Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Grinder69]

My Hillquist slab saw is binding.   I have decided to overhaul it after trying to tight the vice to the carriage assy and a couple of the nuts popped off.  This is a very old saw that I bought 15 years ago used.  I have tried getting ahold of Hillquest but they are not returning calls or answering e-mails.  Somebody is either sick or on a trip.  Anyway if anybody has/had a 20-24 inch Hillquist and has worked on the saw I would appreciate some advice.  It has been a very good saw.

Thanks
Mike

[catmandewe]

First thing I would do would be to replace the arbor bearings to see if that cures the problem.

Tony

[Grinder69]

Thanks Tony,
It would be nice if Hillquist could send me some spec's for the various parts.  I will check the arbor free play after I get done fixing the vice attachment.  Project is on hold while I install the irrigation system for my raised beds.   The good news is I found a piece of rough that might cut translucent pink stones while I was digging the trench.   I think it is quartzite but will need to run some tests. 

[Grinder69]

Hi  all,
As you know from my original  I am overhauling my Hillquist saw.  Tony the arbor is rock solid.   I finally got a moment and pulled out the vice and carriage rails.  I am pretty sure there are some parts missing from the bottom of the carriage as the split nut lever has nothing to hold it in the engaged position.  I have been working around that since I bought the saw with a large rubber band.  However I see a screw hole on the bottom that looks like maybe something was attached there.   I also failed to take a picture of the clutch assy and when I pulled the arm assy away a part came loose.  It is really clear that I need to talk to somebody that has a Hillquist since they aren't answering their phone or e-mails.

Is there somebody on this forum who has had or has a Hillquist slab saw and hopefully has done some work on it.  If not do you know of a resource who may? 

Thanks a whole lot!!

Regards
Mike (saw less in Seattle (well I still have a couple small saws).

Mike

[peruano]

Is it possible you are just missing a spring that held the split nut closed on the drive shaft? From your words, that jumps to mind.  My advice is to look at how the parts you have relate to the task and improvise something to make it go.

[catmandewe]

I have a 24" Hilquest here, I am planning on rebuilding it but I havent taken it apart yet, let me know what you need to know and I can check mine out.

Tony

[Grinder69]

I am having technical difficulties getting photo's taken and on to my computer.  I hope to get that fixed today. There is certainly some funk in this design. The set screw's I snapped off turned out to be allen type set screws with a hex nut on them. No wonder they popped off when I tried tightening the nut..  I am looking for ideas as to why they would design such an adjustment system.  Allen type set screws are used in a lot of places.  It is annoying because they fill up with sludge.  I am tempted to replace them all with hex head screws.  I was able to reassemble the spray clutch okay and it looks to be in good shape.  There is considerable play in several places in the vice assembly.  No wonder the saw was binding.  I probably won't get back to it today but as long as I am not boring the group I can share my adventure.  Tony if you have an inspection mirror and the saw isn't too dirty could you take a peek under the saw at how the split nut assembly lever is held closed.  There are three little holes on my saw which may or may not hold some sort of assembly on.   I will probably end up MacGyvering something but I like to restore things as close to original as feasible.

[Grinder69]

Here are a couple of pictures of the saw.  The first is of the allen set screws with a nut on them.  The left is the original installation the right is after I popped of the set screw head because I  thought it was a bolt head.  There are 5 of these babies and I popped two of them before I decided to remove the vice assembly and see what the #@!! was going on.  Anyway I was able to adjust the three remaining set screws to remove the excess play.  Now I need to see if I can extract the roughly 1/4 inch set screws with no head.   Reviewing the internet literature doesn't give me much hope.  I may be able to remove the one shown by cutting a slot in the screw with my dremel. The other screw is broken off about a thread in so I don't think cutting a slot will work.  The small screw size makes using an extraction tool dubious.  The fracture surface is very curved so getting a good shot with a center punch and getting an extraction hole drilled is also dubious.   I am thinking of trying epoxy and a short hex bolt. The problem is that I don't think there is enough surface to get enough torque.   I may just put the whole thing back together since it is now pretty well adjusted.  Since the center three adjustment screws are good it at least adjusts evenly.  My only other course is to take vice to a machine shop and have them drill out the screw and retap it.  Does anybody have any other ideas?  Any comments on this plan?

The second picture is of the split nut lever and the holes.  I think I am going to add a small spring and see if that works. The large hole on the right might be a good spot for one end.  I also tightened the bolt that is the split nut lever pivot.  That should help. 

[Ryaly2dogs]

Hi Grinder:  An old memory is when I torqued off a few engine screws during my high school "beater car" repair learning days.  Back then, I used something called an "easy out" which taps into the sheared off bolt to extract it; it helped me get my valve cover back onto the engine block!  You can pick up sets on Amazon for cheap (for instance).  The problem I see is that you do not seem to have much thread width to work with, and you sure do not want to damage that which the bolt taps into!

So, no promises here, just an idea.

Bon chance.  There is nothing like a nicely working "old school" rock saw!

David.

[Grinder69]

Well group my saw is back together and I was able to saw some fine moss agate with it today.  The binding problem is fixed with the general tuneup on the vice assembly.   I think the clutch is way out of adjustment though because the saw is so very slow.   If anybody has access to a Hillquist manual for the 20-24 inch saw I would really appreciate it.  Tony if you have time I would really appreciate a  picture of where the clutch arm engaged the arbor pulley.  I am thinking I might actually be missing a part on the arm assembly.  However it saws and so I am able to cut up some of my larger specimens.  What I learned from this exercise is that it is best to clean stuff up before randomly torquing fasteners.  I also learned that my saw is actually in really good shape.  I did lightly sand the support rails as they were starting to get some patches of corrosion.   Other than that things were in surprisingly good shape.  I was able to loosen all fasteners. 

Thanks to all of you who offered help and encouragement.  Next job will be to replace the 8" silicone carbide wheels on my old Sears lapidary unit with diamond wheels.  That unit has a lot more room between the wheels than my Genie.

regards
Mike