Hilarious Use for Table Saw: Gunsmithing

[Steve H Graham]

I had a Saiga 12 shotgun I wanted to put a laser on. Problem: this is an AK-47-based shotgun with a side rail, and most AK-type guns are rifles. That means most mounts are for scopes, which go above the receiver, obstructing the sights. You don't want that with a shotgun. You need the iron sights. So I needed a mount that would let me offset the laser to the left.

UTG makes a mount that has two rails. One to the left, and one above the receiver. I decided to buy one and use my Powermatic 66 to saw the top rail off. It worked like a charm. I was careful to lube the blade with WD40 to avoid having aluminum weld itself to the teeth.

[Steve H Graham]

After photos. I haven't gotten around to buy stuff to blacken the aluminum, so for now, I used a black Sharpie.

[george wilson]

With aluminum,you can get by with a bit of that sort of thing once in a while,though I wouldn't do it. Any movement of the metal at all,and you could have been in trouble. Did you inspect the tips of your blade to see if a tiny"false edge" of impact welded aluminum built up on the teeth?

We used to cut 1/2" brass on our wood cutting bandsaw before we got a metal cutting contour saw. We used a used saw blade on it(bandsaw blades are cheaper than carbide table saw blades),and somehow,it actually seemed to make the blade feel sharper!! Might have been due to brass welding onto the tips of the teeth. Understand,we only cut 4" to 8" of the brass plate,never a lot.

[Steve H Graham]

I think I was pretty safe, with that wooden strap securing the mount to the scrap jig. I have so many blades, I can afford to lose one to this kind of thing, although I did use lube to protect the teeth.

You have to understand, nobody makes the part I needed. It was this way or no way. I don't plan to do this all the time.

Maybe I should mark one blade "metal only," for times when I get desperate.

[Bruce Page]

Steve, that’s pretty ingenious. I like your jig and it got the job done. I bet clean-up was a pain.

As far as cutting brass & aluminum on a bandsaw. I have cut a ton of it on my old 1/2 hp 14” Delta including 1½” alum plate - and it never skipped a beat. You just have to be patient and go slow.

[Josiah Bartlett]

For anyone who plans to do this, make sure you clean the base of your saw out before and after. I nearly burnt down my Unisaw once after I was cutting some MDF with an old blade. It threw a few sparks and set the dust in the base of the cabinet to smouldering. Fortunately I came back into the shop after a few minutes and noticed it before it caught.

Aluminum and Magnesium burn very well once ignited.

[Chris Kennedy]

Aluminum and Magnesium burn very well once ignited.

I wouldn't be overly worried about this. I don't know the ignition temperature for aluminum, but the ignition temp for magnesium is significant. You need high temperatures for prolonged periods to ignite magnesium -- you can bathe magnesium ribbon in the flame from a propane torch for minutes before it will ignite. Passing through a sawblade isn't going to do it.

Back to the OP and little off-topic, and please, pardon my ignorance, but why would you put a laser on a shotgun? A laser seems antithetical to how a shotgun works. (Obviously I am not well-versed in this, but I really am curious.)

Cheers,

Chris

[Rob Russell]

Anytime a gun topic comes up, we end up having to yank the thread.

Please keep any posts on-topic to Steve's original post which is a unique way of using a table saw.

If this thread wanders off anywhere near gun control or anything like that - it's gone.

Sorry - but the Moderators don't have time to give multiple warnings anymore given the activity on SMC.

Rob

[Steve H Graham]

I'll tell you why I got a laser, since someone asked. Many people think you don't have to aim a shotgun, but that's a Hollywood myth. I recently saw test data on a gun like mine, except that the barrel was shortened to 8". Using a certain brand of 00 buck, it shot a 6" pattern at 75 feet. That's six INCHES and seventy-five FEET. No typos. That's nothing like what you see in movies.

I am no firearms expert, but I think a laser could be very helpful when defending a house at night. I think I'm also going to get night sights, but with this thing, I shouldn't need to use them. God willing, I'll never need them, regardless.

I don't want to get off on a gun thread; I know this is not the purpose of this website. I just thought it was funny, how my saw had turned out to be useful in this unexpected way. If I hadn't had this idea, I would have had to hire someone to solve the problem. And the jig might be helpful to anyone else who needs to cut a small piece of aluminum.

I completely understand if any of this has to be removed.

[Pat Germain]

Anytime a gun topic comes up, we end up having to yank the thread.

Please keep any posts on-topic to Steve's original post which is a unique way of using a table saw.

If this thread wanders off anywhere near gun control or anything like that - it's gone.

Sorry - but the Moderators don't have time to give multiple warnings anymore given the activity on SMC.

Rob


Looks like you're the only one who's mentioned gun control, Rob. ;) I'm sure we can keep it that way.

[Mike Gager]

somebody on one of the forums i read mentioned to cut metal with a table saw its best to turn the blade around so its spinning the opposite direction. less chance of a tooth snagging. i dont know how true it is but it seems logical

[Karl Brogger]

and we sway off topic... I wouldn't flip the blade around, then there's nothing but the brazing holding the teeth on, no backer. Sounds riskier to me, and besides it works fine forwards.

6" @ 75' is pretty amazing. I'm a snap shooter. Whether it be clays with a shot gun, open pistols sights, or even sometimes getting something on the run with a optics and a rifle. I'd think in a panic "someones in the house mode", you aren't going to aim much. Another thing to consider is that if you use something like a game load it won't penetrate walls as easily as 00, so less likely to hurt someone in the next room. For the same reason I won't use ball ammo in my .45 except for target shooting, hollow points hit something and lose their energy pretty quick as the bullet shatters. Besides, most shots taken inside of a house will be less than 20', anthing you pull the trigger on inside of that will be hamburger even with a light game load.

[Al Willits]

Still not to the stage where I can use my table saw as a metal cutting device...don't have any extra blades might be one of the reasons and just feel nervous doing it...maybe someday.

Glad it worked well for ya, sometime we have to make do and it looks like you did just fine..

Al...who thinks being comfortable with your defense weapon is a major importantance and if a dot does it, more power to ya.

[Scott T Smith]

Steve, that's some nice workmanship and a great use of your existing machinery.

Some months back I made a new instrument panel for a Cessna 170 airplane, and used my Dewalt router and carbide bits for inlaying a housing into the main aluminum panel. Everything turned out very well and I found that the woodworking tools a natural fit. My Festool sanders were used towards the end of the project to remove all of the small scratches on the panel face acquired during my fabrication. Occasionally I had to clean some aluminum from the cutting edges on the router bits, but that was all.

Re aiming devices for a shotgun, a small Surefire type flashlight on the fore end works very well. Center the pattern in the center of the light beam, and I find it quicker to acquire than a small laser dot.

[Lee Schierer]

somebody on one of the forums i read mentioned to cut metal with a table saw its best to turn the blade around so its spinning the opposite direction. less chance of a tooth snagging. i dont know how true it is but it seems logical

Flipping the blade around was a technique for using a plywood blade to cut thin aluminum. Cabide tipped blades are likely to fail if you run them backwards.

[Steve H Graham]

if you use something like a game load it won't penetrate walls as easily as 00, so less likely to hurt someone in the next room.

My research tells me it's also much less likely to stop an attacker. Reasonable minds may differ. The odds of hitting someone in another room are tiny, and I have plaster interior walls and concrete outer walls.

I'm content to take the advice of the FBI and, of course, the Box o' Truth. Right or wrong, I believe in penetration.

When I was a kid, I accidentally shot my house with a .38, which almost certainly penetrates better than a single 00 pellet. It went through an interior wall and fell out on the other side, landing near the baseboard. Not much of a threat. A person in the other room could have safely caught it in his hand.

I agree, the ammunition I mentioned is pretty great. I look forward to testing it. It sounds like the answer to a shotgun owner's prayers.

[curtis rosche]

i cant imagine that the noise the saw made sounded good!? mustve been a really loud screech

[Karl Brogger]

When I was a kid, I accidentally shot my house with a .38, which almost certainly penetrates better than a single 00 pellet. It went through an interior wall and fell out on the other side, landing near the baseboard. Not much of a threat. A person in the other room could have safely caught it in his hand.

Just before taking a K-car to the junk yard I put a .45 round through the door out of curiosity, it to didn't do much. Found it sitting on the back seat.