Elmer C. Hutchinson

The amateur woodworker, and especially he who is given to cabinetmaking, soon tires of using a hand saw for getting out his stock, and longs for a saw bench. If possessed of a long purse, he may easily gratify his desire by purchasing one of several excellent makes of machines; but not all of us are so fortunately circumstanced as to be able to do this. For the benefit of those obliged to give careful thought as to ways and means, I here describe a machine-the second, and decidedly the best one made-which will serve to make easy and rapid much of the work of the amateur furniture and boat builder, and which may be built at small expense and with no great exercise of skill, other than using care to see that joints and fittings are well and accurately made. The table is 30 in. long, 28 in. wide and 35 in. high. The frame was made of 3x4 in. spruce, planed all over, but I would recommend that oak, maple or hard pine be used, as being heavier and stronger. Weight, if not too excessive, is an advantage in a machine of this kind. The saw mandrel, as illustrated in Fig. 1, was purchased; it being necessary to specify that pulley should be on the right end, so that the nut will screw on in the direction opposite to that of rotation. The dimensions here given are for an 8-inch saw; this being about the largest size that can be driven by a simple treadle drive. The saw projects 2 in. above the top of the table, permitting 2 in. plank to be sawed with a slow feed. In place of having two saws, a cross-cut and rip saw, a mitre saw, as illustrated in Fig. 2, was used, as this type of saw gives an exceptionally smooth cut either with or across the grain, and avoids having to frequently change the saw for different kinds of work.

Fig. 1.

A study of Figs. 3 and 4 will show the frame work. All mortises and tenons should be carefully marked; out with a marking gauge, and care used to obtain accurate and tight fit. Cross pieces B, at the top of both front and back, are only partially indicated in, Fig. 3, as it was necessary to clearly show the arrangement of mandrel and boring attachment. An additional piece, C, at the front, a little below the center of the posts A, and another one D, at the back near the floor are needed. These pieces are 26 in. long, and the posts, A, are 20 1/2 in. apart.

Fig. 2.

The cross pieces on the ends are 28 in. long; the posts A being also 20 1/2 in. apart. . The upper pieces, E, are located with their upper edges 2 1/2 in. below to top of the posts A; the pieces F 14 in. below. Attention is called to the locations of the tenons on all the cross pieces; those on B are cut with the upper edge flush with the top, and those on E, with the lower edge flush with the under side. It will also be noted that the piece D, has the wide dimension horizontal.

The treadle requires two pieces G for the ends, 35 in. long, 2 1/2 in. wide and 2 in. thick, which is tapered down to 1 in. thick at the front, starting the taper at the center. Two pieces, K and L, 31 1/2 in. long, 3 in. wide and 7-8 in. thick form the front tread and rear cross piece. These pieces should be very firmly fastened to the ends with heavy wood screws or short lag screws. Slots are cut in the ends G, 3 in. long and 5/8 in. wide, with centers 15 1/2 in. from the rear ends, to receive the treadle rods. Horizontal holes are bored on these centers for the 5/8 in. bolts, which hold the treadle rods. The inner ends of these holes are squared out to receive the heads of the bolts.

rag; not very much oil is needed. The cardboard should come up even against the shaft. The under side is then closed with putty, and the shaft carefully centered. One side is then poured, the babbitt metal being hot enough to flow freely with slow pouring, using care not to close up the opening fully with the metal when pouring, and not to pour too fast. As soon as one side is done, open the box, chip off any featherings; wipe the shaft and.babbitt surface with oily rag, replace the cardboards, and pour the other side. The other box is poured in the same manner. When completed, all excess metal is chipped and scraped off, oil groves are chipped parallel to the shaft

Fig. 3.

Fig. 4.

Next in order are the boxes for driving shaft, the center of which is 12 1/2 in. from the inner edges of the front posts. The cap pieces H, are 8 in. long and 2 3/4 in. square. The edges bearing on F should be perfectly flat. Bolts 7 in. long and 1/2 in. diameter are fitted at each end; preferably with the heads sunk into the pieces H. The center point of the shaft is then marked, and 1 1/4 in. holes bored as near the true line of the shaft as possible. This done, remove the caps H, and with a sharp chisel, remove about 1/4 in. of wood in both F and H, leaving a thickness of 1/4 in. at each end. Also bore two or three 1/4 in. holes at varying angles to a depth of about 1/4 in. The boxes are then babbitted, using the shaft for that purpose. The shaft is 27 1/2 in. long, and 1 in. diameter, of cold drawn steel.

To babbitt the boxes, turn the frame on end, wrap paper over one end of the shaft to center it in the lower box, put some pieces of medium cardboard between the cap H and piece F, and bolt down the cap. The shaft should first be wiped over with an oily in the upper half, and an oil hole bored through from the inner side. If well done, these boxes will wear a long time, and while the process may seen difficult to follow, it will be found easy enough if these directions are followed.

The two drive wheels are made in the following manner: The wheel for the saw is 26 in. diameter and for the boring attachment 24 in. diameter, and both 3 in. thick. They are made up of four layers of 3/4 in. oak; the two inner layers of full diameter, with grain crossed, and the outer layers cut in circular form with a width of 4 in. The layers are roughed out with a compass saw, or taken to a mill, if one is convenient, and cut out with a band saw. They are then firmly fastened together with glue and screws. In gluing see that the pieces are clean and warm, and the glue hot. Holes are then bored for the shaft, and the hubs then fastened in place with screws.