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#1 ·
mini-tablesaw prototype

Hey guys,

This is a first attempt at making a homemade tablesaw for cutting thin material.
I slapped this first prototype together in around two hours (hence the crappy Nokia pictures), mainly because it was freezing cold inside my shop and I had a hurt elbow and only the bandsaw to cut plywood strips (which lead to massive hand-planing of the cuts to straighten them - surprisingly easy on plywood with a well-honed plane blade).

Anyway, here are a few shots of my latest hoax, all made with recycled parts (I have quite a bunch of electric motors of various sizes and powers, DC or AC).

Wood Rectangle Urban design Flooring Outdoor furniture


Electrical wiring Gas Engineering Office equipment Machine


A nice surprise I got when giving it its first run is that that thingie ejects almost all the sawdust downwards, hence absolutely nothing is flying around:

Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Hardwood


Wood Automotive exterior Gas Bumper Hardwood


Now that's a nice thing when fooling around with MDF, as was the case here.

Now that it's up and running, I'll mod it by reducing the main arbor and concealing the motor under the work surface, add it T-tracks, a fence, and an auto-feed system with rollers and featherboards to cut very long strips with ease. I first designed this mini TS for making bindings and other inlay strips.
The next level will be using a round unteethed paper-cutter circular blade, to get ultra-smooth cuts on thin material (the current blade handled the 5mm MDF without trouble).

Now, what are your impressions? :)
 

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#2 ·
mini-tablesaw prototype

Hey guys,

This is a first attempt at making a homemade tablesaw for cutting thin material.
I slapped this first prototype together in around two hours (hence the crappy Nokia pictures), mainly because it was freezing cold inside my shop and I had a hurt elbow and only the bandsaw to cut plywood strips (which lead to massive hand-planing of the cuts to straighten them - surprisingly easy on plywood with a well-honed plane blade).

Anyway, here are a few shots of my latest hoax, all made with recycled parts (I have quite a bunch of electric motors of various sizes and powers, DC or AC).

Wood Rectangle Urban design Flooring Outdoor furniture


Electrical wiring Gas Engineering Office equipment Machine


A nice surprise I got when giving it its first run is that that thingie ejects almost all the sawdust downwards, hence absolutely nothing is flying around:

Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Hardwood


Wood Automotive exterior Gas Bumper Hardwood


Now that's a nice thing when fooling around with MDF, as was the case here.

Now that it's up and running, I'll mod it by reducing the main arbor and concealing the motor under the work surface, add it T-tracks, a fence, and an auto-feed system with rollers and featherboards to cut very long strips with ease. I first designed this mini TS for making bindings and other inlay strips.
The next level will be using a round unteethed paper-cutter circular blade, to get ultra-smooth cuts on thin material (the current blade handled the 5mm MDF without trouble).

Now, what are your impressions? :)
Really nice, this is the way to go.
Build tools, use tools, upgrade tools!
Is the little motor really strong enough?
Really cool work there.
Best thoughts,
Mads
 

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#3 ·
mini-tablesaw prototype

Hey guys,

This is a first attempt at making a homemade tablesaw for cutting thin material.
I slapped this first prototype together in around two hours (hence the crappy Nokia pictures), mainly because it was freezing cold inside my shop and I had a hurt elbow and only the bandsaw to cut plywood strips (which lead to massive hand-planing of the cuts to straighten them - surprisingly easy on plywood with a well-honed plane blade).

Anyway, here are a few shots of my latest hoax, all made with recycled parts (I have quite a bunch of electric motors of various sizes and powers, DC or AC).

Wood Rectangle Urban design Flooring Outdoor furniture


Electrical wiring Gas Engineering Office equipment Machine


A nice surprise I got when giving it its first run is that that thingie ejects almost all the sawdust downwards, hence absolutely nothing is flying around:

Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Hardwood


Wood Automotive exterior Gas Bumper Hardwood


Now that's a nice thing when fooling around with MDF, as was the case here.

Now that it's up and running, I'll mod it by reducing the main arbor and concealing the motor under the work surface, add it T-tracks, a fence, and an auto-feed system with rollers and featherboards to cut very long strips with ease. I first designed this mini TS for making bindings and other inlay strips.
The next level will be using a round unteethed paper-cutter circular blade, to get ultra-smooth cuts on thin material (the current blade handled the 5mm MDF without trouble).

Now, what are your impressions? :)
Yep, it's really powerful for an old crappy motor. If need be, I'll replace the magnets with NdFeB ones if I find them in the same sizes :)
 

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#4 ·
mini-tablesaw prototype

Hey guys,

This is a first attempt at making a homemade tablesaw for cutting thin material.
I slapped this first prototype together in around two hours (hence the crappy Nokia pictures), mainly because it was freezing cold inside my shop and I had a hurt elbow and only the bandsaw to cut plywood strips (which lead to massive hand-planing of the cuts to straighten them - surprisingly easy on plywood with a well-honed plane blade).

Anyway, here are a few shots of my latest hoax, all made with recycled parts (I have quite a bunch of electric motors of various sizes and powers, DC or AC).

Wood Rectangle Urban design Flooring Outdoor furniture


Electrical wiring Gas Engineering Office equipment Machine


A nice surprise I got when giving it its first run is that that thingie ejects almost all the sawdust downwards, hence absolutely nothing is flying around:

Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Hardwood


Wood Automotive exterior Gas Bumper Hardwood


Now that's a nice thing when fooling around with MDF, as was the case here.

Now that it's up and running, I'll mod it by reducing the main arbor and concealing the motor under the work surface, add it T-tracks, a fence, and an auto-feed system with rollers and featherboards to cut very long strips with ease. I first designed this mini TS for making bindings and other inlay strips.
The next level will be using a round unteethed paper-cutter circular blade, to get ultra-smooth cuts on thin material (the current blade handled the 5mm MDF without trouble).

Now, what are your impressions? :)
Thomas that's the way to do it. Proxxon make miniature drills sawbenches etc. & they start at about £120 - around three hundred & fifty yours will do the same job. Thats inventiveness
Cheers & keep practicing the modes
Best
Trevor
 

Attachments

#5 ·
mini-tablesaw prototype

Hey guys,

This is a first attempt at making a homemade tablesaw for cutting thin material.
I slapped this first prototype together in around two hours (hence the crappy Nokia pictures), mainly because it was freezing cold inside my shop and I had a hurt elbow and only the bandsaw to cut plywood strips (which lead to massive hand-planing of the cuts to straighten them - surprisingly easy on plywood with a well-honed plane blade).

Anyway, here are a few shots of my latest hoax, all made with recycled parts (I have quite a bunch of electric motors of various sizes and powers, DC or AC).

Wood Rectangle Urban design Flooring Outdoor furniture


Electrical wiring Gas Engineering Office equipment Machine


A nice surprise I got when giving it its first run is that that thingie ejects almost all the sawdust downwards, hence absolutely nothing is flying around:

Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Hardwood


Wood Automotive exterior Gas Bumper Hardwood


Now that's a nice thing when fooling around with MDF, as was the case here.

Now that it's up and running, I'll mod it by reducing the main arbor and concealing the motor under the work surface, add it T-tracks, a fence, and an auto-feed system with rollers and featherboards to cut very long strips with ease. I first designed this mini TS for making bindings and other inlay strips.
The next level will be using a round unteethed paper-cutter circular blade, to get ultra-smooth cuts on thin material (the current blade handled the 5mm MDF without trouble).

Now, what are your impressions? :)
Yep, they sell all things Proxxon where I work :) I'm already working on the second powertol: a MDF bandsaw. More to come soon!
 

Attachments

#6 ·
mini-tablesaw prototype

Hey guys,

This is a first attempt at making a homemade tablesaw for cutting thin material.
I slapped this first prototype together in around two hours (hence the crappy Nokia pictures), mainly because it was freezing cold inside my shop and I had a hurt elbow and only the bandsaw to cut plywood strips (which lead to massive hand-planing of the cuts to straighten them - surprisingly easy on plywood with a well-honed plane blade).

Anyway, here are a few shots of my latest hoax, all made with recycled parts (I have quite a bunch of electric motors of various sizes and powers, DC or AC).

Wood Rectangle Urban design Flooring Outdoor furniture


Electrical wiring Gas Engineering Office equipment Machine


A nice surprise I got when giving it its first run is that that thingie ejects almost all the sawdust downwards, hence absolutely nothing is flying around:

Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Hardwood


Wood Automotive exterior Gas Bumper Hardwood


Now that's a nice thing when fooling around with MDF, as was the case here.

Now that it's up and running, I'll mod it by reducing the main arbor and concealing the motor under the work surface, add it T-tracks, a fence, and an auto-feed system with rollers and featherboards to cut very long strips with ease. I first designed this mini TS for making bindings and other inlay strips.
The next level will be using a round unteethed paper-cutter circular blade, to get ultra-smooth cuts on thin material (the current blade handled the 5mm MDF without trouble).

Now, what are your impressions? :)
Very very cool. I've always wondered why the mini power tools were so expensive.
 

Attachments

#7 ·
mini-tablesaw prototype

Hey guys,

This is a first attempt at making a homemade tablesaw for cutting thin material.
I slapped this first prototype together in around two hours (hence the crappy Nokia pictures), mainly because it was freezing cold inside my shop and I had a hurt elbow and only the bandsaw to cut plywood strips (which lead to massive hand-planing of the cuts to straighten them - surprisingly easy on plywood with a well-honed plane blade).

Anyway, here are a few shots of my latest hoax, all made with recycled parts (I have quite a bunch of electric motors of various sizes and powers, DC or AC).

Wood Rectangle Urban design Flooring Outdoor furniture


Electrical wiring Gas Engineering Office equipment Machine


A nice surprise I got when giving it its first run is that that thingie ejects almost all the sawdust downwards, hence absolutely nothing is flying around:

Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Hardwood


Wood Automotive exterior Gas Bumper Hardwood


Now that's a nice thing when fooling around with MDF, as was the case here.

Now that it's up and running, I'll mod it by reducing the main arbor and concealing the motor under the work surface, add it T-tracks, a fence, and an auto-feed system with rollers and featherboards to cut very long strips with ease. I first designed this mini TS for making bindings and other inlay strips.
The next level will be using a round unteethed paper-cutter circular blade, to get ultra-smooth cuts on thin material (the current blade handled the 5mm MDF without trouble).

Now, what are your impressions? :)
now thats nice :)
what sawblade did you used one of proxxon´s or a blade from a dremell like maschine
you can bett I will follow this on the edge of the chair

take care
Dennis
 

Attachments

#8 ·
mini-tablesaw prototype

Hey guys,

This is a first attempt at making a homemade tablesaw for cutting thin material.
I slapped this first prototype together in around two hours (hence the crappy Nokia pictures), mainly because it was freezing cold inside my shop and I had a hurt elbow and only the bandsaw to cut plywood strips (which lead to massive hand-planing of the cuts to straighten them - surprisingly easy on plywood with a well-honed plane blade).

Anyway, here are a few shots of my latest hoax, all made with recycled parts (I have quite a bunch of electric motors of various sizes and powers, DC or AC).

Wood Rectangle Urban design Flooring Outdoor furniture


Electrical wiring Gas Engineering Office equipment Machine


A nice surprise I got when giving it its first run is that that thingie ejects almost all the sawdust downwards, hence absolutely nothing is flying around:

Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Hardwood


Wood Automotive exterior Gas Bumper Hardwood


Now that's a nice thing when fooling around with MDF, as was the case here.

Now that it's up and running, I'll mod it by reducing the main arbor and concealing the motor under the work surface, add it T-tracks, a fence, and an auto-feed system with rollers and featherboards to cut very long strips with ease. I first designed this mini TS for making bindings and other inlay strips.
The next level will be using a round unteethed paper-cutter circular blade, to get ultra-smooth cuts on thin material (the current blade handled the 5mm MDF without trouble).

Now, what are your impressions? :)
I think you will need a sawstop mini. Jk ;) I like what you have done.
 

Attachments

#9 ·
mini-tablesaw prototype

Hey guys,

This is a first attempt at making a homemade tablesaw for cutting thin material.
I slapped this first prototype together in around two hours (hence the crappy Nokia pictures), mainly because it was freezing cold inside my shop and I had a hurt elbow and only the bandsaw to cut plywood strips (which lead to massive hand-planing of the cuts to straighten them - surprisingly easy on plywood with a well-honed plane blade).

Anyway, here are a few shots of my latest hoax, all made with recycled parts (I have quite a bunch of electric motors of various sizes and powers, DC or AC).

Wood Rectangle Urban design Flooring Outdoor furniture


Electrical wiring Gas Engineering Office equipment Machine


A nice surprise I got when giving it its first run is that that thingie ejects almost all the sawdust downwards, hence absolutely nothing is flying around:

Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Hardwood


Wood Automotive exterior Gas Bumper Hardwood


Now that's a nice thing when fooling around with MDF, as was the case here.

Now that it's up and running, I'll mod it by reducing the main arbor and concealing the motor under the work surface, add it T-tracks, a fence, and an auto-feed system with rollers and featherboards to cut very long strips with ease. I first designed this mini TS for making bindings and other inlay strips.
The next level will be using a round unteethed paper-cutter circular blade, to get ultra-smooth cuts on thin material (the current blade handled the 5mm MDF without trouble).

Now, what are your impressions? :)
@Dennis: it's a blade I had bought years ago, I don't remember the brand, but I'll check, as they still sell these where I work :)

@dave hahaha :D thx :)
 

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#10 ·
pen turning lathe prototype

Hey guys!

Back from the mountains (alas, too soon).

First this quickie blog post about what happens when you order a pen turning mandrel without owning a lathe. Being a cheap skate, and a long-time reuse-recycle-minded guy, I of course built myself a wee lathe with all recycled parts: motor from an old printer (or photocopier, can't really remember, I dismantled so many of both…), pulleys and timing belt also from reclaimed hardware, so for the bearings (hidden in the block to the left of the mandrel and at the tailstock side), scrap ply and bits and bolts.
I of course bought a very decent mandrel from Ernie at Bear Tooth Woods, he can only be described as "the best" in every aspect, period.

Tool Wood Art Metal Cylinder


After some thinking on why I always seem to lack the exact sized bit I have to use (Murphy's law about woodworking), I ended up with this prototype.

Table Wood Hand tool Burin Technology


The open pulleys with the timing belt enable for very quick disassembly and insertion of the mandrel.
For the tailstock pin I used a hard-drive bearing, which had a permanently attached screw that I quickly turned to a brad point on my drill press.

Gas Metal Balance Art Natural material


Cue an old bolt from old junk, a few scraps of ply, and you end up with a very functional and quite stable pen lathe at no cost at all.

So far so good for a quick-slapped prototype.

Check this out:

Writing implement Wood Office supplies Pen Natural material


These are #6 and 7, the four previous ones were: #1 and #2 spalted beech, #3 made for mom (the first Chlorociboria-infested, tricky not to overheat it when sanding, I lost a bit of color in one place), #4 a sisty-made for herself, #5 a sisty-made for one of our aunties, #6 and #7 are here, #8 is the second Chlorociboria, which will be a full project post with lots of pictures and definately a keeper for my very freakin' self (NFS!), and #9 is a tedious black palm which took me around two hours to slowly turn but that ended up very well.

Wood Natural material Metal Cylinder Office supplies


Now for #10 which will be a Chlorociboria-infested too.
Yup, I love this mushy goodness.
 

Attachments

#11 ·
pen turning lathe prototype

Hey guys!

Back from the mountains (alas, too soon).

First this quickie blog post about what happens when you order a pen turning mandrel without owning a lathe. Being a cheap skate, and a long-time reuse-recycle-minded guy, I of course built myself a wee lathe with all recycled parts: motor from an old printer (or photocopier, can't really remember, I dismantled so many of both…), pulleys and timing belt also from reclaimed hardware, so for the bearings (hidden in the block to the left of the mandrel and at the tailstock side), scrap ply and bits and bolts.
I of course bought a very decent mandrel from Ernie at Bear Tooth Woods, he can only be described as "the best" in every aspect, period.

Tool Wood Art Metal Cylinder


After some thinking on why I always seem to lack the exact sized bit I have to use (Murphy's law about woodworking), I ended up with this prototype.

Table Wood Hand tool Burin Technology


The open pulleys with the timing belt enable for very quick disassembly and insertion of the mandrel.
For the tailstock pin I used a hard-drive bearing, which had a permanently attached screw that I quickly turned to a brad point on my drill press.

Gas Metal Balance Art Natural material


Cue an old bolt from old junk, a few scraps of ply, and you end up with a very functional and quite stable pen lathe at no cost at all.

So far so good for a quick-slapped prototype.

Check this out:

Writing implement Wood Office supplies Pen Natural material


These are #6 and 7, the four previous ones were: #1 and #2 spalted beech, #3 made for mom (the first Chlorociboria-infested, tricky not to overheat it when sanding, I lost a bit of color in one place), #4 a sisty-made for herself, #5 a sisty-made for one of our aunties, #6 and #7 are here, #8 is the second Chlorociboria, which will be a full project post with lots of pictures and definately a keeper for my very freakin' self (NFS!), and #9 is a tedious black palm which took me around two hours to slowly turn but that ended up very well.

Wood Natural material Metal Cylinder Office supplies


Now for #10 which will be a Chlorociboria-infested too.
Yup, I love this mushy goodness.
Outstanding!!!
 

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#30 ·
Quickslap pen lathe update

Hi guys,

On the "fast & furious" series, I had some nice time with the parents at our countryside home, and grabbed a mahogany cutoff in one of them bins, cut it to size and brought it back home (along with some goodies for someone here that will recognize himself ;)

Table Wood Rectangle Hardwood Wood stain


Just attached it to the pen lathe (drill press helped drill and countersink the holes), the previous part was a crappy plywood chunk which edge was quite worn off, resulting in less than linear motion for the chisels! This will help things a lot. Next up, add a circlip to the mandrel to avoid lateral movement and vibrations!

Cheers!
 

Attachments

#31 ·
Quickslap pen lathe update

Hi guys,

On the "fast & furious" series, I had some nice time with the parents at our countryside home, and grabbed a mahogany cutoff in one of them bins, cut it to size and brought it back home (along with some goodies for someone here that will recognize himself ;)

Table Wood Rectangle Hardwood Wood stain


Just attached it to the pen lathe (drill press helped drill and countersink the holes), the previous part was a crappy plywood chunk which edge was quite worn off, resulting in less than linear motion for the chisels! This will help things a lot. Next up, add a circlip to the mandrel to avoid lateral movement and vibrations!

Cheers!
Nice setup.
 

Attachments

#38 ·
Little disgression: homemade ceiling cord reel prototype idea

To follow Al's blog entry, here is a quick little preview of a possible way to build a shop-made ceiling cord reel (basic idea)





Edit: I added a forum topic here to discuss the numbers and options for those interested in that potential shop project.
 
#39 ·
If youtube ever works, that is…

The idea is to have the wire coming from the ceiling into a fixed cylinder (the central brown cylinder) that is connected to the ceiling and suspended by any means, through the center hole of a metal lazy susan. Said ball bearing has its bottom attached to the fixed inner cylinder, and its upper par to beams that hold the outer (hollowed out) cylinder, which has a flat bottom. Not pictured is a crown pulley with a motor to drive it. That was a very quick 3D modelling, I will try to spare some time to make a small working model to validate the concept, expect something next week (on holidays at the parents', where my shop and tools are).
 
#51 ·
bandsaw build progress

This is my soap dispenser. There are many others like it but this one is mine.

Liquid Bottle Solution Plant Bottle cap


And once it's empty there are a few goodies to look for inside the pumps of these things:

Wood Font Circle Bottle cap Household hardware


The hard plastic balls are very nice and shiny (not as in this picture, I stuffed it in a hole in my tabletop so it wouldn't move during the picture). I collect them for fun and maybe someday I will have enough to make a bracelet or something ;)

The stainless steel spring in these things is of good interest to me. I have a decent collection of hardware parts scavenged from all the electronic items I dismantled over the years (and I began it early). Mainly printers and photocopiers. In this case I was searching through my compression springs collection for a pair that would be around 1 cm long and with enough strength to be used for the freewheel of the small bandsaw I'm building. It turns out that I used one of the springs from my dismantled soapo dispenserz. Kthx.

And so the story continues: meet my little friend Tom (Sawyer):

Wood Rectangle Font Material property Beige


This is the freewheel, with its support and adjusting caddy. The bolt allows for tensioning of the blade, and the set screws for sideways orientation of the wheel. The whole assembly will be attached to the body via hinges, to allow for the vertical plane orientation, and I will also be using one of the soap dispenser springs for it.

Table Wood Circle Recreation Auto part


Here you can see the face of the wheel. It's MDF, hollowed to lighten it up a bit and allow for manual rotation. I know, Matthias Wandel tested it and concluded that MDF is not a great material for a bandsaw wheel, but as this will be a very small scale one with no need for speed, I prefer to have a really homogenous pair of wheels as I will use it mainly for veneer slicing and pen blanks roughing.

Wood Finger Material property Beige Circle


Here you can see the two spring halves used for the push action against the wheel mount. Pull action is via a pair of hex screws, fitted with threaded inserts. The wood for these parts is decent quality pine and some plywood, as MDF would not react properly to threaded inserts anyway.

Wood Gas Circle Gear Auto part


This is the power wheel, hollowed as the freewheel to gain some weight, add it some sexiness and a few grip points to turn it by hand. It will be driven via a timing belt, just like my pen lathe.

Material property Circle Auto part Metal Gas


And here the face view. I haven't erased the pencil lines yet.

Hopefully I will be able to finish the bandsaw rather soon now, as the tools I needed to build these parts were at my parents' place. Expect a few updates and a finished project post in the coming weeks.
Alas, time was too short to even start the prototype cord reel. Later.

Cheers!
 

Attachments

#52 ·
bandsaw build progress

This is my soap dispenser. There are many others like it but this one is mine.

Liquid Bottle Solution Plant Bottle cap


And once it's empty there are a few goodies to look for inside the pumps of these things:

Wood Font Circle Bottle cap Household hardware


The hard plastic balls are very nice and shiny (not as in this picture, I stuffed it in a hole in my tabletop so it wouldn't move during the picture). I collect them for fun and maybe someday I will have enough to make a bracelet or something ;)

The stainless steel spring in these things is of good interest to me. I have a decent collection of hardware parts scavenged from all the electronic items I dismantled over the years (and I began it early). Mainly printers and photocopiers. In this case I was searching through my compression springs collection for a pair that would be around 1 cm long and with enough strength to be used for the freewheel of the small bandsaw I'm building. It turns out that I used one of the springs from my dismantled soapo dispenserz. Kthx.

And so the story continues: meet my little friend Tom (Sawyer):

Wood Rectangle Font Material property Beige


This is the freewheel, with its support and adjusting caddy. The bolt allows for tensioning of the blade, and the set screws for sideways orientation of the wheel. The whole assembly will be attached to the body via hinges, to allow for the vertical plane orientation, and I will also be using one of the soap dispenser springs for it.

Table Wood Circle Recreation Auto part


Here you can see the face of the wheel. It's MDF, hollowed to lighten it up a bit and allow for manual rotation. I know, Matthias Wandel tested it and concluded that MDF is not a great material for a bandsaw wheel, but as this will be a very small scale one with no need for speed, I prefer to have a really homogenous pair of wheels as I will use it mainly for veneer slicing and pen blanks roughing.

Wood Finger Material property Beige Circle


Here you can see the two spring halves used for the push action against the wheel mount. Pull action is via a pair of hex screws, fitted with threaded inserts. The wood for these parts is decent quality pine and some plywood, as MDF would not react properly to threaded inserts anyway.

Wood Gas Circle Gear Auto part


This is the power wheel, hollowed as the freewheel to gain some weight, add it some sexiness and a few grip points to turn it by hand. It will be driven via a timing belt, just like my pen lathe.

Material property Circle Auto part Metal Gas


And here the face view. I haven't erased the pencil lines yet.

Hopefully I will be able to finish the bandsaw rather soon now, as the tools I needed to build these parts were at my parents' place. Expect a few updates and a finished project post in the coming weeks.
Alas, time was too short to even start the prototype cord reel. Later.

Cheers!
Great blog. The lathe is cool. I'm looking forward to the bandsaw.
 

Attachments

#65 ·
bandsaw progress

Quick update on the whereabouts of my homemade bandsaw.
Glueing-up the bottom wheel support:

Wood Gas Machine Audio equipment Wire


Close-up of the top wheel support opening for the wheel orientation and blade tensioning mechanisms:

Wood Hardwood Flooring Audio equipment Wood stain


And the two wheels in place:

Wood Art Material property Hardwood Table


When hand-turning it to align the wheels I realized that my blade is warped in a spot, which makes it jump out of the wheels. Oh, well, anyway, I will recut and resolder an older blade from my shop bandsaw next time i go to the parents'.

I also received four pancake servomotors as the one I used on my homemade pen lathe, of the whisper-quiet kind, and they already have the pulley for the size of timing belts I use for these homemade powertools. So this will be very handy when installing the motor on the bandsaw!

I will still have to round the angles and add the front cover over the wheels, paint it, try it out, and cut pen blanks and bent lamination strips with it!
 

Attachments

#66 ·
bandsaw progress

Quick update on the whereabouts of my homemade bandsaw.
Glueing-up the bottom wheel support:

Wood Gas Machine Audio equipment Wire


Close-up of the top wheel support opening for the wheel orientation and blade tensioning mechanisms:

Wood Hardwood Flooring Audio equipment Wood stain


And the two wheels in place:

Wood Art Material property Hardwood Table


When hand-turning it to align the wheels I realized that my blade is warped in a spot, which makes it jump out of the wheels. Oh, well, anyway, I will recut and resolder an older blade from my shop bandsaw next time i go to the parents'.

I also received four pancake servomotors as the one I used on my homemade pen lathe, of the whisper-quiet kind, and they already have the pulley for the size of timing belts I use for these homemade powertools. So this will be very handy when installing the motor on the bandsaw!

I will still have to round the angles and add the front cover over the wheels, paint it, try it out, and cut pen blanks and bent lamination strips with it!
Interesting project.
Is it your own design?
 

Attachments

#78 ·
Prototype bakelite vise after jeweler's version

Hi all,



Here is my first copy of this great design from the 30's. I won the original (left of the picture) on ebay some time ago, and after cleaning it and trying it out I decided to make copies of it, mainly because my sister is studying to become a jeweler and bakelite is great for silversmithing and goldsmithing since it's rather soft.
I used this vise for cutting rather delicate scrollwork into horn and bone flats, with very nice results. The only thing that the original lacks is a clamping system.

So I had this small electrical-grade bakelite board around, with several mounting holes. I scaled down the original design to fit my stock - actually two units could fit, but I lost several parts to the Screw-Up Fairy by trying to cut them with my jeweler's saw instead of waiting to be at the parents' and use my bandsaw with the metal-cutting blade. Oh, well, prototyping, you know?



In the end I had the parts required for a single one, that I glued with slow-curing epoxy. The hardware is salvaged steel rods and brass parts from Gawd knows what, probably floppy drives and related computer hardware - I have a BUNCH of that stuff, neatly sorted out actually.



This first prototype came out rather nice, if not for a problem that I hadn't foreseen before actually building it: on the original you can see the brass linear bearings that ride around the shafts, well the length of these isn't that random: actually, when using the adjusting screw you're applying pressure to the top of the movable jaw of the vise, hence producing a rotating torque. My very short sleeve bearings aren't long enough to compensate for that on my version, so I have to manually compensate for that torque by keeping the jaw parallel to the fixed side to avoid jamming of the rods in the bushings. Well, I won't make that mistake again. Once the piece is clamped, it doesn't move anyway, so I consider this a partial success. Next ones will be better!

Thanks for watching.
 
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