Qualters & Smith 6” Power Hacksaw

[Dieselman 63]

No, me neither. But I believe it's for a reason - see at a glance if any are slackening.

Keep up the good work, I enjoy the updates.

You can put a notch in the cast where the screws should line up with.

Thanks for the kind words. Lots more to do so lots more updates (:

 

[Dieselman 63]

Just had a look through the manual to try and figure out how to disassemble the relief cylinder, in the list of extra equipment is an isolator switch... I suppose it is from the era of seatbelts being optional extras too!

 

[Dieselman 63]

Minor progress today. Primed the tin catchplate for the relief cylinder. Fitted the steel block which holds the locking lever on.

I stripped the relief cylinder so I can begin making a new seal for the piston and fix the broken springs inside. I’m using the newly primed bath as a tray for the parts which is handy. The pivot pin which holds the cylinder was really smashed up and the thread was damaged too. It needed filing to fit the nut smoothly again. There are a few like this on the machine that were very hard to remove so I’m expecting to do more of this. The end was filed flush too.

 

[Dieselman 63]

All of the threads on the machine are UNC. Except one. The pivot pin which holds the automatic cutoff in place.

Why does this need to be a different thread to the rest of the machine? And why was it so poorly cut thatbit needed re-threading with a 1/2” BSW die? Answers we will never know. The good news is it’s all working properly again, took a bit more effort than I first thought though.

I have found a motor for my saw I think. It’s cheap and old, should fit right in with the old thing. I’ve decided since I’m getting one side of sheet metal I may as well get the other re-made too, saves faffing about cleaning it up.

 

[Dieselman 63]

I made a short video showing the operation of the relief cylinder, I’m turning it by hand

 

[Dieselman 63]

An actual power test! And she’s quiet too! I filled all the bronze bearings with grease and the eccentric with oil, then put some power through it. It’s working very nicely. The slight knocking went away after a bit more grease - I thought one bearing was full but the gun had actually run out!

 

[Dieselman 63]

So today I did a test of the hydraulic relief cylinder and decided to completely rebuild it, seals and all.

And it works! I need to tweak a few things but that’s to be expected. I would like the spring to be fixed/replaced, but for now after I bodge fixed it it kind of works.

It all makes sense to me now. The relief cylinder pumps the bow up after the cycle, but the lock lever will need to be applied otherwise it will just drain out as the eccentric is no longer pumping once the machine is switched off.

 

[God mode restorations]

Nice job mate... looking at this is kind of giving me a bit of persuasion to get mine done.

 

[brightspark]

Nice job mate... looking at this is kind of giving me a bit of persuasion to get mine done.

yea it prompted me to dig mine out. its half stripped cleaned and half painted just needs putting back together

 

[Dieselman 63]

yea it prompted me to dig mine out. its half stripped cleaned and half painted just needs putting back together

Interesting that the mechanism is different on both saws yet they perform the same job.

 

[Dieselman 63]

When I cleaned the chip tray with the rust killer liquid, I also slathered the vice ways with it. As it happens, the liquid leaves behind a galv film. No good, very rough - ready for paint... so today I decided to sand it off and oil up the ways. I also used a drill to dig out the clag from the vice lug holes. Lots of brass chips in there!

I have a little less on now so I’m trying to revisit and finish some of these project machines!

 

[Dieselman 63]

The vice halves were drenched in paint and had paper glued to the jaws, I couldn’t be bothered using gallons of stripper so I threw them into the wood burner and left them to cook for thirty mins or so. A great result I might add - wire brushing them whilst they were still hot got everything back to bare metal.

I had to do the little carriage that slips under them too. No soft jaws so I’m using brass here to free them. The threads were quite damaged up top, so a little dressing was needed.

I didn’t replace the nuts and washers as they work fine, and tbh I quite like the work-hardened look of them! The jaws are pretty knocked about so it would look strange to see something all shiny up top, in my opinion.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Still going on this project!

Hunted down what was sold as a ‘cast iron air compressor attachment’ in a trendy vintage shop. It’s not anything to do with air - it’s a suds pump! Hooray! A massive Soviet one which fits neatly inside this old pan I’ve been refusing to throw out - couldn’t have planned it better! The 3ph pump fits snugly inside the iron frame and runs off the capacitor trick. I’m happy with this.

 

[Dieselman 63]

It would appear that the bow of the saw was originally red. I have been doing more ‘archaeology’ with the scraper!

Loads of work to go on this but no time really. If I’m not at course I’m working, and if I’m not at either of those I’m resting! Better still, a chest infection has been acquired.

I need the rear support and the main tub finishing, and some new sheetmetal for the sides. I bought a holesaw kit the other day and that will be used to make some handles to get the sides off - think banana box!

 

[Arclikeharrypotter]

Did this ever get finished @Dieselkid 63 ? I've just acquired one myself giving it a good tear down. Does anyone have a manual for this machine?

 

[Dieselman 63]

Did this ever get finished @Dieselkid 63 ? I've just acquired one myself giving it a good tear down. Does anyone have a manual for this machine?

Not yet. A few things got in the way on the build and it was wheeled away to a dark corner of the workshop - it will be resurrected soon! I have the Denbigh in bits atm which is taking priority, touch wood it’s not much work as there’s little filling to do and most stuff isn’t too bad, just very dirty. Finding a 900rpm motor is near impossible though, and fitting a vfd seems a waste on a one trick horse!

 

[Arclikeharrypotter]

Agree with you on running the motor off a vfd seems a bit of a waste. I think a 1000rpm single phase motor will be way I will go with it. Got it all stripped down today. Will try and get it steam cleaned at work this week if I find the time.

 

[mechman]

Does this type of saw cut on the forward or the return stroke? I can't remember now, it's that long since I operated one, even longer since I put a blade in one.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Does this type of saw cut on the forward or the return stroke? I can't remember now, it's that long since I operated one, even longer since I put a blade in one.

Forward. The cylinder is supposed to lift the bow on the return cut to save on teeth life.

 

[Rowan Sylvester-Bradley]

I am restoring one of these (the older type, where the oil relief is through a hole in the piston, not through a drilling in the casting). My question is, should the screw that holds the bevelled washer to the bottom of the piston have a spring under it? The diagram in my manual doesn't show a spring, but in this case, what controls how much play there is between the washer and the bottom of the piston? There has to be some or the oil would never pass to the top of the piston. Does the screw just bottom in the hole (which seems to place great reliance on the exact length of the screw and the exact depth of the tapped hole) or what? The manual says "it is important that a clearance of 5/64" be left between the head of the setscrews and the underside of the piston disc when replacing these items". My question is, how to achieve this.

Thanks - Rowan