Hello everyone:
After seeing Steve?s description of ?Bigfoot? I decided to share my idea of how I support the upper arm of my 788. I call my invention ?Bent Toe?. It?s hard to imagine how Bent Toe could be any simpler; it consists of two small blocks of wood hinged together. I started with a block 0.75? thick x 2? wide x 3? long. It could be thinner; the only limitation is that you don?t want the screws holding the hinge to penetrate through. Cut this piece into two. The smaller 1? long, the larger 2? long and fasten them back together with the hinge. We?ll call the side with the hinge the underside (or sole). That?s it! Except I wanted to get a little fancy so I embedded a small magnet into the upper side of each block. The magnets are 10mm diameter and I embedded them flush with the upper side; the one in the small block is roughly centered in the face, in the larger block I placed the magnet ?? from the hinge.
Without magnets you can use a wrap of tape to fasten the small block and Velcro to hold up the larger block.
The magnets hold Bent Toe to the underside of the saw?s upper arm. I placed it as far from the blade as it will go and the larger block facing the blade. With both pieces held up it is out of the way, but a flick of my thumb on the end of the big block closest to me and that end drops onto the extreme far end of the table. Now by slowly raising the arm, the block of wood will be brought to vertical and it will ?lock? in that position holding the arm up. The magnets are strong enough that vibration does not cause them to release. Alternatively, you can raise the arm and then drop the support block.
How did I arrive at the name ?Bent Toe?. Well, it kind of looks like a bent toe went it is in use; and, it?s a play on the French word ?bientot? roughly meaning ?quick?.
I hope this is clear. Questions are welcome.
Here's a link to some pics:
http://sdrv.ms/KlEWce
