Grizzly G1023 Mods - Drilling Holes in Metal - Outfeed Support

[Jeremy Scuteri]

After some encouragement at the shop crawl, I mustered up the courage to drill some holes in cast iron. It wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. I started with a small hole (1/8") and then went to 1/4" then 3/8". The first hole was by far the hardest and most time consuming to drill. After that I drilled some holes using the same technique in steel angle iron. I did this to create some supports for an extenstion/outfeed support.


You can see the 1/8" hole on the right and an enlarged 1/4" hole on the left.

Showing the thickness of the cast iron.

Next I drilled and bolted some aluminum angle iron to the saw. This creates more support where it didn't exist and provides a convenient lip to mount the extension to. The bottom piece of aluminum angle iron doesn't have much to bolt to and it is cantilevered. I mounted it under the adjacent piece of aluminum for additional support as it tries to rotate

I also made a small modification to the dust shroud inside the saw (the one that goes around the blade). It didn't allow sufficient clearance for my Dial-A-Width dado blade.

I was glad to see the entire dado stack fit on the saw. I wasn't sure if I would be able to get all the chippers on.

This was all I was able to get done before I head off to knee surgery. Hopefully I won't be out of commission for too long.

 

[KenOfCary]

A tip that I learned probably on this website is to place a small rare earth magnet next to the hole you're drilling. It will collect all the metal shavings keeping them out of your way and making cleanup easier.

I've not had much problem drilling in cast iron versus stainless. You just have to use a slow drill speed and good titanium coated bits. But then I wasn't drilling holes near that large - was just mounting a depth gauge to my Grizzly planer.

Sorry to hear about the surgery, didn't know you were having a problem. Good luck with it and heal quickly.

 

[Mike Davis]

Now that i have a way to sharpen them I find I am using carbide tipped bits more and more.

An eighth inch carbide bit would breeze through cast iron like ... well, like carbide through cast iron...

Did you tap those holes too?

 

[Jeremy Scuteri]

I did not tap the holes. I considered it, but I didn't have the right sized drill bit on hand. Just drilled oversized holes and used nuts and bolts. Tapped holes would have been nicer.

 

[cmboggs]

Nice to hear that it worked out...and you did not have to rent a magnetic drill.

 

[Jeremy Scuteri]

This was the "practice run" for when I have to drill and tap holes in the cast iron top to mount the power feeder. Definitely have a lot more confidence for that task now.

 

[mdbuntyn]

@Jeremy Scuteri How'd everything go with your knee?

 

[Jeremy Scuteri]

I'm home. Seems like everything went ok. Stupid knee getting in the way. I've got work to do in the shop, I ain't got no time for this!

 

[Phil S]

This was the "practice run" for when I have to drill and tap holes in the cast iron top to mount the power feeder. Definitely have a lot more confidence for that task now.

That is exactly what I did to my shaper. I used American-made Norseman drills and taps and it went smoothly
You are going to really like a power feeder

 

[KenOfCary]

I'm home. Seems like everything went ok. Stupid knee getting in the way. I've got work to do in the shop, I ain't got no time for this!

Hope all is well with the knee. I have some minor problems with mine and I hope they don't get worse. Heal well my friend.

 

[Jeremy Scuteri]

Mine was a sudden injury a couple weeks ago. Lot's of back problems over the years, never a knee issue before. Life is full of fun surprises....

 

[Gofor]

No offence, but in my opinion that dado stack is too wide for the arbor. There should be at least 2 arbor threads showing past the nut. Please be very careful when you use it. It could come loose, particularly when you shut down the saw motor. The Dial a Width dado requires a longer arbor than the standard Freud set.

 

[Jeremy Scuteri]

I agree that the arbor bolt is not long enough for this configuration. The picture is with every blade and chipper installed which is ~27/32. I won't need that capacity. The issue was that the dust shroud interfered with the installation of the outer blade (the one with the adjustment hub that sticks out) even if that was the only blade on the arbor. That was what drove the requirement for the modification. Ease of installation, not achievement of full capacity.

I had the same dado set on my old Delta Unisaw which couldn't support the full capacity either. I really loved that dado set. I missed the Dial-A-Didth set when I replcaed the Unisaw with a new saw which had a 30mm arbor. The cuts with the Dial-A-Width were always super clean and the ease of adjustment was fantastic. When I got the Grizzly saw, I was concerned that it was going to be worse than the Unisaw was in terms of being short on capacity. I was happy to see that it was not any worse. If I recall correctly, I think the Unisaw had even few threads engaged with everything installed. Short story is that I was a happy camper when that nut went on.

I do have a question about the two threads past the nut though. Why 2 full threads? I would think once the threads are fully engaged, (past the tapered part of the threads) then it wouldn't get any better than that. If the nut starts to move, it seems you are already in big trouble. Am I missing something?

 

[jcz]

I had to enlarge the holes in my table saw last weekend. I added a new router table wing to my set up. I have never drilled cast iron so I wasn’t sure about it. I actually googled it only to find out there was nothing to worry about. Lol

 

[Hmerkle]

I do have a question about the two threads past the nut though. Why 2 full threads? I would think once the threads are fully engaged, (past the tapered part of the threads) then it wouldn't get any better than that. If the nut starts to move, it seems you are already in big trouble. Am I missing something?

Two threads is just a "rule of thumb" typically you have "wain" (taper or chamfer on the unthreaded blank) on a bolt or stud that is equal to two threads - I have had some with as much as four threads.

As long as the nut is engaged on fully formed threads, you are OK.
As Mark points out, you have no thread showing, so the most that nut is engaged on full threads is likely two thread or less and that is dangerous.

I am guessing you typically use the dado stack at a 3/4 width - that is where you need to check the "nut to arbor" thread engagement...

 

[Jeremy Scuteri]

Thanks Hank. I was thinking you would be the perfect person to answer that question.

 

[Oka]

At my work in our mechanical designs, they always call for one complete thread beyond........ being able to see that accurately is typically hard. Ergo, the 2 thread rule........ always to be on the safe side.

I got a question maybe someone might have dealt with before. At our work we need to dado a plastic equipment pad (one of those you typically use for a AC condenser next to your home). But, I really need to be able to have a wider dado than what will fit on the arbor.
Has anyone ever come up with a spindle that could allow more dado blades to 1"-1.25" ? The issue is ....once once you dado the back side of this ribbed plastic trying to run it through a second pass can cause it to crack. We are using this for a pipe cover........ per the military can't be wood or metal ......... anyone ?

 

[bowman]

Oka,
Use router and guide/fence to cut the dados you need, not table saw

 

[Oka]

ok Our issue is we got to do 400 of them seemed like a dado would be less complicated to jig up

 

[bowman]

You'll be making multiple passes regardless of the tool you select to use. Create a spacer sized to the width of the dado, minus the width of the dado blade. Place the spacer next to the fence, make your first pass, remove the spacer and make second pass.

If using a router, make a jig to quickly locate the fence in the desired spot. The jig can also be set to the width of the cut and just route out the material with multiple passes, if you do not have a router bit the desired size.