| ====================== Fraser Motor & Cutting Board ====================== |
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| (This page is a general overview of how I motorized my Fraser Rag Cutter. I've not included much in the way of details as I "cut to fit" as I went along). The only change to the Fraser itself is to loosen a couple of screws to remove the crank handle and the sliding edge locator. If I need to use the Fraser in it's original setup, I can just remove it from the cutting board and put the crank handle and edge locator back on. The cutting (red) board is a piece of an old counter top. Made of formica covered particle board, it measures 3/4" thick and 28" long by 16" deep. It's a fairly heavy chunk but that turned out to be a good thing. The bottom clamp of the Fraser has to hang over the edge of the table, so the weight of the board counter balances the cutter and the motor. |
| Three small wood pieces: The left piece hooks around a knob on the motor and locks it in position. The center one has a matching piece below the red board. Together they sandwich the motor between them. They hold the motor and help align it with the shaft of the Fraser. The right hand piece is used to depress the ON switch. More on that below. |
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| I think the best feature of this cutting board is that the cutting surface of the Fraser is moved down to be level with the surface of the cutting board. The material that is being cut lays flat and moves smoothly across the board and through the cutter. To lower the Fraser, I added a little shelf below the cutting board. The Fraser is then fastened to this under shelf. Even if you don't motorize, this alone would be worth the time to construct. |
| You can see I hinged a short piece of wood so that it lays across the switch of the screw driver. The switch can be used normally and still be switched forward and reverse. |
| Views of bottom of cutting board. |
| Adding a motor allows the use of both hands to control the cloth and guide it through the cutter. The motor is a "Black And Decker" cordless "Screw Driver". Note, a cordless screw driver, (NOT a cordless drill). This is an old one I already had, but they are available at hardware and x-Marts for around $20. The nice thing about these are they already turn about the right speed and do not need to be geared down. The shaft on the Fraser and the shaft on the screwdriver are almost the same size, (but not quite). I used a bushing, drilled out to the right diameters. It has a couple of set screws to lock it onto the two shafts. I think that a short piece of tubing could be used for the coupling. Cut slots in each end of the tubing and use a couple of small hose clamps to attach it to the Fraser shaft and the shaft of the screw driver. To extend cutting time I added a couple of D-cells in paralled with the batteries in the screwdriver. I also added a connector to recharge the batteries without removing the screw driver. |
| A cord goes between the switch "stick" and a small piece of board used for a foot switch. The cord has an adjustable "tent" knot in it and can be adjusted for different table heights. |
| For ease of adjustment, a wooden "L" shaped edge locator was added to replace the Fraser aluminum sliding edge locator. |