Well, I didn't exactly buy, just asked the lms if they had some flat alum to protect my rotary table. The slab was twice as long and I told him I really didn't need all that much, he waterjetted it in half and let me pick through the other, pretty happy! The guys around here are great!Great Price! I would really appreciate hearing how you like the Blake (when you get back on your feet). I have a cheapo Phase 2 that I have been using. It is suspect at best. Been thieving for a Blake. I had seen this unit on the bay, glad I didn't bid on it.
I have a Blake, and a friend just bought an eBay $80 coaxial indicator, so I had a chance to compare. The $80 works, no problem, but it seemed harder to bring to an exact zero position…there was always a couple thousandths of wiggle. The Blake could be positioned with less than 0.001 TIR, let’s say a half thousandth.
fter a little cleaning of the jaws, cleaning and minor modification to the clamps, lubrication and adjustments, it works great! Now I need to make a stand on casters and an enclosure for it. That way I can roll it out of the way when it is not needed. I did the same for my 9" South Bend shaper, I don't use it often so I can roll it into storage when not needed.
Looks like yours has camlocks for clamping the blade which would be a very nice feature. Mine is on a 1948 16" ML and uses screws to tighten the clamps. Not bad, but not as nice as yours. I don't know if there's a proper way of setting the blades into the welder, but I've found setting the teeth at the base of the clamps works fine. It's easier on my fingers to push the blade ends up against the stop by pushing on the back of the blade instead of on the teeth.
