Cutting table saw fence rails

[Gary Herrmann]

I may have to cut the rails on my new TS when I get it to accomodate a sliding table. I can cut them with a hack saw and file the edges, but do any of you metal workers or machinists have a recommendation for a blade that I can use in a CS or miter saw so I can get a nice square edge to the rail? I'm willing to buy a good blade to get a square cut.

I've been doing some surfing to see whats out there, and it seems that the rpm of woodworking tools may be too fast to do this properly? Will the speed affect the temper of the rails, or is it more of a risk to the tool?

That being said, I do have a very old CS that I'm willing to burn up to do this. As always, your expertise is appreciated.

[Matt Meiser]

I used my reciprocating saw to cut off my rails. You could get a cheap one at Harbor Freight that would do the job and be useful for a lot of other things as well.

[Gary Curtis]

The General dealer walked me through the alignment procedures for my new 10" TS with Biesemeyer fence and sliding table.

The saw will be shipped 650 miles to my new home in another city. I was stunned when he instructed me to cut the front and rear guild rails for the fence. Along with the left extension table, the rails would interfere with the Sliding Table.

He saw how uncomfortable I was with that idea. So, he told me to remove the left table, mount one guide rail loosely, calculate the excess, and then go to a machine shop and have them lop off extra.

First time I ever heard of anything like that, but I want the slider to operate smoothly, so here goes.....

Gary Curtis

[Allen Bookout]

Gary,

I cut 1/4" x 2" x 2" angle iron with a normal power miter saw using a metal chop saw blade. You can buy them at hardware stores or Home Depot or simular places. I have drilled holes in my Unisaw rails to attach stuff to and the metal on mine is fairly soft. Should be no problem. If you cannot use the 12" blade they also have 10" blades with 5/8" holes. They run 10 or 12 bucks.

I use C clamps to hold the metal solid to the miter saw table and they of course cut real square. You will have to file off a little at the cut to make it real finished. If you hear your saw bog down a little stop the downward pressure for a couple of seconds and start cutting again. A hack saw would cut it with a lot of labor and of course getting it square would probably require grinding which I hate so for me there is no compairson to using the miter saw.

You do not have to worry about the temper as the metal in most of these types of things are not tempered -- just plain old metal.

If you can figure out how to move the metal pieces across the table squarely you could use the metal cutting blade on the CS you mentioned.

The other easy option is to just take them to a machine shop, if one is near, and have them make the cuts. They will probable just lop them off. Should cost very little, just the hastle of getting it done and possible wait.

Allen

[Kent Parker]

Gary,

I have used a chop saw with a metal cutting blade to cut pipe when I made my lumber rack. See it at this link.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=18503

You just have to accomodate the sparks, that's why the small trash can is behind the saw. Its rather easy. Don't worry about "temper". The rails are cold rolled, then painted.

Cheers,

Kent

[Kelly C. Hanna]

I had to cut mine on the Grizzly....used a recip saw....you can rent one for four hours at Home Depot for around $25.

[Dev Emch]

A hack saw will do the job. These rails are often nothing more than hot rolled steel and so you need not worry about hardness and temper.

Clean the cut up with a file. A set of metal files is often called "the poor man's milling machine".

[Bruce Page]

Gary, of course a hacksaw with a good blade(s) will cut it but this sounds like a good excuse to get a Sawzall. I don’t use mine much but it sure is handy when I need it. Finish with hand files and a square.

[Hoa Dinh]

Gary,

You didn't say what kind of metal the rail is.

I cut the aluminum rail of my Unifence using a Hitachi 72T cut off blade in my miter saw. I guess any fine cross cut blade (60T and up) would do. I just happened to have the Hitachi blade handy.

If the rail is steel, I'd use a hack saw and clean up with a file.

[Dan Forman]

I used a metal cutting blade with my jigsaw to cut some Woodhaven Ultratrack, which is quite substantial aluminum. Under $5. They suggested using a bit of oil or WD40 as a lubricant.

What sliding table did you decide on?

Dan

[Gary Herrmann]

While I really like the general sliding table, I was able to get the Jessem Sliding table for less than half of the General's price due to the 25% off sale at Rockler. It is aluminum vs cast iron for the General, and only has 36" of cross cut capacity vs the General's 48", but I think the fence will be more precise and easier to use. Since I can't rip an 8 ft panel with either one, I began to view these as permanent cross cut sleds. So with that thought in mind, 36" of capacity should be just fine. I also still have my EZSmart for plywood.

Originally, I would have rather gotten the General, but with the sale on the Jessem, I can also get an overarm blade guard and and a Biesemeyer splitter for the same price.

I think this combo also lessens the potential heart attack SWMBO will have.

Needless to say, I know what I'm getting from Santa this year.

[Richard Wolf]

I was in Pep Boys Auto store today. They had a 14" metal cut off saw for $79.99. Might be whorth the investment.

Richard

[Mike Stanton]

Why not remove them and move them to the right to make more of a cutting width for cutting plywood. Mike:D

[CPeter James]

I did that on my last saw. I had 60"+ on the right side of the blade and a sliding table on the left. made that saw 9' wide and took up a lot of floor space. This time I will cut them off, especially as I have never used the fence on the left side of the blade. It is a PM66 left tilt.

CPeter

[Joe Mioux]

I own a portable metal bandsaw, PC brand, I love that thing.

You simply can not make a smoother cut in metal outside of using a stationary vertical metal band saw.

Try renting one of those.

I have used a metal chop saw, a Sawzall and a jigsaw before for what you want to do.

The little hand held bandsaw beats themall.

[Jerry Clark]

I used a hacksaw with a 32tpi blade -- took about 5 minutes-- this is easy and not NASA stuff!;)