Broken bandsaw fence lever - I think I fixed it!

[Eric The Viking]

I was somewhat upset when I dropped my bandsaw fence just before Christmas, and the lever snapped off, only just beyond the cam that clamps it in place. It's not exactly wonderfully strong - you can see how thin the web is by this 2p piece:

I mulled over all sorts of alternatives. Initially I thought I couldn't fix it, then I thought I should replace it with an Allen bolt (to tighten down on the clamp, which was undamaged). It tried glueing it with super-glue - no joy.

Then I had a brainwave:

It looks a bit like some sort of monkey! There are four holes, M3 tapped (the pic isn't good)...

The bolts weren't staying like that...

They were epoxied in place, then the heads were cut off with my trusty Proxxon (Dremel-ish) mini-cutter.
Now they fit either side of the web of the handle, and cross the break by several mm:

It was temporarily tack-glued back together by dipping the broken end in epoxy. Then the space either side was filled up with epoxy, round the bolts, which now act as reinforcements:

I think it's good to go. I'm leaving it overnight to fully harden, the reassembling the fence tomorrow. Phew.

Pics from the camera on my new Galaxy Note tablet, incidentally. I was surprised that it actually can focus that close. I think a couple are slightly too close, but I'm quite impressed at the quality, considering.

Posted in case someone else is muttering darkly, as I was when it happened!

E.

 

[AndyT]

Ingenious! - the repair will be stronger than the original.

 

[Eric The Viking]

I think it might be stronger. It's going back on the fence in a few minutes, so I'll find out...

Initially, I thought there was bit of shrinkage on the epoxy, but it may be just that it doesn't wet the surface well. There's no visible gap at the edges, as seen with a hand lens:

But there are a lot of bubbles! It was completely clear at one point after I poured it. These seem to have formed during the curing process (implying there is a bit of shrinkage after all). The line of the fracture is in blue.

Time will tell.

E.

 

[Steve Maskery]

What a clever little dickie you are!
S

 

[Eric The Viking]

Well it was either that or around £70 for a new fence!

 

[MARK.B.]

A good deal of satifaction that you have repaired it rather than bought a a new replacement,a bit of thinking outside the box has given you a perfectly servicable part.In today's throw away society its good to see a bit of "make do and mend" being used here.

 

[dickm]

Neat, E t V. Out of interest, what epoxy did you use? I've tried similar repairs in the past without much success, using a variety of epoxies, so it would be good to know of one that does actually work.
If the repair doesn't hold, would it be possible to make up a complete (and a darn sight more robust!) handle from an ali rod, by dint of rather a lot of filing?

 

[powertools]

A good product for this type of repair is called Quick Steel and comes as a 2 part mixture.

 

[Eric The Viking]

It was the cheap "Bondloc" from Toolstation - comes in a twin syringe, which makes mixing easier, and it's much cheaper than Araldite. It's worked for me in the past.

I think, as with all glueing, it's down to surface prep. I degreased it carefully this time, at least the cam end, and washed the handle end with water. It seems to have taken. In fact it's working better than before, as I allowed a sheen of epoxy over the cam, partly to seal the threaded holes well, and partly to increase the grip of the clamp on the scale-bar (across the edge of the table). This seems about right now, but I've no idea how long it will survive like that. I've sprayed PTFE on it, in the hope that lubrication might help.

E.