• Kasto BSM: crank, vise fix, first saw results

    rawe • 11/14/2015 at 22:22 • 0 comments

    Unfortunately, I had no luck to get a real pirate ship steering wheel, so a crank was made:

    The shaft is now straigt again, thanks to a special trampoline-ish technique:

    This poor rusty crown nut had to go to get the shaft out. The next hardware store (saturday evening...) got normal nuts only... angle grinder crown nut replica:

    Hmmm... welding cast iron may or may not work, fortunately it worked ok-ish. There is enough threading in the lower part, so the remaining slightly offset threading was grinded down and the broken-off part TIG-welded in position, material outside the allowed dimensions (needs to slide in rails) grinded down. It is important to not let mechanical stress build up during the weld process (thermal expansion...), else it will just crack again. Fortunately, the broken off part does not handle too much mechanical load - with a longer screw reaching all the way down through the lower part, it is clamped in place.

    (result not shown, forgot to take picture and looks way too ugly ;)

    More disassembly, cleanup, reassembly etc. later:

    This thingy acts as addition to the fix of the previous owner for the broken off iron cast part (two big screws to hold it 90°)...

    it allows alignment in the fixed 90° position:

    aaaand the 45° position (or anything else non-90°-ish) works now again :)

    Electrics are installed and working.

    aaand, it works :) ok, hand-cranked mode and dull blade:

    Todo (prio/time low to high):

    - 3. cooling fluid pump arrived. power supply needs capacitor bank.

    - 2. belt / wheel should arrive soon.

    - 1. broken off part of sawblade mount fix (cast iron again -.-) might just build a support bracket:

  • Kasto BSM progress: motor, electrics, sawblades

    rawe • 11/01/2015 at 23:18 • 0 comments

    • ebay/online orders started to arrive: Motor, 12VDC power supply, bushbutton box, electronics enclosure, sawblades
    • approx. 140 EUR total spent on this saw. Approx 10-30 EUR to go (belt + pulley).

    The motor, from the late 70s, fits in place, belt and pulley still TBD (and to be ordered / built):

    The push button box (ON/OFF NO/NC) ; Chinese price and quality, but "IP65" rated, sits on top. The power connector is fixed below the mounting plate. The IP65 rated enclosure for motor protection, power relais and 12VDC power supply (pump) go in there. As there are now drill holes in the machine to mount all this stuff, the lower part cannot be used as cooling fluid cotainer. Either I will re-seat the screws with oil resistant silicone, or - more likely and a nicer solution anyway - just put an old oil canister in there.

    A sophistcated mechanism pushes the "stop" pushbotton by hand or if the saw reaches the "stop" level. New M6 threaded bolt used.

    The lever to fix the end stop bar thing was stuck and needed some brute-force disassembly, metal dust/crap removal and some new grease:

    Todo:

    • Belt & pulley
    • wire everything up as soon as the motor protection arrives
    • add pump (shipped from china)
    • fix sawblade mount
    • ...

    Nice to have:

    • sand blast and paint clamps and other easy to remove parts
    • ...

  • 1970s/1980s Kasto BSM hacksaw machine

    rawe • 10/20/2015 at 08:14 • 0 comments

    Another day, another ebay hit :D

    The AC mains motor is missing and there are some broken parts, but for approx 5% of the current "good working condition" price for these 1980s units, the price was ok.

    The manufactuer is still in business and there is a current version of this hacksaw: http://www.kasto.com/de/produkte/saegen/details/kastohbs-1.html

    No small cars were harmed during transit, just a tiny amount of hydraulic oil flooded the trunk:

    The saw got its own trolley now, based on the wheels of an old car jack with broken hydraulics and an Ikea metal shelf frame:

    Todo:

    - add motor, pulley wheel, belt

    - Power switch / cord

    - more cleanup / mechanics fixes

    - liquid cooling system (just another 12V DC pump + fitting wall wart)

    The missing switch goes here:

    The sawblade holder on the "push" side needs a metal part transplant:

    The trapezoidal spindle is a bit curved:

    On the mounting clamps, one side was "fixed" by someone in the past:

    The new motor, pulley wheel and flat belt go here:

    Good points: The hydraulics and its controls work (after refilling hydraulic oil) and it works in hand-cranked mode:

  • 1957 Hestika Lathe

    rawe • 10/19/2015 at 22:42 • 0 comments

    If you got a hammer, everything looks like a nail. If you got a lathe, everything looks like... lathework? I've done numerous parts with this lathe in the last months and I am quite happy with it. Unfortunately the manufacturer went out of business decades ago, so no spare parts (except DIY), no service data, nothing - just a massive lathe for small lathework.

    Pure luck (and sophisticated ebay search keyword lists) help to find the good stuff cheap. This is how I stumbled upon a nice "little" few-100-kg lathe. A motor crane helped to lift the thing. No small cars were harmed during transit.

    The puzzle consists of multiple parts:

    The rubber insulated cables were a bit crusty (lathe was powered by this very cable earlier that day, protected by a 10kW circuit breaker)...

    The wiring was removed, dirt and "molten" rubber removed, rubber replaced with oil resistant silicone (for car use).

    ... re-wiring:

    There were two holes in the front of the lathe - the perfect location for a wooden tool mount to store the related tools to work on the lathe...

    A view under the hood...

    A small 12V DC pump, powered by an old Linksys router wall-wart, drives the circulating oil cooling. The revolver mechanism at the end allows fast tool changes.

    A thing of beauty is a joy forever: