Table saw Bell Cranks -1-

[Bent]

MAKING BELL CRANKS WITH THE TABLE SAW

-1-
SAFETY
This can be a potentially dangerous operation so I recommend that you observe these safety features.
-Wear a full face shield
-Wear gloves
-Establish a 'safety distance' from the blade. A good rule of thumb is to avoid getting your hand closer than 6 inches
-SLOW DOWN! try to work at half your normal speed. Double check clamping, electrical disconnect etc. Think about every move, before you make the move
-Feed work slowly into the blade
-Don't get greedy. Take too shallow a cut rather than to deep one.
-My rule for depth of cut is: 3/16 with a single 1/8" thick blade, 3/32" for dado cuts
-Ultra sharp equipment is a must!
-Stand to the side of the cutting line


You start with a piece of aluminum flat stock 3/8X 1”
You will have made sliding jig that will slide in the miter slot and also clamp your work piece securely, like this:

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Here the dado is set for a 3/8" cut to cut out the notch that goes on to the cross shaft.

Clamp your work piece in the clamp making sure it is against the table. You will now set up for the first cut, which will be the 3/8” slot for the cross shaft mount. Notice the 1/8" spacer I use to make the 1/8" thick bottom part of the notch. Of course the lockable saftey switch has disabled the saw from getting started accidentally. This will be a 3/32" deep cut at a time

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This will be a 5/8” deep cut. On your first bell crank, “creep up” on the depth. When you are near the depth, turn the saw off, take the jig out of the miter slot, turn it upside down and check with a steel ruler. When you have made your last cut exact, make note of where the saw crank is located (i.e. 2 o’clock)

After making this cut, you want to draw the lines and make a rough cut for the body of the crank on the band saw. Leave material for trimming on table saw.

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Before rough-cutting on band saw, make one cut with single blade on table saw - for top arm of notch - 3/8" deep.