Hydraulic feed, Rube Goldberg style

markba633csi

Mark Silva
H-M Supporter Gold Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2015
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12,188
Finally got the leaks stopped (fingers crossed) on this infernal gadget so I thought it's a good time to show you all what I've been
freezing my tushie off doing for the last couple months. Took me over a year to rebuild the saw itself and about 3 months for the feed system.
Still have some mods to do on the vise but it's almost there. Whew. It's a Trans World Steel Taiwan-made saw circa 1978.
When you lift the saw and let go it stays put. Then you open the start valve and the Deltrol valve sets the down feed. Works like a champ.
My big engineering mistake was I didn't realize the difference in flow volume required between lifting the saw up and letting it feed down. That caused about another 6 weeks of redesign. Had to add a high flow ball valve made with hardware store parts, and a reservoir to compensate for the rod displacement and provide a place to add fluid. I'm using Febi/Bilstein 6162 automotive mineral oil (power steering fluid) it's easy on seals and not too expensive. The saw will lift high enough to fit 3.5" thick stock; for thicker pieces (or vertical cutting) I can pull the pin and disconnect the cylinder then feed by hand.
Mark S.
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Sorry for the blurry pix, Tracfone camera, lo-res
 
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Thanks Randy, it was challenging
Mark
ps got a lot of shop cleanup to do now :big grin:
 
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Thanks for the post. The hydraulic downfeed is pretty close to the top of my "To-Do" list. I'm going to copy some of your design. Hopefully in a couple of weeks.
 
Mark, I don't know why you refer to your hydraulic downfeed as a Rube Goldberg style device, it appears to be well made and does the job, all made with parts and materials that were readily available. Great job!!
 
Actually you're right Terry, it's not really Goldberg caliber (like the self-actuated napkin); Anyhow..Thanks
Just made my first automatic cut on a chunk of aluminum- perfecto! I'll have to experiment a bit on feed rates for various metals and sizes
M
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