Art Bianconi
06-27-2009, 11:56 AM
The new saw is finally assembled. The most difficult part was attaching the machined cast iron table. It's almost impossible to do alone and perhaps even risky.
It's a heavy device and I found it a real challenge to hold the table and adjust it's position with one hand while attempting to start the fasteners in the threads with the other. Prudent users will ask someone for help.
There is no lighting anywhere, for anything. I fixed that quickly enough for under $30. There is a seperate string on that subject in this forum and I will return to that string in the future when I've figured out how to illuminate the blade at the cut,
The base I also ordered from Grizzly and turns out to be the "Base from Hell".
It's not made for this saw but is a universal base that one adjusts to fit the footprint of the intended application. The adjusting holes are on one inch centers so there is a substantial gap around the base. The limited adjustments make for a poor fit to the base of this saw.
Four corner plates about 1/16 to 1/18" thick are welded to the frame. They are butt welded on only two edges; the remaining part of the plate is unsupported and cantilevered out into space. The entire weight of the saw rests on these four plates!
I was immediately concerned about their ability to hold up over time without failing.
Getting the saw up and onto the wheeled base was a challenge and made more so by the fact that I installed it 180 degrees to what I needed. Only one pair of wheels caster so directional control is limited. It took 30 minutes working alone to muscle the saw around without hurting myself or the saw.
With the saw in place in the base and positioned, I screwed down the two floor jacks to lock it in place. I then went to cut something. That's when I saw that the base lacks the torsional rigidity needed. A slight push on the saw and it started rocking. It went through 5 cycles before the energy was dampened out and it came to rest. I got down on my hands and knees and made sure that the wheels and jacks were all firmly against the cement floor. They were.
When the base first arrived I concluded that I could not build such a device for $65, Now that I've used it, I've concluded that I would not build such a device at any price!
One more reason for saying this is that the four "shelves" that the wheels attach to have 90 degree sharp corners that stick out four inches out from each end of the base at ankle height.
You hit your shin with that and the world will know you speak two languages!
I'm not certain I can return it as I've tossed the packaging it came in. I'm shopping for a new TIG welder so I might use it as an excuse to "repair" the base.
The other alternative is to build up a wood base of my own design. It's easy enough to do; I simply don't have the discretionary time.
The base of the saw is a substantial weldment. It's essentially a five sided box, open at the bottom and
appears to be made up from 1/4 steel plate. The saw frame is welded to the top of the box.
Because it's hollow and rather deep (4?) it means perhaps building up a solid wood insert that will fill the inside of the box completely. There are four existing bolt holes, one in each corner of the base, that were used to secure the saw to the shipping pallet.
Between building such a device and repairing the purchased base I am inclined to run a few 2 x 6's through the planer and making one myself. Tipping a six foot tall, 300 pound saw over on it's side should be fun!
Art
It's a heavy device and I found it a real challenge to hold the table and adjust it's position with one hand while attempting to start the fasteners in the threads with the other. Prudent users will ask someone for help.
There is no lighting anywhere, for anything. I fixed that quickly enough for under $30. There is a seperate string on that subject in this forum and I will return to that string in the future when I've figured out how to illuminate the blade at the cut,
The base I also ordered from Grizzly and turns out to be the "Base from Hell".
It's not made for this saw but is a universal base that one adjusts to fit the footprint of the intended application. The adjusting holes are on one inch centers so there is a substantial gap around the base. The limited adjustments make for a poor fit to the base of this saw.
Four corner plates about 1/16 to 1/18" thick are welded to the frame. They are butt welded on only two edges; the remaining part of the plate is unsupported and cantilevered out into space. The entire weight of the saw rests on these four plates!
I was immediately concerned about their ability to hold up over time without failing.
Getting the saw up and onto the wheeled base was a challenge and made more so by the fact that I installed it 180 degrees to what I needed. Only one pair of wheels caster so directional control is limited. It took 30 minutes working alone to muscle the saw around without hurting myself or the saw.
With the saw in place in the base and positioned, I screwed down the two floor jacks to lock it in place. I then went to cut something. That's when I saw that the base lacks the torsional rigidity needed. A slight push on the saw and it started rocking. It went through 5 cycles before the energy was dampened out and it came to rest. I got down on my hands and knees and made sure that the wheels and jacks were all firmly against the cement floor. They were.
When the base first arrived I concluded that I could not build such a device for $65, Now that I've used it, I've concluded that I would not build such a device at any price!
One more reason for saying this is that the four "shelves" that the wheels attach to have 90 degree sharp corners that stick out four inches out from each end of the base at ankle height.
You hit your shin with that and the world will know you speak two languages!
I'm not certain I can return it as I've tossed the packaging it came in. I'm shopping for a new TIG welder so I might use it as an excuse to "repair" the base.
The other alternative is to build up a wood base of my own design. It's easy enough to do; I simply don't have the discretionary time.
The base of the saw is a substantial weldment. It's essentially a five sided box, open at the bottom and
appears to be made up from 1/4 steel plate. The saw frame is welded to the top of the box.
Because it's hollow and rather deep (4?) it means perhaps building up a solid wood insert that will fill the inside of the box completely. There are four existing bolt holes, one in each corner of the base, that were used to secure the saw to the shipping pallet.
Between building such a device and repairing the purchased base I am inclined to run a few 2 x 6's through the planer and making one myself. Tipping a six foot tall, 300 pound saw over on it's side should be fun!
Art