Isn’t She Lovely

You thought this day would never come, but here it is:

How about that? And it WORKS. I can rest my fat on the side rails and hop up and down, and if the base is flexing, I can’t detect it. It should hold the saw just fine, even with the less-than-beautiful welds.

The design is not optimal; I’m limited by my tools and the amount of work I’m willing to do, plus what I’m willing to pay for steel and parts. But it’s much stronger than it needs to be.

I got much better performance out of the welder today. I tightened up the ground; this may have made the difference. I had no problems seeing the puddle or keeping the contact tip from welding to the wire.

In case you’re wondering who gave the best answer about removing rust and scale prior to welding, I think it was Ed Bonderenka. I believe he was the person who suggested a wire wheel for the grinder. I got a wheel and tried it, and it blows through rust and crap a paint removing wheel barely polishes. Wonderful.

I learned something new today: Hitachi drill bits are crap. At least they seem to be. I bought a big box of them, and I was trying to drill through the 3/16″ steel on the tabs that hold the wheels to the mobile base. The smaller bits didn’t seem to do anything, and the 1/4″ bit was really slow. I dug out my old Craftsman bits, and they went right through the steel. Go figure. It’s clearly time to get a Drill Doctor. I wasted maybe 20 minutes with that stupid Hitachi bit before I realized something was wrong.

I plan to grind off the scarier bits of weld, and then I’m going to go over the base with a brush, and then I’m going to hit it with a can of truck bed paint. I have some in the garage, and it’s much better than ordinary spray paint for this purpose. Once that’s done, I’ll shove the saw over to my hoist and see if it pulls the roof down while I try to put it on the base.

Man, this was great. I learned how to cope welded corners. I used my plasma cutter. I used the welder and the dry cut saw. I bought a soapstone holder, a wire wheel, and a scribe. I had tremendous fun. And now I can roll my bandsaw around the garage, so I can get it within reach of the new 220 socket I made.

I have a new table pin, three blades, and an Incra miter gauge for the saw, and I am DYING to do something with it.

Maybe some day I’ll make a better base for the saw. Now that I fixed the welder’s problems, I know I can make a much prettier base. But I think I’ll wait for a drill press or a mill. I did not enjoy making those stupid holes.

Another thing: I got a little Baldor grinder a couple of years ago. I thought it would be more than enough for my needs. WRONG. Because the radius is small, it’s hard to get stuff up against the wheel. I’m wondering what’s the best size. Eight inches? Surely not ten. That would weigh 200 pounds. I believe the one I have now is 6″. It’s wonderful, but just not big enough. It’s dandy for sharpening certain tools, and I used it to pretty up some of the base parts, but it’s limited.

I suppose the real answer is a belt grinder. I have to get to work on that eventually. The price of a big Baldor would more than cover the parts cost for a belt grinder, and a belt grinder does more. Man, that would be sweet.

Time to celebrate. I’m breaking out the fettuccine.

By the way, if you read about me helping Mike find Li’l Paul’s Smokehouse in Lebanon, Tennessee, the other night, you have been waiting for these photos.