I tried starting another post on this, seems to have disappeared. Anyway, my tale of woe as follows:
I bought a cast iron left side extension table wing for my Jet contractor’s saw at the Woodworker’s Warehouse Going out of Business sale. The extension wing is the exact depth and thickness of my saw’s cast iron center table, and has the same front edge bevel. The bolt pattern looked to be the same as my saw, but it was in a box labeled “Jet Supersaw”. The salesman assured me that “All Jet parts are interchangeable”, and at $39, I couldn’t pass it up.
Went to bolt it on, ARRRRGGGHHH! The bolt pattern aligns horizontally, but is off 1/4″ vertically! I called WWWH, they said “Didn’t you see the big sign? ALL SALES FINAL.” Looks like I’m stuck with it. The saw’s iron table is drilled and tapped along it’s left edge to receive three bolts that hold the stock stamped metal extension table on through elongated holes that allow the extension table to be leveled with the top.
My first thought is to drill new untapped, slightly oversize holes in the center table and my new extension table. and hold it together with through bolts and nuts. The edge thickness of the cast iron is about 1/4″. Getting this into a drillpress seems impossible, so I thought of making a thick hardwood template I can use as a drilling guide for both parts. If I drill the holes about 1/32″ oversize, I’ll have some wiggle to adjust the table and extension flush. I’ll drill through the front and rear outside corner edges of the extension table to bolt the extension to the rails, as the stamped wing is fastened.
Anything special about drilling cast iron? I have some brand new TIN coated HSS bits and a decent hand drill. Suggestions? Am I missing something? I thought about elongating the existing bolt holes, but a 1/4″ of metal grinding per hole sounds like bad news.
Replies
Cast iron is very easy to work.The free graphite in the iron lubricates whilst machining or filing.Make a template from the tin tables and enlarge the holes with a rat tail file.Tapping threads or drilling freehand should present no problems.Pilot with a smaller drill first.I drill and tap shaper tables 3/8 for starting pins and power feeds whenever necessary just using a mains drill.If the ext table is not horizontal when bolted up, buy a cheap set of feeler gauges and cut bits off to sandwich between the tables to level them.If you need more explanation post again and I will try and elaborate
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q-sawn, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Spot and drill NEW 1/8" pilot holes in new wing away from holes.
Clamp a piece of flat baltic ply to saw's top and overhanging the edge a few inches.
Mark the area near the proposed new holes on your table's edge use dykem blue or blue Sharpie chisle tip permanent marker'
Clamp new wing to the overhangingply and 'snug' it up to the table's edge
Using an ice pick or a sharp needle, (I use a dart) scribe through the pilot holes to 'spot' the new table's holes
Remove wing and prick punch and center punch the spotted centers.
Drill 1/8" pilots in the tables edge. (No oil or lubricants on cast iron)
NOW, enlarge all holes slightly larger than bolt's diameter.
Bolt up using hex head machine screws and lock washers .
When bolting up, don't let the wing hang all its weight on the bolts, but, DO support wing with wooden horse/table/box/ helper/ stack of National Geographic or FWW mags. Stein.
You could slip a rope through the existing holes and use it as a boat anchor.
J.P.
A die grinder with a straight carbide burr cuts cast iron amazingly fast, if you can get ahold of one. I'd just draw an outline of how high I needed to grind, and whack away freehand. Put a good thick flat washer and lockwasher under the bolt head, and you'll be good to go.
A round file will do the job, too, just a lot slower. Get a good handle and use the largest file that will work in the hole.
Michael R
Well, I done it! I ended up using my "Dowlit" self-centering dowel jig clamped to the table and extension wing in turn, aligned to witness marks on both. Worked perfectly, and the hardened steel inserts in the jig kept everything square. I offset the new holes a little and left the existing bolt holes intact in case I need to bolt on some other Jet widget in future. The bit got pretty hot, so I squirted on some 3-in-1 occasionally. Seemed to help. I still have to drill for front and back rail attachment and fiddle with the alignment, but it looks like it will go together sweet. No more blue paint scraped off my stamped extension onto my stock! Thanks for advice all. This turned out to be easy.
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