Case Splitter - Homemade

[Deprime]

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

Weird? Had to start a new post through tapatalk. Couldn't get to the subforums using my web browser.

Anyways, I haven't had the time to mess with any saw stuff for quite a while because of OT at work. I have a Husqvarna 371 project that has been sitting on the back burner for some time now. I needed to do a complete teardown of the saw but I didn't have a case splitter and decided to try an build one rather than shell out the cash for one. I've seen where others have welded up a bracket that bolts to the bar studs but I wanted something like the commercially available ones. I did some searching on AS and found a few posts that had pictures with measurements of the splitters and drew up some plans. Took some interpolation on my part to figure out all the dimensions. I think it turned out pretty good.

I took several pictures while making the splitter and I'll post these up.

I'll also post a fully dimensioned drawing of the finished case splitter for anyone else that might want to make one.

 

[z71mike]

Excellent. Thanks brotha.

 

[Deprime]

I had a piece of 3/16" plate steel lying around. I figured that would be plenty beefy enough for the arms of the splitter. I positioned the pattern and traced an outline.


The spacers for the template were put in place. The template was not thick enough by itself to properly position the tip of the plasma cutter above the workpiece.


The template was set on top of the spacers and then clamped in place. (I forgot to take a pic before starting cutting.)

 

[Deprime]

Here is the splitter arm after cutting and then after removing. I haven't had the plasma cutter for very long and am still playing around with the amperage vs. thickness and material type etc. The unit that I am using is a Hobart AirForce 400. It was set at about 25 Amps which might have been too high? There seemed to be a lot of slag/dross. Maybe my travel speed was wrong. Feel free to share your thoughts.


After getting two arms cut I cleaned up the cut edges with the angle grinder with a flap disc. I then clamped the two pieces together for final shaping of the "tips" so that they would be symmetric.


I used some scrap I had lying around for the "spine" of the splitter. I think it was 2" x 3/4" tubing and 6" long. Using some other scrap pieces as spacers I positioned the arms and clamped them in place for tacking.

 

[Deprime]

After tacking the assembly I squared everything up and welded both arms to the spine.


I forgot to take a picture before welding the screw onto the splitter. I bought a cheap Harbor Freight C-clamp and cut the screw end off leaving just the threaded collar which was ground down leaving just a cylinder. I had to tweak the arms to get the screw to line up properly. I also removed the flat pad on the end of the screw leaving the ball. I might end up grinding the end down to a point at some point but the ball seemed to work pretty good. I will eventually add paint but I wanted to wait until I make the final tweaks to the position of the arms.

 

[Procut]

Excellent!

 

[Deprime]

Here is the reason for needing the case splitter, my basketcase 371. I'm sure I will end up spending more to get this thing running than if I had just bought a running 371/372 but the point is to learn how to work on a "new" saw. She'll be getting a full workover including a BB piston/cylinder kit supplied by Watsonr.


I had to widen the spacing on the crankcase arms to clear the crank. They were a little too close together. The splitter then slid right into place and worked like a charm. Took a while to dig through all the crud to make sure I had all of the case bolts out. Man, this thing was dirty.

 

[Deprime]

Also learned a valuable lesson. ALWAYS REMEMBER TO DRAIN THE BAR OIL BEFORE SPLITTING A CASE! Completely overlooked that one!

 

[XSKIER]

Good one. I always get overly excited with a new tool too! Great fab job, and thanks for sharing.

Like!

 

[adminfti]

Very nice tool ! Congrats !:msp_thumbup:

 

[mortalitool]

nice work! Great do it yourself build.

 

[Philbert]

Nice Job!(tried to Rep you, but . . .)

Philbert

 

[nmurph]

...I also removed the flat pad on the end of the screw leaving the ball. I might end up grinding the end down to a point at some point but the ball seemed to work pretty good...

I have a case splitter from Bailey's. The pointed swivel lasted about 3 saws bf it popped off. I replaced it with a ball bearing welded on the end. I like it much better like this than the way it came. It is less critical to be perfectly aligned on the crank. Mine also required the arms be spread just a little to fit over 288/394 cranks.

 

[Rockjock]

Also learned a valuable lesson. ALWAYS REMEMBER TO DRAIN THE BAR OIL BEFORE SPLITTING A CASE! Completely overlooked that one!

Think of it as a baptism !

 

[Scooterbum]

like !!!

 

[cat-face timber]

Very nice!

 

[towingace]

ME LIKES ALSO! Nice fabrication.

I also like fabricating. I did buy my splitter though, I just didn't have time to make one.

Time wise, it may be cheaper to buy one, but the satisfaction of making your own is priceless. Good job.




p.s. By the way, that little gizmo on the end that everybody says falls off right away was missing on mine when I bought it, therefore, a discounted price because of something not needed. Ball bearing DOES WORK BETTER!

 

[thomas41]

Dimensioned drawing? I am working on a couple of Huskys, need a better case splitter. I also like fabbing my own tools. Good job.

 

[Deprime]

Thanks for all the comments! It did take me quite a bit of time to work everything out and get it made, but I get satisfaction from making something myself.

After a few of the comments I think that the ball end on the screw will stay.

________________________________________________________________________

As promised here are the dimensioned drawings.

I added a link for a PDF file of the arm template. It should print out pretty close to proper scale. Just make sure that you select none for scaling on the printer screen.


Case Splitter Arm Template - PDF

 

[olyman]

Thanks for all the comments! It did take me quite a bit of time to work everything out and get it made, but I get satisfaction from making something myself.

After a few of the comments I think that the ball end on the screw will stay.

________________________________________________________________________

As promised here are the dimensioned drawings.

I added a link for a PDF file of the arm template. It should print out pretty close to proper scale. Just make sure that you select none for scaling on the printer screen.

I also added a link for the DWG file. It was saved in R14 format.


Case Splitter Arm Template - PDF

Case Splitter Arm Template - AutoCAD DWG

know whats needed?? the cat in iowa,,that runs the plasma cutter?? he could knock out a ton of these PARTS,,and the buyer could weld them together....for much less than a commercial one!!!