DIY: making Bosch track clamps

Рет қаралды 18,484

6 жыл бұрын

Watch me iterate through a few designs of clamps for a Bosch track saw, for example the FSN 800 track.
The Bosch tracks have very small slits for clamps accepting clamps that are approx 12mm wide and about 1.75mm thick so not a lot to play with as the tracks are only about 5.1 thick excluding the track protrusion that the saw runs along.
You can see the Angle Grinder Jig I made in this video - • DIY: angle grinder jig
One of the initial designs was to enlarge the hole at the end of the donor clamp and drill a second hole. This proved really difficult in the hardened steel bar. I found it easiest to make a small divot using a large diameter drill bit and then switching to a small drill bit and moving up in 0.5mm increments to the final hole size. using cutting oil helped, so too did reducing the drill speed.
The t-bolt came from a Kreg Featherboard that I had - www.kregtool.com/store/c41/ro.... Kreg T-Bolts are 11.25mm long and 1.83mm thick with 1/4 inch bolts.
And the original T-Bolt I used came from www.machineryhouse.com.au/C1020
The final design used 1mm steel angle brackets which slid really well in the track. Using the existing hole at the end of the donor clamp, I could use some 3D printed parts to finish off the clamp design. (These could easily be made out of blocks of wood.) These were the angle brackets I used - www.bunnings.com.au/carinya-2...
The 3D printed extension was:
Fusion 360 - a360.co/2wUIkO6
The 3D printed clamp rod bracket holder was:
Fusion 360 - a360.co/2jfk4kI
The donor clamps were Irwin Quick Grip mini clamps - www.bunnings.com.au/irwin-qui...

Пікірлер: 22

@alanlloyd7208 5 жыл бұрын

Love the angle grinder cut off jig, so simple, brilliant!

@RandomSmith 5 жыл бұрын

Thanks - its in this video if you haven't seen it - kzfaq.info/get/bejne/oNalqKd2s969oYk.html

@continental_drift 6 жыл бұрын

The hole in the piece of wood was a good idea. Angle grinder on a piece of wood for horizontal control Often I find people's techniques of doing instructive.

@RandomSmith 6 жыл бұрын

thanks

@ronaldsanchez1341 5 жыл бұрын

makes a great paper weight!

@RandomSmith 5 жыл бұрын

I have used it for that when I am not using them...

@whirled_peas 5 жыл бұрын

Hah that's a great use for those pants wee irwin quick clamps. I'll have to do this with mine. I suspect welding one of those t-track bolts to the clamp bar would work. Even epoxy/JB weld would do it I think.

@RandomSmith 5 жыл бұрын

I would love to have a go at welding some time

@Zogg1281 5 жыл бұрын

I much prefer your finished clamp, the 1st one was so out of line it didn't really stand a chance. I'm glad you persisted and I live the 3D printed components! A 3D printer would be my dream at the moment...... that or an X carve...... or both lol

@RandomSmith 5 жыл бұрын

Yup, experimentation is great to pick out those ideas that simply don't work. I'd love an x-carve too.

@TrevorDennis100 2 жыл бұрын

The first time I used my Bosch track saw guide rail it moved, despite the blurb sawing its weight and rubber insert would keep it steady. As much as I hate losing even the two clamps, the Bosch FSN KZW clamps are a crazy £66 on Amazon, so easily worth it. Plus I have full metal working facilities at my Menz Shed, so I know what my wee project for tomorrow is going to be (I'm a retired toolmaker). BTW I noticed there was perhaps a bit more resistance to sliding my saw on the track. Do you use wax to make the saw slide more easily? I am using the slightly bigger GKS 18V-68GC saw which weighs 4.3Kg so that might make a difference. Thanks for the idea.

@RandomSmith 2 жыл бұрын

Mine only moves sometimes, so if material is smooth I’ll clamp it. I guess ensuring rubbers underneath are clean. I don’t use wax but that sounds like a good idea, silicon spray might work good too, will need to try it, thanks for the suggestion.

@lemech 6 жыл бұрын

Good Job! What's the model number of the Ryobi workbench and where did you buy it? Thanks

@RandomSmith 6 жыл бұрын

The workbench is the RYOBI RWB002, I bought it from Bunnings Australia for $99. I was in two minds whether to return it or not, but decided to keep it in the end. I was thinking I could work around some of its drawbacks. This was some of the questions I had for Ryobi and their answers: 1) When clamping the rear platform pivots and lifts up to 5mm off the rail meaning the clamps are out of alignment and the piece being clamped is free to wobble. Why is their so much play is the spring loaded mechanism. (A1) There isn't an adjustment & that is the way it is. If there were a very close tolerance the back table would be much harder to move & jam. It still will hold your work & if you feel the need be as a suggestion adjust the rear top to position & then place a wedge between the underside rear of the table top & rail before tightening the front top. 2) When moving the top from the closed 80deg position to the horizontal position you have to push and hold both side knobs in. If both hands are holding the knobs in, how is one supposed to raise the table? (A2) Pull the table up on one side to the other. Push one side knob in & pull the table up so it is just past a detent position & then go to the other side & pull that so it pulls thru to the next detent position & repeat till horizontal. 3) The instructions mention that the green clamps can be tightened to lock them in the track, but they don't and can still slide, it just increases the friction marginally. Why is this? (A3) The knobs on the green clamps will just adjust the friction only. They are there to clamp material between the 2 tops & not designed or intended to clamp across the one top. 4) Why are the assembly instructions so poor. It lists 3 different types of nut/bolt combos but does not number them, you have to deduce which screws are for which holes. The assembly images only appear to show one size of bolt. Wouldn't it have been better to list a part letter next to each bold and use a corresponding letter in the assembly image? (A4) Manuals are done overseas & we have little influence over the content etc. It has been mentioned in the past but it seems falls on deaf ears im sorry. 5) The black plastic track clips do not fit the track and I had to knock them into the track initially with a mallet. (A5) The plastic end caps on the table top are manufactured that way so when carrying or transporting the table they wont just slide off so much less chance of loosing them. Its a once off assembly thing anyhow. Ryobi Customer Care

@lemech 6 жыл бұрын

Thank you for your very comprehensive feedback. Appreciate it. Cheers.

@alexpetersheldon 3 жыл бұрын

I think if I had access to a 3D printer I would have made a part that slides into the track and has a hole through it to bolt to the clamp. Although perhaps the plastic wouldn't have been strong enough when under tension

@RandomSmith 3 жыл бұрын

Sounds like a good idea for 3d printing carbon fibre - may still be too weak for such a thin part (was only about a 1.8 mm thick or something like that) or 3d metal print/sintering