Removing the tilt angle shaft from a Wadkin Bursgreen AGS 10

[KT_NorCal]

Hi Everyone,
For those of you who have owned or restored an AGS 10 is there a simple/elegant way to get the entire blade tilt shaft (edit: I meant raise/lower shaft) out of the saw? From the looks of the exploded parts diagram once you take the wheel off it looks like it it will just pull straight out, but I'm guessing I'm probably missing something. Figured I would ask first.

I'm fabricating some new handwheels from a spare Delta Unisaw cast iron set that I acquired a while ago. The raise/lower wheel "spinner" handle got wallowed out of the die cast aluminum some time long ago which was going to be annoying and frankly the whole jive seventies vibe they have doesn't really do it for me. I much prefer the older model AGS hand wheels. I hadn't been able to find a spare AGS set for sale so figured the Delta Unisaw handwheels are very similar. They are turning out to be a bit tedious to adapt and it will be easier if I have one of the shafts (tilt or blade raise/lower) in hand while I'm doing it. Also, I have to restore the whole saw anyway as all the guts are covered in a coat of barn rust for sitting in a warehouse for over 30 years unused, so I'll need to clean this bit up anyway.

Thank you for any ideas/thoughts!
KT

 

[deema]

There is a grub screw with a slot rather than a hex which is located on the side of the casting. It’s the same as a BGS10, see my thread here
https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/thread...e-full-restoration.132165/page-4#post-1513306

 

[KT_NorCal]

Hi Deema,
Thanks for the reply. Is that grub screw in the raise/lower shaft housing or the main tub casting itself? I'm not finding it on that exploded parts diagram for whatever reason and your picture of the screw is s close shot so I can't tell where that is located on the saw.

Also, great thread on the BGS. Not sure how I missed that as the BGS is my dream saw.... nice job.

KT

 

[deema]

The screw (59) is located in the side of item 73. Easiest to see when you tilt the blade to 45 degrees with the top off.

 

[KT_NorCal]

The screw (59) is located in the side of item 73. Easiest to see when you tilt the blade to 45 degrees with the top off.

Ah, ok. I was looking for it on the tub of the saw. I'll see if I can get to it through the blade opening as I'm not ready to take the table off yet.

Once that is out I'm guessing you just work the worm forward on the rack and then pull it the rest of the way out the front...

 

[deema]

I don’t think you will get it without taking the top off. It’s just 4 nuts to remove to get the top off, Ok you have to align the slot to the blade again when refitting.
Yes, just unwind it, but often they can be rusted or cruded in. Don’t force it on the worm or you can easily brake the cast iron rack teeth…..not a good day.

 

[KT_NorCal]

I don’t think you will get it without taking the top off. It’s just 4 nuts to remove to get the top off, Ok you have to align the slot to the blade again when refitting.
Yes, just unwind it, but often they can be rusted or cruded in. Don’t force it on the worm or you can easily brake the cast iron rack teeth…..not a good day.

Hmmm, I'll give it a try. Can't hurt I guess. Less to do with the difficulty of taking the top off and more to do with proper space to work on it indoors while there is a monsoon going on outside. I was just trying to finish the handwheels this week in my nighttime shop class so I can move on to the next project which is fabricating the UK "parallelogram" style riving knife assembly for this model AGS. I have another thread on here about that that I'll restart once I get it going, but was trying to create as few new additional bags of parts in the meantime as I'm mid stream on several other restores.... net, net life will be easier if I can get this out of the saw with minimal drama...

And mine is most definitely crudded up with barn rust and ancient sawdust per the last picture. My tilt doesn't even want to move currently. This thing sat in a warehouse for between 35-40 years unused, so I do need to take it down to bits like you are doing with your BGS.

I shall report back...

 

[KT_NorCal]

Found the grub screw....



And.... got it. Top still on!





Thanks for the info, I wouldn't have found that otherwise I think. Also you can't have fat hands and get that thing out though the front easily. Was barely able to get it. lol

Also, is it me or is there a huge amount of slop/play in the shaft itself? It seems to have at least .25" of play. Is the whole idea that the knob on the handwheel supposed to take that play out and then lock the handwheel in place when fully cranked down? I had noticed that when raising the blade it was perfectly fine/smooth, but that when dropping it back down it would seem to go down in fits and starts... seems this amount of play in the worm shaft might be contributing to that.

Thanks again for the help!

 

[KT_NorCal]

I got the whole raise/lower assembly apart this evening. It has a thrust bearing against the inner worm, but just a bronze washer against the outer (handle) side. This saw is 100% original from what I can tell, but wouldn't a thrust bearing on both ends of the shaft make it easier to use?

Also, the shaft is 20mm but the roll pin holes seem to be 3/16th... they don't appear to be metric which I thought was interesting.

Does anyone know if the bronze bushings in the CI housing are oilite or just standard bronze? Not going to replace them as there appears to be zero slop, but I'm trying to minimize the use of actual oil in the saw.





Also finished modifying some CI handwheels from a Delta Unisaw to work on this saw. Was fiddly but seems to have worked.