The next task is to shorten this big post by 15 mm.

[wedge@woodworking.group]

The next task is to shorten this big post by 15 mm. It’s 263x24x17 cm.

I don’t have a functional crosscut saw for that, in fact I seem not to have a saw filed crosscut at all, so I’m going to turn my widest saw (and second longest after Frankenstein) into a big crosscutter, and I’ll use it for heavy timbers and small logs in the shop.

But first I need to restore it, hopefully, and that begins by making a split-nut driver to get these big saw bolts off.

Three projects in one!

#woodworking

[wedge@woodworking.group]

These old brass bolts and nuts are fantastic. The nuts and bolt caps are beveled disks.

The bolts have a single wide rib under the cap to prevent spinning. I don’t know if that’s better than square shank (probably not), but it seems to work good.

I’m struck by the notion that these nuts, at least, would be easy to make by hand, but the bolts would be much harder without a lathe.

If somebody had a lathe, though, and wanted to make a little cash on the side, I’d bet these babies would sell.

[gustavinobevilacqua@mastodon.cisti.org]

@wedge

With that rib it's almost impossible to turn a piece like that on a lathe.

Nowadays it would be a perfect job for a CNC mill, however.

[wedge@woodworking.group]

@GustavinoBevilacqua

Considering this saw is easily a 100+ years old, how would they have done it?

Maybe they had a strong press with a stamping die that simply took brass rods and brute-forced their ends into that shape. Don’t know.

The rib is important, though. Without that they’d be near useless.