Yes welding will warp. Glue is unlikely to be strong enough. You could make a tidy enough compact clamp. An inverted top hat with hole down the centre could be made to work.

Yes you could cut and file somthing like that. I reckon you could make a tidy enough clamp like your link, maybe even curve it to match the shape, that would be far more durable.

Both glue and silver solder are going to suffer from the same problem of a weak joint design that is going to stress the glue or solder. Unlikely to survive repeated tightening and loosening. But silver solder might do ok if you use a large flat washer on top of the clamp down bolt. Trouble is getting it all to sit perfectly flat during and after soldering. Could be tricky but you could file it back flat if you had to. However if it is curved upwards, clamping pressure will eventually snap it.

I didn't attempt a detailed proposal as I don't know the precise construction. But assuming the normal arrangement of a male dovetail with a base for fastening to the cross slide then, yes, I would be thinking of screwing (and, perhaps, bonding also) from the bottom with countersunk screws. The replacement base could well be made from gauge plate (ground flat stock) for flatness but mild steel would be fine, too. You would obviously need some way of turning or milling off the broken area – perhaps even a toolpost mounted direct to your cross slide – and similarly for making the replacement part. The arcuate slots could be produced by drilling and filing if no other means is available.

All that said, the clamp-based suggestions seem perfectly workable as the broken off area seems to be doing little more than supporting one side of the clamp bolts.

Good luck!

Edited By ega on 01/06/2020 12:10:18

.

That seems by far the best solution

Just tidy-up the broken edges and clamp the thing down.

The section that has broken off doesn’t look sufficiently strong to be other than a convenient spacer anyway.

MichaelG.

As Michael says it doesn't do a lot and the two screws can get in the way of turning some larger items between centres too. Consider making steel L pieces in which a shortened and turned down head sits in a recess to avoid the above interference. It would actually be an improvement on the original.

BUT

take extra extra care that the screw doesn't go through and bottom out on the top of the saddle and push up the slide and break that.

Gene:

I gather you are going for the clamp solution which may well be best.

Looking at your drawing suggests that there may be insufficient meat in the part to allow the whole of the base to be replaced (which is what I had envisaged) ie not sure if there is room for the retaining screws; and, perhaps, that milling it off would remove part of the through hole for the leadscrew. I don't think a stepped or lap joint would be a sound solution.

I agree that the original design with its cored slots is a bit vulnerable.

Look forward to hearing how you get on – perhaps an "after" photo?

If the pin in the base is hardened it's likely to be an inserted steel item – sorry my initial suggestion wasn't clear.

I don't know where you are located but hobbymat parts are fairly common on ebay uk. Infact a top slide sold yesterday for £25. Though it was in poor condition.

Hi Gene, you could just bolt or even pin a small steel plate the same thickness of the broken part onto the saddle, across where the two socket heads screws are, wide enough form them to bear on and just trim the base back at the ends of the slot, to allow the full swing.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 02/06/2020 09:25:34