Cast Aluminium Machining for a DIY Bandsaw Table - Part 2. Bracket Assembly and Testing

In part 2 of my bandsaw upgrade, I get to grips with machining the second of two DIY castings to create a mounting bracket for the bandsaw table completed in the last video. Much of the challenge is about ensuring that three individual parts of the assembly can be aligned and bolted together with some control over accuracy and positioning. The method I use may seem a bit long winded but there are advantages to using the techniques that I employ. Stay for the end to see the testing!

[@TAWPTool]

Mark, I just love watching your videos! Great pace, great lighting, clear video and above all else - clear and loud audio! Love your content. Thank you and keep it up!

[@Preso58]

Wow, thanks! Regards, Mark

[@staxter6]

Nice one Mark, enjoyed the upgrade..

[@jimpritz4169]

I like your practical solution to every challenge Mark. Your videos are always an educational experience. Thank you for taking the time to make this video.

[@Preso58]

Jim, thanks for that. I do enjoy making the videos. I'm glad you find them entertaining. Regards, Mark

[@rallymax2]

The cast and came out great. I can’t believe you had so few inclusions in there. All the other Home casting videos I’ve seen on KZbin always seem to have something wrong and yours came out looking like billet. So bravo for that. You’re also making me miss Australia. Now I’m in the US I don’t get to hear the Maggie’s or the Cockatoos or the Kookaburras. As well kangaroos floating around so you’re making me miss home. But I say that in a very appreciative way. Love the channel and am glad I found it.

[@Preso58]

One of the best things I did was to stop melting scrap aluminium. My mentor. Olfoundryman shamed me into purchasing some 601 aluminium ingots from a foundry near Brisbane. It was a revelation! At least I can now produce castings of consistent quality. I know what you mean about the birds. We spent some time in England and France last year and we rarely heard any birds. New Zealand was similar. Regards, Mark

[@34k5]

Nice Bridgeport, took me a few tries but I was able to pause it there for the photo. Good stuff, if anyone deserves it, you do!

[@Preso58]

Sadly, that machine turned out to be very worn. I asked the vendor to send me some close up photos of the Y axis bed and it looked pretty well knackered. It's really hard to shop for machine tools here. Most of the stuff available is in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide (where the last of Australian manufacturing took place) I would have to catch a 2 to 3 hour plane flight just to look at the machine in person and of course we are pretty much locked down at present. I am waiting on another Bridgeport candidate but it is in Melbourne and it doesn't come with any accessories. It does have the variable speed head on it though. Still hopeful! Regards, Mark

[@34k5]

@@Preso58 Good luck I hope you find one quickly!

[@vicpatton5286]

Hi Presso Well done if I may say so! Very interesting to follow along as well. I appreciate your clear presentation and humor. Especially liked your use of those plates as a combined drill guide and nut eliminator-very clever:-) I think the saw will serve you well over the years. regards vic

[@Preso58]

Glad you enjoyed it! Regards, Mark

[@clivewood2148]

Excellent job! Just found your channel and know I'm going to enjoy your back catalogue. Best wishes from NZ🤓

[@Preso58]

Welcome aboard Clive! Can we borrow your Prime Minister, sort of indefinitely. Ours is a bit rubbish. Regards, Preso

[@clivewood2148]

😂

[@tobhomott]

Very nice result once again!

[@AmateurRedneckWorkshop]

A great success. Congratulations.

[@RolingRandom]

Great content Mark, really impressive!

[@Preso58]

Thanks for that. Gotta do something to relieve the boredom! Regards, Mark

[@Kevin-gx8lc]

Great stuff Mark, really enjoy watching your vids, I learn so much from you! Greetings from Southport, UK.

[@Preso58]

Awesome, thank you! Regards, Mark

[@greavous93]

your videos go so well with coffee! thanks for entertaining me!

[@nikond90ful1]

Thanks for the video Mark. Stay safe and keep well.

[@DudleyToolwright]

Another wonderful ensemble. This was a really nice project. It seems you could have built this guy from scratch, no worries.

[@garagemonkeysan]

Awesome video series. Fantastic engineering, design and fabrication! Congrats. Mahalo for sharing! : )

[@anderswegge6828]

I think it's Tom Lipton of Ox Tools, that have a video about how to machine a perfect square. His trick for getting the second face parallel to the first, was quite like your way.

[@BravoCharleses]

This Old Tony also has a great video about squaring stock. It should be mandatory viewing for every kid in shop class because it touches on some of the more theoretical aspects that are a good foundation.

[@Preso58]

Anders, I watched Tom's video and the one that TOT had done and I admire the precision that they can generate. As it turned out, there wasn't a lot of need for any real precision in my application. Even if I were able to get a perfectly flat and square table, the blade guides could still be skewing the blade out of vertical. Regards, Mark

[@AlbiesProductsOnline]

I can’t afford Virgin Aluminum I have to use Qantas Aluminum instead 🤔

[@sandrammer]

All of the aluminum I use is from soda cans and misc. aluminum castings I would have thrown away in the past. Everything I cast is as clean and solid as the castings made with ingots. It's just a matter of taking all of the slag out of the melt before you pour your molds.

[@IBWatchinUrVids]

Mine comes from melted down intake manifolds and various aluminum brackets my brother gets from a local limousine fleet. How strange, eh? Works pretty well really, some flux and cleaning off the dross well helps a lot.

[@sparkiekosten5902]

Yeah, Qantas has no need for there planes anymore LOL

[@minispud]

aluminum star!

[@samrodian919]

IBWatchinUrVids yes good old regular American made aluminium or should I say aluminum as the aircraft probably are Boeing 747 's of Qantas's fleet lol

[@bradmcconnochie3204]

For squaring rough our odd shaped stock you can put a rod or dowel on one side. It will clamp, but it will only reference the one side. Tom Lipton at Oxtools has a great video on squaring stock. Brad

[@Preso58]

Brad, I am a big fan of Oxtools and Tom Lipton. I do use that technique sometimes but my Denbigh mill is out of tram in the Y axis and it cannot be adjusted out like you can on a Bridgeport (which I now have). It is possible to shim the vice but for this job it wasn't all that critical. I sort of learned to live with the inaccuracy. I am hoping the Bridgeport will prove to be a much more accurate machine. Regards, Mark

[@bradmcconnochie3204]

@@Preso58 Thanks for the reply mark, enjoy the Bridgeport, I hope to get one, one day, when I have a big enough shed. Brad

[@blfstk1]

Good Show Mate...as always. You don't have a set of transfer punches? Oh, the humanity!!! Just a thought. Could you do a break down of what you did to put a vertical head on your horizontal mill? Might make a good 2 or 3 part vid. I would sure be interested. The band saw table worked out really nicely.

[@Preso58]

That vertical head has turned out to be a bit of a saviour for me. The original Denbigh mill had two different types of vertical head but the one I got with my machine was driven by a bevel gear off the main horizontal arbor. By the time you got a chuck in the vertical spindle and a vice on the table there was only about 2" of travel left in the Z axis. I made all the castings for that head at home here and I did it when I was quite naive about the whole casting process. I am still amazed I ended up with something that worked. I designed it all on Autodesk Inventor and it sort of worked first time. The only drawback is that it lacks rigidity and it can be a bugger to tram it in. If a big cutter digs in, the whole assembly twists and cranks in a most alarming manner. Still, it's great for light milling in aluminium and other non-ferrous stock. I plan on selling the whole mill soon so I may not get the chance to show how it was done. If you are interested though, I put a folder of drawings and all the inventor files on dropbox. www.dropbox.com/sh/ax9j3tjsmw3lskh/AADej0cDCQu94ZyyeIgUdB2ka?dl=0 Regards, Mark

[@blfstk1]

@@Preso58 Thanks for the info. I will look it up. I first found you when you were making the speed reducer you had found at Mr. Pete's channel. I'll have to say, what you did with that really amazed me. I said to myself "self this guy is way out of your league. You need to watch him." I have never been disappointed. I always learn something and it's always good to watch someone who is like minded and intent on doing good stuff.

[@_bodgie]

I'm disappointed Mark I'd have thought for sure that we would've see you do a DIY transfer punch complete with hardening/tempering processes;)

[@Preso58]

I did do that....once, and only for one oddball size. Regards, Mark

[@sheph7ceo799]

Nice table and video. How did you ensure the table is at a right angle to the blade? Or is that critical for your use?

[@Preso58]

Yeah, it's not really critical but the alignment is basically taken care of because of the two sets of fasteners which keep it aligned as they are tightened up. I checked it yesterday and is pretty close. The blade can twist and wander anyway depending on the wear on the blade guides so it's all a bit academic. Regards, Mark

[@peterpjj7380]

Hi Presso, another great video 👍and where did the aluminium from?

[@Preso58]

I got it from a foundry in Arana Hills, Brisbane. I was a bit nervous about asking them but I paid cash and they didn't seem to mind. Evidently, the going price is $4 per kilo and I paid them $5. I don't think I will go back to melting scrap unless it is just for a plaque or something. Regards, Mark

[@OldMachinery]

the table looks great. I like your surface plate also is it new?

[@Preso58]

Yes! Well, new-ish. I actually got it last year from Hare and Forbes but I don't use it a lot. It came with a soft plastic cover and I am always expecting to take the cover off it and find it has rusted. So far, so good. Regards, Mark

[@OldMachinery]

@@Preso58 Very nice!

[@kristoferjonsson3362]

Rivnuts would have been a simple solution. However, the steel plate was a good idea!

[@Preso58]

Kristofer, I did consider using rivnuts but because they don't really sit flush with a surface it would mean that the casting would be bearing on six points rather than sandwiching the thin steel of the chassis and the nut plate that I used. I like rivnuts in thin material though. Regards, Mark

[@peterwooldridge7285]

Smashing

[@Mr7yhnmki8]

Saw porn at its best!!

[@dale9896]

Pretty to watch, you've done it again. Well done mate.

[@tano1747]

Might be better to follow the convention when squaring up a rough casting 1 face 2 2nd face at 90 deg 3 3rd face parallel to either 1 or 2 4 4th face parallel to the other. With any non square surface isolated from the vise jaw by soft material or rod etc. The method used here doesn't get anything square or parallel.

[@Preso58]

Thanks, If my mill were in better shape I would do that. Sadly, I have a lot of wear on that machine and the vertical head is out of tram on the Y axis. That's why I want to upgrade to something a bit more substantial. I watch a lot of what Tom Lipton does on his channel and I get quite jealous of the tools and equipment he gets to use. He is a very skilled machinist too. I can only aspire to what good machinists can do. Regards, Mark

[@ianbertenshaw4350]

Nice work mate ! You really have turned a turd into a gem ! While i was watching you do those cuts i was thinking that you could modify one of those cheap cast drill vices ( the blocky type that look a bit like a toolmakers vice ) so it utilises the slot in the table and has an adjustable depth stop on the jaws so you can use it to cut off small lengths of material to the same length . Its not much more than fixing a length if flat bar that fits the table slot to the bottom of the vice and at right angles to the jaws . Just a thought !

[@Preso58]

Good idea. I still have the little mitre fence to play with. I did some tests with it this afternoon and it works pretty good. Hopefully you will get to see it all prettied up soon. Regards, Mark

[@LukePettit3dArtist]

Very nice Mark!

[@mrtomsr]

Well done.

[@jonnafry]

A beautiful thing indeed!

[@ADBBuild]

Looks like now you just need to upgrade the motor and get some more POWER. Maybe a 3ph motor with a VFD? It would match all the other over-building you've done. lol

[@CraigsWorkshop]

Hi Preso. Lovely bandsaw table, the rigidity will help the little saw a lot. Also - I would love to learn more about your mill spindle lock. Is that something you added yourself? My mill has a drum brake (I believe), but I'd like a true lock, so I can keep one hand on the end mill and the other hand on the collet nut. If you have any more details I'd be very appreciative. Thanks, Craig

[@Preso58]

Craig, I did make the spindle lock for the Denbigh mill and another for my Sieg X3. I got sick of trying to unlock the ER collet chuck with two spanners. I used a design that George Thomas developed for the Versatile Dividing Head. It's all made from bright mild steel and has a pin that keeps the lock open and when it is twisted into the right position the pin fits into a hole which allows then closed the lock. I don't have any drawings of it but if you email me I can send some photos. My email address is on the "about" tab on my channel. Regards, Mark

[@CraigsWorkshop]

@@Preso58 thanks for the offer of pics, I'd love to take you up on that. An email will be with you shortly. Cheers, Craig

[@samrodian919]

" Oooh your such a beautiful thing " don't let your wife hear you say that as she passes the garage Mark, you might end up in a one car garage with no room for a car! Nice job mate, much sturdier than the pressed steel Chinese crap. One tip, when cutting a thicker piece of stock like your demonstration 10 mm thick piece, I would use the protractor to hold the work against provided its long enough instead of using a wooden push stick. Using push sticks tend to make you force the work through the blade rather than letting the blade cut at its own pace and you usually get a straighter cut as a result. You can of course compromise and have a push stick as well but you don't need as much pressure using it with the protractor as well. One other thing you can do is use a toolmakers clamp to secure the workpiece to the protractor thus ensuring you can get an accurate cut close to a line knowing it will stay in place and give you a good cut. All in all Mark a greatly over engineered project, but that's what I like about you mate, belt'n braces! Blighty and stay safe.

[@SeanBZA]

Nice job, but darn do you have some really large grasshoppers there!

[@sandspuracres5156]

Impressive as always Preso thanks for the video.

[@yeagerxp]

Excellent work👍👍👍. Thanks for sharing

[@johnnym1320]

Well that turned out dam fine!

[@wyohman00]

I was hoping the steel plate wasn't going to be relegated to the scrap bin.

[@Goldenspitfire588]

Nice work

[@MattsAwesomeStuff]

Great stuff as always. Couple thoughts: 1 - How do you know that your slot in the table is parallel with the blade? I.E. If you are pushing stock through there, how do you know that it's not getting pushed slightly sideways? 2 - Why did you buck convention and not put your table slot facing sideways, with the slot itself behind the cut line? Normally your table, up to the cutting surface, is continuous and flat. Behind or beside the blade doesn't really matter. 3 - Your insert seems to have worked out kinda crappy compared to the rest of the build. The critical surface that has to be stable, right before the cut, dipped and wobbled each time you showed cutting something. Maybe a pair or trio of little screws is needed? 4 - All that work converting a bandsaw, and you didn't want to adapt an off-angle bracket first, so that you could use it to cut long stock like most metal bandsaws? Too much work or not enough need for the smaller stock you tend to use? Love your content, keep up the good work.

[@russellhiscock8426]

I pretty much had the same thoughts /questions...

[@Preso58]

Matt, I did actually make a thicker insert with a step in it. The one I showed on camera was just a quickie to demonstrate the potential of the new table. With regards to the table and the position of the features on it, Just about every bandsaw I have used is laid out the way I machined mine. I have a small wood cutting saw with identical slot arrangements and all the ones I used in schools were the same. I already had the little mitre fence and it had to run on the right hand side from front to back. In reality, I will mainly use the saw for non precision work in thin stock. I usually just want something to rough out some stock for further machining on the lathe or mill. Regards, Mark

[@kenwood8665]

Hi Mark nice upgrade.

[@TheducksOrg]

y'know I was saying to myself that the drill guide template was a lot of trouble.. but now I see your plan. Brilliant :)

[@Preso58]

Thanks. There was method to my madness! Regards, Mark

[@oldschoolengineer58]

Thanks for sharing

[@pgs8597]

G’day Presso. Well done and it sounds good as well. The horizontal spindle needs a plug, it was filling up with crap but then if it is going to retire, who cares. Cheers Peter

[@onehot57]

Nice job Mark!

[@stevegreen2432]

Watchmakers rule number 1--if you can't make it perfect, make it adjustable!!! Rule 2 if you can't get it straight, make it bent! Very logical design . Thanks for showing the bloopers as well___ helps the rest of us to think ahead before we do the same thing!

[@Preso58]

Thanks Steve. The table fix was a big improvement to the saw. Regards, Mark

[@sandrammer]

Beautiful job! Another example how castings are much better than pressed/stamped steel. Keep up the good work!

[@Preso58]

Thanks, will do! I must say, before I got started with casting at home I used to get really frustrated with having to fabricate complex parts from solid stock or machine them from solid. The resulting parts were always heavy and looked terrible (if they were fabricated). Once I bit the bullet and had a go at the casting process it opened up a whole new avenue for making nice looking parts that were light and easy to finish. Back in the 1980's I watched a television series called "Out of the Fiery Furnace". It was to do with metallurgy and I found it fascinating. In the last episode they compared the ancient technology for casting a bronze mirror using the lost wax process to the production of modern high performance jet turbine blades. The intent was that essentially it was the same process. Regards, Mark

[@sandrammer]

@@Preso58 , When I joined the Navy in '71 and was sent to my first ship after graduating from Molder school, we had the Rocking Indirect arc furnace. I couldn't find you a video of one working but found this animated video that showed the idea behind that type of furnace...kzbin.info/www/bejne/iKTalqZ-qpJgedk. It was run off of 480 volts shipboard power and it's electrodes were 3 inches in diameter.

[@RickMeasham]

Hey mate I’m also in the colonies and have the same bandsaw. I only use mine for wood so the factory bed is almost passable. HOWEVER I have only found one replacement blade for it on eBay. It’s a 6mm 14tpi. Where are you getting wider blades?

[@Preso58]

I got mine on Ebay www.ebay.com.au/itm/AYAO-BI-METAL-BAND-SAW-BANDSAW-BLADE-3X-1440mm-x13mm-x-14-TPI-FOR-METAL-CUTTING/183010180545?epid=1590250115&hash=item2a9c41bdc1:g:uOEAAOSwUBlZsm~p At the time they were selling them singly but the price per unit is about the same. Regards, Mark

[@garyskowbo3564]

Hi there Mark, I’m thinking you better not let Mrs. P see how much love and attention that band saw is getting!🥰 Guess you probably already know that the insert needs to be thicker and stepped so that it fits snug and then it won’t jump up out of the table. Excellent looking setup, can’t wait to see the finishing techniques you have planned.😃 Thanks for sharing another great video.

[@Preso58]

Gary, I have already made a thicker one with a step in it. The one I showed on camera was just a quickie to demonstrate the saw's potential. I will use some Loctite threadlock to keep it from moving around. Regards, Mark

[@markphillips5368]

The porosity you mentioned was most likely caused by gas induced into the alloy by the melting process. Aluminium that is melted using a gas fired furnace needs to be de-gassed before pouring. De-gassing pallets should be available from a foundry supplies specialist or a local foundry.

[@Preso58]

I asked Martin (Olfoundryman) about degassing tablets and he told me that they can be difficult to source in small quantities. His advice was to just melt the aluminium as quickly as possible and also to purchase good quality ingots instead of trying to melt scrap. I did buy some clean ingots for $5 per kilo from a foundry close by and that material is wonderful to work with. I now get very little porosity and the castings machine beautifully. Regards, Mark

[@yvesdesrosiers2396]

Nice job Mr P. Just a suggestion for the throat plate. Was watching a saw it jump a few times. If you make it 10mm thick it will sit in place without moving. Most commercial units the plate is always thick for that reason. Thanks for sharing. Cheers

[@Preso58]

Yves, I have already made a thicker insert with a step in it. The one that I showed in the video was just a quickie so I could demonstrate the cutting performance. Regards, Mark

[@Linrox]

As a fellow Australian DIY Fine woodworker/machinist it is ridiculous that it is (in most cases) cheaper to buy from OS and import than it is to buy Australian.

[@Preso58]

I am hoping that things might change in the wake of the Coronavirus. There is some talk about reducing our dependence on China and restarting manufacturing in Australia. Unfortunately we are all a bit addicted to buying cheap goods of questionable quality. Regards, Mark

[@richardbradley961]

WELL DONE MARK,,,,,,, NICE JOB WORTH ALL THE EFFORT,,,, REGARDS FROM THE LONLEY U.K.

[@Preso58]

Richard, I hope Boris is on the mend. His proxy needs some lessons on charisma. Regards, Mark

[@Just1GuyMetalworks]

Great work as always 👍😁👍.

[@Preso58]

Thank you! Cheers! Regards, Mark

[@roylucas1027]

Good to see you out and about in the shop. The table came out great and it looks as though the project is a success. We have no kangaroos outside of Boston, however our latest invasion are coyotes. They hunt in small packs and are the bane of small animal owners. Take care.

[@Preso58]

Roy, I have been reading about wild animals venturing into urban areas due to the lack of activity with the lockdowns. Regards, Mark

[@ChatterontheWire]

I'll have to admit, thought you were a bit crazy on how you were initially attaching it, but those steel backers made a lot of sense once I saw the final reasoning. Very nicely done, even with the one drilling problem! :)

[@swdweeb]

Far out! 😁😁

[@Preso58]

Yeah, gotta be careful what you say on camera. Regards, Mark

[@swdweeb]

@@Preso58 Tell me about it. Still waiting on my ingots to arrive

[@johnkelly7264]

At Last!!! a decent machining and making channel that's just so easy to listen to. Subbed here!

[@Preso58]

Welcome aboard! Regards, Mark

[@jrkorman]

Note to self - Leave a couple of "tabs" under the insert so that a couple of screws can be inserted to hold it to the table and not move about! Excellent build once again!

[@Preso58]

Jim, I actually made a new one which is much thicker and has a step in it. I will secure it with some loctite threadlock. Regards, Mark

[@a0cdhd]

Could you kindly tell me where you got the bright alignment laser please Mr. Presling.

[@Preso58]

I got those on Ebay. www.ebay.com.au/itm/650nm-5mW-Output-Power-Laser-Module-Straight-line-Red-DC4-5V-5V-Input/320992099911?hash=item4abc9ebe47:g:HpoAAMXQR-dRFZ8U Just make sure you get the straight line type. There is a very similar looking module that has a single point. Regards, Mark

[@EmmaRitson]

wow nice! just waiting here for the power feed fence next.. lol

[@stewartfrye]

You can cut aluminum and brass on carbide blade in table saw easily, don't need a slow bandsaw. And very accurately too!

[@Preso58]

I have used my table saw to cut thin aluminium sheet and some extrusions but it's a bit violent for me. I also like that the bandsaw makes a truly vertical cut when removing stock from a corner. Regards, Mark

[@boldford]

Transfer punches are easily made from silver steel (drill rod) After heat treatment they'll last a lifetime.

[@Preso58]

I have a set of transfer punches on my shopping list but the list gets longer and longer. I have made one off specials for specific jobs though. Regards, Mark

[@bobvines00]

Mark, I bet the ease you had at sawing the brass & 10mm aluminum was worth the casting pain you experienced! I'm looking forward to the following video. Also, why did you use coolant/cutting fluid when rough milling the bracket? I'm curious since many folks don't fool with it on aluminum.

[@Preso58]

Bob, yes it is a vast improvement over how it was with the pressed steel bracket. The flimsy table didn't help but it was the long overhang from the pivot arrangement to the centre of the old table that caused most of the vibration. I have always used some sort of coolant when machining aluminium but mostly on 6061. I generally use soluble oil or WD40. I believe that Stefan Gotteswinter uses alcohol as a coolant on very small work. Methylated spirit seems to work well. I think the idea is to keep the cutting edge of the tool relatively cool so it doesn't create a built up edge. If the tool interface gets hot the swarf gets sort of welded to the tool edge. Modern coatings on moulded inserts help to reduce the built up edge but it can still be an issue on HSS. Regards, Mark

[@bobvines00]

@@Preso58 Mark, thanks for the answer. I use HSS for virtually every cutter and didn't think about cooling to avoid the built-up edge(s). I think I'll go back to WD-40 for aluminum. Take care, Bob

[@thisnicklldo]

With the nature intros, I keep expecting to hear 'Hi, this is Tom Johnson, of Thomas Johnson Antique Restorations in Bangor, Maine'. He's got some competition now - he has alpacas, and some wonderful birds, but definitely no kangaroos or kookaburras. The table is great, and the process very instructive, not that I'll ever do this specifically. Thanks for posting all this.

[@Preso58]

Thanks for that. The great Steve Irwin lived close to where we are here on the Sunshine Coast and he was once called out to rescue an emu that had gotten itself onto the Bruce Highway and was running around between the two lanes of the highway. The cops were worried it would run out into the 100kph traffic and get killed. They are very big birds and would likely go straight through a windshield and kill a driver. Anyway, Steve turned up, did his usual Crikey thing and ran the emu down. Said emu promptly turned on him and kicked the stuffing out of poor Steve. Not sure what happened to the emu but Steve ended up being attended to by the paramedics! Those big eastern grey kangaroos can kill a man as well. If they get cornered they will rear up on their tail and disembowel you with their rear claws. They say the best defence is to just lie down on your stomach and protect your head! 😱 Regards, Mark

[@thisnicklldo]

I've always been wary about kicks from wild animals, since I learnt about Poissons distribution in maths - this governs the probability of low frequency events, and he derived it it the 1890's (I think) when asked to look at the problem of the number of French soldiers killed per year by a kick from a horse. I can't remember the derivation, but the fact that a statistical number of soldiers was killed this way every year has remained etched in my memory for 40 years. I live in the New Forest where we have ponies and donkeys roaming free and occasionally forget to close the gate, so they come in to eat the lawn. They can be the devil to get out again, particularly as Poisson has made me reluctant to get behind them.

[@opendstudio7141]

Took a while for the grey kangaroo to deliver the video 14000 km, but here it is. I foresee a possible number of Bridgeport refurbishment videos. :)

[@sparkyinanissan]

In the words of George Formby, "turned out nice again". The, drill template? ruse had me wondering for a while, great solution to the fixing and rigidity issue.

[@Shazzzam74]

Great job Mark. Really enjoyed the trouble shooting too. Thanks for sharing! -Adán

[@lv_woodturner3899]

Looking very good. You have a new "precious". Well worth the effort. I do like using the drill jig to make a locking plate. As you said, so much easier than trying to mess with individual nuts. Also adds a lot to rigidity. We are spoiled in the US. There are several bandsaw blade companies who make very good blades, lots of tooth count and pattern options and any length. Also fast service. A link to illustrate. Timberwolf make wood and metal cutting blades. This is the metal cutting page. www.timberwolfblades.com/Metal-Blade-Selector.php Dave.

[@Preso58]

I do get frustrated when I look on Ebay and find exactly what I am looking for and then look at the fine print and see that it is a supplier in USA and then die of shock when I see the shipping charges! McMaster Carr won't ship to Australia, at all and Amazon USA stopped shipping here when our busybody federal government insisted that Amazon charge our GST to it's customers. Amazon responded by closing down it's trade with Australia. We have a local Amazon here in Oz but it just sells trinkets compared with what is available in the US. Sigh! Regards, Mark

[@lv_woodturner3899]

Shipping out of the US is expensive. I recently shipped 3 packs of "jammy bits" to a nephew in the UK. These are no surprise little pieces of jam mixed with gelatin to put in baked goods like scones. We got him hooked on these last year in a visit. The USPS shipping for 1.5lbs was $25 which was more than the cost to buy the three 0.5lb packets. The USPS rates are the same for all countries, so Canada, UK, Australia would be the same crazy rate. Dave.

[@billschannel5050]

Good morning Mark, I was watching some of your videos, which by the way are very good, and noticed you have a The Denbigh horizonal mill. I also have one. I haven't seen anyone else on KZbin with one and was wondering if you could shoot a video on your mill and how you have it set up. Particularily the vertical head and how its mounted. I also have a vertical head mounted on mine but the adjustments to tram it are non existant. Thanks I look forward to watching more of your videos Bill.

[@Preso58]

Bill, I am actually in the process of selling that mill. I am just waiting on confirmation that I can get a replacement sent interstate due to the border closures. When I bought the Denbigh (on Ebay) it came with a vertical head but it bolted directly onto the end of the horizontal spindle. By the time I got a collet chuck in the vertical spindle, a cutter in the collet and a vice on the table there was only about 50mm of Z axis travel left. Also the bevel gears arrangement ran on plain bronze bearings and the spindle was a very worn #2 morse taper. I machined it out to #3 but it had a lot of runout so I gave up in disgust. I met a guy up in Gympie who has a Denbigh with the better vertical head with a spur gear step up drive and better bearings. The spur gears raise the height of the spindle enough to make it useable. Being a bit naive, I figured I could make my own vertical head since I had just gotten into metal casting and no one was more surprised than me when the DIY vertical head actually worked. However, all the castings are aluminium and as such it is a bit light and lacks rigidity. There is no quill so all the vertical travel has to be done with the knee. Also, it lacks a back gear so there isn't a lot of torque at the lower speeds. The variable frequency drive does allow you to slow the spindle right down but it won't really run a big slitting saw or anything like that. I have a folder of drawings and 3D models for the build on Dropbox if you are interested. www.dropbox.com/sh/ax9j3tjsmw3lskh/AADej0cDCQu94ZyyeIgUdB2ka?dl=0 I can tram the head in the X direction but not the Y and because of the way it is mounted it should be accurate but I think my setup is a bit dodgy. It would be possible to do a much better job with iron castings and if you were really keen you could incorporate a quill and some sort of tram adjustment for the Y axis but having said that, I have been able to make some good parts and projects using that head. Regards, Mark

[@billschannel5050]

Good afternoon Mark. Thanks for taking the time to reply. I have A Rusnok head mounted on mine which appears I'm in better shape than you. It's mounted on the over arm support which is 3 3/8ish and I have about 15" on the Z axes between the vice and an end mill and about 8" in the Y with a little cheating. The head has a 4" quill travel with 5 speeds with a Vbelt pully set up, half horse motor and seems to have enough power for the cuts I can take with the dodgy set up. I was hoping to get some ideas on how to make it a more ridged set up and easier to tram in. With using the over arm support the head sits much higher and I can set it out further to get the 8" on the Y but it could be much more ridged. Again thanks for your time and stay safe. Bill

[@Watchyn_Yarwood]

Brilliant drilling jig idea! BTW, I was quick enough on the pause to catch the "new" mill! I know you are going to be thrilled to get it!

[@Preso58]

William, sadly that particular mill turned out to be way too worn to be a consideration. It's a pity because it came with a OEM horizontal milling attachment and one of those multi axis quill extensions, plus tooling. Due to the travel restrictions it's impossible to cross the border to see the machines I am considering in person. I asked the vendor to take some close up photos of the Y axis ways and they were worn down past the scraping marks. I found another Bridgeport in Melbourne with less wear but it doesn't come with any accessories and tooling. However it does have the variable speed head. By the time I pay freight and find a way of running it on 240V single phase it's going to cost and extra $2000. 😲 However, I am tired of the limitations of my current mill. It's time to move on. Regards, Preso

[@Watchyn_Yarwood]

@@Preso58 Now that's a bummer! I was hoping to vicariously experience a Bridgeport that I can never afford!

[@bobolander]

nicely done mate!

[@Preso58]

Thank you! Cheers! Regards, Mark

[@somebodyelse6673]

Mission accomplished, another win for Prezzo!

[@chrisleech1565]

Gorgeous mod Mr. Presling. Bravo! Encore!

[@stephenmurray2335]

Great upgrade Presso, always a treat to watch your videos and this was no exception. The table would be even more useful if it had a sled for the slot - I always use one on the bandsaw and it just makes it so easy to get straight and square cuts every time, with no risk of finger trimming! It'd be an interesting project for us as well.

[@Preso58]

Stephen, the little mitre fence I have does a good job. It's sort of like a one sided sled anyway. I tried it out before I broke the machine down for some metal finishing operations. That series of videos will be out over the next month or so. "Metal Finishing with Mark" Regards, Preso

[@CraigLYoung]

Kudos Mark! Living in the colonies? Is that like living in eastern Kentucky, you're on the map but no one realizes people actually live there?

[@SeanBZA]

Worse than that, they charge an arm, a leg and your left nut for everything you order. But he is still lucky, I live in the other colony (not the sheep appreciators one, though we do have a lot of sheep, and really big, as in the biggest in the world, chickens) and here not only do you have to pay like above, it also takes up to 6 months for your airmail, urgent, fast delivery parcel to wend it's way through the labyrinth of the customs and postal orifice systems, to eventually reach your local office, and then you have to pay to collect it. Note they are also only available from 8-4 Mon-Fri, and 8-12 Saturday, and there is almost invariably, irrespective of the size of the office, only one single teller operating, at a speed that makes glaciers look like they are overdosing on nose candy. At my one i collect, if it has rained in the last week, take an umbrella with a as well, as it has a somewhat leaky roof. Hard hat also a good option in addition, due to the aforementioned internal aquatics causing spalling. Roof is 10m high, and the AC stopped working 25 years ago, so there is a fan that could best be described as Dodgy.

[@steveone]

Maybe use a piece of lead flashing instead of copper shim when you clamp the job in the vyce .

[@samrodian919]

Steve Smith probably a health and safety issue in Oz these days of the nanny state! The health and safety police come roaring up your drive before you have got the word "Lead" out of your mouth well before the actual metal!

[@Pest789]

Once you have the table exactly where you want it, maybe weld that plate underneath to the sheet metal.

[@Preso58]

Ahh, but I am a crap welder! Regards, Mark

[@Pest789]

I meant just enough to hold it so you don't have to realign it next time you take the table off