My time on the workshop has been a little intermittent over the last couple of weeks but I have been able to get out there to make some progress on the saw table. I have converted the shaft of the motor to take a Myford gear by milling a slot in the shaft to accept a keyway and drilled and tapped the end of the shaft so I can secure the gear.
I have also made three pulleys, one of which is the important pulley that will hold the 2 saw blade sizes and the diamond grind stone. However I have decided today to make a separate pulley for the diamond grit stone. I have had to do this since assembling the pulley with the saw blades my initial idea to hold the blade on was to secure the pulley to its shaft and have a washer between the end screw and the blade. This didn't work on trialing it so I decided that I would thread the outer part of the pulley (see photo's) which meant the seating for the smallest item (the grinding wheel) would disappear but I want the blade to stay on and not spin past my ear!!!
The completed and newly threaded saw blade pulley
Fortunately the diameter of the end of the pulley was suitable for a 10mm thread and a corresponding nut was made by threading some 1” diameter brass then making two flats opposite each other that will allow a spanner to be used in conjunction with a brass spacer. I must admit I was very pleased with the results and either blade can be held very securely.
With all three pulleys and their shafts completed the focus now is on the fittings for the back plate. The brass insert for the shaft that drives the rest and on which a gear is held has been completed and the saw arm and saw pulley slot with it radius has been cut but there is still work to be done before fitting to the back plate. Another similar slot to the gear pulley needs to be made as well. When those items have been tackled next and fitted I will be able to finalise the belt size and test out the speed to the blades.
The brass insert deigned to increase durablility and the radius milled to suit range oof movement
Once the moving parts as it were are working fine I will then cut the teeth on the saw arm and the height quadrant (yet to be made) before making the threaded parts to move the quadrant and therefore saw adjustment.
Next week though I will be working on the Fowler traction engine before returning to the saw table the following week. I have decided to try to work on one of my three main projects (the pair of Seal engines, Fowler traction engine and saw table)for a week then back to one of the others. Whether this works will depend on my health though and how much time I can spend in the workshop. Life as ever is always a compromise.
About Mike Freeman
Hello, my name is Mike Freeman and I am a retired Chief Fire Officer from the United Kingdom with a keen interest in model engineering, silver caddy spoons and sea fishing. I live in the pretty fishing port of Brixham, South Devon, in the United Kingdom.
I am a sufferer of degenerative osteoarthritis, which impacts on the amount of time I can spend in the workshop, and is the reason why you will see seats and a stool in some of the photo's. I have only recently added the above sentence after a discussion with one of my Doctor's from the excellent pain clinic, based in Torbay. This does affect concentration one of the reasons why I double then re-double my measurements and set ups.
Before completing nearly 30 years of public service I and my wife Sandy, owned and ran, a small restaurant in Okehampton Devon. Prior to marriage I worked for my father in his various businesses, in the early days these were garages, which he bought in a run down state, then built them up before moving on, to start again.
I took every opportunity in those early days, to work in his workshop's
learning 'on the job' rather than as an apprentice. This, I suspect, is the reason why my building various model's in the early days, turned into model engineering, when funds allowed the required equipment to be bought.
My workshop comprises one half of a detached double garage. It has a
stud wall separating the two halves and unusually perhaps, its own
shower/toilet/washbasin compartment! (the true reason for buying the
bungalow - don't tell the wife!!!)
It is fully insulated with a ceiling and fluorescent lighting supplementing the one window. Several double electrical sockets are dotted around in
relevant positions.
Equipment consists of 2 lathes (1 Myford ML 10 and 1 Chinese variable
speed motor with etched glass DRO's), 1 milling machine (RF25 far East) floor standing pillar drill, Proxxon bandsaw, Warco bandsaw, 6" wire brush and polishing mop motor, 6" coarse and fine grinder, Proxxon mini drill, various benches and an engineers vice. I have just acquired a third lathe, a Myford ML7 which I am at present evaluating so I can decide which of the Myford's I will keep.
I have only just bought the Chinese lathe and had it fitted with DRO's prior to delivery. And what a bonus they are! So good in fact that I decided to buy another set for the Milling machine. Whilst my engineering experience can only be described as limited, I find the use of DRO's has affected my accuracy levels which have improved tremendously (although that's not saying much!) and would recommend their fitting to any model engineer.
Prior to retirement I built for my son's 17th birthday a Locost car. This
was a tremendous project and a great feeling when it passed its test. The book it was based on suggests it can be built for £250. Ours was nothing special in the sense of all new parts but still cost about £900 to build!
