HBF notcher ?

[5trucks]

There has been a quite a few posts on the notcher and its problems. I have one and am having to re-tap the bolt holes to 3/8 because one stripped out. I expected it so it's not that big a deal. My question is when the brass bushings wear out, does anyone make a roller bearing of any kind that will fit in the block without any modifications. I seam to recall reading something awhile back that someone did but i cant find any info on it. Thanks.

[Brian1]

Browse around www.mcmaster.com for needle bearings that match the ID and OD of the block and shaft. If nothing else you could buy another bronze bushing from that site as well to put in it.

[PARANOID56]

ha, i want to konw this also. my bushings are all warn out.

Shane

[DRM]

I've posted the pics before, but what I did was take a cheap table top drill press and just attach the clamping part of my HF notcher to the work plate. Works great as a dedicated notcher without having to worry about a hand drill or the plunger part of the HF unit.

[Mechanos]

I had an HF nothcer.... it worked ok for a while. I was using a 1/2" Hole Hawg to power it. While notching some 2" tube, the hole saw caught and the massive torque of the Hole Hawg ate the fucker.... twisted the notcher into a pretzel. :laughing: :laughing:

[PARANOID56]

DRMs
http://www.4x4spot.com/images/shop/tube_notcher_drill.jpg

[PARANOID56]

lighten shot

[5trucks]

Thanks guys. The only problem i see with the drill press is notching bent tube. Do you have any detailed pics of how it is mounted to the base of the press and how you go about nothcing big bent tube? Thanks again for the info. Also, i already drilled and tapped the holes for 3/8-16 and was thinking the reason they strip out is because of the 1/4 inch of steel it has to thread through. Would welding a nut on the plate work to give it more to bite into so the bolts dont strip out ? Any thoughts?

[Brian1]

I had an HF nothcer.... it worked ok for a while. I was using a 1/2" Hole Hawg to power it. While notching some 2" tube, the hole saw caught and the massive torque of the Hole Hawg ate the fucker.... twisted the notcher into a pretzel. :laughing: :laughing:

Exact same thing happened to me. I now use a Pro Tools notcher :D

A good mod for those of you still using the HF notcher might be to attach some steel angle iron to the backing plate to reinforce it.

[DRM]

Thanks guys. The only problem i see with the drill press is notching bent tube. Do you have any detailed pics of how it is mounted to the base of the press and how you go about nothcing big bent tube? Thanks again for the info. Also, i already drilled and tapped the holes for 3/8-16 and was thinking the reason they strip out is because of the 1/4 inch of steel it has to thread through. Would welding a nut on the plate work to give it more to bite into so the bolts dont strip out ? Any thoughts?

How it mounts to the base is halfway bolted, halfway clamped. I kept it flexible for exactly what you point out - sometimes you get some funky pieces of tube and you need to move things around to get it to notch right.

[5trucks]

As my luck would have it i finished welding on the 3/8 nuts and added a zerk to the shaft block. Cut one angle and the clamp "T" handle bolt thingy stripped out. So i tapped it for 5/8-11 all thread and am making a new, stronger, "T". The flat part will also be getting a nut welded on. By the time im done adding or fixing this thing, i could have bought a pro tools notcher. Live and learn.

[BRAD D]

I dontget what kind of bearings they use, the page says needle bearings... but how would that work, they would only allow the shaft to spin but not plunge