2015 POTD Thread Archive

sanddan said:
Mike,

I have a converted 14" wood saw. I made a reduction pulley setup that mounts under the saw that allows you to set 2 different speeds. I saw the design on a automotive forum, it can be built with no more than a welder and a drillpress which was all I had at the time. It has been working now for 8 to 10 years without issue. Not the power of a DoAll but it is one of the most used tools in the shop. I upgraded the guides to a full roller setup and did have to machine up a new, steel, blade tensioner assembly as the original pot metal one didn't last but that is a known weak part on all of the 14" wood bandsaws. My area is also lacking in used equipment and the only saws similar to the doAll that I've seen typically run over $2000 used so out of my price range. The main drawback with my saw is you have to cut slower. If I really put a lot of pressure on the blade I can stop it, the pulleys slip at that point, but I've never had a blade come off the drive wheels so not a huge issue. Now that I have a lathe and mill I should redo the reduction pulley assembly to tighten up the pulley alignment and take out slop in the system. The only problem with that is it works just fine as is so I just haven't bothered. Maybe someday.

Dan
Click to expand...

Thanks Dan. My Wilton 14" has the two speed gearbox as it is a metal/wood saw. Just too light for my liking but it was within my price range when I bought it about 8 or so years ago. I too cannot cut very fast, when the blade even thinks about grabbing you can actually watch the frame "C" flex and that is when the blade pops off. I'm tired of fighting it and just want a larger more industrial machine. As soon as I get a couple of larger customer jobs done and out of the shop I think I am going to just bite the bullet and get it so I can get using it rather than complaining about my current one and wishing I would upgrade. I am just going to do it and move on. I already have a person interested in each of my vertical and my horizontal saws. Of course you know how that goes, they are really interested before they are actually for sale, and then as soon as you are ready to sell them the people all of a sudden don't have the money. Lot's of tire kickers around here.

Mike.
 
I hope you know I was kidding, as they look great for mig welds.
are you going to make it look cast? with some texture? that would be way cool
 
zmotorsports said:
Thanks Dan. My Wilton 14" has the two speed gearbox as it is a metal/wood saw. Just too light for my liking but it was within my price range when I bought it about 8 or so years ago. I too cannot cut very fast, when the blade even thinks about grabbing you can actually watch the frame "C" flex and that is when the blade pops off. I'm tired of fighting it and just want a larger more industrial machine. As soon as I get a couple of larger customer jobs done and out of the shop I think I am going to just bite the bullet and get it so I can get using it rather than complaining about my current one and wishing I would upgrade. I am just going to do it and move on. I already have a person interested in each of my vertical and my horizontal saws. Of course you know how that goes, they are really interested before they are actually for sale, and then as soon as you are ready to sell them the people all of a sudden don't have the money. Lot's of tire kickers around here.

Mike.
Click to expand...

I just saw this Jet saw on craigslist. It's not a DoAll and only 14" but it does have 7 speeds with 6 for metal and one for wood. Also has a 1 hp motor so quite an upgrade from my saw. At $800 it's in my sweet spot for a non-authorized tool buy :). I bought my 7x14 horizontal saw from them, only down side is they are 3 hours north of me so it's a day trip to drive up for pickup but not too bad. When you get your DoAll post lots of pictures.
 
I started a project last spring before I got ill and decided to try and finish it while I can still get in the shop. I wanted a scissor type knurling tool but all the plans I found were limited to smaller sizes. Once in a while I need to knurl 4 or 5 inches in diameter also. I did not want to make two tools so I designed a single tool for all diameters. I finished it today.
IMG_0321.JPG
I used the "bump" knurler ( which I hate) as a base. I made an "H" shaped bar that fits into the bump knurler frame after removing the wheels. The top and bottom of the "H" frame has a notch to pin the arms which hold the wheels. This setup ( take note the photo is upside down) will knurl from 1" OD to almost six inches OD.

If you remove the two screws holding the arms and the two screws holding the "H" bar in the frame , the two arms can be put in the bump knurler frame for doing smaller diameters. The setup without the "H" bar will handle diameters from 1/4"OD to 1 1/.2"OD , even as much as 2" OD. This tool was made entirely from scrap pieces and required no changes to the bump knurler at all.

IMG_0322.JPG
This photo shows a better view of the "H" bar.

The arms could have been made from one longer piece of square bar stock , but I was using what I had on hand at the time.
 
So are you going to try and mimick real cast?
My uncle restores cars, and had a set of era correct super rare mags, he did a repair and used a punch and some various other techniques to 'fix' the repaired area so it would appear to be as cast like the rest of this part of the wheel
 
chevydyl said:
So are you going to try and mimick real cast?
My uncle restores cars, and had a set of era correct super rare mags, he did a repair and used a punch and some various other techniques to 'fix' the repaired area so it would appear to be as cast like the rest of this part of the wheel
Click to expand...

I'm not going that far, just blending in the joints and general smoothing before paint. Too many of my stands never get painted as shown in the pic below, 4 stands in bare metal with the rusty one at least 25 years old. The tube was rusty when I picked it at the steel yard. LOL

bare steel.JPG
 
Made a part for a project. Started life as a piece of 3" pipe, and some flat bar out of the scrap bucket. Did a bit of welding after this pic, although not with those gloves.

20151127_113415.jpg

It's about as big of a piece as my 9" South Bend with a 3' bed can handle. I've faced the right hand end, turned enough to grab with the 4 jaw, and made a reference ring at the left hand side (to ease re-centering the part after flipping it end for end).
Before someone says "Steady rest!", I don't have one. :( The clamp on the tailstock is fully engaged, and only light cuts were taken.
20151127_141712.jpg

Nasty, rusty pipe. I had to touch up the HSS tool repeatedly to get through all that crunk on the outside (that's why there's no toolholder in the picture above). It's too big a diameter to brute-force a carbide tool through it.
Mostly cleaned up, time to rotate the toolpost and finish up that last bit. The copper jaw pads are 1" hard copper tubing that I slit and spread, then annealed with a propane torch. They work great, and dirt cheap. They are a light press onto the jaws, so they don't fall off as I'm fiddling with the workpiece.
20151127_194725.jpg

It polished up nice, but I still have a bit more to do on the right hand side, and there's a little more cleanup on the left hand side. The turned (not polished) portion in the chuck jaws will be fine as-is. I gave it a nice wipedown with oil before I called it a night, lest I come out and find I have to polish off surface rust tomorrow.
20151127_212936.jpg

Don't ask what project it is for. You'll just have to wait and see as it progresses.
:grin:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top