Wednesday, April 13, 2011

This saw is definitely cursed

It was looking good for a while. I decided to give it the "acid test" and put the drum sander attachment on and turn her face down. WAY TOO noisy!

Gosh darnit! I am beyond frustrated with this frame 196.

I've rebuilt many a motor and this one is the worst of all! I rebuilt a crazy old frame 553 from 1947. No problem! Smooth as silk!
I've rebuilt 3 frame 156's. All good!
Frame 230. Good.
Frame 235. Good.
Frame 236. Good.
Frame 250. Not great but OK.

Very discouraged.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

A breakthrough (finally)!

It all comes down to this... don't use IKS 88500's for the rear bearings in a DeWalt Frame 196 motor.

On a whim I decided to try a "Wide Cup" version of the 88500 that Accurate Bearing carries. It's a JAF bearing.

Night and day! My frame 196 is now quiet and powerful with no extra heat. The IKS design is the basis of about a year and a half of frustration with this project saw on my part.

Now I need to make a proper table for my GWI, align everything, and start making sawdust!

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Let's not get it coated

It turns out the the process is really not that good of an idea for RAS owners.

They typically strip and then bake the items to get them clean and über dry. Then they coat and bake them to finish.

This process changes the tolerances of the aluminum parts enough to make them essentially worthless.

Live and learn... no more GWIs for me. It's "Go big or go home". I will keep my 925 and switch my attention to turning my flawed 3526 into a perfectly functioning Medium Arm GA.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Let's get it coated



This is a radial arm saw with all the parts assembled. WD40 can for scale in all images.



The column base (Cast Iron, has machined interior surface and threaded holes)



The two motor end bells (aluminum with machined surfaces for the bearings), thrust cap (cast iron) and electrical box for motor (aluminum)



The arm (cast iron). It has machined surfaces where it rests against the column and threaded holes.



The arm on its side showing the machined "ways" where the roller carriage travels.



This is the "nose" cap that goes on the end of the arm. It's thick aluminum.



The roller carriage (cast iron) top view - it has threaded holes for set screws



The roller carriage (cast iron) bottom view showing machined surfaces.



The yoke which holds the motor (Aluminum). It has threaded holes for set screws and a brass lined hole for the indexing pin.



The motor housing (can't be powder coated as the insulation would melt in the oven)



The blade guard (Aluminum). It has a large threaded hole.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Electric Brake

I finally got my electric brake working for dual voltage. Here's a quick pic (click for larger version):

Left to right you see:
1) The main switch that sends voltage to the motor (two red leads) or the brake circuit (the long black cord wrapping around with black/white/green protruding)
2) The switch inside the brake circuit (120V) that makes sure 240V doesn't make it into the brake. The voltage coming into the circuit acts as both the "control" and the "controlled" current.
3) (on the left of the large white relay) a smaller relay that isolates the circuit from the voltage flowing to the motor
4) The "On Delay, Off Delay" relay (Macromatic TR-66122)
5) The rectifier
6) The transformer

What does it do? Basically, when the main switch is in the "Off" position 120V of AC are turned into 24V of DC and sent to the motor, stopping a 10" blade in about 6 seconds.

It works perfectly.

Parts were about $110 (The large relay is a $65 part). I'm sure it can be done cheaper but God knows I am no EE and this thing works like a champ.

I'll post more (proper diagram) later when I get more time.