Much to my annoyance, I managed to break a blade guide holder on the bandsaw last night. It's only a small thing 3-4cm that holds the blade guide pins and the whole thing bolts to the chassis. I was trying to get a stuck guide pin out and tapped it with a hammer and the holder snapped around the securing bolt. I can't get a replacement (I've googled for ages), so my only option is to attempt a repair. There is no real strain on the thing in operation, though it does hold the lower thrust bearing that resists the pressure of the blade going backwards as you push the wood onto it.
You can't solder diecast zinc and it would be crap even if you could, so that leaves me with bonding (glue !). I was thinking of making a couple of plates from sheet steel (bean can lids maybe ? - something thicker perhaps ?) to form a sandwich around the broken bolt hole part of it, and using an epoxy of some sort to hold it all together. The sandwich would extend out onto the holder itself to provide extra strength as far as possible.
What glue should I use ? I've got regular two-part epoxy resin (araldite type stuff), but I'm wondering if the metal glue versions out there might be better ? Anyone used them ?
Donald Trump needs kicking out of a helicopter
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Comments
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Absolutely.
Because if it cost you a lot of money, it's worth fixing. Was there a parts manual with it, you might be able to order spares from somewhere.
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Most small bandsaws seem to be one of a few generic designs that get branded depending on who sells them - there are spare lower guide assemblies for Draper, Clarke, Sears, etc. on ebay if you can identify which is the same design yours.
I do agree we chuck far too much away, and when you see some of the ingenuity of Third World people to get things repaired and going again with fuck all, it's a pleasure. Wales is not Third World, though!
I used to do that, but I got tired of spending more time fixing the tools to do a job than actually doing it. I have now joined the throwaway society, but only after weighing up jobs first. By that, I do a calc on what it will cost to fix, and how much precious time it will take to fix it.
I also consider whether I'm simply sticking a finger in the dyke (no pun), only to have another leak appear five minutes later. I'd cite my last washing machine as an example. I could have fixed it but the thing was eight years old, and there were most likely other parts just waiting in the wings to fail. It just didn't make sense to me for the sake of £200, and my missus would be bending my ear every time it made an odd noise. (Actually, she does that to me anyway.)
As for plastic metal, I found Belzona Super Metal, or Devcon was pretty good. The Belzona held my front door together for many years before I caved in under pressure and bought a new one.
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If there's a Clarke version, try the Clarke web site for the user manual. Clarke have pretty good spares backup and they usually have an exploded diagram of all the bits in the manual. If you can find your bit in that, there's a good chance that Clarke can supply it.
Nomad
Nobody loves me but my mother... and she could be jivin' too...
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
They seem the only (structurally sound) options to me.
Glue doesn't work. No matter how strong it is.
Offset "(Emp) - a little heavy on the hyperbole."
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