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This is one of those projects
I've put off for years - a simple cutoff slide for my Delta 14" band saw. So, I finally took a 1.5" x
2" x 14" hunk of aluminum and made myself a nice long V-block. |
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I'd need a clamp for holding
round items, so I found a volunteer - an old Sears 4" C-clamp, and
I cut off its bottom. |
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I milled a flat on its surface, and cleaned up the end cut. |
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Then I brazed on a piece of
1" thick cold rolled steel to act as a spacer. |
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Back on the mill, I cleaned up my messy brazing, and squared up the spacer. |
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I cut off the handle end, gripped the screw in a collet, and turned down
a section for a new handle. |
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After a quick paint job, the clamp looked pretty good. |
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Next, I turned a section of some scrap aluminum and knurled it to make
a nice big knob. |
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After drilling, I made a few passes with a small boring bar to get a
good fit on the turned section of the clamp screw. |
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Rummaging around, I found a
1/8" roll pin that would penetrate the shaft
and give me a good grip on the shaft. |
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As soon as I tried to drill
the knurled knob, I realized I'd never be able to get the drill to go
straight. It immediately wandered into
the diamond pattern and took off to the side. So, I used a 1/8" end
mill with a 3/8" shank to start the hole nice and straight, and followed
with a regular drill bit. |
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There were lots more operations
to this project, but I didn't photgraph them all. Most were simple drilling, tapping, etc. Here's the final
unit, with the clamp bolted in place, the V-block bolted to the slide (3/4"
X 3/8" cold rolled bar) and, to the right of the clamp, a 3/8" thick
steel stiffening plate. |
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To set up for cutting, I simply ran the slide forward and cut the V-block
to fit the blade on the band saw, stopping before I hit the steel reinforcing
plate. |
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I figured it would be a good
idea to have a positive stop to avoid accidentally cutting too far into
my rig, so I made this simple adjustable slide stop. It's just
a series of threaded holes at the end of the slide, so when I push forward
a socket head cap screw bumps the table. |
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I have two 14" Delta saws, one for metal and one for wood cutting. So,
I ran the slide through my wood cutting saw to set it up for use on either
saw. Here you can see why I chose to have the stop on the side of
the bar - to clear the wood saw's rip fence guide. |
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Now I can cut round bar up to two inches in diameter with ease and safety. |
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This slide works even better than my old miter gauge because it
supports the work on both sides of the cut, so there's no need to use
a King Kong grip to hold it as I cut. . . |
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To hold small items I can simply stick a hardwood scrap in the V-block
as a surrogate finger. |