Mini Table Saws .......

Skip, I'll forward the link to him so he can check it out. Thanks for posting.

Thanks Don, he saw the one at HF but we really didn't take it seriously, he is looking to do precision work -- the angles on the wings, tail and other parts are pretty critical for a well balanced good flying plane. There is a guy in Orlando FL who builds a small saw, ( http://www.byrnesmodelmachines.com/tablesaw.html ) but as far as we can tell it does not have a tilting arbor or table. He is going to contact the man to find out if it does tilt, or if can make one that tilts.

We didn't think that there was much available in Mini Saws, but I thought I'd run it by ya'all -- never can tell.
 
tony, is there a reason your friend couldn`t use a sliding miter saw for his plane projects? they`re available most places and would serve two purposes...just thinkin` out loud.....tod
 
He uses 1/8 plywood (high quality craft ply), Balsa wood, and special types of foam made and used for model planes. Weight is an issue, it has to be light. He needs something with a lot of finesse, a sliding miter saw is to big to serve his needs. Some of the parts he makes are very small, I've tried to cut some for him but it gets difficult and dangerous on our machines. The blades, teeth and speeds we use sometimes chews up the materials.

The only alternative we've thought of is a scroll saw, but it has several pitfalls for what he's doing. If the Byrnes model can be made to tilt, he's going that direction, If not he'll get the Proxxon unless he can find another choice.
 
From comments I have seen on other forums, the mini table saws are jokes when it comes to cutting. Grossly underpowered.
I have a good friend who builds large rc airplanes, probably 20-30 a year. He does it all kneeling on his garage floor, no workbench. No saw. I think he cuts everything with a knife.
 
Would a small, benchtop band saw work? For straight cuts, he could use the miter gauge. I used to have a cheap 8" Ryobi, which was worthless for wood of any substantial thickness, but worked quite well for the thin stuff. Just another thought.

Cheers,

Kevin
 
Tony my Dear old dad is an RC model guy and he has a B&D :eek: little band saw, powered by a hand drill :eek::eek::eek: :rofl:

He swears by it, with the stuff he cuts, he says the only thing he does not like is the noise the drill makes.

Other guys in his group all have small band saws, with a sharp thin blade, and a VERY thin kerf, they do well on the model stuff, the table tilts and it has a small miter thing, so he can do compund cuts too.

No pics in this thread yet......... :rolleyes:

wpe7.jpg

Grampa, my sister, and my two girls a few years ago with one of his planes, he has been flying RC since I was born, which is over 40 years ago.

I did a bit of digging and I found a newer version of what he has, it is a
Black & Decker 7-1/2" Power Band Saw

BD1.jpg
BD2.jpg

For him it is great.

Cheers!
 
Hey Stu, our fathers sound alot alike, must be that Canadian thing!

My Dad builds 1/4 scale, Big Birds. His current project (6 years now) has a wing span of over 12'. He was going to use weed trimmer motors (2) but has changed his mind and is now looking for electric motors. The main body was so large we thought for awhile that he was building a canoe for the grandchildren! :)

To bring this into context, he is still cutting all of his wood material with a straight edge and knife. Not much wood in his craft though as an ex aircraft sheetmetal man they are mostly metal. It was interesting watching him spin the cowling out of aluminum on a home built lathe like machine. Process much like I've seen copper bowls spun at varioius shows.

Doug
 
I haven't seen the Byrnes saw, but if it's the same quality level as his thickness sander, it's waaaay better than the Proxxon I saw at Woodcraft. Definitely not cheap though.

Depending on the volume of stuff he's doing with it, one alternative is a custom laser-cutting shop like Mountain Models. Definitely the way to go when you need things like a couple of dozen high-precision parts like wing ribs.
 
Tony,

Check out the Micro-Precision Table Saw at Preac Tool Co., Inc.
http://www.preac.com/table_saw.htm
When we bought ours many years ago it was the best on the market.

SWMBO uses it sometimes, but i hate working with parts that small. Would just as soon chisel or carve it.

The only failing i have witnessed with the Preac table saw is slipping of the belt under heavy torque. I was probably asking to much of it. Otherwise it works as advertised.

rick
 
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