Here's my new pump. Ain't she pretty.

Ok, so I have started work on another wood pump. I may regret posting it, but I will show the progress. Here, all the parts have been cut to size, and I have made a rabbit joint on the edges to make the joints stronger.

Here I have added one side to the side collum. Notice the wood blocks to reinforce the joint. Between the blocks and the rabbit joint the collum is pretty tough.

Both sides are on. Keep 'er clamped up for a while to let the glue dry.

Looks like it could be interesting...do you have any finished ones to post or a link to a thread of a previous wooden pump you built?

Mikes built a few in the past and each one came out really good. Talented guy ,he is. Heres some links.
http://www.oldgas.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=217399&page=1
http://www.oldgas.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=210219&page=1

I've always though about making one of these myself. Just gotta pick a style and draw some plane and get it done.

Looks like some inspiration to me, Mike.

Keep us posted.

You're using 3/4" MDF Panels I assume?

seen your other pump, bet you can make a very nice set of cabinets.....chris

I guess this is what I gotta do, if I'm ever gonna get a Wayne 60 wide body...

He's either doing a 36 OR 36B this time.

Sorry, I forgot to say, this is a shorty M&S 70. I say shorty because it is 13" shorter to fit in a room with 8' ceilings. This one is made of 3/4" and 1/2" MDF.

Ok, with the sides on, I add some blocks to the top and bottom to serve as attaching points to put the spreader bars and the mounting brackets on. Below is the pieces that will be laminated to form the base. Two pieces of 3/4" and one 1/2" to give me 2"

The base parts are clamped up, and left to dry. I make the base pieces over sized, and will cut them to the correct size later. While the glue dries, I take the finished side collumns outside to route the 3/4" round-over onto the corners.

With the sides finished, it's time to make the nozzle hardware and mount it. I traced the nozzle hook on my Tok. 39, and transferred the shape to this scrap piece of angle aluminum I had laying around. Then, I cut it out with an angle grinder. I also made a nozzle receiver out of some scrap 1/4" plate. After that it was mounted to the side. I checked the nozzle for fit, and it was on to the next step.

It fits.

Added the spreader bars to one side, then attached them to the other. Next, I'll put it on the base.

It'll probably be as heavy as a real pump...gutted of course! LOL! but at a fraction of the price. Keep it comin' ....looking GREAT!

Yes, it's true, these things are super heavy when done. MDF weighs a ton.

You are truly one remarkable fabricator sir !!!!!!!!!!! Ed Shaver

Thanks for all the positive comments so far everyone. Here, the base is on. Now that the base is on, I can test fit the doors. I use a clamp to hold the doors in place as I check the alignment. When everything is all good, I drill the holes into the sides that the bolts will go through.

These sharp little guys are called T-nuts. They are pulled by a bolt into the wood, where their teeth will bite in and hold them in place. Once they are set, they stay put. A little side note, If you step on one of these with no shoes on, you will not need a second cup of coffee to help wake you up in the morning, trust me. The second picture shows the T-nut in it's new home. With all the t-nuts set, the doors can be hung.

With the doors hung, the top is ready to go on next. I molded the top myself. I made a mold of an original top, and make these fiberglass tops. I don't have any pictures of the molding process.

Top's on, and that is a night ladies and gentlemen.

Looks like its gonna be an MS 70 or shall we just call it a woodie?

I want pictures and descriptions of the molding process! I dont need it now, but please show us sometime, how you do it.

I remember your last one too, awesome work. I love threads like this.
John

Again, thanks for all the positive comments and all the interest everyone. Now it is time to make the face inserts. I have a set of repo face plates. I'm using a scrap piece of 1/2" as a backer. I'll cut a hole for a sight glass. The sight glass is a candle holder, and the spinner is a plastic Christmas ornament from Hobby Lobby. I have a total of $3 invested in the sight glasses. I use the ornament as a ball spinner because I am too cheap to buy the repo prop spinners.

I cut a hole in the backer in the right spot. I then hot glued the candle holder in. I added spacer blocks to the back of the backer, which I will attach the spinner assembly to.

The finished insert with the ball spinner. I used a set of Veeder Root number decals for the numbers.

How C@@L is that! This thread is fun!

A picture showing the back of the insert. I glued a strip of 1/2" MDF to the back of the door at the top and bottom of the window cut-out to serve as spacers for the inserts. The insert will be screwed to this strip when it is installed. I made trim strips out of 1/8" flat stock to cover the rough edge of the MDF around the face. Later, it will get painted white to match the faces.

With the inserts installed in the doors, the pump is pretty much done. With the pump built, it's time to take it apart and send it off to Body and Paint. This weekend, I'll prime and paint it.

Great Job! I may have to resort to that. Utahbob

Since I am a woodshop teacher, I showed this thread to the kids in my classes. We've been working on a real Erie 71, but as soon as it's done several of the kids want to try and make an MDF pump of their own. They all think that is a really cool idea and a good way to have a pump of their own. Great idea and nice workmanship!
Chris

Hose outlet WOOD look better if Wall/Floor flange was mounted inside of side panel instead of outside.

I agree Dick, but there are some clearance issues on the inside of the column, and it would be very difficult. I have tried it before with poor results.

Ok, so the parts have been primed. The secret to painting MDF is to use a polyurethane surfacing primer. I forgot to take my camera, but shooting primer is really not that interesting. With the primer cured overnight, I dust on some cheap red oxide primer to act as a guide coat. The goal is to sand off all the brown to turn the primer yellow again.

It's kind of hard to tell in this picture, but after a few swipes of the sanding block, the high spots instantly turn yellow again, while the low spots stay brown. I'll know the part is perfect when it is all yellow again without any defects.

After the primer has been blocked, I spray the paint. I build it up a few light layers at a time. The bottom picture shows how I cut in the top before I spray the outside. At this point, there really isn't much to show, as it is all just painting. Coming up tomorrow; Final Re-assembly.

The talent of the people here never ceases to amaze me. Fantastic job. Can't wait to see it finished.
John

Ya might have to cut the flange & re-drill more holes for screws, or space it farther inside & use a longer nipple. Worth a try.

Here's the window frame. Yep. It's just a picture frame from Walmart. Turns out it's perfect size. I'll toss the back plate and hot glue in the glass. I'm sooooooo happy to have found frames the right size, because the one thing I truly hate about building pumps is making window frames. It is really time consuming. These will get painted silver.

The finished door. The trim has been painted white, the frames silver, everything has been re-assembled and the main decal placed on. It's ready to go back on the pump.

I broke one of my own rules with the top. I didn't drill the holes for the globe holder and the lamp socket. Bodywork 101: Drill all holes and test fit EVERYTHING before body and paint. Oh well, this oversight was small.

This is pretty amazing. Can't wait to see the finished product.
Utah Bob

Here's the finished product.

Mike that is a job well done. It looks great!!!

Wow! DOUBLE Wow!

That looks Fantastic! You have got be proud of that, Mike!

Thanks for sharing your creative ideas along the way! I can still picture the MDF in the trunk of your car LOL!

Very nice,mike!

That looks great, excellent work.

AMAZING!

wow, great work. How long did it take you start to finish?

Thanks again for all the support. I'd say it takes about 25 to 30 hours start to finish. There is allot of down time waiting for glue and paint to cure. The first one I built took about 45 hrs., but that was thinking and planning as I go. Now I have it all down, and have figured out better and faster ways to make parts with less materials.

Great job Mike.

Very cool..I too would like to see the process how you molded the top.
Please let us know.

Yes, I will have to show molding process, but it will have to wait until late spring as I have to do it outside in warm weather. The chemicals used in molding are super smelly, and will stink up the house for a week if I try it inside, and believe me I found out the hard way.

But....in the meantime here is a picture of mold. I restored an original top, then bolted it to a board. It was then covered in wax, then PVA(a synthetic mold release). The next step was to cover everything with a super thick coat of tooling gel coat. After the gel coat cures, it is covered with fiberglass and resin. When cured, the fiberglass is pulled from the original part, and I am left with a perfect negative of top. The process is repeated on the inside of the mold to form a new fiberglass top. In the picture you can see the left-over film from the PVA. This was left on after a part that failed.

Love your work! Cant wait to get started on my wayne 70 cabinet project!

btw.. what kind of tool is the electric tool you used for rounding of the edges? Never seen one, but will need one hehe

It's a router. A Bosch 2 1/2 Hp, combination fixed and plunging. Got it at Lowes, love it.

Thanks! I looked up "how to use a router" on youtube and it seems like a tool "you cant be without" hehe..

Another question. Is the spreader bars necessary since you have rabbit joints and the blocks on the bottom and the top? You see am going to build a wayne 70 or 71 cabinet and dont want alot of visible mounting "things" on the inside or the outside of the cabinet.

You could get away without spreaders no problem. I use them because they hold everything together, which makes it way easier to assemble to the base and align everything later in the project, but again, no they are not necessary. If you are going to buy a router, be sure to do your research. Don't be tempted by the $40 special at Home Depot, as they are junk. I recommend the Bosch dual base. It's a great router for the money.