Intro & Question

[soundmotor]

Hello:

I am a metalwork hobbyist and have been involved for many years mostly with manual projects such as blacksmithing, file work, etc. Recently I came into possession of a table saw using (I think) an 8" blade. It is a typical home shop type from the 1950's with heavy duty cast-iron construction but in general is pretty small with roughly a 12"x15" footprint without the motor. I have a full-size table saw and don't need another so I am thinking about putting an abrasive chop saw wheel on it and using it for free-shaping of non-ferrous material. I've read that on some saws the arbor bearing are easy to ruin from the side-action but others hold up OK. This saw looks quite stout in that regard and I am wondering if there is away to assess the bearing suitability by eyeball?

Off the wall question I know, and Hello!

[John Stevenson]

Abrasive chop saw blades load up when used on non ferrous metals, basically they clog and glaze over, you then need more force to push the metal thru and usually they explode.

.

[Optics Curmudgeon]

Just curious, is it a Sears with a model number starting with 103? If so it's made by King-Seely, I had a number of Sears table saws, one of which fit your description. King-Seely used Hoover water pump bearing cartridges as the arbors in the saws they built for Sears. I used my 8 inch as a disk sander for years and it worked fine. It's still going, in someone else's shop.

Joe

[topct]

Chop saw wheels are not made to cut on the side. But you could use one as a nibbler. Adapting some disc grinder wheels might be interesting.

What if you were to make a steel/iron/aluminum disc that fit the saws arbor. You could stick all kinds of sanding discs onto it.

[Weston Bye]

I have something probably very similar that I used for cutting 1"X1" extruded aluminum. The blade height was adjusted with a nice handwheel and leasdscrew. I made a fixture so I could clamp the workpiece flat and square to the tabletop and then just raise the blade up under the material with the handwheel. I used an ordinary carbide-tipped wood blade. The process was noisy and aluminum chips flew like snow in the shop.

Never tried an abrasive wheel.

[spirit20]

I have used an abrasive cut off wheel on my Sears 10" table saw with no adverse effects. I do know that if the table saw is a direct Drive, or the motor is connected directly to the blade arbor you will have trouble. In one of my wood working books it shows how to make cove cuts on the table saw by running the work piece at an angle to the blade to make just about any size cove with in limits of the saws blade size.

[Fasttrack]

The use of an old table saw as an abrasive cutting saw is mentioned briefly in The Complete Modern Blacksmith. It will work fine, but as others have said, they are not meant to handle side loads. It's not the same as using a flex-back bandsaw to cut curved shapes.

It can be used for off-hand cutting of material. They now make abrasive wheels for aluminum, and we've had moderate success cutting the harder alloy aluminums with it. Usually, however, you'd want a fairly coarse pitch bandsaw blade and bandsaw for cutting non-ferrous materials.

[Circlip]

Small point to note, Abrasive saws usually work on the down stroke and have a guard over the top of the wheel. This means if the blade breaks/shatters, the debris goes AWAY from the operator. Got a good bulletproof jacket????

Regards Ian.

[soundmotor]

Got a good bulletproof jacket????

Re: safety, I do appreciate the heads-up!

Re: 'The Complete Modern Blacksmith' was indeed where the idea came from. Subsequent to trying this I'd heard multiple comments about side-loading = bearing failure. I had not thought about the wheel destruction from side loads however. The drawn image in the book calls out an "abrasive cut-off wheel" and shows side action in toolmaking. I might be smarter if I used a 7" depressed center hand grinder wheel instead. Having a chop wheel grenade in front of me would surely leave a mark.

Re: Saw mfg., It may be a Craftsman at that. It is in my shed at the moment and we received another 12" of snow last night so I cannot confirm. I have a Craftsman (King-Seeley) drill press like the one below. It is built like a tank and I believe that is a characteristic of all their tools.

You have given me a lot to think about and I do very much appreciate the way you are treating the FNG!

[Circlip]

Seeley?? Another Brit sneaking under the wire??