MODIFY BRUSH HOG SOME MORE

[patrick_g]

But before I could weld them on, I had to cut them to length and also notch out the ends where they overlap the angle iron on the cutter. I did all that with my Harbor Freight portable band saw that I bought last year but have never used before. I got it on sale for like $49 bucks back then.

I got one of those on sale at HF too and it is way better than a hand hacksaw most of the time. On the other side of the coin, if you use the Milwaukee version of that electric hacksaw you will find out what a REAL TOOL is like. There is just no comparison. The Milwaukee is way more powerful, cuts way faster and will take abuse and last forever it is built like a tank.

I won't be using an electric hacksaw all that much and bought the HF knowing it was a mere shadow of the real thing but it will do the job if you are not in a hurry. It came with a spare set of brushes and I hope it lasts long enough to need them. Both are a good deal but the HF is a good deal, cheaper.

I recommend the HF to anyone who would be an occasional (hobby) user. Buy some real blades, the one that comes with the saw didn't last very long at all. Good blades will make the little lightweight HF unit work way better than with the nearly worthless stock blade.

Pat

 

[MJPetersen]

They were not part of my original design, so I'm not gonna count that towards the Rotary Cutter project, but rather a separate project since the wheels can now be shared among all kinds of implements....sound fair?

Rob It's right and fair if the accountant goes for it.

I think that your compromise of lower attach, but clear rear blade is great. Wish I could make the neat little drawings like you do in your CAD program. They sure help get a pic of what you're thinking.

Mike

 

[3RRL]

Pat,
I know there are better saws out there but this one is about $200 bucks less. (that pays for the steel I just bought )
For $50 bucks and only used at my rural camp, it's great for what it has to do. For a tool like this (a hand held band saw), it's not so much the machine tool as much as it's the blade ... as you suggested. If you put the same crappy blade on a Milwaukee, it'll cut just as bad. There's only so much pressure you can put on any of them before the blade breaks anyway.

Don't get me wrong, I know the difference between a good tool and a crappy one. I've worked with plenty of both. IMHO, the key is knowing your intended application for it. That reminds me, I guess it's the same reason you bought a HD top of the line rotary cutter and why I bought mine? You use yours to landscape and level dirt and I don't.
LOL ... I just had to get that in there.

Mike,
I was trying to make myself feel better since the steel costs another $180 bucks, but now I feel better since I saved more than that on that hand held saw I bought last year. I use my old CadKey99 to draw. It's the same one I use for work (when I have some). I just recently learned how to make bitmap images from the CAD drawings so I can share them. Had no clue until my wife showed me how to do it.

Can you imagine, my wife knows nothing about my trade or CAD. But she knows computers and programs. So she browsed through the help section and showed me how to do it.
Of course I told her "Well, I never needed to use that feature before TBN"

 

[SkunkWerX]

Ahhhhh....The ol' dog leg mount, yes...hmmmm.... I see.

APPROVED!!

Very good idea for making it truly a "Quick" Change assembly.

Keep up the good work, Rob!

 

[3RRL]

Hey Skunk,
Always good to hear from you. It's getting closer now that I got the steel picked up. Maybe start working on it tomorrow?
Hey, I been looking at your tiller project. I posted over there on your thread with some questions.

 

[patrick_g]

Pat,
Don't get me wrong, I know the difference between a good tool and a crappy one. I've worked with plenty of both. IMHO, the key is knowing your intended application for it.

Didn't mean to put you on the defensive. Note, I own the HF unit like yours due to the $ difference and my anticipated use.

If the HF unit doesn't last and my use tends to be more HD than anticipated then I can buy the real tool but I suspect if the HF lasts long enough to get my $ out of it in use, I'll be happy. I bought the extended warranty which lets you just walk in and swap the broken one for a new one. Some tools aren't worth buying even with a warranty like that. I think the HF unit meets the minimum requirement.

I finally did break a blade on my rotary land leveler. It broke at the center of the bolt hole. After 6 years of brutal abuse I wasn't surprised. A new set of blades with shipping is almost $100 but for about $1.25 per month I shouldn't complain. Apparently it broke in three stages, widely separated in time so far as examining the broken edges reveals.

Do you have a link to a vendor with carbide edged bolt on scarifiers to use with the new blades?

Pat

 

[3RRL]

Hope you were Ok when that blade broke. That could be scary.
Instead of bolt on, braze on carbide inserts with silver solder. Then use a green silicon carbide wheel on your angle grinder to sharpen.

 

[patrick_g]

Hope you were Ok when that blade broke. That could be scary.
Instead of bolt on, braze on carbide inserts with silver solder. Then use a green silicon carbide wheel on your angle grinder to sharpen.

I haven't found the blade yet but need to do so before mowing that area again. Luckily there was no damage caused but I'm not sure how long it will take to find the darned thing. Seems the price changed between the time I phoned in my order and it arrived. Higher of course, probably ridiculous shipping charges. I'm keeping the other old one as a spare and have been musing about welding the broken one together with splints on both sides (equal treatment for the twin for balance) Might magnaflux or do a dye penetrant test to see if there are any cracks too small to see.

It is amazing how much vibration a 22 inch by 3 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch blade can cause by leaving the scene and leaving its twin to do all the work at about 500 RPM. Talk about the tail wagging the dog! I couldn't get the clutch in fast enough! (Imagin a paint shaker built for 55 gal drums!)

Pat

 

[3RRL]

I started working on the receiver mounts today. I'm going to make some extra receptacles like on the boxblade for future implements such as a rock or landscape rake. First thing was to saw it all up and then fly cut the pieces so they fit into the underside of the wheel frame. Here are pictures of the added steel I need for them. That should keep me busy for a while.



Larry, I added this video especially for you. It's using a fly cutter to mill a large surface down without having to take too many passes back and forth. My mill is moving at 40" a minute. That is a 2" wide bar in the vise, 14" long. I wish the lighting was better, but I was getting bombed by chips.

 

[sandman2234]

Must be nice to have power feed on the X axis (or any of them for that matter). My 2J machine isn't equiped with such luxury devices.
I do have a Maho with those fancy powerfeed features including Digital Readouts on all three axis, Cat40, universal milling from Vertical and Horizontal heads along with a removable horizontal table, leaving a vertical table in it's place. However, I don't have the power converter to be able to run it, so it just gets to sit there looking green. Maybe one of these days...
David from jax