Showed up today and one if the cast bearing guides is completely busted off, anyone know when this happened?
@metalshop_team
@Metal_Shop_Team appears to be the tag.
Fantastic. Is the casting broke?
I’ll be there in the morning.
I’ll get to take a look at it then I suppose if no one else beats me to it.
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Yeah looks like someone cranked down on the knob to tighten it and broke it off. Can cast material be welded back together?
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It can be re-welded but will likely become brittle without proper pre-heat & post heat. Likely we will just rebuild it. Brazing is also another option too.
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Rebuilding/machining looks like our best option.
We can probably salvage a few things. I just worry about brazing/nickel rodding it because it may not sit on the guideway properly due to distortion.
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Keep the pieces. I got some strange magical cold (no preheating part) weld rod Ez Weld TIG Rod for Cast iron - I got it for something else that is cast iron to try and weld. Waiting to get my TIG handle parts from Lee. I’ll try doing my CA part, then that if you’d like. It’s broken so can’t damage it.
But we should get all the dimensions so if we can’t get a replacement part we can machine one. They make them out of cast because it’s cheaper then a machined part. Do keep all the pieces.
If a replacement part is available - I’d say order it so this tool’s down time is minimal.
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I agree, purchase replacement if we can, but if we can’t I suggest the approach @dr_cee and I used with the oscillating spindle sander.
We made measurements of original parts, then with help from @ChrisPattison created a CAD model and 3D printed iterations until a good fit was achieved. THEN figured out how to machine a replacement.
If a machine part, more important are envelope and interface points. Machines steel much stronger it needs to functional not an exact duplicate. Cast parts are usually more curvy, bigger radii, thicker (might keep the thickness), etc. because they don’t have the strength/flexibility of steel. Simplify the machine part. That is my suggestion - (plus Chris will no doubt want it out of carbon fiber, Walter you’ll probably want strain gauges embedded and flashing warning lights)
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Wrong Chris in this case… this one would want to sputter them.
We modeled the parts curves, but did not bother machining anything that wasn’t nescessary to get the part to work. Indeed, we even looked at whether a 3D printed part would work.
I have plenty of steel at home that we should be able to fabricate one easily.
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Damn right.
Why don’t we just braze it back together?
All the broken bits are on the saw.
Have at it folks!
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in case anyone else is like me, and puzzling over what’s broken in the photo, it’s circled in red here. It should look like the one at the end of the red arrow, instead of BROKEN.
I think we can drill, tap & pin that sucker.
In looking back at this, I’m wondering if the thing just slid all the way to the curve, and it snapped when a bit of pressure was put on it at the curve. I know that doesn’t help fix it, but might help explain it, and help point to something which needs addressed…
I agree, on machine a part that goes over it and tap and pin it to give it strength.
Bummer! Used this for the first time this month and loved the cuts I got!
If there’s a repair done at the space, might make a good class 
The EZ Weld Tig Rod can work with out preheating. I’d say it’s 50:50. It depends on the cast and how much trash is in it. The split needs to be cleaned up and ground notched to accept that filler. Then you wait to see if you get cracking after the weld cools. I’d say do it, it there is a replacement part available.