What did you do Today 2018

Mechman 48

I followed some plans I found online to make a fretsaw & it is not particularly good. However, I do see ways of improving the design. I intend to have another go just for the hell of it. I did make one years ago that worked very well but I lost it when I moved. Could you tell me please, what you estimate the stroke of the blade on your Aldi saw to be.I think my version has too long a stroke.

I also wonder how many strokes per minute . Although you may find that difficult to estimate.

Any indication would help

Thanks

Hi Sam

I'm curious too, will get back to you later...

George.

Thanks

It is just that the existing design has an eccentric driven off a pulley that drives a block up and down 2 posts. I want to drive the eccentric straight off the motor shaft & then have a small shaft running through the block similar to the shaft that drives a steam engine slide valve. Then I will not have the weight of the block etc reciprocating. Hopefully this will reduce vibration. But first i think that the actual stroke can be a lot less than I have, as I only want to cut thin material- up to 3mm. I have a bandsaw for thicker material.

I need to know if the motor is fast enough so that i can eliminate the pulley & belt etc . I can easily slow the motor with a resistor but not speed it up.

It cannot be rocket science & more fun than forking out £ 60-00

Edited By Sam Longley 1 on 10/10/2018 11:29:18

Couple of comments for using scroll saws for cutting thing like brass clock wheels etc

I would say that the speed needs to be slower rather than faster. Generally the machines are intended to cut wood rather than metal where high cutting speeds produce cleaner cuts. I use piercing saw blades which cut well at 'handraulic' speeds.

A longer stroke is desirable. This uses more of the blade and extends the cutting life.

A blower is a boon to keep the cutting line clear so you can see what you are doing.

I did make something similar to what you describe but driver from the Myford Headstock (Hemmingway kit)

That way you get the speed control and motive power for free.

regards Martin

Hi Sam
FYI...



As for the action...



George.

Thanks George . That is very helpful. Might even change my plan for the oscillation of the blade.Lot more compact. Have to do some sketches.

Fitted a base of a cheap drill that was useless as a drill to my floor standing drill column.This to support a car jack as my cross vice is getting heavy to lift.I bored the hole that was there larger to fitt the column,bolted some steel 6"*1/2" *3" to the underside had a 2 3/4" internal diameter tube split to allow two steel pieces drilled 1/2" all welded to the 6"steel a 12mm bolt and the jobs a good one.

Frank

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Just to prove nothing goes to waste ...

Here's my rendering of Andy Johnston's headstock handwheel (MEW Autumn special). All materials from stock and the piece of wood was left over from making a new seat for a commode. It could have given someone a nasty surprise if I'd left all that metalwork attached!

That'll be a pleasure to use when tapping etc. Even safe to leave it attached most of the time!

I notice that there is a “We buy houses” add in the for sale section today, let’s hope it’s not the start of something.

Edited By V8Eng on 11/10/2018 10:05:33

By 'start of something' presumably you mean placing 'Wanted' ads in the For Sale section!

I was thinking of what happened on some other Forums which became swamped with unrelated adverts at times!

Do they buy workshops as well?

The Willson lathe shown apears to be very similar to 7.5" centre x 5 ft V bed gap precision high speed lathe (477 rpm spindle speed), code word "Newel" selling for £232 in 1942. . Willson Lathes was of course founded in the late 1890s by George Willson, Edwin Barker and Fred Smith In Halifax and was later subsumed into the Elliot machine tools business in the 1960s. George Willson's wife Laura was a leading activist in respect of Women and later was awarded an MBE.

Some beast; going to take some cleaning & renovating...

George.

Just extra work for the poor, horny-handed sons of toil who are the moderators

Cleaned up parts of a bandsaw in the Men's Shed that our electrician doing PAT testing had declared obsolete and unmaintainable. As in needs a new blade and some guides readily sourced from ebay. Put some new wire on the NVR switch so he has no excuse next time. Will have to write up a training schedule for it.

Despite the 2 days of howling gales the nearby small wind generator set up by the local school I suppose for 'greenery' education has been steadfastly idle.

Drove 180 miles with the lad, me in one direction, him in the other. Picked up a pair of loudspeakers for the shed, so we can hear uncivilised music at the end where the lathe and milling machine are. The existing setup, gets drowned out by the sound of tortured machinery and metal and I didn't want to resort to Bluetooth headphones or move the existing speakers from the 'refined' end of the shed!

Loud speakers--- The work of the devil

One of the things I like about my shed is to get away from the wife's b..dy radio. Why on earth do people feel the need to have endless racket going in the background with intermittent twaddle spoken every so often. My wife will be in one room with the radio in another. She cannot possible hear, properly, what is being transmitted, but insists on having it on.

It is like the TV. Sometimes we will scroll through the menu & there is nothing of interest. My immediate move is to turn it off. She then moans & turns it on. But "why" i say. "Well we have to have something"- "No!! we don't"

As I write this she has just got up. What has she done? turned the radio on to be told by some twat that there is " the rythm of the night" ( whatever that is) &  a traffic jam on the A13-- but we are not going anywhere today so who cares  !!!!

Edited By Sam Longley 1 on 14/10/2018 08:29:16

Better ones have an automatic brake to stop them overspeeding.

Neil