Hello all
I am personally sick of the increment system on home sized table saws. I wish they had an indent every mm so that every time I set 10mm I get 10mm, not try to point a dull needle to a wide 1mm mark!
A saw where you can set the fence electronically would be perfect. A small brushless circular saw would make the perfect donor, together with an electronically adjustable fence on a pair of threaded rods. Similar to 3d printer head height mechanism
A good system like this would be faster for panel cutting than CNC, especially for prototyping. I am making a non-electronic system using indentations every mm. Would be awesome if there is collaboration to turn this electronic
I am personally sick of the increment system on home sized table saws. I wish they had an indent every mm so that every time I set 10mm I get 10mm, not try to point a dull needle to a wide 1mm mark!
A saw where you can set the fence electronically would be perfect. A small brushless circular saw would make the perfect donor, together with an electronically adjustable fence on a pair of threaded rods. Similar to 3d printer head height mechanism
A good system like this would be faster for panel cutting than CNC, especially for prototyping. I am making a non-electronic system using indentations every mm. Would be awesome if there is collaboration to turn this electronic
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003204591361.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.188338dabbCcB8&mp=1
Linked above is the unit that I will base this project on. It uses standard DIY parts found on Ali and eBay, so replacement parts will never be an issue. The table-top sheet thickness and design lends itself well to my planned mods. I am having trouble with 1mm apart indents, just too small, so will use laser rangefinders
Linked above is the unit that I will base this project on. It uses standard DIY parts found on Ali and eBay, so replacement parts will never be an issue. The table-top sheet thickness and design lends itself well to my planned mods. I am having trouble with 1mm apart indents, just too small, so will use laser rangefinders
Yep only use the saw's measure for rough cutting, unplug the saw and use a steel rule between tooth edge and the fence good enough to cut within .05mm or less.
Test cut on scrap and measure with calipers is about the only more accurate method.
Dont waste your time with cheap toy tablesaws, now days its often better to buy a track saw especially if space and portability is a problem.
A decent tablesaw is about $2k upwards, a reasonable tracksaw like the Milwaukie about $1200 with two 1400mm tracks/joiners clamps and a battery(super versatile)
Test cut on scrap and measure with calipers is about the only more accurate method.
Dont waste your time with cheap toy tablesaws, now days its often better to buy a track saw especially if space and portability is a problem.
A decent tablesaw is about $2k upwards, a reasonable tracksaw like the Milwaukie about $1200 with two 1400mm tracks/joiners clamps and a battery(super versatile)
We used to have saws for granite tiles at my uncle's granite factory, you could set the tile thickness using limit switches, the machines were made in Jalore, Rajasthan, in a small workshop, they were used in Hyderabad, he retired in 2007.
You can use proximity switches, there should be machines similar to what you are looking for in use in large wood working plants.
You may be able to find used or surplus saws up for sale, where all the work has already been done, on an industrial grade machine intended for continuous production, much stronger than one intended for hobby use.
Hint: The PLC on a 9 color film printing machine is like $400 for a cheap one, and $600 for a higher quality one from the likes of Fuji Fanuc or Siemens, money well spent.
Setting up and aligning the machine will cost you more money than the cost of the PLC.
And a one off will need calibration and an alignment check.
Bearing this in mind, I recommended buying a used machine, which is against the DIY spirit of this forum, but a practical solution.
I am not connected to any PLC maker, except as a user...
You can use proximity switches, there should be machines similar to what you are looking for in use in large wood working plants.
You may be able to find used or surplus saws up for sale, where all the work has already been done, on an industrial grade machine intended for continuous production, much stronger than one intended for hobby use.
Hint: The PLC on a 9 color film printing machine is like $400 for a cheap one, and $600 for a higher quality one from the likes of Fuji Fanuc or Siemens, money well spent.
Setting up and aligning the machine will cost you more money than the cost of the PLC.
And a one off will need calibration and an alignment check.
Bearing this in mind, I recommended buying a used machine, which is against the DIY spirit of this forum, but a practical solution.
I am not connected to any PLC maker, except as a user...
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I found using a cross-cut sled on a table saw to be very helpful for accuracy, repeatability, ease of set up and use.
It makes the whole operation much safer too because it's just easier to hold or clamp the work pieces, especially the smaller ones.
I made my own three years ago after watching a few YT videos and it's been such a big help on many projects including three pairs of speaker cabinets.
It was not difficult to make or there are commercially available sleds as well.
It makes the whole operation much safer too because it's just easier to hold or clamp the work pieces, especially the smaller ones.
I made my own three years ago after watching a few YT videos and it's been such a big help on many projects including three pairs of speaker cabinets.
It was not difficult to make or there are commercially available sleds as well.
Do you mean a sliding bed for the work piece to lay on, and the whole bed moves past the saw edge? I have made one out of ply when I made my stitch and blue boat and the house furniture when I lived on a tiny island for a while. It worked better than hobby types for lots of identical cuts on smaller pieces, but it didn't work for long rips as it only had 1m of travel. But the board could still be pushed manually
The unit that I have linked would appear to be a toy to many. I can only see a sturdy chassis which is very simple in design and lends well to mods. The motor is an industrial 775. There aren't any gimmicks, nor there are any brand specific parts or fittings. A creative DIYer on a budget can make this thing an efficient speaker panel cutting specialist tool
The physical part of the mod is easy. It's just adding on some 3D printed parts and aluminium extrusions, threaded rods and a pair of rangefinders. A 45 degree indent in conjunction with the mods will make this a speaker cutting monster as it will do perfect repeatable bevel cuts on ply for perfectly hidden edges
My budget for a viable home repeatable, easy and efficient production speaker cutting system is less than AUD 200
Having owned a few table saws myself, I understand the problem. Thing is, you just have to have a great saw and fence before you can demand much more. Of course, I would add that the blade being used (possibly with a blade stiffener) will definitely matter at some point. No doubt, many times I have had to sneak up on the exact width that I want, and then cut all the pieces one after the other that need to be the same exact width. Even things such as how the material is fed will affect the cut and on it goes.
Wouldn't it be great if we could have robotic equipment to do all of this for us? No, craftmanship and hands on understanding would suffer.
Wouldn't it be great if we could have robotic equipment to do all of this for us? No, craftmanship and hands on understanding would suffer.
Exactly man, but the true sign of craftsmanship is the finished results and not the tedious bits in between. Eliminating this is in fact crafting the construction process. The way table saws are set up and how you and others describe your cutting process has been tedious, but ok for one-offs and small runs so far as they are sanded, veneered and finished or carpeted
And none of that works all that well with mating to printed or machined facias. For production items, the wooden base needs to be spot on and this needs to be easily repeatable. I can see this means nothing to those who have posted here, but I guess this would stem from their continuing to work with familiar processes for their production needs. I am guessing that issues such as mine are more relevant to new entrants who are trying to merge the fit and finish possibilities of new methods with the established efficiencies of older methods
I think two range finders should do the job, one at each end of the fence to keep it square with the saw table. The other thing that comes to mind is a powered fence. Using two ball screws, one at each end of the fence you could make a DIY powered fence. There are lots of these use in 3D printers. You would need to cover the screw with bellows or something to keep it clean. Of course there are computer controlled table saws that you can buy that will move the fence in an instant to the correct position.
Spot on, thats the exact mod. I will set it up with a pair of hand turning wheels at the end of the threaded rods until I can work out the parts and programming for a pair of steppers. Just the routine that raises or drops a 3D printer head will do perfectly
In the end, I support anyone who can come up with an ingenious way of upping production and lowering back pain. I do exactly as you had described, making one off products every now and then. Actual production would be a whole new ball game to me.
I will be curious to see what you come up with. I especially like the idea of having a hand dial for the fence to get the cut that you expect.
I will be curious to see what you come up with. I especially like the idea of having a hand dial for the fence to get the cut that you expect.
This looks interesting. I figured the capacitive linear segment sensors used in digital micrometers would work.
https://www.zoro.com/igaging-ip67-d...ange-readout-52-35-ef52-35-ef52/i/G303077614/
Looks like that is what is used here.
https://www.zoro.com/igaging-ez-view-dro-6-35-706-p-35-706-p/i/G603077444/
Here's an example of a high end saw with digitally controlled fence. You can see the linear actuator in the pictures.
https://www.wurthmachinery.com/Tiger-Fence.html
An example linear actuator.
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2251832663927358.html
Interesting. Plastic gears? A kickstarter, so you may never get one.
https://www.kickstarter.com/project...the-automated-table-saw-fence?ref=creator-nav
https://www.zoro.com/igaging-ip67-d...ange-readout-52-35-ef52-35-ef52/i/G303077614/
Looks like that is what is used here.
https://www.zoro.com/igaging-ez-view-dro-6-35-706-p-35-706-p/i/G603077444/
Here's an example of a high end saw with digitally controlled fence. You can see the linear actuator in the pictures.
https://www.wurthmachinery.com/Tiger-Fence.html
An example linear actuator.
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2251832663927358.html
Interesting. Plastic gears? A kickstarter, so you may never get one.
https://www.kickstarter.com/project...the-automated-table-saw-fence?ref=creator-nav
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Hand dial? Good to have a name for it. Yes, this is the easiest to implement and I have all the parts to set it up except for some aluminium channel about 40mm x 40mm for the rails and they will act as dust covers for the moving parts
I have had a good look at these devices. Prices go up with working length, and 1m seems to be the largest available at any decent price. Thing is that the ball screw thing can be DIYed for a lot less if kept non-electronic but using paired rangefinders. I personally would like a 1.2m working length too
I am going to set my mod with the hand dials first to start work. Then I'll look at a cheap 3D printer and explore taking out the height axis mech and modding the length. I think I came across some info about setting new stops, and hope that the head height controls in the firmware can then be used to set fence distance. maybe
Gantry, thats the word. Naresh, please see my previous reply. I am proposing to DIY a 1.2m unit, similar setup to what's found on a 3D printer gantry, and run that with hand dials in place of the steppers. I'll accommodate the steppers in the design though, as there might be someone on the forum that might take an interest in how to make that implementation work
Linear scales used on many machines are really resistance pots, quite cheap considering the quality and accuracy.
There are also optical encoder based devices, glass scale types and ultrasonic based ones, among others.
The most easily obtained are resistance types, accuracy is within 0.05 mm, good enough for most purposes.
There are also optical encoder based devices, glass scale types and ultrasonic based ones, among others.
The most easily obtained are resistance types, accuracy is within 0.05 mm, good enough for most purposes.
Check out this supplier for all kinds of materials, components and building blocks (like linear actuators) that my be useful in your project.
I have use them many times at my job.
https://us.misumi-ec.com/
I have use them many times at my job.
https://us.misumi-ec.com/