Re: Building a panel saw

[toller]

Don't know why I looked, since I don't have room anyhow, but the link doesn't work.

[lincolncowhunter]

[Tina]

Try this one

[Rob V]

Must me nice to have access to that machine :)

Any suggestions on how would a "normal" person cut that 1/2 circle for the sled?

"lincolncowhunter" wrote in message news: [e-mail]...

[Morris Dovey]

My apologies to all for screwing up the URL. Tina and lincolncowhunter got it right. Thanks to you both for posting the correction.

[Gotta stop doing all-nighters - did that and when I got to the shop, the first thing I did was pull a rubber cap off a new router bit managing to slice both thumb and index finger. It wasn't as bad as it looked, but after that the day could only get better...]

-- Morris

[Prometheus]

Looking good!

Let us know how it works when it's done- how much were you thinking of charging for the plans? Getting the metal is easy, but it's awfully nice when someone has already done the testing.

[Morris Dovey]

Congrats on finding my cleverly hidden web page! d-:

Just to show that I really do know where I put it, it's at

Now, if I could just remember where I put my car keys...

I haven't given plan prices much thought yet - it'll probably be at least $10 and probably not more than $25. Depends (inversely) on the number of copies I think will sell.

There's a possibility that the people who need plans don't need (and/or don't have room for) a panel saw...

...And I'll guess that most of those who have both need and space will just look at the web page and either find that sufficient to build their own or will smile and order up a gee-whiz factory-built welded aluminum product.

There's a bit of irony in this project. I think I'm about to land a project for which a panel saw would be a really big help - but I'll be working with

4' x 16' sheet stock for which the panel saw now under construction will be too small! Already I'm having to work out some way to add extensions. |-%

Test it I will. So far all I've mangaged to do is verify that the parts seem capable of withstanding endless dry fitting and that the UHMWPE-surfaced slide/linear bearing idea works pretty well. The 3" UHMWPE PSA tape is more expensive than I'd guessed it could be (serious sticker shock) but it works even better than I'd hoped. The slides are free-moving and there isn't even a trace of wobble.

One of the surprises (to me) is that without the tape, there is more wear to the aluminum [aluminium] than to the wood. I'd expected just the opposite. With the tape there isn't any discernable wear to wood, aluminum, or to the tape itself.

I'll post a blip to the wreck whenever I add construction pix to the web site.

-- Morris

[Robatoy]

hey, I finally had some time to peruse your advances. Wish I had the time to PLAY like that...you're not kidding any of us..you are PLAYING!!! Cool toys though..*G* I can't figure out how on earth they manage to get an adhesive to stick to that slippery plastic. It all looks like it will work fine. Panel saws make so much sense. Would your vacuum pods work on that unit when ripping sheets? Keep me posted...and drooling.

[Morris Dovey]

Well, I play when I can! (-:

I've wondered about that too. It's serious stuff, tho. Once it's stuck in place it *doesn't* want to let go.

So far so good. Now I'm wondering how to make it wide enough to handle 16' panels; and I'm thinking I may want to build a 16+' CNC panel saw over the winter if there's time available.

They do if you're doing a lot of work with sheet goods. I've been using the Veritas guide and it works well until you need to make more than a dozen or so cuts/hour - at which point a panel saw comes into its own.

That was one of their first uses - and they work well for materials that aren't too "leaky". They work really well on stuff like lexan, poorly on thin MDF, and not at all on something like open-cell foam (although a serious vacuum pump would probably make a big difference - a recycled refrigerator compressor has fairly limited capacity.) I know of a guy using a 15HP vacuum pump and I suspect that a cat would only jump up on his table /once/! (My low-budget system is at least feline friendly.)

With the CNC router I've found that fixturing is an important part of every job, and designing reusable fixturing components has been one of the more interesting challenges. When I can (probably 3/4 of the time) I just use a pair of C-clamps to immobilize the sheet and use a down-spiral cutter which helps to hold the sheet down, produces cleaner cut edges than a straight or up-spiral bit, and seems to produce a cleaner cut bottom. When I can't do that, then the vacuum clamps are frequently a good solution.

Gladly. I enjoy the notion that some of the stuff I do in the shop might tickle someone else's imagination. I really get a buzz from the notion that something I do might make woodworking easier and more satisfying for other people. (-:

-- Morris