True vertical mill engine

Prompted by a recent posting from a novice regarding Stu Hart's mill engine I took another look at part 4, ME4503.

Picture 34 p363, Stu shows the waste material being cut out with a hacksaw. What is missing in the description which might not be obvious to a "novice" is

1) How do you get the hacksaw blade through the holes

and

2) What do you do when the hacksaw frame fouls on the metal, as it does in the picture.

Remember, when writing with the novice in mind you may have to "state the bleedin obvious"

Eric As regards popint 1 remove one end of the blade from the saw thread through hole tighten blade as regards point 2 turn blade 90 degrees in saw frame or tilt hacksaw up or down

Ryo

The hole is smaller than the width of the blade.

mmmm isn't it going to be a bit difficult to operate the hacksaw with only one hand? I mean mummy must be holding the other hand if they are so naive they can't work a few basic things out for themselves.

I'm all for 'words and music' descriptions but that should be for the not-bleedin'-obvious and as with LBSC telling you the correct tapping drill sometimes in recognition that a beginner won't have memorised them.

I'm not familiar with the model but it strikes me that a dremel cuttng disc solves a lot of problems as does a jigsaw blade and for eally weird cases then cutting wire.

Bazyle, one rule hgere is no question is so simple you shouldn't ask it.

pgk - I use dremels for all sorts of things, but I haven't found one that cuts faster than a hacksaw yet.

Start by drilling two or more holes close enough that they break into each other (use a drill press clamp the metal to the drill table so it doesn't spin).

Unfasten the blade to thread it through.

Turn the work in the vice to keep the frame clear and note that the frame allows the blade to be turned in 90-degree steps.

Hacksaw blades should be set so they cut when pushed away from you, keep the tension nice and high.

Don't force the blade and it will cut straighter and easier, don't keep using it when blunt.

Disregard Bazyle's comment and use one hand on each end of the saw,

Neil

If you actually look at Stew's photo you will see that when he was stitch drilling the two long edges he got the holes to overlap so there was no need to saw them (photo 33), just the 4 corners need sawing so no problem with the saw frame not accomodating the work.

Or make your stitching holes the right size to pass a junior hacksaw blade and then you can start sawing straight away after its been passed through a hole

If its a modern design of saw frame you can only turn the blade 45degrees and cut narrower strips than the old style ones.

Don't use a dremel cutting disc on a part like this that is aluminium it will clog the blade

Hi Guys sorry I'm late into this

All suggested solutions are practical but the one I favour is to simply split the web open with a small chisel so you can get the bald in, in fact if you wish you could go round and split all the webs and so save your self the hacksaw work.

Sorry I didn't explain this in the article.

Thanks for all your interest

Stew

One alternative not mentioned is to use an Abra File . You would be able to cut all round the plate without having to remove the blade every time you came to a corner. Also useful for cutting profiles in thin material.

Abra file.. that's a name from the past; haven't seen any of those for a long while, I do have a couple somewhere in my 'old' tool box including the clips. I suppose the nearest you would get these days is a 'tile file' but I doubt they would last as long as the good old Abra file...

Just had a look...

**LINK**

So there are survivors out there.. expensive tho', & clips ( see the above ad on same page ).

George

.. Also found these..

**LINK**