posted
O.P.'s comment on another post got me thinking about my "poor man's panel saw".
It's a frame sort of thing, in fact looks kinda like a big grain-frame made with 2x4's instead of wire. Or, another way of describing it would be to say it looks like a wall of a house as it's being constructed, before it's stood up, with no window. The 2 x 4's are laid on egde, not flat, so that the saw blade has more room for depth of cut, (blade cleareance).
I use it on a couple of saw horses, and it can be stood up against a wall if need be. I use a heavy piece of steel as a guide, which must be positioned each time, but I've got a fast way of doing that.
Any improvements/suggestions would be appreciated. I remember the one about the thick piece of styrofoam, that's smart.
This is really an intermediate version, 'till I take the time to fabricate something better.
Thanks.
-------------------- James Donahue Donahue Sign Arts 1851 E. Union Valley Rd. Seymour TN. (865) 577-3365 brushman@nxs.net
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what's for lunch, Benjamin Franklin Posts: 2057 | From: 1033 W. Union Valley Rd. | Registered: Feb 2003
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We use a 48" x 96" x 3" thick piece of pink insulating foam glued to a sheet of 1/4" underlay. We have several guides set up (4'and 8') using MDO and a piece of aluminum angle for the saw base to follow. We us c-clamps or hand clamps to hold it in place while we cut the material.
We use it to cut everything from sheets of aluminum to polycarbonate. It works great for us.
-------------------- Bruce Bowers
DrCAS Custom Lettering and Design Saint Cloud, Minnesota
"Things work out best for the people who make the best of the way things work out." - Art Linkletter Posts: 6464 | From: Saint Cloud, Minnesota | Registered: Jun 1999
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posted
I was really keen to import a panel saw here from the states a few yaers ago, then I found a frame here that takes any saw that stands against the wall, but we never really got into it.
However this system here I use all the time its brilliant and very high quality, puts Bosch and many other brands to shame....bit pricey though, but you pay for quality and innovation. WE cut, acrylic, MDO, MDF, aluminium etc etc.
Here is a link to their US site www.festool-usa.com they are a German manufacturer, and thought of over here as the Rolls-Royce of power tools.
thats the saw you can set mm by mm the cutting depth so you can have an old sheet underneath and just score it lightly as you cut the one on the top, or have a jig like we have.
This is the rail system no clamping really fast just lie it where you want, its got a grip track underneath, we have 1400mm thats over 3ft! sections which fix together, youcan buy it in 20ft lengths too, you buy to suit your needs.
This was a thermometer double sided, with a computer steered mechanism, its 3m x 1m 2mm thick aluminium, and then sat together on a box
If you have a Fest place nearby check it out, I was told about them about 10 years ago, and it took me 5 years to bother to find out more, I wish I had done it straight away, we have their jigsaws, routers, drills, and those drills have some really neat attachments for drilling round corners or in tight places. 3 year guarantee on all their stuff.
Maris used to use sawhorses and a clamped straight - edge which was adjustable. It was way too hard on his lower back, not too mention the miscuts from measuring wrong or clamping crooked. The flat method also takes up more space and our shop is small. Panel saw is the way to go. Ours is about 8 or 10 years old. Amortize the expense over 10 years, and you can't afford NOT to get one.
posted
Second that- the saws are cheap compared to time savings and safety considerations. Also the first straight cut I have ever made. Safety Speed Cut rules. Gene
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since i started this with my peeve about the price of one.....how many carpenters/home builders do you know that has one? and they rip more 4x8 sheets then you ever will for spending $1500.00!!! also home depot and lowes got one, because the help they hire...couldnt cut a board straight without one!!! myself, i dont cut that much mdo/acrylic that it would even be a condsideration. when i need to cut mdo, i got 4 sawhorses. i keep a 4' length of 1"x 4" fir(is straight) and an 8' of the same, cost me about $20. 2 of those slide and lock wood clamps and set the power saw up against the 1x4 and just let the saw cut it!! WALA...a perfectly straight cut. not to be a wise a**, but making a straight cut with a electric saw is not hard to do. its just like using a paint brush to make a straight line. ive been on constrution jobs and their are 2 kinds of carpenters on these jobs. 1 is a rough in carpenter and the other is a finish carpenter. only differance is one can cut wood with a saw "aporximatly" and the other cuts it "exactly"!!!!! the one who cuts it "exactly" get more money per hour.......hummm must be his experiance they pay for.....
-------------------- joe pribish-A SIGN MINT 2811 longleaf Dr. pensacola, fl 32526 850-637-1519 BEWARE THE TRUTH.....YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT YOU FIND Posts: 11582 | From: pensacola, fl. usa | Registered: Nov 1998
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the process you discribed is how ive been cutting said material for 12 years and has worked well for me. but a panel saw has always been on my wish list.
in reponse to ruff carpenter and finish carpenter is skill but most inportant TOOOLS!..the finish carpenter uses a top noch chop saw...and a ruff(or framing)carpenter uses a circular saw.
the panel saw saves time and increases quality!
i pose this idea do you hand cut vinyl or use a plotter...both can be done but were is the profit.if you cut vinyl once in a blue moon why buy a $2,000 vinyl cutter.
chris... "friend of bills"
-------------------- "We have been making house calls since 1992"
Chris Lovelady Vital Signs
NOW WITH 2 LOCATIONS! Tallahassee, Florida Thomasville, Ga.
posted
I`ve built boats, houses, and cabinets before becoming a signmaker. I can cut to a line with handsaws,circular saws or my panel saw. For ease and repeatability there is no comparison. Mine cost me $700.00 at an auction. If you have the room it is a great tool.When it really shows is on multiple panels,easy and all of them are exactly the same. Use one and you`ll wonder why you don`t own one yourself.
-------------------- Bob & Marcia Peach Peach Signs Inc Sandwich, MA rpeach9828@aol.com Posts: 1021 | From: Sandwich, MA | Registered: Jan 2002
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posted
Got a Dewalt panel saw sitting in my garage that I haven't used in 10 years, found it in a junk pile behind a cabinet shop. My Black & Decker repair depot found the parts to get it going again.
-------------------- Alf Toy Adlib Graphics Saskatoon, SK Canada
posted
hey chris....how ya doin... i agree if you had a use for one have one....i got a table saw that will rip 24"....also got a radial arm saw. and for $1500...ill buy another plotter....because i do cut vinyl and the investment against the usage for a plotter is more realistic. also i dont find it that hard to cut a straight line. i know some people do....and cant use hand tools. i cut maybe 10-15 sheets of mdo a year.....so not something i can see as rational.....if i did 50-100 sheets a year...now i would think about it...
-------------------- joe pribish-A SIGN MINT 2811 longleaf Dr. pensacola, fl 32526 850-637-1519 BEWARE THE TRUTH.....YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT YOU FIND Posts: 11582 | From: pensacola, fl. usa | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
I cut all my boards straight using a straight board clamped down. But a real panel saw would be really nice. Easy on the arm mussels and less chance of cutting off a finger. Even table saws can be a little difficult when you cutting a 4'x8'x3/4" panel by youself.One day.....maybe I'll buy one. But I keep on buying lipstick!
-------------------- Signs by Alicia Jennings (Mudflap Girl) Tacoma, WA Since 1987 Have Lipstick, will travel. Posts: 3940 | From: Tacoma, WA. U.S.A. | Registered: Dec 1999
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posted
I wanted one for years, but kept coming up with other ways to spend $1500 (eating, living indoors, etc.) Earlier this year a local lumber yard went belly-up. They had a newish panel saw I really wanted, but for what they asked I could buy a new one. Then they said they had an old one from the 1950's in a back shed, hadn't used it in years, and I bought it for $200. A little tweaking and adjustment, and it works just fine.
And to think, for all those years I was cutting MDO by chewing it with my teeth. What a difference. We're thinking about electric lights next, and I've been reading about this new invention called a "flush toilet". Ayuh, that's us, racing headlong into the 20th century.
-------------------- "A wise man concerns himself with the truth, not with what people believe." - Aristotle
Cam Bortz Finest Kind Signs Pondside Iron works 256 S. Broad St. Pawcatuck, Ct. 06379 "Award winning Signs since 1988" Posts: 3051 | From: Pawcatuck,Connecticut USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
I still reckon if you don't want to spend $1500 but you want to cut sheets efforlessly all day, check out Festo's rail system, I really like it, and we have a panelsaw that we use more as an easel than a saw!
With the Festo system the blade is lowered by you to what depth you decide...your fingers are alot safer too
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hey cam...along with that there "flush"indoor toilet you gota get that new fangled stuff called "toilet paper"......then you can use them sears catalogs for fire starter!!!!!heheheheheheh
-------------------- joe pribish-A SIGN MINT 2811 longleaf Dr. pensacola, fl 32526 850-637-1519 BEWARE THE TRUTH.....YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT YOU FIND Posts: 11582 | From: pensacola, fl. usa | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
I make all my long cuts on the table saw...and cross cut my 4'x8's by laying them on the bench with a couple of 1"x1" lathes between the material and the table the clamp a straight edge to the panel and cut it with the blade down about 3/4".
For long finish cuts I clamp materials down to the table and run a router down the edge wtih a beaaring flush cut bit.
For scroll work I keep a 4'x8' billet of 2" foam to put between the material and the table.
I'd like a panel saw...but just can never part with the money...seems like about 600.00 too much to me.
IO'm just getting "cheap" I guess
-------------------- "Werks fer me...it'll werk fer you"
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