36" in Seattle

[Millstone Man]

Re: 36" in Seattle

Could be mistaken for a small nuclear reactor meltdown. (.3 mile island) Great picture and your determination is inspiring.

[kebwi]

Re: 36" in Seattle

I have been forced to slow down due to cold weather and other obligations. However, I did manage to cut the arch merge bricks for the fourth curved course, which has sat 95% done for a week or two now. I also planned and cut most of the bricks for the fifth course (first course constructed from 1/3rd bricks instead of 1/2th bricks). However, before I finished my HF tile saw broke!!! As you can see in the photos, the spindle on the moter end of the belt-drive is fine but the spindle on the blade end is shot. That little locking piece (the square piece) is just gone. I was sawing along, then suddenly I heard a lot of clattering and that was it. The belt has a lot of tension so the blade still spins when the saw is turned on, but clearly it won't have much pull now.

Thankfully, I sprung for the $20 1-year replacement plan. I already called HF. Other than the trouble of packing up a 150lb saw and driving it to Bellevue (which is far enough away to be a nuisance) I should be back up and running by tomorrow.

Sigh.

[Neil2]

Re: 36" in Seattle

"That little locking piece (the square piece) is just gone."

The "key". On some machines the key is made of a softer metal and is designed to shear before other, more serious, damage occurs.

[kebwi]

Re: 36" in Seattle

Oooooooooh. I saw the "key" in the exploded view in the manual, but I thought that referred to the small hex screw that entered through the spindle radially to lock the spindle to the shaft. I didn't realize it referred to the square piece.

I admit, it seems ridiculous to replace the saw for this. This seems like a relatively simple repair...but whatever. It's up to HF. I don't care.

Thanks for the clarification.

[kebwi]

Re: 36" in Seattle

Bought a new key, put the saw back together, works like a charm. My HF 1-year replacement plan lives to see another day. Then, while cleaning up, I found the old key on the basement floor. So I didn't break it by forcing the saw too hard. It just worked its way out. The radial allen screw that held in place had obviously come loose.

False alarm.

Cheers!

[vintagemx0]

Re: 36" in Seattle

Happy to hear it was a simple fix.

If it makes you feel any better, I broke a water pipe that tees-off the main water supply pipe in my garage (plastic) while stacking bags of wood pellets in my garage. I'm guessing about 15 gallons of water all over the garage floor before I got the valve turned-off. Happened just tonight, so no water until morning to allow time for the glue to cure. Arggggg! At least it's above freezing right now.....

Ken

[dmun]

Re: 36" in Seattle

If the loose set screw becomes a chronic problem, if, for example the threaded hole is a little oversize, and the key keeps coming loose, Loctite makes a specific product for holding screws so that they can be removed when needed.

[kebwi]

Re: 36" in Seattle

Seems to me that the lateral force on the key is extremely weak. A bit of duct tape over the end of the spindle ought to be sufficient to hold it in place...not that I would advocate such MacGyvery.

[fxpose]

Re: 36" in Seattle

You mentioned a very tight belt. This can eventually lead to drive train failure. Can you adjust belt tension on this unit?

[kebwi]

Re: 36" in Seattle

Beats me. The manual is mostly for assembly, but I'll take a look at it. I'm not tempted to mess with it. I'm may not understand various prescriptions for tightless/looseness as suggested in the forum and wouldn't really know what tightness to shoot for, if you see my meaning. Unless everyone else's HF saw of the same model is actually different from mine (which I doubt), I probably won't be easily convinced to tinker with it. Do you have this saw?

[fxpose]

Re: 36" in Seattle

No, I don't have this saw but most belt driven anything (tool or equipment) I've owned had ways of adjusting belt tension, either by altering distance between pullies or by varying thickness of V-style pullies.
Even my new cement mixer came "factory adjusted" with what seemed like a very loose belt but was able to drive a fully loaded barrel without any slippage. If the belt starts to slip, I can pivot the motor back a tad to increase tension.

[papavino]

Re: 36" in Seattle

Geez. I think a good test for tightness has already been mentioned. Just go to the half-span of the belt and pull on it to see how much it deflects. If it is less than 1/2", then you might have too tight of a belt. No special equipment required.

[Neil2]

Re: 36" in Seattle

"Seems to me that the lateral force on the key is extremely weak."

Yes, but it is vibrating slightly all the time. Use the Loctie on the set screw, or you can peen the edge of the key to lock it in the keyway.

[kebwi]

Re: 36" in Seattle

Fifth tilted course is almost up. Three or four bricks to go. This is the course with the most individual bricks incidentally. Lower courses, although larger, were constructed from one-half bricks and were incomplete due to the arch (although that is a whole rubble or trouble in and of itself). This is the first course of one-third bricks. It is also the first course that, when done, will look complete from the top although I believe I will have to cut some notches out of the bottoms of the last two bricks to fit over the arch.

Cheers!

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Re: 36" in Seattle

Hey Keb,
Looks like your doing a really nice job... How's the weather holding up for you ??

cheers
Mark