Dead Nuts On

[Alan Turner]

Well guys, some time ago I posted,with a poor pix or two, of buying a Hammond Trim-O-Saw which I located on ebay. Well, today I finally set it up, cleaned it, and test drove it. The occasion was a special Forrest blade I had ordered about 6 or so weeks ago. Had to call them twice. But, it finally arrived. Including the specially made blade, I have $300 in it.

Well, I have to report that it is dead nuts on for both 90's and 45's. The miters are perfect, and a tenon shoulder set of cuts had zero variation. Smooth, and cool.

This saw is just for joinery work. It has no rip capacity at all. None. But if you are taking a cut of less than one kerf in width, just trimming in other words, I think it has about 4" of capacity.

I am well satisfied. The Hammond Glider is better known among WW'ers, but the miter guage saw is fine also. The miter bar is 1/2" by about 1.5", and is totally milled, as is the groove it rides in. No adjustment for square. It just is square.

I can imagine that it would live right by my bench during fitting and initial assembly. It has no DC, but is quiet as a church mouse. I think it is only about 1/2 horse, and the blade is about 7" or a little less. Need to check those things.

This saw was made for trimming lead print type, and mind came out of a Philadelphia public school printing education shop. So, I don't think it has a lot of miles on it.

So far, I would recommend one to others. More, with pix, to follow. It is at the other shop, and so that is my excuse for the absence of photos.

[Chris Padilla]

Look forward to the pix because I have no clue what you are talking about! :)

[Jamie Buxton]

Alan --
Do you have any idea where the phrase "dead nuts on" comes from? I used it on a very literate non-builder person the other day, who had never heard it. She wanted to know what it meant and where it came from, and I had no idea.

[Vaughn McMillan]

Alan --
Do you have any idea where the phrase "dead nuts on" comes from? I used it on a very literate non-builder person the other day, who had never heard it. She wanted to know what it meant and where it came from, and I had no idea.
PMFJI, but AFAIK, "dead nuts" refers to "zero", as in zero error. When I was doing surveying years ago, "balls" was used in place of ".00", i.e., "52 balls" was equal to 52.00 feet. I believe "dead nuts" is a similar (albeit slightly vulgar) usage.

Add me to the list of people who want to see pics so we have a clue what this machine looks like. (I missed the earlier thread.)

- Vaughn

[Alan Turner]

Here is the prior thread, with pix, but they are of such poor quality that I doubt they'll help much.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=17013

I do not know the origin of the phrase I used, but I hope it is not vulgar; that was certainly not my intent.

[Vaughn McMillan]

Thanks for the link Alan. Interesting looking little beast.

I'm sure nobody took offense at your terminology; your intent was clear.

- Vaughn

[Bill Arnold]

Alan --
Do you have any idea where the phrase "dead nuts on" comes from? I used it on a very literate non-builder person the other day, who had never heard it. She wanted to know what it meant and where it came from, and I had no idea.OK, so I was in 'research' mode...here's what I found so far:

"In the scale industry which dates back to the beginnings of measurement; Dead Naught or the point at which there is no movement of scale is Dead Zero. Naught is the arithmetical symbol 0(Webster). Zero was replaced with Naught having the same identifier as a position of "Zero". One can look at the orientation in Nautical and Firearm (Military) Terms (As described in earlier accounts, and restated here): The point of departure in reckoning; specifically : the point from which the graduation of a scale (as of a thermometer) begins (2) : the temperature represented by the zero mark on a thermometer b : the setting or adjustment of the sights of a firearm that causes it to shoot to point of aim at a desired range. The Dead Nuts is simply the wrong spelling for Dead Naught but is well accepted and will remain a constant for many years to come. Remember before we had digital scales there were threaded nuts that were locked in place to set the zero. A scale adjusted to and set to zero has "Dead Nuts"."

"Back in the good old days, high quality D'Arsonval meter scales and some machine tool related scales used a symbol very much like the lazy eight infinity symbol for the zero, or reference mark. Made it easier to see if you
were off to one side or another in your adjustment, hence the terminology, "dead nuts". "

Inquiring minds want to know..........:D

[John Hart]

And "Balls to the Wall" refers to aircraft where the two throttles, having a round knob on the top of each, is pushed full forward to the front panel wall. Just in case it comes up.:rolleyes:

Nice machine Alan....may your miters be true:)

[Richard Wolf]

What great things we learn on the forum!!

Richard