A short session today in the workshop and I didn’t feel up to doing anything major or critical. Overnight I had been thinking about the saw table project and a moment of possible inspiration came when I wondered what a normal slitting saw would be like in use on the saw table?

When I had a look at the saw pulley it was turned to 1” diameter and of course the slitting saws I have are 1” bore! So I decided to spend my time working out how to fit the slitting saw to the existing pulley rather than turn another (I also didn’t have another bearing). The answer I thought of was to make a washer that would seat against the pulley and have a large 1 ¼” diameter outside.

So it was over to the lathe and turn the required washer (see photo) and then see if it worked. I also needed to have a larger washer to sit in front of the slitting saw so I could use the same securing nut.

slitting saw table washer

The adaptor washer to enable slitting saws also to be used

I was really surprised when trying the saw out with some brass sheet just how good it was! Now you may have been ahead of me but for sheet work I believe the saw table will be a great asset (for straight cuts only) and a real bonus for the project!

I also had a fiddle with some of the pulleys to get them running for a long period and called it a day surprised with the advance in usability of the project which is already good. Next will be to try the diamond grindstone and what sort of fittings I will need to make to grind turning tools. Once this trial period has been completed I will fit the top and bottom sheets to the back plate and securing everything together.

For the work holding I intend to cut either two or three ‘T’ slots along the top table. After making a couple of basic work holding tools I will put the project to one side and get back to building the Seal engines. When I need to use the table I will develop tooling each time to suit the task and over time this should build up a flexible system.

21-06-2009-saw-table-and-piston-and-for-seal-0051

Components to allow a slitting saw to be used with the table