might need new brushes in the motor... when he first started carpentry, my dad bought a Skil saw... one of those heavy stainless steel cased ones... he used it until his death in 1989... it was offered to me, but I wasn't into any kind of wood working then and declined... still regret not going through his shop and collecting his tools... I remember he put new power cord and brushes on that saw pretty regularly.
 
It's not brushes, Chuck. I can't figure out what happened but it appears something either got up inside or something came loose and broke off about five or six blades from the cooling fan. I took it apart and cleaned it out but the fan's pretty mangled and I'm afraid the armature might be damaged. I did notice after I took it apart that the lower bearing is a little rough too. It's quite possibly repairable, I'll have to dig into it a little further and see. 'Course, if I fix it i'll loose my excuse for shopping for a new router. :D
 
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