Vibro saw, but not an aeropiccola....bought many years ago to experiment with my marquetry work, and never used in anger...

[Cozzer]

Had this beast for over 30 years, and never used it with any success...

According to the sticker on the side, it was retailed by H.S.Walsh & Sons Ltd. - who are still trading today - but they can't provide any information about it/them.

Decided to strip it and clean it up, so the metal vibrating plate under the spinable - is that a word?! - table is currently sitting in a jar of rust removed, and is shortly to be joined by the "spring" mechanism at the end of the arm (having just realised there's enough room in the coffee jar!)

It's a very basic setup : a simple on/off switch - no speed control here! - a weight (that I lost long ago, unfortunately) that can be slid along the top arm to aid tensioning, and an electromagnet under the metal plate. The problem with it is, although it sounds like you're standing at the side of Heathrow, it cuts nothing, no matter what kind of blade is fitted. Forget even thin cardboard, let alone veneer!

I'm not sure how much the blade should "travel" - oscillate?. Yes, it vibrates, but there's no movement up and down. I'm going to (somehow?) clean the magnet, but frankly there's nothing else to actually "go wrong"!

Unless, of course, you know different.....?

 

[AES]

Had this beast for over 30 years, and never used it with any success...

View attachment 166876

According to the sticker on the side, it was retailed by H.S.Walsh & Sons Ltd. - who are still trading today - but they can't provide any information about it/them.

Decided to strip it and clean it up, so the metal vibrating plate under the spinable - is that a word?! - table is currently sitting in a jar of rust removed, and is shortly to be joined by the "spring" mechanism at the end of the arm (having just realised there's enough room in the coffee jar!)

It's a very basic setup : a simple on/off switch - no speed control here! - a weight (that I lost long ago, unfortunately) that can be slid along the top arm to aid tensioning, and an electromagnet under the metal plate. The problem with it is, although it sounds like you're standing at the side of Heathrow, it cuts nothing, no matter what kind of blade is fitted. Forget even thin cardboard, let alone veneer!

I'm not sure how much the blade should "travel" - oscillate?. Yes, it vibrates, but there's no movement up and down. I'm going to (somehow?) clean the magnet, but frankly there's nothing else to actually "go wrong"!

Unless, of course, you know different.....?

I remember seeing one of those at a show somewhere, "donkey's years" ago now (probably at least 40 years)!

It was being demonstrated, and though I don't know what sort of blade was used, it cut probably one eighth or three sixteenth ply quite well I seem to remember.

Please do not take this as gospel, as said it was many years ago, but I think (RPT only think) that "inside" the magnet there is a soft iron "slug" which actually does move up and down. So that despite the name, it actually does move the blade vertically up and down, albeit a VERY small amount - less than a mm I think. If I'm right (no more than a "possibility"!) then I'm guessing that when you remove the magnet - does it look like a squashed doughnut? - then you'll find that the slug inside is rusted stiff to the magnet, hence the Heathrow sound. (I seem to remember the machine I saw being demonstrated as making no more that a fairly loud buzz).

I also THINK (again, sorry) that there must be something like a small multi-contact reed switch somewhere under the table, and it's these contacts that swiftly change the polarity of the magnet for every "stroke". Perhaps they're "welded" together by rust/age?

But again, please do NOT put too much reliance on all the above - it's mainly "guesswork" based on very hazy and VERY dim and distant memories.

Let us know how it goes please. I for one am very interested.

HTH

Edit for a P.S. Sorry but I have NO idea what sort of blade was being used in the above demo.

 

[Cozzer]

Evening, AES....thanks for your response!

The light's really bad in here tonight - perhaps I should've waited until daylight for some better pictures - but for the minute here are 2 photo's of the magnet...
No identification on it, I'm afraid....

The little black square, 6mm square, is circa 2mm proud of both the plastic (insulator?) and metal casing - might this be your "slug", I wonder? The metal plate that normally sits above it is still in the Nescafe jar/Evaporust, so I can't tell you whether it actually touches the "slug" when bolted in situ.... I wonder if maybe something should sit in between them? Leather? Cork?
I don't suppose there's any harm in starting it without the plate in place - I'll try it in the morning.
Again, thanks for your thoughts on the matter!

 

[Cozzer]

Not my machine, but this is the "Heathrow" noise! If I do ever get my unit to work, I hope I can do what I want to do quickly!

 

[MorrisWoodman12]

re the Heathrow noise. That's the sort of sound I would expect from an iron slug or some such in the 50/100Hz magnetic induced field of the transformer-like device you show in your photos ie. there's no switching mechanism as it just relies on the AC supply.
However from the point of absolutely zero knowledge of this machine I wonder if the saw blade is a) attached somehow to the iron slug and b) is of the type with the cutting edge spirals around the blade.
Just my twopenny worth - probably out of date now just like me.
Have fun
Martin

 

[AES]

Not my machine, but this is the "Heathrow" noise! If I do ever get my unit to work, I hope I can do what I want to do quickly!

Yeah, sounds about right - I THINK.

 

[AES]

re the Heathrow noise. That's the sort of sound I would expect from an iron slug or some such in the 50/100Hz magnetic induced field of the transformer-like device you show in your photos ie. there's no switching mechanism as it just relies on the AC supply.
However from the point of absolutely zero knowledge of this machine I wonder if the saw blade is a) attached somehow to the iron slug and b) is of the type with the cutting edge spirals around the blade.
Just my twopenny worth - probably out of date now just like me.
Have fun
Martin

I was thinking about blades for that machine, and just guessing, a spiral blade makes a lot of sense - OR one of those long-thin Abrafiles (IF still available). I've got a really vague recollection of the one I saw being demonstrated being able to cut in all directions.

 

[Cozzer]

Well, here it is again, this time with the magnet bolted in place and showing the metal plate that spans it... Notice the slots as opposed to bolt holes, allowing a distance between the plate underside and the "slug". From a quick look, it would be able to literally touch it, or equally be Xmm apart...who knows?!
Still wondering if something should perhaps sit in beween....?

 

[MorrisWoodman12]

From the picture the bottom end of the blade attaches to the plate. If it's bolted down tightly then the blade will be static. Also looking at the yellow paint around the stud in the 'transformer' /base section it looks as though it's worn/worried away. Does that mean that the plate is only held loosely by the studs? My guess is that there shouldn't be anything in between.
Martin

 

[Cozzer]

From the picture the bottom end of the blade attaches to the plate. If it's bolted down tightly then the blade will be static. Also looking at the yellow paint around the stud in the 'transformer' /base section it looks as though it's worn/worried away. Does that mean that the plate is only held loosely by the studs? My guess is that there shouldn't be anything in between.
Martin

As regards the paint, it's the same on both sides of the base - could be wear, I suppose, but I tend to think that it's just a paint job. The allen key bolts were tight to undo...whether they should've been is another question.

 

[AES]

Thanks for all the above info. Fascinating, but any further comments I make will simply be pure guesswork, sorry. So I'll shut up but continue to watch with interest. I guess the absolute worst you can do Cozzer is to blow up some power station in Derbyshire

 

[Cozzer]

Thanks for all the above info. Fascinating, but any further comments I make will simply be pure guesswork, sorry. So I'll shut up but continue to watch with interest. I guess the absolute worst you can do Cozzer is to blow up some power station in Derbyshire

Guess away, squire!
Of course I had to try it, didn't I?
Had some jewel blades spare from the last abortive attempt at getting this going - all sorts of sizes, 3/0, 4/0, No.2, God knows what else....they're sold in batches of 10, with really thin wire wrapped around each bunch....not to be pessimistic, but it does smack of breakages!
Picked one at random, made sure the teeth were facing down, and then fiddled with trying to get both ends connected and secure. Bear in mind I've no weight for the upper arm - I wonder where that went? - and that the upper connection isn't an original wing-nut affair, so that took a good ten minutes fooling about.
You'll remember that the blade has to go through the table slot....
I didn't.
So off it came again, one end only, but by the time I'd fed it through, the other end was ******* loose as well.
Oh, how I laughed!
Attached again, I experimented with different distances between the plate and slug, right from literally resting on it, up to maybe 3mm apart. Armed with a veneer offcut - certainly less than 1mm thick - I tried to make a random cut.
Not even a mark, let alone a cut.....

I like to think that I'm a placid sort of bloke, but there are odd times when I surprise others and myself. This was an odd time. A good few hours that I'm never going to get back.

Again....


*Thinks - I wonder if the slug has worn down? Perhaps it started out at something like 6mm high, and over the years has worn away? (Hah! Not by my hand it hasn't!) What I need is to hear from another eejit who's got something similar...

 

[Cozzer]

Found this earlier tonight : Glavmex.ru • Просмотр темы - История лобзика. Histori jig scroll saw machine.

Again, not my actual model, but brother chip as they say.
Interesting to spy something sandwiched between plate and slug....maybe simply to quieten it down to a mere 130 decibels...

 

[Cozzer]

And now this, ripped off some other site...

"
The core is an electromagnet, in the form of a transformer core, one set of windings, no secondary, with the mains pulling the core at mains frequency, and driving the blade.

So at rest with no work it should sit there humming quietly, work applied to the blade will increase the noise.
But the whole mechanism is tuned like a musical instrument, and the bob weight on the top arm has to be set right, or it is out of tune and vibrates. The bob introduces hysteresis, or dampening, in to the blade moving, stopping it cutting at 50 CPS, and forcing it to follow a beat frequency that is lower. Moving the bob therefore controls the blade speed to a degree, and also the aggression of the cut.

However it can get out of "tune" and cause noise, and jumpy cutting.
For the whole thing to work it needs to be 100% on the internal rubber or foam supports for the core.
I do not know how the internals of the Italian machine are arranged, but if foam was used then it can be replaced with similar foam.

If Sorbo or commercial rubber shocks are used, then it is vital the same ones are replaced. If it is on blocks of black Sorbo rubber, medium soft to a prod, then car engine silent block rubbers can provide the rubber to cut out and fit.

To quieten the whole thing, make a ply base and fit car silent blocks under the machine. or a heavy urethane rubber sheet.

The makers may of course still be in business and spares made.

A very good practice piece is to get a Map of the Counties of The British Isles, and cut out your own jigsaw on it glued to thin ply........."

Crikey!
A map of the British Isles!
aha hahaahahahahahaha!

 

[RichC]

I've got one of these saws, albeit in a different colour, and have used it this week to cut brass, horn and carbon fibre sheet.

I'll have a look at it later on and see how it compares to what you have.

 

[Cozzer]

I've got one of these saws, albeit in a different colour, and have used it this week to cut brass, horn and carbon fibre sheet.

I'll have a look at it later on and see how it compares to what you have.

Many thanks, RichC!
You're a good 'un!

 

[Fred-f]

Inside shapercraft saw
Small foam pad between plate and transformer
prevents plate actually contacting transformer

Leaving plate free to vibrate.

 

[RichC]

Many thanks, RichC!
You're a good 'un!

Not a problem, it turns out the one here is an Aeropiccola which is a name I've never heard before.

The picture is a bit rubbish but the pad fills the space between the plate and the magnet

It isn't particularly noisy in use as long as whatever you are cutting is held down firmly.

The weight weighs 56g

It is missing one of its rubber feet, hence the rattle going when I pick it up in the video.

It's ok, but the limited stroke means all the blade work is being done by not very many teeth.

 

[RichC]

Just reading around and the weight is apparently used to alter the stroke, mine is very close to the arm and as mentioned the stroke is short. I'll try it further out

 

[Cozzer]

Just reading around and the weight is apparently used to alter the stroke, mine is very close to the arm and as mentioned the stroke is short. I'll try it further out

Evening, RichC....thanks for checking stuff.
Knowing the weight of the "arm bob" is handy. I'll see if I can knock something up if I ever get to that stage!
Very late last night I came across some other information - in fact, it may well have been off this very site!

"The foam pad is about 7mm relaxed and there is 6mm between the underside of the plate (armature) to the poles so I assume it is a damper. It must also prevent the plate from reaching the poles and ( and making a very loud racket). Most probably the downward maximum deflection is only about <3mm making the stoke about 5mm as was suggested in an earlier post and confirmed by the owner. The foam has deteriorated with age but I don't hold out any hope of getting a replacement."

The foam pad thickness is handy to know, although there's foam and there's foam! Having had to replace some settee seating a few years ago revealed that! Density varies a lot... The reference to "the poles" is confusing, though...is the writer referring to the metal either side of the middle slug, I wonder? If so, he's suggesting an overall gap of circa 13mm between the slug and the underside of the plate...