Cast iron bandsaw table has a bow in it.

[klassenl]

For the record. I bought a saw out of the back of a truck one day that was missing all sorts including the reunions and the table. I ended up making the trunions out of some good hardwood and the table out of some 1 inch thick melamine. Works for me.

 

[whateg01]

Cast iron will move, we did it all the time setting up large milling machines, mill turns, and lathes. It will take a set over time as well if its twisted or allowed to sag.

I would drill 75 percent of the rib deep and tap with 5/16x18 at the 4 arrows. I would then make a matching 2x2 steel bar with milled slots at the red points and a plain thru hole at the arrow. Then you could loosen all the holes and pivot it away without removing the bar completely on the yellow bolt to change blades.

Asdic

That "rib" is the bottom of the miter gauge slot.

 

[danielbuck]

if you have access to some thick steel (or even aluminum), you could bolt on a new surface to the warped one. just make sure not to bolt it too hard without shims, so you don't warp the new top if it's not thick enough.

 

[Firebrick43]

That "rib" is the bottom of the miter gauge slot.

All the better, drill the hole thru and counter sink it so the top of the counter sunk hole sits slightly below flush with the bottom of the slot.

 

[crguy]

Throw it on top of a nice bonfire, get it nice and red, then clamp something flat to it till it cools. Buried in sand while cooling would probably help.

How many times have you done this?

 

[Old Man Roger]

How many times have you done this?

You’d be amazed how evenly a nice bonfire heats things.lol

 

[nadogail]

Run away and leave it as is.

Some story about 8" jumps to mind here.

an Automotive Machine Shop that can resurface a flywheel should be able to restore your table to an acceptable degree of flatness

 

[crguy]

You’d be amazed how evenly a nice bonfire heats things.lol

Didn't answer the question did you?

 

[Old Man Roger]

Didn't answer the question did you?

I honestly can’t count how many times I’ve used a fire to heat something. Almost as many times as I’ve put a flammable liquid in a glass bottle with an aluminum cap.lol Spent alot of time in the woods in my younger days.lol

I knew where all the pallets in town were.lol

 

[jorp_porp]

Cast iron will move, we did it all the time setting up large milling machines, mill turns, and lathes. It will take a set over time as well if its twisted or allowed to sag.

I would drill 75 percent of the rib deep and tap with 5/16x18 at the 4 arrows. I would then make a matching 2x2 steel bar with milled slots at the red points and a plain thru hole at the arrow. Then you could loosen all the holes and pivot it away without removing the bar completely on the yellow bolt to change blades.

Asdic

I do like this idea, and it seems like the simplest outside of melamine replacement table. And not much of a loss if it doesnt pull it into alignment. Dumb question, but I have basically 0 experience with metal.. will i need to get that bar machined, or is it possible to find some that are relatively straight? Thinking back to my machined straightedge.. not cheap!

Bolting a steel plate (3/8? 5/16? 1/4?) also seems reasonable, but more costly. Even looking at remnants from local dealers, just the 1/4" would be pricey. And that's without machining.

 

[Firebrick43]

I do like this idea, and it seems like the simplest outside of melamine replacement table. And not much of a loss if it doesnt pull it into alignment. Dumb question, but I have basically 0 experience with metal.. will i need to get that bar machined, or is it possible to find some that are relatively straight? Thinking back to my machined straightedge.. not cheap!

Bolting a steel plate (3/8? 5/16? 1/4?) also seems reasonable, but more costly. Even looking at remnants from local dealers, just the 1/4" would be pricey. And that's without machining.

Cold rolled bar is usually of sufficient straightness in those length to not need machined. I say usually. Obviously it depends on who has handle the metal and how the did so.

I would see what the largest counter sunk screw heads fit in the bottom of the slot easily and hand knobs can be purchased that make a slotted bar easy to move out of the way. The bar could be drilled first and then 3 of the holes opened to the side via a hack saw or sawzall and files. Obviously a milling machine would be better but with careful layout and care in your cuts not necessary.

A plate for the top would work but makes it harder to swap blades out and would prevent using the miter gauge slot.

I am not there to measure length but look at several online metal websites or eBay a 1x2 or 2x2 12” long piece can be had for under 50 bucks shipped. It will be cheaper if you can find some place local.

Be careful of eBay. Some of their listings said cold rolled but were obviously hot rolled due to the dark mill scale on them. Hot rolled is usually not as accurate

 

[whateg01]

I do like this idea, and it seems like the simplest outside of melamine replacement table. And not much of a loss if it doesnt pull it into alignment. Dumb question, but I have basically 0 experience with metal.. will i need to get that bar machined, or is it possible to find some that are relatively straight? Thinking back to my machined straightedge.. not cheap!

Bolting a steel plate (3/8? 5/16? 1/4?) also seems reasonable, but more costly. Even looking at remnants from local dealers, just the 1/4" would be pricey. And that's without machining.

How straight the bar really doesn't matter. The bottom of the casting may not be perfectly parallel to the top of the table, so you may have to shim it to get the top flat. Also, it doesn't take much to move the table that much. The table on the 17" saw at our makerspace wants to sag in front of the slot if the alignment pin isn't inserted. I can push it up the 20 thou to be flat by hand, so just about anything with any height is going to work.

 

[jorp_porp]

How straight the bar really doesn't matter. The bottom of the casting may not be perfectly parallel to the top of the table, so you may have to shim it to get the top flat. Also, it doesn't take much to move the table that much. The table on the 17" saw at our makerspace wants to sag in front of the slot if the alignment pin isn't inserted. I can push it up the 20 thou to be flat by hand, so just about anything with any height is going to work.

Ah yeah, shimming makes sense. Speaking of alignment pins. I did mess eith mine quite a bit. Inserting it actually brings it further out.

 

[jorp_porp]

You think 1x2 would work alright?

 

[jorp_porp]

I'm sure this lot will get driven up, but I've got an eye on this..

 

[PCustoms]

I'm sure this lot will get driven up, but I've got an eye on this..

What is it?

 

[jorp_porp]

What is it?

A big honkin steel plate I could potentially cut up and bolt to my table. It's just listed as an 'L bracket'. Only if I can get it for cheap, though.

 

[PCustoms]

A big honkin steel plate I could potentially cut up and bolt to my table. It's just listed as an 'L bracket'. Only if I can get it for cheap, though.

That seems like a huge headache for not that big of a piece (looks much smaller then table).

If you're just cutting wood a waxed wood table or melamine would be fine

 

[Old Man Roger]

You don’t need anything that big. A couple pieces of angle iron would do the trick.

 

[FullRaceMerc]

I'm sure this lot will get driven up, but I've got an eye on this..

Do you have any steel suppliers in your area? The ones around here have a remnants rack that holds cut-off pieces which sell for far cheaper than their regular stock.

Since you don't need much & it doesn't need to be a particular size, around here I'd check that rack first.

 

[Ditchdigger]

Do me a favor and remove the bolt in the blade installation gap and remeasure.


The gap looks too large and a bit tapered to me, like too large of a bolt was jammed in there. That would attempt spread that half of the table and the material in the middle would go down. If the bow is lessened by removing that, you at least know why it happened

 

[jorp_porp]

Do me a favor and remove the bolt in the blade installation gap and remeasure.


The gap looks too large and a bit tapered to me, like too large of a bolt was jammed in there. That would attempt spread that half of the table and the material in the middle would go down. If the bow is lessened by removing that, you at least know why it happened

Yeah, the tapered bolt was definitely doing me no favors. I had to hammer it out with a punch a few days back. The bow was still there with the bolt removed, but it was less - maybe 1/2 a mm down from 1mm. I wonder if it's moved at all over the past few days.

 

[jorp_porp]

Do you have any steel suppliers in your area? The ones around here have a remnants rack that holds cut-off pieces which sell for far cheaper than their regular stock.

Since you don't need much & it doesn't need to be a particular size, around here I'd check that rack first.

I do. They have a bunch of remnants listed on their website, but I couldn't find anything smaller than 18x18" or less than $150.

 

[FullRaceMerc]

I do. They have a bunch of remnants listed on their website, but I couldn't find anything smaller than 18x18" or less than $150.

You might go see what they've got. I can't imagine most places taking time to list their small cheap remnants online.