The 2 parts slid apart a bit to clarify:

Here you can see where the key broke off:

So, what’s a guy to do but fix it. I started by carving out a slot where the old key was:

So then I had this:

Then it was a matter of cutting a piece from some high grade aluminum I had laying around, a little bit of JB Weld and get it together. It is sitting and drying as I write this:

Next I will do a bit more filing and fine fitting…..hmmm….loose tenon joinery on a Tablesaw???

I have a bunch of 16’ rough cut pine 1×12’s. So I lopped off 2 lengths long enough to do 1 long side and 1 short side.

A bit of rough dimensioning and I planned them down to 3/4”

I must say the Shop Notes jig makes the job quick, easy and accurate! A worthwhile build in my opinion.

This is what the participants will get as part of the build. Unfinished and rough sanded, ready for their own personality in the finishing. I will make 15 to 20 of these, depending on the level of participation.

To show what can be done, I put a few coats of wipe on poly on the prototype. Easy as pie to do and will be OK if someone sits their cold bottle of beer on it.

I am now experimenting with some scrap to make a grille for it. I think I have what I want, and how to do it. A bit of a throw back to the 50’s Art Deco radios. A bit of a bobble on the lowest slot. It was the first cut of an experimental process on scrap, so no big deal. Now, if the weather clears up, I can make the final grille from some better wood. This one will be for my own build.

An easy enough project that can be done in a production manner, looks nice I think.

After a bit of cleaning and a band aid, I clamped a piece of wood over the ZCI, and put the tools away for the day. Don’t work overheated or tired, tools bite. A bit out of focus, kinda hard with only 1 hand, but you get the idea.

Front

Back, showing sawdust chute.

and with the door on with the connection for the shop vac.

Thanks for looking and all the encouragment

I ripped a short section af ash and the cut looks really nice. First project….the cabinet for under it. I just finished a sketch up of the carcass. A bunch of left overs and ends will make it, but there will be some hefty plywood in it. But, I am getting ahead of myself.

A general look at the whole thing. Fence is clamped down, ZCI is in place. I am not sure if I am going to keep the fence that long. It will stay for now though.

A closer look at the fence clamped in place with the toggle clamp. You can also see the lock nuts I used on the nylon grub screws used for adjusting the fence. The fence adjusts for parralelism to the blade and the guide face can be adjusted so it is square with the table.

A closer view of the ZCI. Made of 2 parts: 1/8” acrylic and 1/2” ply. I have a cutting board in the kitchen I am considering sacrificing to the project, and, I already bought a new board so I could. This is the best blade I have. A 50 tooth thin kerf Freud. I am thinking a new 40 tooth blade is in the works, but have you priced a woodworker ll ???

Just for fun, another overview of the saw. Once the cabinet is made it will be more comfy to use. Eventually some sanding and making pretty too.

Next installment…the cabinet….I am so glad it works, everything is tight and smooth and the saw cuts better than ever with the careful set up.

Get the hole spacing for the clamp, drill and counter bore for some T nuts on the back.

A test fit onto the fence itself.

OK, I need a longer bolt to put the pressure on the square tube, but with the rubber end in you can see that it is goeing to work nicely.

I am sure that it will have to be rebuilt, the ash has a tendency to split, I will likely replace it with plywood or, if a piece of aluminum comes my way….... To say I was happy with it would be an understatement. The plans have been in my head for so long, it’s great to see it coming together. Not only that, once the pressure bolt is replaced with a longer one, the saw can be set up and be functional. WOO HOO!

Jim

My last entry indicated I needed a way to lock the casters in place on my TS workstation cart for rolling around. I picked up a couple of storm ties for framing at the local lumber store and put a bit bend in them to fit the cart.

I made one leg shorter.

I attached the storm tie to the frame, then drilled through it and the caster support at the same time, put in a shallow counter bore, and put a T nut into that.

Thread a bolt into the T nut, and it should be good for rolling around.

In my last entry I said that the top and the extension mated nicely, I figure I should back that statement up.

I also picked up some fender washers and longer bolts for the fence bar to raise it. You see the difference if you compare to the photo in the last blog entry. I guess a by product of raising it a bit (can I call this “raising the bar?”) is that debris will be able to fall out the gaps. The bolts holding the bar, by the way, are M8 cap screws, Grade 8. So they should be tough.

Got to take it easy, the knee is killing me. Rain is supposed to come, so that will slow me down a bit. Overall, I am pretty pleased with how it is going together. I love designing and fabricating. More so if I can do it inexpensively.

I mated the extension table to the saw top today. I used 3/8×4” lag screws on the mating edge itself.

Added 3” deck screws through the angle iron and into the top.

Very nice and flat with a good seam. OK, time to get the fence mocked up.

I took the T part of the fence and threaded in some nylon set screws, these can be used to square the fence and make sure it is perpendicular also. I can see me needing some lock nuts.

The square tube that the fence rides on gets an application of UHMW tape. The nylon set screws rides on the tape.

The T square fence takes shape with the adaper I had machined between the cross pieces.

A view of the end of the fence (Upside down) assembly.

Another view, showing more of the fence. Made from a section of heavy aluminum extrusion.

And mocked into place. I think I will raise the square tube a bit. A spacer will do it. Then the nylon set screws can be drawn back a bit.

OK that is mocked up. Maybe cut a bit of wood now.

The cart that this will sit on is a full 6’ long and 2’ wide. I had some 3/4” exterior plywood left over from the kitchen. Not quite long enough, but we can work around that, we need 2’ of it ripped.

Cut up a bunch of 2×4’s and mock everything together and I remembered to mark everything for glue up. Maybe I am actually learning something here.

Another view of it “in the shop”. This is part of the reason it is going on wheels. Anytime I use the table saw, I have to bring it out on the lawn. Not a lot of room in there.

All glued up and together. Attached the casters (I need some carrage bolts). The casters are on a hinged board so they can swing away for working. You can see the 3 scraps I attached to act as feet when in the working position. I chose 3 because it stabilizes better on uneven ground….i.e the lawn.

Here it is in the “moving” position. I have to get something to lock it in this position.

Here it is in the “working” position. Being dropped down will also give me a chance to build a slightly taller cabinet under the top too. You can also see how I made the plywood longer by re using a couple of pieces of 1×4 pine on each end.

Wow! I even remembered to re size the photo! Not the best picture though. Wait for the next installment when it goes into the top.

Here it is apart so you can see the seperate pieces better. I think the picture is pretty self explanitory of how it works. I have to devise a method of clamping it to the square tube, I may use a toggle clamp, or rig up a cam clamp. The piece of angle attached to the aluminum extrusion will have some holes tapped in it for nylon adjusters to square the fence. A bit of teflon coated tape to make it glide better and it should be good. The extrusion will take T nuts so adding jigs and sacrificial fence faces will be easy.

Again, from the end.

and the other end. This end will ride on the little bearings over the top of the outfeed extension, the fence is longer than the TS top.

Here is another picture of the part that mounts to the front of the saw, as you can see, it is fairley substantial.

I put a straight edge on the top and measured the dip with feeler guages. I get about .030” at the worst part. Using part of the fence and the light clamping afforded by my surplus clamps, I cut that in half to about .015”. I will have to go hunt for my C clamps, but for now I will let it sit under pressure for a while. I am hoping that by doing it in a slow progression that I will get most of it out.

Again, I welcome comments, even the ones that are not for this project. I have almost everything needed for it so it won’t be expensive. I have lots of time and little money, hopefully I get a better saw out of it.

Thanks for looking in and commenting!

I have asked on some forums about this project, there is a bow in the top and I want to flatten it. I may also be adding a home made T square fence, seeing as I have most of the parts. I will try to tell the story in pictures, as it may help in understanding.

First of all, this is going out to my “shop”, and it leaks, so I am not about to go spend $1000 on new one to put it in here. It gets it’s power from running an extension cord out there, after hauling the tools onto the lawn, which isn’t going to happen any time soon.

A few inside pics with some of my tools:

My makita thickness planer is under the upside down sink (another project, but it keeps it dry for now):

The saw, my 4” Rockwell jointer, Router table on the cabinet, some clamps, yard tools, BBQ, it’s a muti function storage area.

Looking the other way, you can see the saw and jointer, my mitre saw on it’s stand, my little compressor. The screen door for the patio doors is on it’s side behind for the winter.

My work bench, vacs, storage for all kids of stuff I like to keep handy, like the 18 ga. nail gun that is in the basket on top.

Finally, the last corner that is taken up by shelves full of air conditioners, my sanders, camping equipment, etc.

So, here is the top of the saw, I think the extensions are cast aluminum, I have to figure out how to make better throat plate inserts for it too, I tried one out of lexan once but it shattered as I was putting the kerf cut in it. The top of the saw itself is cast iron (cast steel?, it rusts)

The throat plate removed, ever seen them like this anyone?

Inside, you can see that the blade attaches directly to the motor shaft.

Torn down, you can see it is more or less a portable saw that has been expanded on

The underside, showing the mechanicals of the beast.

The top is off, you can see the tabs with 2 holes each that mount the motor to the top. I believe that it is 30 years of the motor hanging there that has caused the top to bow, and the reason for this project.

The bottom of the top.

Again, only closer and cleaner.

A view of the warp in the top. I just used the edge of a piece of angle to show it. The angle is part of the fence that came with the saw

A closer view of the warp in the top

And of course, the ever present helper and foreman, Aggie the gulunga mutt!

So, what do you think about flattening this thing and getting it more functional. I am open to comments and suggestions. My first thought was to clamp angle iron to it with shims to the bottom, but the shape makes that a bit hard. Maybe trying to do that on the front and back edges would work. OR, is it that close I should see about getting it ground. That may be overkill as I am willing to settle for “better” instead of “perfect”. Of course, if perfect can be easily and cheaply gotten, it will be.

Thanks to all of you for your help and suggestions.

Jim

It started by felling an ash tree a few years ago and getting it milled into boards. Here I am in my large workshop planing the boards to thickness. Note the fancy chip/dust collector.

Did my first bookmatch ever!

Made a core from maple.

glueing the back to the core.

And got this

Added a hole to access the electronics and cut out a cover for it

Since this is a long project I wanted to protect the wood, so I popped the grain and dyed it and did enough french polishing to fill the grain.

The neck was bought, I dyed it also and finished it with Tru-Oil, the headstock face is french polished.

I made up my own logo on the computer and printed it onto water transfer decal paper. I applied it to the headstock and buried it with french polishing.

I made a template and after many trial cuts, put in the neck pocket an installed the neck, in this photo there is no glue or screws holding the pieces together, just friction.

I am experimenting with some home made pickup surrounds, I am not sure of them yet.

Drilled through the body and installed the string ferrules

Installed the bridge.

This is what it looks like today. I got it playable, but still have a bunch of tweaking to do and routing for the pickups, installing the electronics.

Hope you enjoyed it, I have been working on it since April and it is now December. A long project, but I have done it as I could afford things.

Jim