Izack if you want the disc sander shelf I have one some where, might have two or three spare. Same as these ones but B&Q brand

Self explanatory to me buy cheap Chinese products, cant get the parts or if you can they are half the price of complete machine. Said this for years.

Went through 4 of them things within 12 months with no use not even diy, total 12 month use 12 mins with all four. 5th packed up just out of 12 month guarantee. always the switch that goes.

Possibly a silly comment, (accepting what we all think about F.E. kit and the need to reset/rebuild before and during use, and non availability of spares)

Since we are all claim to be at least amateur, if not professional engineers, either in our workshops, or in those of friends, aquaintences and fellow club members, there should be enough material, equipment and expertise to make a replacement.

AND, being aware of the shortcomings of the original, the end product ought to be better in many respects than the original.

Example 1: My bandsaw fed its very thin steel tube bearing separator through the bottom bearing and oilseal. As part of the repair, the replacement separator was a thick walled brass item.

Example 2: My son in law bought a F.E. bandsaw for wood. The gear for the raise/lower of the upper blade guide soon exploded. (A sloppy fitting sinter on a bolt with a flatted shaft) Also the adjusters for the guide rollers had been made, somehow, with the OD eccentric and misaligned with the central tapping.

Cure: Make a gear from the solid, ignoring the fact that the gear was cut using a theoretically incorrect technique. At least tit now works and continues to do so. make new adjusters for the guide rollers with central tapping concentric and in line with the O.D.

"C'est brusque, mais sa travail" as someone said of the unsynchronised gearbox in a car.

If the original design is faulty because of parsimony/poor design/ choice of material, collectively, we should have the skill and means to make a durable, functioning replacement.

After all, if you do obtain a "genuine" replacement, it's going to fail/wear out in the same way again sooner than we would like; so why repeat the error? (Masochists are excused from the last sentence)

Howard

Probably just a bit of sawdust in the contacts. Happens to my British built wood lathe switch. Not rocket science to fix.

I thought this thread was going to be about making your own tools and stamping your name on them like an OEM.

None the less – a useful thing to point out Izack – so thank you.

And whilst I agree with Howard about making your own 'Brand' (sometimes simply because sometimes you cannot find what you really need) I do buy a lot of small tooling of FE origin. Most of this stuff is quite good enough for my needs (which I will admit are not always that demanding) but if not – they can usually be improved with a bit of effort.

Indeed, I've been thinking about 'improving' the larger of my two compound drill vices recently (as I'm not confident the ways are actually 'square' to each other – and I use it a lot). However, when I think about what it cost me, I got some fairly hefty lumps of (pre-machined) cast iron, with most of the heavy work already done and there is potentially a more accurate tool hiding in there somewhere if I need it. So this can be a kind of half-way house to completely scratch building.

I have a belt sander similar to Izack's – and the table on mine is somewhat 'flexible' in use. I think it's probably much easier to make a stronger support arm than to build a completely new table. But it's another thing to do and mostly I can live with it, so maybe it won't get done for a while…..

So many jobs – so little time (heavy sigh) !

Regards,

IanT

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If I offended Izack I apologise.

It was just my flippant not to be taken seriously humor.

Nick