Cookie with my coffee

Came inside from doing stuff outside for a coffee break – and a cookie.

My personal tin of Jacobsens Bakery Denmark cookies.

14” Bandsaw – Dust extraction 2

Noticed this morning that the lower wheel cover which also serves for dust extraction is not closing flush at the bottom.

Would not have thought that the middle 3mm MDF panel is the culprit. We need to recess the bottom edge of the cover.

14” Bandsaw – Dust extraction

With the lower wheel cover done we can start thinking about dust extraction.

Holly after her bath

Holly - bath time

Straight outside after her bath as she always needs to go toilet.


Then hang around as she initially dries off and give her first brush out – one of many.
She’s keen to get back inside to the coolness of the downstairs foyer.

14” Bandsaw – Hinged wheel cover 2

I the last session we made the frame for the lower hinged wheel cover which will also serve as a dust extraction box.

Now we can measure and cut another MDF board which we be the actual front panel of the box.

14” Bandsaw – Hinged wheel cover

With the base box at the back of the lower wheel boarded up with dust panels we can now start making the frame for the front hinged cover.

14” Bandsaw – Motor dust covers 2

From the last session we need to fit one more panel across the top.

14” Bandsaw – Motor dust covers 1

This is the first stage of hopefully a reasonably effective dust extraction setup to which I can attach a workshop vacuum.

I checked behind the wheel and we have room for a dust panel. We need to cut a pulley access slot, the shorter the better. The pulley is towards the right side so also checked that I can slide the panel in on the left side, then up and across to the right.

Facebook – Activity log

Something that has bugged me with the activity log is the ability to go back directly to a specific year AND month. The main reason for this is when I fall behind with updating my WordPress blog to match my Facebook posts it requires to much effort painfully paging down through the activity log to find specific posts. Same for when I go through my photo archives and come across pictures and would like to review the related Facebook posts where they were used – if that makes sense.

14” Bandsaw – Saw stand 3

From the last related session with the stand on the floor (with castors) I could see that it ended up to high and needs to be lowered – say 100-150mm.

Not to worry – I’ll just lower the boards so the top edge is 33mm from the underside of the stand top.

14” Bandsaw – Saw stand 2

Continued on adding the four ‘legs’ that are not really legs but rather corner supports.

14” Bandsaw – Saw stand 1

At this stage with the heavy saw mostly completed and still sitting on the low table it’s time to make a sturdy stand with castors so I can move it around.

Found some timber at the back of the workshop that used to a potting bench. There’s enough there to get started and although a bit weathered will be fine with a clean-up.

Replacement battery for Betty

Betty is our Garmin nuvi 2597LMT GPS that we bought off our older daughter a few years ago. The battery has been showing signs of dying so got a replacement one off eBay for less than $15 dollars. Battery arrived weeks ago and been sitting on the balcony computer desk and when I finally got around to doing the job could not find the bloody thing.

Tiny TORX screws... do I have bits that small?

14” Bandsaw – add more bracing

House cleaning today plus need to get the green bin ready for collection.

So we’ll do a small job and add some more bracing.

14” Bandsaw – Upper wheel cover

We will make the wheel covers from thin MDF with pine frames.

A few weeks ago ran out of 3mm MDF, so made sure when I did do a Bunnings trip in the van for general stuff - to get some.

14” Bandsaw – Left blade guard

With the left blade guard done we should now doo the right side.

As with the left we’ll use another bit of left over trim from the Colorbond garage construction. I’m planning to use two narrow lengths of MDF to secure the guard to the blade guide arm.

Homemade LED work lamp 3

To make sure it’s working wired the lamp to a transformer – OK

Homemade LED work lamp 3

In this session we will make the lamp socket.

  
Laying out the lamp connector socket, the MDF is just the right thickness.

Homemade LED work lamp 2

From the previous related post on this with the lamp fitted into the front of the can we can now make the base.

  

Marked out the base on a piece of MDF.

Homemade LED floor lamp - 1

Decided to try and make a MR16 LED work lamp.

I always have a supply of pop cans in the workshop, they make great shim material and a common use for me is to fit bearings onto shafts.

For this particular LED lamp a small coke can is exactly the right diameter. I need to buy some MR16 lamp holders but in the meantime lets have a go at making one.

14” Bandsaw – Starting to look like one.

Some photos to show where were at with the build.

14” Bandsaw – More electrical work

Got some stuff from the market today including insert nuts and in particular two LED sticks.

14” Bandsaw – Lower blade guides 2 update

Just a update this morning before we go to market and shops.

As with the upper guides using a piece of laminate flooring to mount the bearings.
I don’t have the right length 8mm bolts so they are just sitting there with no nuts at the back.

14” Bandsaw – Lower blade guides 2

From the previous session we can now screw down the left support block and with the sliding guide arm in place measure the length of the threaded lock rod which will later be fitted with a star knob.

14” Bandsaw – Lower blade guides 1

With the left blade guard fitted…to safeguard fingers we can move onto making the lower blade guides.

First thing is to remove the table.

14” Bandsaw – Blade guard

In the previous session we finished the electrical wiring which was simply connecting the motor via a NVR switch to mains input. It’s nice being able to power on & off at the front of the saw.

For this session we are going to make the left side blade guard. The power switch is close to the blade on that side so it’s a priority to get this done. I’m using a length of Colorbond corner trim left over from the actual garage construction. Screwed one side of a hinge to a bit of MDF and pop riveted on one end of the trim.

14” Bandsaw – Electrical wiring 2

From the last session prepared the cables with connectors.

Now to run the cables down and into the base box.

14” Bandsaw – Electrical wiring 1

From the last session I was going make a knob for the blade tracking threaded rod but decided to install the front mounted NVR power switch and wire up the saw motor.

Was using a lighting line switch to turn on the motor, or use the power board switch.

14” Bandsaw – Crank handle 2

With the epoxy cured well enough to continue we can mark out the handle profile.

14” Bandsaw – Crank handle 1

Finished the tension leaf spring (damper).

Move on now to making the tension rod crank handle. From MDF the handle itself plus two blocks to hold the 5/16” nut coupler.

14” Bandsaw – Tension leaf spring 2

Picking up from where I left this morning…

we will continue with the ‘leaf spring’.

14” Bandsaw – Tension leaf spring 1

The upper wheel assembly still needs a tension leaf spring which acts like a damper to absorb upper saw vibrations. This also prolongs blade life.

Above is cropped photo is from the original 14” bandsaw that was lost in the shed fire last year. If you look closely the top length of pine that has been resawn twice, meaning cut length wise or ripped twice – into three pieces. They are stacked in cut order, clamped and a clearance hole bored for the big tension rod. As the crank handle is wound up to set correct blade tension the ‘leaf spring’ bends under the load to act as a vibration damper during operation.

14” Bandsaw – temporary table done

Completed the under table bracing making sure I aligned things as I went along.

After I finish the blade tension leaf spring (damper) on top of the upper wheel assembly I’ll be back under here to do the lower blade guides – making progress now.

14” Bandsaw – More table work

With the upper blade guides completed and before moving on to the lower guides I’ll do some more work on the table. Even though this is a temporary one it still needs to be sturdy and square in all directions with respect to the blade.

Using a Stanley roofing square to check across and down the table.

14” Bandsaw – Blade guides 3

From the previous session we finished with the thrust bearing sliding arm, which also contains the sliding guide block from the top, which is now ready to drill and file a slotted hole through which will pass a 5/16th rod.

Need to drill out the pilot hole with a 6.5mm bit and the run through a 5/15th tap.

14” Bandsaw – Blade guides 2

From the last session added a piece of MDF to the top of the bearing guide block.

14” Bandsaw – Blade guides 1

Continued with the blade guides.

From the last session this is where I left things.

14” Bandsaw – Kmart stuff

Needing some more 608 bearings went into Kmart for another skateboard and was pleasantly surprised, they had the larger 31” board on sale for $15.

Also got some Loctite Super Glue, have immediate need for that to bond the threaded rod with the lock knob that’s part of the clamp assembly of the sliding guide arm.

Also got some cheap quality hose clamps from the $2 shop to lock the wheel shafts. A bit peeved that they came around at ALDI not long ago and I didn’t grab two box’s – next time.

14” Bandsaw – Table and blade guides

This is another interesting stage where we can start planning to setup a temporary table and begin construction of the upper blade guides.

Even with a temporary table I still need to know where the blade position will be so I can make the blade access cut on the table saw. So the first thing is to mount the blade, and make sure tension and alignment are correctly set.

14” Bandsaw – table prepping

With the basic blade guide arm setup and before we start making the actual blade guides we need to make ready a temporary table and put that aside for now.

Running out of off cuts so got down a 2400mm length from my stock of MG10 pine.

14” Bandsaw – Cutting out the throat

From the last session we are going to cut out the ‘throat’ so we can mount a temporary table which will be replaced later on with a final version.

After this we’ll get back to the blade arm, working down to something I like making – blade guides.

14” Bandsaw – Making the arm lock 2

Back again after lunch to fit and epoxy the lock knob nut.

After marking out carefully chisel out to recess the nut into the knob.

14” Bandsaw – Making the arm lock 1

The bearing guide arm slides up and down and needs to be locked at the desired height.

This is where we left the last session and we now need to make the arm lock.

14” Bandsaw – blade guide arm 2

Afternoon session to continue with the blade guide arm construction.

Screwing down the MDF pieces that clamp the sliding arm.

14” Bandsaw – started blade guide arm

Some workshop sessions are more rewarding than others, this is one of them.

With the horizontal support arm and the upper wheel mount assembly all setup and test run with the blade we can start thinking about the blade guide arm. Measured and cut off flush the end of the support arm.

ALDI – 20V sliding mitre saw update

As posted last week picked up this saw from Waverley Gardens for $49 marked down from $99. They came around in October for $140 so I was happy with the purchase.

Was in the Wellington Park store this afternoon and came across the mitre saw again – check the price!

14” Bandsaw – additional saw bracing

During this session generally added more bracing to make the main vertical support and the upper wheel assembly horizontal arm more robust, to minimise shaking and vibration.

More pine and a bracing board on the side.

14” Bandsaw – back on track

With the saw now clamped down on the low table with just the lower wheel the shaking has been reduced to an acceptable level.

14” Bandsaw - we have a problem (2)

From the previous post removed the lower wheel to check again for run-out, wobble and balance etc.  Went through each one again, trimmed the rim a bit for run-out, cleaned up the crown and rebalanced the wheel again. Hmm nothing here to cause that amount of shaking. Put the wheel back on, hooked up the drive belt and turned on the motor - still shaking !!!