Saw bench / rollers.

[astro_al]

Morning all.

I need to sort out my cutting.

At the moment its totally disorganised, and I use a combination of a horizontal bandsaw (with material supported on a couple of crappy single-roller stands that I found which don't roll and tip over when you pull material through the saw...), and a chop saw 'mounted' on the floor

I have a decent Pedrazzoli cold saw sitting on a pallet waiting to get put to use. I'd like to make a real nice roller table for it to support lengths (7.5m max) at the right height etc. What I'd also like is to incorporate the measurment into the tabel - rather than farting about with a tape measure. DRO? pins / spacers? Really long 'ruler' bolted to the bench?

I have a nice 8m 10" x 10" I-beam sitting about which might get used. I can't decide whether to mount the saw on a sled which locks in position, or move the material through the saw. The latter seems easier, but means you need much more clear space either side of the saw.

I can't seem to find any pics that aren't woodwork related. Anyone got any pics / ideas? Anything that makes cutting stock quicker would be a real help.

Cheers, Al.

 

[Sam]

Why cant you imagine the wood as a piece of metal and copy?

I had an idea for one a few years ago if I remember correctly it involved a block fixed to a bench in line with the back edge of the clamp and had a slot on top just like a fat L which a tape would be fixed into, for a stop I thought of using a series of slip stops so you could set up for different lengths. The slip stops fitted over the leg of the L with a knob and threaded rod on the rear to clamp to the required length which was read from the front face. The stop itself would be a piece of bright bar with a slot and tapered edge fixed to the block so when you placed the material up against it it lifts thats if you wanted to set for various lengths if not use one.
Or a simple method would be to use a piece of 2" angle fixed to the bench and clamp another piece to use as a stop for cutting multiple lengths. p.s. does your saw not have a lenth of 16mm rod attached and stop on that?

 

[wyn]

What I'd also like is to incorporate the measurment into the tabel - rather than farting about with a tape measure. DRO? pins / spacers? Really long 'ruler' bolted to the bench?

Once you've knocked up the roller table maybe weld bits onto the table at 1m intervals from the face of the blade so you can butt a 1m rule up against them to measure from.

Or could you utilise one of those laser tape measure thingys somehow.

 

[astro_al]

Yes, I was thinking of a laser measure, they all seem to be 'accurate to 1.5mm'! Great...

I've been digging into linear DROs, sadly price goes up considerably with length, so something for full lengths of steel is out. Now thinking some kind of long 'machined ruler' and a cheapo laser pointer attached to either the saw or the fence (whichever moves). If I move the saw, the track only needs to be 6m (or 7.5m), if I move the material, I may well need more length.

Here's an example I saw years ago and just re-found. This guy could whinge for his country, but if you can bare to watch / listen to the drivel, there is an interesting saw set-up at the heart of it. The interest starts at about 3:00 minutes in:

http://www.youtube.com/user/AmericanFabricator#p/a/u/2/2zd5Y17AIBQ

Thats the kind of thing I'm after.

Al.

 

[gavuk]

You can buy self adhesive tapes,i fitted some at work the other day,starret i think as well ....prob fom rs components .....

 

[Hitch]

Archie made a stop for his chop saw, using self adhesive tapes on a bar fixed to the machine.

I dont find using a tape measure a hassle on a bandsaw, just hook it over the blade and add 1mm on to the cutting size.

If you are going to have a scale on a fixed setup, you need to ensure its a very rigid setup, or inaccuracy will give you trouble.

Room wise, you only need 1.5 times the length of the material, if you start with a 7m length, but want to cut a bit 5m off it, you'd measure back the other way, and just have a 2m offcut.... No need to roll 5m through the saw.

 

[astro_al]

Ta, food for thought.

1.5 x 7.5m = a lot of space!

What do you reckon to my chances of making a sliding mount for the saw thats rigid when locked in position?

Al.

 

[Luke]

linear rails would do the job, but aren't going to be cheap.

Would Sir like a servo drive and touch screen to position the saw?

 

[astro_al]

Yes. He would. When can you deliver???

 

[Luke]

Depends what you want and what we have in stock, and whether you have a credit card

Can do a gearbox and rack/pinion too if you wish.

 

[astro_al]

And there I was thinking you were joking...!

 

[Luke]

Well it would be the poshest saw ever.....

 

[astro_al]

...and the drawback is??? My workshop could use a bit of bling.

Oh - and empty your PM box!

Al.

 

[Luke]

Ooh yes, it was a bit full!

 

[astro_al]

I just refilled it.

 

[Welderpaul]

I've seen some very over engineered methods of doing what you are trying to achieve. We have both a bandsaw and a cold saw, but the cold saw doesnt see much use these days.
We use a large roller stand that can be shifted about as required. It's a big old thing, and can cope with fairly heavy beams being landed on it and it still rolls ok. We show the length to be cut into the saw, and just use a tape to set the length. There is a length stop for repetitive cutting of short lengths, but because the stop is fixed to the machine, and limited in length, anything over 2m ish has to be set by a tape everytime. This can become a bit of a pain.
I managed to get hold of a roller table recently from an auction - the rolls are fine, but the channels were knackered, so we robbed the rollers off it and scrapped the channel. When i get a day or so, i'll make a decent roller table. At the moment we just need to be careful that the roller stand is positioned correctly to avoid the length dropping off the end and no doubt snapping the blade in the bandsaw.

 

[astro_al]

Its hard to know 'how much is too much'. I'll probably spend up to a month solid in this year just cutting up stock. It takes a significant proportion of my time.

If I spend two weeks building something, I'll still be quids in - and thats just in the first year!

Its really an issue of how to fit it into the shop, and finding the line between 'enough' and too much. Anything that saves me using a tape measure is a good investment IMHO. Its innacurate and time consuming.

I'm thinking a 'carriage' end stop with a DRO from the blade is probably the way forward - slide to the right length, lock in place and get cutting. I have a stop bar on the machine, but at about 2 foot long its basically useless.

I normally bandsaw everything, but recently a jaunt with the crappy old chop saw has made me realise the value of the cold saw in comparison to the band. Granted I can't leave it cutting like the band saw, but at that speed I don't need to.

I have plenty of 2" pipe for rollers if I can find some cheap bearings.

Cheers, Al.

 

[Archie]

I just milled a flat face on a 2m piece of bright 18mm and stuck a self-adhesive measure on it. I then made a stop to slide along it. It's plenty accurate enough (0.5mm) for me though obviously no good for anything longer than 2m! I have the (sometimes) advantage of pneumatics on the chop saw so I can walk away.