Applying the bridge principal - 3 versions

[Burt Waddell]

Last time I posted on the bridge concept in the general forum, a lot of those who do not view the EZ forum seemed to appreciate the information. This time I have photos of 3 different bridges. One is a large capacity that can rip and cross cut to over 8'. Another is much more closely related to a miter saw in application but with a much larger capacity. The third one is a practical version that most woodworkrs and homeowners could enjoy having in their shop.

Below is a link to the tables. These are on the Kodak Gallery and have information below each photo. I find it easier to just use the arrows in the upper right to move thru the photos than to use the slide show button. The slide show is to fast for me. I believe there is a total of 32 photos.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=drgivcf.232d8zsv&Uy=-t0cw86&Ux=0

Enjoy

[Dino Makropoulos]

Amazing.

Good job Burt.

[Peter Pedisich]

Burt,

That compact miter/cross cut saw is very cool, does the rail clamp down on the piece of wood well enough to prevent slippage?

Pete

[Burt Waddell]

Burt,

That compact miter/cross cut saw is very cool, does the rail clamp down on the piece of wood well enough to prevent slippage?

Pete

Peter,

Prevent is a big order. I have ripped 1 1/4" x 3/4" Maple into 1 1/4" x 5/16" - 24" long - and got no slippage. I haven't noticed any slippage with it and we spent two days last week giving it a real work out.

Burt

[Peter Pedisich]

Burt,

Thanks, I'm trying to explain the 'Bridge' priciple to a guy I work with and the 200 appears as though it would clamp down on the workpiece better than the 100 with the benefit of the weight of the saw and the 100 you have to adjust with greater care. I guess what I'm saying is that the 200 looks like it would be pressing down on the wood better.

Creative ideas, thanks for sharing.

Pete

[Burt Waddell]

Burt,

Thanks, I'm trying to explain the 'Bridge' priciple to a guy I work with and the 200 appears as though it would clamp down on the workpiece better than the 100 with the benefit of the weight of the saw and the 100 you have to adjust with greater care. I guess what I'm saying is that the 200 looks like it would be pressing down on the wood better.

Creative ideas, thanks for sharing.

Pete

Peter,

Dino has had more experience with the bridges that he has developed and could do a better job of answering.

The stop system can also contribute to the holding power. As for the 100 vs the 200, It would seem that the 200 should hold better than the 100. It may be one of those things where enough is enough and the 100 is more than adequate. Dino expects the 100 to be used in industrial applications because it can be set up where it is relative easy to feed the wood under the rail but you still get good clamping action. I experienced that a good bit in the first bridge system that I used. Just to think about it, it makes little sense. In actual application, it works very well.

Burt

[Peter Pedisich]

Thanks Burt,

This guy I work with is considering building his own wall mounted vertical panel saw for his 1-car garage/shop.
I'm trying to get him to consider the EZ system instead because he likes his circular saw alot and was going to mount it in the panel saw, but it would be more versatile and efficient if he just built a cutting table and got the EZ 114" setup and maybe one of the Bridges.

Pete

[Allen Bookout]

Peter,

I think that the problem with your friend using a bridge table would be space. You say that he is in a one car garage and I work in a two car garage and do not have enough room for a large table setup. I use the cabinet masters on a smart table and it works fine as I can fold up the table and get it out of the way. Everytime that I look at Burt's pictures I know that I would love to have a setup like that but there is no way due to space restrictions. There might be a way to make it foldable but I think that it would be a big effort to set it up every time that you needed it.

[Burt Waddell]

Thanks Burt,

This guy I work with is considering building his own wall mounted vertical panel saw for his 1-car garage/shop.
I'm trying to get him to consider the EZ system instead because he likes his circular saw alot and was going to mount it in the panel saw, but it would be more versatile and efficient if he just built a cutting table and got the EZ 114" setup and maybe one of the Bridges.

Pete

Pete,

You correct on all your statements. One problem with the wall mount panel saws is that it takes a lot of room. Basically you have a space for the saw plus input space plus runoff space. There is no question that the EZ Smart equipment takes a lot less space and can perform a lot more functions.

[Burt Waddell]

Peter,

I think that the problem with your friend using a bridge table would be space. You say that he is in a one car garage and I work in a two car garage and do not have enough room for a large table setup. I use the cabinet masters on a smart table and it works fine as I can fold up the table and get it out of the way. Everytime that I look at Burt's pictures I know that I would love to have a setup like that but there is no way due to space restrictions. There might be a way to make it foldable but I think that it would be a big effort to set it up every time that you needed it.

Allen,

Take a serious look at the last table I have in the photo's. This is a 50" x 24" table. You can use removable extensions to make as large as you need. Also it can be folded for storage.

Burt