Cast iron repair

[WinterDeere]

Is it Solid Works? I've still got a copy of that CAD that I learned just to prove to myself that I could... and to keep the youngsters at bay.

But at heart I'm still a pencil sketcher.

Yep, SW 2024. I have to keep current, as I use it to support my business. Learned on a drawing board, and worked as a draftsman to help put myself through college. While there, I started doing my first 3D CAD (MiniCAD?), and started doing 3D renderings for large jobs at the architect's firm where I was moonlighting. Then followed 20 years of daily AutoCAD 2D, then 3D, Mechanical Desktop, and starting ca.2000... SolidWorks!

Well, my hat is off to you buying just what you need. It is an admirable goal. I'm not there yet. I'm still at the stage of "....if it looks like I might need it, into the shopping cart it goes." and trying to wean myself from buying two of everything...just in case.

My intent is always to return the unused fittings, but that is just the intention. The reality is that returns rarely happen . Besides, even though I don't really need a spare 4" brass valve - much less two of them - where would I ever find them at that price again? And look how beautiful they are!

lol... you and I are cut from the same cloth, brother! I built up the BOM for this particular job, and then going through my drawers of leftovers from past jobs, was able to cross off a full half of it! I'm not only trying to buy only what I need, but also cutting down my own stock, in the process. I'm tired of all the material I store from all of these projects taking up too much of my shop space! It's also a burden of time to keep and sort it all.

I used to always want to have all parts and materials on-hand, extra fittings, extra valves, etc. But that's back when every "one short" situation on a $0.98 copper elbow meant another hour round-trip to Lowes Depot. Now, I can have the damn thing here in 12 hours from McMaster-Carr, if I really need it. So, I'm dipping into my own "contractors pack" bags of 3/4 and 1/2 inch tees, elbows, and threaded fittings, thinning the stock a bit.

Yes, that huge bandsaw table did look like it could be tilted. But we never did. It would be a massive job to tilt a table that large.

Oh, you're in for a treat, rScotty! I didn't mean tilting the table! The ship saws tilt the whole saw! And yes, some of them are massive, but here's a little 36 inch version from Crescent:

These saws are made to make complex bevel rips on ships keels, changing the bevel angle as the keel runs from fore to aft in the boat, hence their nickname as "ships saws". They are usually run by at least 2-3 men, as you need an extra man to turn that hand crank on the right side of the table, which moves the whole upper saw arm. I think the larger ones are better balanced than this example, although even this "little" one is 8 feet tall and 2000 lb., and carries a 19 foot long blade.

I don't remember the measurements, but it had to be 20 feet long and perhaps 4 or 5 wide. I'm thinking the blade was not quite that thick.... maybe 3"? I'm afraid it has been too many years.

Blade was probably a lot longer than you remember, on a monster that tall. What was the wheel size / throat depth? You eat up a lot of length on big wheels, L = 2*(pi*r + H), where H is working height. Blades even on these big boys are not that thick, probably less than 1/8" with teeth set for a kerf wider than blade.