Cutting small pieces to length

Re: Cutting small pieces to length

tomd

Metal arond the eraser is still dangerous.

Re: Terrorized by chop saws

Bruce Schoenleber

"Bruce.....could a person get bearings for that saw?"

I don't know, I did not try. I was in the process of moving from CA to GA, so I just let it go. Bearings are pretty standard so the answer is probably yes. I would bet you can't get them from Delta though, but that is a long rant best left to another day...

My setup up, chop saw and ras was (and is again) very similar to yours, long bench with ganged cutoff saws. I replaced the Delta with a 12" hitachi compound miter. I still have my fathers radial arm saws, a Powr-Kraft and a Comet. I keep a dado set in the Powr-Kraft. Small pita to hunt down a negative rake 10" cuttoff blade with 3/4 bore for the Comet. Seems the new generation chop saws don't use negative rake blades. Don't know why.

Re: Cutting small pieces to length

Barry Irby

That tiny pin bothered me too. I see it as a projectile in my eye. Then it dawned on me that the metal on the pencil might not be much better and I have use a pencil eraser without trepidation.

Bill's chop saw

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

As a practical matter only a few full length boards need chopping to build a piece of furniture. And at the rate I build this fact translates to not many per year. This firewood saw, filed and set for hardwood, mows through 8/4 lumber quick enough. Once a piece gets to 6' or less I chop it on the table saw. No doubt I would use a shop saw set up if there was one in the shop. But, I can't justify the room to accommodate a saw that just chops. The occasions where the table saw doesn't suffice are too few.

Re: Bearings?

Larry Clinton At Frankfort, (Central) Indiana

I worked as an Engineer for about 40 years before I retired, I can't remember ANY machine that used "custom" bearings!

When machines are designed (I did some of that), they are designed to use standard bearings.

If you remove the bearings from your machine, often the bearing will have the maker and part number stamped, if not you can measure the width, OD and ID, determine if the bearing has shields or seals (visually apparent) and look on the internet for bearing suppliers. You can then find the proper dimensions and seals.

You can then purchase the bearings in various "classes", this is the rating for the precision, speed and load. If you have questions contact the vendor, they will advise you what you need for your application. Usually buying from a distributor will cost between 1/4 to 1/2 the price a machine supplier will sell the same bearing!

Re: Bill's chop saw

roger lance

My main shop saw is the table saw.....there is no comparison given all the things that a table saw is capable of doing......indispensible.....never could understand how anyone could brag about ridding their shop of their table saw.

But, I find having that power miter box (chop saw) to be extremely handy and convenient to have in the shop. While working away, I often turn to it to make a slight adjustment to a work piece.....just a squeeze of the trigger and back to the assembly table. A handy devise indeed.

whoops forgot PIC

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

Re: Bearings?

Bruce Schoenleber

I thought that to be the case, thanks for confirming.

Re: Bearings?

TomD

You can get the bearings. There is a guy on Youtueb called, Ave who has rebuilt some old hand circ saws. it is pretty standard stuff in there. You should be able to get bearings off ebay. However, if you are doing the work yourself, they aren't a loose fit, and will require some tools to get out and replace. Ave had some tricks on that.

Re: Cutting small pieces to length

TomD

If I was using a lot of those floating tenons, and going into small scale production, I would rig a vac to suck them away.

Re: Terrorized by chop saws

John in NM

The only time I had any trouble finding a bearing was for a 1950's Powermatic planer. The inner race was wider than the outer. Substitution of a modern bearing with a spacer was easy enough though.

The more common problem I've seen is when the bearing pocket in the machine is not heavy enough to withstand the vibration of the bearing going bad. If it's a loose fit in its housing, the machine is done. You can usually fix it with some inventive methods, but its never cost effective to do it. Older machines do not have this problem as often, as the motor casings are usually iron or steel rather than aluminum.

Re: Terrorized by chop saws

roger lance

This chop saw is cast iron.....and comes in at nearly 55 pounds.

Re: Terrorized by chop saws

John in NM

Probably a good chance of replacing the bearings and having it good as new then. The only modern tool I had much success with was one of those 8.5" Hitachis that were the first sliding chop saw I recall seeing. It had the bearings supported by O-rings around the outside - something I never would have guessed would work at all!

Bench hook and a dovetail saw

Relevant video.....

roger lance

I just watched a video on YouTube that illustrates Derek's suggestion. Do a search for "Small Piece Deflector | Tricks of the Trade" by Popular Woodworking.

Re: Relevant video.....

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

Hi Roger

I found a video that uses the jig I referred to. It is a little different to the video to which you linked.

This illustrates a version of the mitre guide I built and showed in the last instalment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG9LRnB9-Hg

Look about the 3'20" mark.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Re: Relevant video.....

roger lance

Das ist gut!