Frustration and excuses

[tryppyr]

Hi again, folks. Been too long since I've come around. Lord knows I think about it often enough.

I've now been in my new home in Tomball, TX since July. My how time flies. Anyway, the bummer of it is I still don't have my shop set up. For several months I had excellent excuses and a lot of frustration. Bottom line, however, is that only now am I getting motivated to finish getting the shop set up. Here are the challenges:

1) Power. You may recall I was looking at getting more power into the tertiary garage I will be using as a shop. That still hasn't happened so I am limited to a single 15A line.

2) Grinder. I've been looking for some local welder than can permanently (and accurately) attach the two main parts of my grinder together in a perfect perpendicular. Called two welders (including one in Hockley), got zero responses. Apparently nobody wants a job this small.

3) Cooling. Not really an issue right now, but you know it will be soon. So far the only cooling I have in that space is to open the people door and the garage door simultaneously and hope for a breeze. Looking to install a ductless AC soon.

4) Bench. The workbench I have now isn't the best grinder platform because it moves too much. So I need to construct an stationary bench for the grinder. That project is under way.

5) Equipment. I bought a 4 x 7 free standing metal gutting bandsaw, which no longer has any force on the band. Can;t figure out what broke. I cut maybe two pieces of metal with it before it failed.

Anyway, I'm actively working on getting the shop set up, even with the above limitations. Gotta do something or acknowledge I won't... and I'm not in the mood to declare defeat... yet.

- Greg

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Did you put the band back on the wheels when it popped off?

4X7's are pretty simple. Take the blade covers off ( I'd remove them and leave them off), and set the blade on the upper and lower wheel. Make sure the blade goes through the upper and lower blade guides at the cutting table. Back off the blade spine roller of the upper and lower blade guides so they are not touching the blade. Make sure the guides arms are tightened and not wiggling around. When all is in place tighten the tension knob until it can't be hand turned any more. That should be the proper setting. Adjust the tracking tilt of the upper wheel so it just barely rides against the lip on the back of the upper wheel. Now, move the spine rollers forward so they just touch the blade spine, and lock them down.

Another thing to check is the tension knob assembly. The locking bolt or the four mounting bolts may be overly tightened and the tension plate with the upper wheel can't move up and down. Sometimes the tension spring breaks.
Also, check that the four bolts holding the gear box and lower wheel assembly haven't come loose.

 

[Bufford]

Moving is a major upheaval, tearing up one's roots and reestablishing them in a new location can take some time and its never easy. Good to hear that you are well, the shop will come together as there are always some bumps in the road getting there.

 

[tryppyr]

Did you put the band back on the wheels when it popped off?

4X7's are pretty simple. Take the blade covers off ( I'd remove them and leave them off), and set the blade on the upper and lower wheel. Make sure the blade goes through the upper and lower blade guides at the cutting table. Back off the blade spine roller of the upper and lower blade guides so they are not touching the blade. Make sure the guides arms are tightened and not wiggling around. When all is in place tighten the tension knob until it can't be hand turned any more. That should be the proper setting. Adjust the tracking tilt of the upper wheel so it just barely rides against the lip on the back of the upper wheel. Now, move the spine rollers forward so they just touch the blade spine, and lock them down.

Another thing to check is the tension knob assembly. The locking bolt or the four mounting bolts may be overly tightened and the tension plate with the upper wheel can't move up and down. Sometimes the tension spring breaks.
Also, check that the four bolts holding the gear box and lower wheel assembly haven't come loose.

Yes, I checked all that. I did make one mistake when doing so... I removed the cover to the gear box, allowing much of the oil (which looked like used motor oil to me) drain out of the box. Everything looked normal, but no torque was being transferred from the motor to the drive wheel.

 

[logem]

Unfortunately, I don't have a welder and don't have any close friends with one . . . but I've had frame weldments manufactured from a shop in Houston. They do things large and small for a low price and real quickly. If you can't find any other solutions, let me know.

Is your garage insulated? If so, you can run an extra duct with a closable damper from your unit in the attic to the garage. I did this in my last house and it worked great. Of course, insulating panels were added to the inside of the garage door too.

Good luck getting up and running again. When you do, let me know since we apparently live only about 15 minutes from each other now.

Mike L.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Yes, I checked all that. I did make one mistake when doing so... I removed the cover to the gear box, allowing much of the oil (which looked like used motor oil to me) drain out of the box. Everything looked normal, but no torque was being transferred from the motor to the drive wheel.

NO torque from the motor indicates that either the motor pulley, the gear box pulley, or the lower wheel is not locked down to the shaft ... and is slipping. Check all the lock bolts and set screws. It is possible that there is a bad gear in the box, but unlikely.

 

[REK Knives]

As far as power goes if it's your home and you aren't just renting, why don't you run a new line or two? It's a very simple process if you understand how it works and if you have a friend who is an electrician or something they could walk you through it...