Jim Paulson
12-09-2009, 8:52 PM
Creekers,
I thought you might appreciate seeing this rendition that I came up with as a response to my interest in the Barnes company's foot powered machinery from the 1880's. I couldn't afford a cast iron machine that went for some bucks on Ebay so I made one out of wood.
I had fun making this about a couple years ago and I incorporated some Victorian scroll saw designs into the base and the column in front. For the blade clamping mechanism I took apart a small hand fret saw and it works okay for now. I have plans to eventually use parts from a Hegner saw as an improvement. I added an outrigger to accomodate a stronger return spring so that the pedal comes back quick enough. The basic mechanism involves a free wheel ratcheting gear that I purchased from a bike shop. It uses a bicycle chain instead of the old style leather belt.
I made the wooden parts out of pine and the table out of particle board. When I get a chance I'm going to replace the table with a walnut one. The parallel arms are made of straight grain hard rock maple.
After fooling around with this I believe it will be handy in making inlays for period pieces when I get around to making them. For now it is fun to watch people spot this in my shop and take notice.
Hope you enjoy looking at my contraption here.
God bless,
Jim
http://www.chairsbypaulson.com
http://jimthechairmaker.wordpress.com
I thought you might appreciate seeing this rendition that I came up with as a response to my interest in the Barnes company's foot powered machinery from the 1880's. I couldn't afford a cast iron machine that went for some bucks on Ebay so I made one out of wood.
I had fun making this about a couple years ago and I incorporated some Victorian scroll saw designs into the base and the column in front. For the blade clamping mechanism I took apart a small hand fret saw and it works okay for now. I have plans to eventually use parts from a Hegner saw as an improvement. I added an outrigger to accomodate a stronger return spring so that the pedal comes back quick enough. The basic mechanism involves a free wheel ratcheting gear that I purchased from a bike shop. It uses a bicycle chain instead of the old style leather belt.
I made the wooden parts out of pine and the table out of particle board. When I get a chance I'm going to replace the table with a walnut one. The parallel arms are made of straight grain hard rock maple.
After fooling around with this I believe it will be handy in making inlays for period pieces when I get around to making them. For now it is fun to watch people spot this in my shop and take notice.
Hope you enjoy looking at my contraption here.
God bless,
Jim
http://www.chairsbypaulson.com
http://jimthechairmaker.wordpress.com