Harold Hall

It was at this point that having completed and tested the machine I decided that whilst there was a very occasional tendency for the workpiece to lift slightly when filling it was rarely a problem. However, lift during sawing was far from OK and some form of hold down was going to be essential if it was to be used in this way.

At the beginning I referred to the research I had done concerning filing machines, explaining why I had chosen to include, or not include, features that were incorporated in other machines. One item I had seen but made no mention of, was a facility to hold down the workpiece so as to prevent it being lifted on the upstroke of the file.

Hold Down Assembly.

My reason for excluding this being that the feature was only fitted on large industrial machines, smaller ones for the home workshop, etc. did not. No doubt that this was because the small machines were never intended for sawing.

Having, at this stage, included the feature it is an attachment rather than an integral part of the machine, this being illustrated by Photograph 36. This is probably an advantage, as should the one making the machine intend to use it only for light duty filling the machine can be made and used as originally envisaged.