www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

Hi,

This job is moving on a bit at last. Whilst awaiting delivery of the motor bearings I decided to sort out the pin problem once and for all never wanting the hassle again trying to remove one of these pins.

I gave considerable thought to preventing the pin from turning and it wasn't an easy problem to resolve. My first thought was to make a slotted component as seen in the pictures so after carefully measuring I came up with a design and took my time cutting the new design out of mild steel sheet; the slot was formed by drilling each end then using my fretsaw with a piercing saw blade installed; this took a lot of patience but it worked; I used the hacksaw for roughing out followed by grinding and filing. There was already an hole in the yoke casting and this was a perfect diameter to accept a 6mm thread; I added a second thread diagonally opposite. The design worked and would solve the problem but having a bit of spare time for a change I wondered if I could simplify the component further?

Using the same measurements I sat at the computer and used "emachineshop" free CAD to draw very accurate templates; these were then printed and cut out with scissors; accuracy is most important whilst doing this kind of work and impatience will quickly ruin it so I took my time and enjoyed using the skills I had been taught 50 years ago. I haven't measured the steel thickness but it's certainly never going to fail. The template was secured to the steel blank using double side self adhesive tape; not the best of things to use but it was to hand.

Pilot holes were drilled followed by clearance holes ( 6.8m) to accept a 6mm locking set screw; the fretsaw was used as were the assorted files and hacksaw to produce the component; with a bit of touching up it was a nice close fit; the remains of the template were a pain to remove due to the sticky tape; all sharp edges were eased with a file then it was cleaned up with abrasive paper.

I added plenty of holes for adjustment and it fitted perfectly; a 6mm set screw was cut to length and a strong 6mm spring washer would prevent the set screw working loose.

These two components look very simple indeed but they were far from simple to dream up and put into practice; removing the wayward pin is now extremely easy; just remove the set screw and the pin is out in seconds; I filed away the locking lug on the yoke casting it no longer being required. It was nice to use my head and hands once again keeping my old skills alive.

I'm used to designing and making things in fact it's something I enjoy doing but at the moment the garage is a tip whilst I'm remodelling it so this made the work a lot more difficult; I used hand tools apart from drilling the holes to show what can be achieved; I could have turned the circular component on the lathe and I could also have cut the slot on the lathe but this would have removed a lot of the fun in the making. I spent many hours trying to come up with an alternative solution to preventing the pin from turning and I can now understand Mr DeWalt's dilemma coming up with his own solution.

The new bearings arrived a short while ago for the motor so tomorrow I'll reassemble the motor then I can sort out the lethal electrics.

Whilst at Rufforth Auto Jumble last week I bought what I thought was a Start/Stop push button station costing £10 thinking this to be a standard switch where the start button is open and the stop button is closed but how wrong could I be? I checked it with my DMM multimeter and couldn't get any sense out of it at all; I've checked the station on the web and find I've actually bought a very good KEDU KJD17 no volt release starter switch; I'm not surprised I couldn't obtain the readings I expected whilst testing it. I intended to install a proper DOL starter but this new station will be fine; the saw's original switch is merely a two pole switch either on or off and no way was I going to use this on its own; such a switch between power supply and motor is just asking for a serious accident because if the power went off the switch would still remain on resulting in the saw spinning up as soon as power was back on; this new station will prevent this from happening so I'll be happy to install it; I've seen these two button stations many times but never handled one; I've always used DOL starters so this station is new to me; here's a bit of useful information;

http://www.axminster.co.uk/kedu-kjd17-n ... 1ph-950700

Kind regards, Col.

Hi,

The new bearings arrived for the motor so I was pleased to install them and put the motor back together again. I used steel pipe and a hammer to drift the bearings onto the shaft; this drifting must be done on the inner race only in order to avoid damaging the bearing; the aluminium end covers are quite fragile so I used the lathe as seen in the picture to press the drive end cover over the bearing; with the rotor inserted and the drive end cover aligned up it was then easy to tap the non drive end cover into position; the fan slipped on and was secured to the shaft with it's grub screw.

The new special yoke top guide bearing has made a huge difference in the smoothness as the saw traverses the arm; no adjustments were necessary saving a job. With the saw unit back in place on the arm it was time to wire up and put some power into the saw. I spent ages playing around with DOL starters; the two starters supplied with the motor were both faulty; one had a broken stop button the other was only rated at 0.45A; I have a number of DOL starters and also a start/stop push button station but I was wasting my time so today I've wired in the KEDU KJD17 switch; this is a no volt release and as the motor is fitted with a reset button I'm confident the saw is better now than when supplied new; I ensured earth continuity not only to the motor but I've earthed the metal frame for safety.

In order to install the switch I needed an enclosure so spent a lot of time making one; I took my time adding proper cable glands to the new enclosure; I drilled a small hole allowing an earth cable to exit which I attached securely to the saw frame having scraped the metal clean. I know I'm fussy but I can't work with kit in poor condition. I've positioned the new switch just below the right hand side table front making it instantly accessible. I've put a lot of time in ensuring this saw is now safe; if ever the yoke needs separating in future the pin can be released in seconds; I've let the saw run for half an hour without blade fitted; then I installed the blade and it sings a very nice tune; all controls now work smoothly so I've got a lovely radial arm saw at last ready for some work. When I bought the saw I didn't expect having to do lots of work on it but it's now worth the time and effort; I hope my notes are of assistance to someone.

Kind regards, Col.

Hi,

At last I've got a fully working RAS; today I've been playing around with the adjustments so now it's cross cutting perfectly; it will be nice to drop a length of timber onto the table and cross cut without lots of hassle.

Next job is to build new benches and cupboards which I'm looking forward to.

Kind regards, Col.

I think that you can actually fit a stacked dado head cutter on that saw Colin as I believe the arbour is of sufficient length to take one. (I am sure Jobs will correct me if I am wrong ) It would be real handy to be able to cut housings in one pass for cabinet work. You can get them from the States for around £60 odd.

DWD

Hi,

Thanks for the suggestion DWD.

Yes this RAS will accept a dado head; it will also accept quite a few other attachments such as shaping head enabling endless profiles to be created; sanding accessories for sanding both internal and external; router mounting bracket plus others like a Jacobs chuck and a return device for parking the saw automatically. Obviously no one machine will do all jobs but for an home workshop like mine this saw affords quite a bit of flexibility; at the moment I'm more interested in accurate cross cutting and I'll look into other functions once the garage is converted into a full time workshop.

Regarding accuracy; I spent ages yesterday faffing about trying to get the saw to cut perfect right angles which sounds easy but proves highly frustrating; I set the new fence at right angles to the blade but the saw was "heeling" running test cuts on a length of plywood the saw picked up badly as it was clearing the cut on the up rotation to the back of the blade; first thought was the fence wasn't adjusted correctly but after spending time playing with the fence adjustment it occurred to me the saw wasn't aligned with the arm so I then read the instructions. There are two small self locking nuts on the yoke taking a 10mm spanner; these have to be released then the yoke can be rotated but not without problems; as I say getting the alignment perfect was frustrating it being hit or miss and even marking the yoke with a black permanent marker pen didn't give the required fine adjustment. I did get the saw to cut without splintering the plywood but I wasn't happy thinking I could do better so I knocked off to give it some thought; all the time I was adjusting I was removing and refitting the crown guard plus the power was isolated; all this took quite a bit of time and I thought there must be a better way of doing the adjustments.

In bed last night I thought what the heck am I playing at being beaten by something which should be so simple to sort out? I have plenty of kit and use a DTI (dial test indicator) quite a lot on lathe work so could I use the DTI? The DTI would give accuracy to a tenth of a thousandth of an inch 0.0001" which should prove accurate enough. This morning once I wandered into the garage I soon had the DTI set up on the saw table but before checking for parallel to the arm what about blade run out whilst I'm at it; the blade was running out quite a bit so I removed the blade and cleaned it taking care to remove any high points like the few rust spots; I also cleaned both blade collars then reinstalled the blade; now it ran truer; checking for parallel I quickly found the blade to be tracking at 21 thou out; all I now needed to do was to rotate the yoke 10 thou and tighten everything up then double checking all was well; next job I aligned the fence; now with the crown guard installed and everything checked for tightness I did a test cut on the length of plywood and as expected it was perfect; pity I always try the hard way first. I also have a scriber on a stand so I had a choice but I prefer the DTI then it gives a figure to work with. Vertical blade adjustment was much easier and very quick. Using the DTI I could instantly see any error; normally the DTI is magnetically attached to the lathe but for the saw I had to hold the DTI from moving with hand pressure but it worked a treat; no doubt now I've sussed this out there will be videos on YouTube showing the same method. If I try ripping then I'll double check the fence is perfectly parallel to the blade in fact I could again use the DTI to check this; many accidents can be avoided with careful setting up and adjustment.

To celebrate I washed and dried the Yeti this afternoon in lovely warm sunshine; it was like a summer's day; pity the days are so short though before darkness falls.

Kind regards, Col.

Hi,

I've just had a session in the garage; I'm now starting to install more cupboards and benches. I pulled from stock a few big pieces of 18mm thick plywood mostly 4' x 2' and wanted to rip and crosscut them to dimension; easy job I've now got the big RAS up and running?

I set the RAS up for ripping ensuring the blade was perfectly parallel to the fence and set the width of cut at 12" but hold on a minute this doesn't look safe; I've done plenty of cross cutting on an RAS over the years but never attempted ripping on an RAS. I hadn't installed the riving knife; plywood is much more forgiving than timber when it comes to ripping but the riving knife should be installed for safety; now which way do I feed the plywood into the blade; from the left the blade is cutting uphill and there is a 4" deep gap between table and blade guard bottom; feeding from the right with the blade running downhill looks better but it simply doesn't look right and there is an inbuilt hold down to the front of the guard but this doesn't adjust down to the top of the plywood; no it's definitely unsafe and I'm not attempting any rip cutting without understanding fully the implications; one way the blade would be free to lift the plywood the other way it could drag anything being ripped into it plus any stray finger or hand; this is totally new to me and I've not only had excellent safety training as an apprentice over 50 years ago I also have a good instinct; if it doesn't feel or look right then I'll not do it. I'm certainly no wimp and big machinery I actually like to use but in a situation like this I know when to quit so I reset the RAS for crosscutting.

I'm using my Shopsmith for the ripping and even this isn't perfect because the saw table is very high giving problems with outfeed but it is a lot safer than using the RAS as the RAS currently is. I have the RAS instruction manual so now is the time to study it in depth; I'll not do any ripping on the RAS until I know hold downs and anti kickback are installed.

I hope to survive a lot longer using my instinct and good common sense. Because I'm setting the new workshop up with long tables for the RAS I have been thinking of designing power feed for ripping in order to gain full control of the stock being fed into it. I'm in no hurry and I don't care how long it takes to set up the RAS to my satisfaction.

Just a few thoughts now the RAS can be powered up in anger. Just because I've got the RAS running sweetly doesn't automatically mean it's safe to use.

Kind regards, Col.