small pieces of thick steel plate

[CarvedTones]

I need a couple of small pieces of 1.25" or so thick steel plate. By small I mean really smalll - 3" x 2" and 2" x 2". They need dead flat parallel faces.

EDIT - Oh yeah - Cary/Apex/Raleigh area.

[mkepke]

It's tough to beat Scott's offer, but what if you just made a spacer out of plywood and inset appropriate size metal spacers (e.g. steel or bronze bushings).

Basically the spacers carry the compressive load and the plywood acts as a matrix holding the spacers in place and guarding the blade.

HD should have the necessary bushings.

-Mark

[toolman]

Originally Posted by scsmith42

ok - this makes more sense. When you figure out the dimensions that you need, send me a PM. I'll rough cut it with a plasma cuttter and then set it up the the mill and machine it to spec.

Will a tolerance of .001 be acceptable or will you need it more precise?

Scott

This is the only way to go, he can get the holes in the right location as well!

Originally Posted by arbarnhart

Seems like everyone here is friendly and helpful. Are you sure this is the Internet?

-Andy

I'm on the internet????? Yes and we have a great group here. Welcome..

[CarvedTones]

Originally Posted by mkepke

It's tough to beat Scott's offer, but what if you just made a spacer out of plywood and inset appropriate size metal spacers (e.g. steel or bronze bushings).

Basically the spacers carry the compressive load and the plywood acts as a matrix holding the spacers in place and guarding the blade.

HD should have the necessary bushings.

-Mark

I had thought about that and it was plan B, but a distant second to all metal. The weight is all around the edges only so all the bushings would have to be pretty near the edge and pretty numerous to keep it from getting out of position (I think). Valid or not, I had enough concerns to make all metal a much more favored choice.

-Andy

[sapwood]

In my experience with bandsaw riser, metal is a must. When you tighten the bolt that secures riser to base, it must be VERY tight. With all the PITA involved to get the riser aligned you don't ever want it to move (DAMHIKT).

HTH,
Roger

[CarvedTones]

Originally Posted by sapwood

In my experience with bandsaw riser, metal is a must. When you tighten the bolt that secures riser to base, it must be VERY tight. With all the PITA involved to get the riser aligned you don't ever want it to move (DAMHIKT).

HTH,
Roger

Another knock against the wood idea is that I would not have the option of brazing or welding the spacer to the frame. I am not sure whether that is a good idea or not (I think it might be) but if it isn't metal, I don't have that option. The spacer will make my saw have the distance between wheel centers of most 14" saws and then take the same blade size. It will also make the blade guard and blade in the riser kit fit when I add the riser. If the riser were ever taken back off, I think finding or making a standard guard would be preferable to returning it to the short height, IMO. Not having the spacer fixed in place could make tweaking the alignment trickier. It needs a tweak now, but I am not going to mess with it until I do the riser.

-Andy