Last week I had a group of new Shop Sabre owners in my shop for an afternoon. They were trained in how to opereate their equipment by Ben Rugg from Shop Sabre, and it gave me a chance to refresh and update some information I received in my initial training a few months ago. During the training session I had a chance to share some of my experiences in operating this kind of equpment, and we had a great exchange. I mentioned that I wanted to build a roll cover for the table to minimize the loss of water through evaporation during times when the machine is not used. I started to work on it the next day, and here are some pictures to show the process. Enjoy!
First step purchasing material and hardware.
I wanted to mount the assembly to the back of the frame and use the existing bolts to fasten the brackets.
I designed the brackets in CAD and cut them from 1/4″ mild steel plate.
Here are the 1/4″ parts and some 12ga parts for the 3 1/2″ round tube.
Tacking up the brackets.
First time mounted with the bearings in place.
Glad I checked the set up, because I realized a mistake! When I took dimensions, the gantry was not all the way in the back. The brackets had to be redone and extended. Bummer!
Next day, the new brackets are cut and tack welded together.
All finish welded!
Painting next!
Another view.
The 2 3/4″ extensions made all the difference!
The other side.
Inserting a piece into my axle to receive a crank at a later point. Drilled and ready for welding.
Welded in place!
Testing the axle after mounting the bearings.
Welding the spacers into the roller tube.
Centering the tube on the axle and welding it in place.
End caps welded.
Another view.
Drilling a d tapping for the flat bar to hold the tarp in place on the roller tube.
Flat bar bolted on.
Starting to work on the crank handle. The two washers are welded to the ends of the pipe.
After welding and grinding, the handle is painted flat black,
After cutting a piece of 1/4″ for my crank handle I drilled and taped it ready for the 1/2″ bolt of the handle.
A little bending action. I used the torch to heat it up and bend it quickly with a plier.
Drilled a spot for a safty pin to easily remove the crank if the need arises.
A quick test befor welding.
Ready to weld!
Crank in place after painting.
Starting the process of mounting the tarp to the roller tube.
Tarp mounted on the roller tube.
Another virw from the other side.
I made an end trim of two pieces of flat bar and bolted the two pieces together with the tarp clamped in place.
The weight of the end trim piece holds the tarp nicely in place.
