GB2063154A - Saw Bench - Google Patents

Abstract

A saw bench comprises a frame with a table top 17 having a saw blade 18 protruding therethrough and a board 31 which may be fixed parallel to the saw blade. The angle of the board is adjustable with respect to the table top and the cutting height of the blade is adjustable. The cutting height can be adjusted either by adjusting the height of the surface on which the wood is supported, for example the board, or by supporting the wood on the table top and adjusting the amount by which the blade protrudes through the table top. When vertical the board can also be used as a guide for rebating operations. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Saw bench The present invention relates to saw benches on which a variety of woodworking operations can be performed.

Saw benches currently on the market for multipurpose use have a circular saw which can be raised and lowered, or tilted, as required, to perform mitreing and rebating operations.

According to the present invention there is provided a saw bench comprising a frame with a table top having a saw blade protruding therethrough, and a board, together with means for fixing the board parallel to the saw blade, the angle of the board being adjustable with respect to the table top and the cutting height of the blade being adjustable.

The cutting height of the blade can either be adjusted by adjusting the height of the surface on which the wood is supported, or alternatively by adjusting the height that the blade protrudes above the table top. In the latter case the wood to be rebated would be supported on the table top, while in the former case, where the wood is supported on the board, a guide would normally be provided for the wood in addition to the board.

Supporting a piece of wood on the board when tilted enables the wood to be mitred at the selected angle. Rebating operations may be performed with the board horizontal at a selected height or alternatively with the blade raised with respect to the table top. In the first case wood would be supported on the board and in the second it would be supported on the table top during the operation.

Where the blade is to be moveable it is preferable to mount the blade with its motor on a chassis and pivot the chassis about a horizontal axis to raise and lower the blade.

The board, and a guide, where additionally provided, are preferably moveable along a bar attached to the side of the saw bench to a selected position, where they can be clamped to guide wood as it travels past the saw blade. The additional guide would advantageously be provided with a height extension, which may be integral therewith or separate therefrom. Where the guide and extension are separate, means are provided to removeably fix the extension to the guide. The extension enables wood to be guided when the board lifts the wood above the level of the guide for a rebating operation.

The board is advantageously adjustable between a vertical position and a position 45" from the vertical in embodiments where the blade is moveable. As these are the positions most often required, it will enable them more easily to be set up. However where the blade is to remain fixed, the board will also need to have a horizontal position for rebating.

The board is preferably removeable from the saw bench when not required, and in some arrangements may be attached to the bench by fixing the board to the guide.

The saw bench preferably has side and rear extensions which can be removeably secured to the bench in line with the table top to enlarge the work area of the table top for larger pieces of wood. The side extensions may use the same guide, or alternatively have a separate guide adjustably mounted on its own slide bar.

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is an isometric view of a saw bench according to the invention, Figure 2 is a side view of the saw bench of Figure 1 with the board removed, Figure 3 is a top view of the saw bench with the board removed and extensions fitted, Figure 4 is an enlarged view in cross-section showing in detail the movement of the sliding guide, Figure 5 is a perspective view of a saw bench according to a second embodiment of.the invention, Figure 6 is a front view of the top part of the bench of Figure 5 without the sliding guide, showing the board in position for mitreing, and Figure 7 is a front view of the bench of Figure 5 with the board in position for rebating.

The saw bench illustrated in Figures 1 to 4 of the drawings comprises a mild steel welded frame 11 having four legs 12 and four horizontal beams all of angle steel. The beams are marked in the drawing, front 13, rear 14, right hand 15 and left hand 16. The frame 11 supports a table top 17, for example of 11 mm thick plywood or 14 gauge galvanised sheet steel, through which protrudes a 252 cm diameter circular saw 18. The saw 18 which is protected by a detachable stripper fin or guard 19, is driven by a 1HP motor 21, through twin belts 22 and operated by a switch 23. Immediately surrounding the blade on the table top 17 is a 2cm timber section 20.

A 9mm steel sliding fence or guide 24, 50cm long, has a horizontal section 24a which lies on the table and a vertical section 24b for guiding wood that is to be sawn. The fence 24 is rivetted to a substantially box shaped slide member 25 which can slide along a hollow square section bar 26 parallel to the front of the table top 17. The bar 26 may extend the whole width of the table top, or if preferred from the right hand edge to the blade. Once the required position of the guide has been selected, the guide 24 is fixed to the bar 26 by means of a bolt 27 which is tightened with a tommy bar 28. When not required the guide can be removed by sliding the member 25 off the bar 26.

The guide 24 has two bolt holes 29 in the vertical part 24b which enable an adjustable angle mitreing board 31 to be attached thereto. The mitreingboard has two U-shaped brackets 32 attached one to each leg 33. The brackets 32 fit over the guide 24 and at each side a bolt is tightened through the bracket and through the hole 29 in the guide. The mitreing board has a solid surface 34 framed in angle steel 35 bolted thereto. At each side of the board 31 a respective slotted bar 36 is pivotted. Pins 37, one of which slides in the slot 38 of each bar 36, are connected by respective uprights 39 to the respective legs 33 of the board 31. The pins 37 can slide freely in the slots 38 to alter the angle of the board 31, but once a required angle has been selected, the position of each pin is fixed by tightening a screw with a tommy bar 41.The extreme positions between which the angle of the surface 34 is adjustable is preferably vertical to 45" away from vertical. While the intermediate angles may sometimes be required, the vertical position would always be used either to guide a particularly big piece of wood for sawing, or for rebating. On the other hand the board at 450 would normally be used for mitreing. If the slot extended further than these angles, it would be useful to have these positions marked, perhaps by forming notches in the bar 38 at the appropriate places.

The motor 21 is mounted on a chassis 42, which chassis is pivotally mounted to the rear horizontal beam 14. The saw blade 18 is also mounted on the chassis 42, by means of 9cm high H-brackets 43 which support the spindle 44 of the blade to give the spindle, the bearing blocks and the blade sufficient height. The weight of the chassis, blade and motor is supported by a tension spring 45. A flat steel section 46 is welded at right angles to the front of the chassis 42 and extends forwardly to slide between a central vertical beam 47 of the frame and a vertical steel tube 48. The chassis 42 is raised and lowered by a handle 49 fixed to the front of the chassis 42. Once the required height of the saw has been selected, the position of the chassis can be clamped by tightening a screw with a tommy bar 51.It will be appreciated that the saw heights can be marked on the beam 47 or tube 48 for ease of use. Normally the cutting height will be variable between 95mm and level bench.

To enable longer beams and planks to be worked, three table top extensions are provided. Two side extensions 52 each comprise a work top consisting of a frame of angled steel, and steel longitudinal bars 54, together with two angled steel legs 55 pivotally mounted to the frame by means of rivetted pivots.

At least one of the side extensions which will normally be used on the right hand side, includes a square sectioned bar 56 mounted on the front thereof which connects with the bar 26 to form a continuous bar along extended width of the bench.

The guide 24 can thus slide from the extreme right of the bench to the blade without interruption. A rear extension 57 extends the whole width of the table top 17 and the two extensions 52 (see Figure 3). The extension 57 again has a rectangular angled steel frame 58 with longitudinal bars 59, and two support legs 61 by means of which the extension is supported parallel with the table top 17. A piece of plywood or sheet steel 62 is fitted at the centre of the rear extension to be an extension of the table top 17, so that narrow planks of wood being worked do not fall between the bars 59.

The extensions are assembled with the table top by first hooking each extension on appropriate hooks 63 provided on the sides of the table top, and then pivotting the legs until they slot into slots 64 on the legs 12 of the frame. Once the extensions are assembled they can be fixed by pins 65, which pins also help to keep the extensions parallel to the table top. Pins or spring clips can also be used to keep the legs 55, 61 in the slots 64.

A detachable dust chute 67 can be provided for mounting adjacent the saw 18 to protect the saw from the dust created during woodworking and channel the dust into a detachable bag (not shown).

In a second embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figures 5 to 7 the saw bench comprises a trestle 70 on which is mounted an angled mild steel welded frame 71. The frame 71 supports a table top 72 of 11 mm thick plywood, through which protrudes a 253 cam diameter circular saw 73. The saw 73 is protected by a guard (not shown) similar to 19. The saw is driven by a 1 HP motor through twin belts operated by a switch 17.

A 9mm angled steel sliding guide or fence 78,50.

cm long, is freely mounted for sliding movement along the table top 72 to act as a guide for wood to be sawn. A downwardly directed portion 78' of the guide is moveable along a 12mm tubular steel slide bar 79, which extends the width of the table top, if required to enable right and left hand woodworking operations to be performed. The guide 78 is fixed in a selected position by tightening bolts 81 against the slide bar 79. The two bolts are tapped off centre for extremely fine adjustment of the guide 78.

An 11 mm thick plywood mitreing and rebating board 82, which extends the length of the table top 72, is edged in 29 by 3mm flat steel on three sides to keep the board rigid and to carry mounting pivots for the board 82. The board 82 has pivotally mounted thereto on these pivots, at each end of the board, a pair of arms 83,84. The arms of each pair are spaced along the respective end of the frame in such a way that they can support the board 82 above the table top 72 in horizontal or angled positions. Each arm 83,84 has a guide slot 85,86 which acts as a slide for a respective clamping bolt 87,88. The clamping bolts are fixed to the bench frame 71 and may be clamped to the slide to fix the position of the board.The arrangement enables the board to be angled to the blade 73, as shown in Figure 6, to enable a piece of wood supported on the board to be mitred; orto be positioned parallel to the table top 72 at variable selected heights to enable a piece of wood to be rebated. The saw remains fixed at 8-21cm above the table for all operations. The side of the board 82 adjacent the saw 73 is mitred (89) at 45" to enable the board to be as near as possible to the table for mitreing operations. Once the correct position of the board 82 has been achieved, the bolts 87,88 are tightened, together with the nuts 90 on the pivots of the board.

A removeable extension 91 to the mitreing guide 78 enables wood that is being rebated to be guided.

The extension, which is 11 mm plywood, includes a pair of vertical steel 2'2cm by 3mm angle supports 92 spaced across the back thereof, which extend below the face 91' and have bolt holes by means of which the extension can be bolted to the guide 78 through countersunk bolt holes in the guide 78. The extension moves with the guide 78 across the table. If the guide is to be used left-handed, the extension should be bolted on the other way so that the face 91' is directed to the right in the drawing.

Table top extensions may be fitted in the same way as previously described or by bolts. A second longer guiding fence may be provided for use with extensions.

A stripper fin may optionally be provided behind the saw, which acts as a support for the board 82 to ease possible strain.

The essential difference between the two embodiments is that in the first the height of the blade is adjustable and in the second the cutting height of the blade is adjusted by adjusting the height of the board on which the wood is supported. Other details may be interchanged between the embodiments if desired.

The saw benches described with reference to the drawings are designed to cope with large sheets of plywood and boards. With the extensions there is a large working surface of some 6 foot square. The easily detachable extensions, which can be stored upright by folding the legs, offerthe minimum disruption to work. The mild steel welded construction of the first embodiment is heavy and robust and is made entirely from readily obtainable materials.

There is no necessity for expensive die casts to manufacture the saw bench.

As an alternative, in the first embodiment the pivoting motor and spindle base is designed to accept a small internal combustion engine if required.

Claims (13)

1. A saw bench comprising a frame with a table top having a saw blade protruding therethrough, and a board, together with means for fixing the board parallel the saw blade, the angle of the board being adjustable with respect to the table top and the cutting height of the blade being adjustable.

2. A saw bench according to claim 1 in which the cutting height of the blade is adjusted by altering the height of the surface on which the wood is supp

3. A saw bench according to claim 1 in which the cutting height of the blade is adjusted by raising and lowering the blade through the table top.

4. A saw bench according to claim 3 in which the saw blade with its motor is mounted on a chassis which chassis is mounted on the frame to pivot about a horizontal axis to raise and lower the blade.

5. A saw bench according any of claims 1 to 4 wherein the said board is supported by arms, movement of which arms alters the angle of the board and at leat one of the arms is provided with means enabling the positions of the board vertical and 45" to vertical to be easily set up.

6. A saw bench according to any of the preceding claims including a guide for guiding wood to be rebated together with means enabling the guide to slide towards and away from the blade.

7. A saw bench according to claim 6 as appendent to claim 1 or any of claims 3 to 5, wherein the said board is mounted on the guide and is slideable therewith.

8. A saw bench according to 1 or 2 wherein the board is mounted to the table top by means of parallel pairs of arms, the angle and height of the board being adjustable by altering the relative positions of the pairs of arms, means being provided to fix the arms in position once the required height and orientation has been achieved.

9. A saw bench according to any of the preceding claims including at least one removeable extension and means forfixing it to the frame parallel to the table top.

10. A saw bench according to claim 9 including two side extensions and a rear extension.

11. A saw bench according to claim 9 or 10 wherein a side extension includes means enabling a guide to travel across the extension.

12. A saw bench substantially as herein de scribedwith reference to Figures 1 to 4 of the accompanying drawings.

13. A saw bench substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 5 to 7 of the accompanying drawings.