First Table Saw SIP 01332 Missing Bits, EBay Lesson

[rdesign]

Havent noticed any blade movement present with my saw. I'm away till saturday, galway races time of year!
second hand machines have their glitches 2 days scrubbing rust off and another few hours work and days research learning how to align them. but couldn't afford the standard of machine new. so gotta deal with the hassel hope you get it cutting dust soon.

Regards Richard

 

[kmp]

Well, spent a few days with the table saw and almost got quite friendly but sorry to say we fell out again today.

The fence problem turned out to be another example of the thing not being properly assembled. The 4 pan head screws that hold the fence plate on were barely tight and although it didn't feel loose it was moving slightly as it locked or was moved. Tightened them properly and re-set the fence parallel and the fence now locks repeatedly with very little error.

Found an interesting fault with the blade that wobbled - it is cracked from the centre hole about half way out towards the cutting tips - so went straight into the rubbish bag. I have fitted a new blade and the saw cuts very well indeed, 60 tooth so cutting plywood with very little breakout and (for me) excellent finish.

Found several other items that were not fitted correctly or just loose, it has had a new motor at some time so I think that it was just thrown back together again waiting for a mug like me to come along. Anyway, fixed all of those and fitted some of the missing items with the help of Dodge off of this forum, thanks very much Rog. The saw runs very quietly and now cuts accurately so I thought I was on the home straight.

The top was very dirty and stained when I bought it so having got it running OK I thought a good clean up was deserved. Scraped off the muck and gave it the once over with WD40 and steel wool, disaster, under the rubbish there are some quite deep areas where it has apparently been attacked with a grinding disk to remove some areas of rust by the looks of it. One of the areas on the main table to the right of the blade is 0.4mm deep over about 5sq cm. So next question is, should I be worried at my early stage of the hobby or is it OK to ignore and carry on with?

Keith

 

[Graham Orm]

Ouch! sounds like that saw has had a pounding Keith! How far away from the blade is the rough area? It must have been in quite a state for you not to notice it to start with.

 

[kmp]

Hi Graham,

Yes the table was black and covered with a layer of MDF dust and oil grime, I'm afraid I bought it on a "buy it now" and was too excited at getting my first "real" table saw to have a proper look. Should have wondered why it was being sold in a dirty state, we live and learn I guess.

The damaged area is 250mm in front of the blade and some 260mm to the right side, just to the right of the mitre slot on that side.

Keith

 

[Graham Orm]

You should be OK then I reckon. Has it got bolted on table extension pieces? Mine had a wing on either side. (All cast).

 

[kmp]

Thanks Graham

Yes it has the two cast iron extension tables fitted either side and they are both fine. I guess with that amount of flat support still in front and to the side of the blade it shouldn't cause too many issues but it is really annoying to be caught out. Particularly as my wife is always telling me to buy new and not mess about with this second hand "junk" as she calls it.

Regards

Keith

 

[rdesign]

I have heard u can use self leveling epoxy if its very bad but with only a small area and not beside the blade u should be fine as wood will float over the area unless very small.
Spent 2 days scrubbing my table top very rusty used wet and dry sand paper but only had minimal pithing and the usual cast staining.

glad ur on the home straight and making saw dust.

Regards Richard

 

[kmp]

Thanks Richard,

Just finished my first half day scrubbing and sanding the top. Many areas have cleaned up but a few that are deeper are hard work. Am now checking the overall flatness with my straight edge and it is not too bad really, just the one bad area where it looks as if someone has used a power sander on the edge to remove rust. As it is a fairly small area and some way from the blade I think I shall leave it for now and see how the saw performs. I will spend the rest of the day trying to get out the remaining small scratches and setting the extension tables level.

First impressions now it's set up reasonably well is very good, cuts square and parallel according to my best engineering tools but has shown up my combination square as needing a bit of fine tuning or replacement. Finish is so much better than my old portable table saw it is unreal, and the quiet running is worth the money in itself.

So, only issue now is the mitre gauge as I haven't got the sliding table on this one. I have been looking at the "Osbourne" from Axminster but at £100+ it is quite an investment. In fact the sliding table fitted to their TS200 is less expensive so might take some measurements and see if one could be fitted for smaller lighter work if I removed the left hand extension table. I know this is really too small for the SIP but it has a movement of 900mm so might be more useful than the mitre gauge. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Must say that after my initial disappointment I feel a little better now that I have cut some wood with it. I'm sure I will soon forget the character of the table top.

Regards Keith

 

[rdesign]

Honestly build yourself a sled for your table saw. will do everything a mitre gauge will do and is really accurate.

have a temporary fence able to be installed in the middle for mitre cuts. a sheet of 6 mm birch ply and some 4 x2 pine planned perfectly straight is alot cheaper than 100 beans use hard wood for the runners in the tracks and cover them in candle wax.

Regards Richard

 

[kmp]

OK Richard, I'll get on and build a sled before I throw anymore money at it, I'm always partial to saving a few beans when I can. The wife calls me stingy other than when I buy tools then of course I'm wasteful.

I'm still scrubbing away here but it is certainly starting to look reasonable and my arm and shoulder is making it look better and better as we go on. The sled will be my first project so hope I can get it cut square.

Thanks again Keith

 

[rdesign]

dont worry about cutting it square get the runners that they fit nicely in the mitre slots then a reasonably square piece of ply or mdf attached to them leave the runners longer than ur table and the sled base longer than ur table this allows you to adjust them and clamp them together then counter sink and screw them together then u can take out the screws to apply glue if you want. when it runs solid with no play wax will be needed for that to happen.

Raise your blade up slowly while cutting the rifing knife will need to be removed and cut the sled leaving 10 cms of not cut material either end. then make your fences 90 degrees to this. once thats done put on your rifing knife and cut the whole way through with your blade at max height this is why your fences need to be atleast 100 mm tall to allow for structural strength when the saw cut is made now you have an exact cutting line and support to stop break out and accurate 90 degree cutting.

hope this helps.
regards Richard

 

[kmp]

Thanks Richard, picked up some 12mm ply today but currently struggling to find some decent hardwood for the runners. I need to locate some decent timber yards as the DIY/Builders merchants seem to have very little choice and what they have is obviously gold impregnated. I will build to your suggestion and can then learn to use it as well as the table saw. I'm rather pleased how the saw has cleaned up although it still shows a lot of character, still wondering about its history though as almost every nut and bolt was loose and even the table top was only finger tight - still good way to learn my way round it.

Thanks again for all your help.

Keith

 

[rdesign]

Try call around a few joinery's as they will prob have a scrap bin with fire wood. probably get a suitable bit for the runners i got loads once of small foot long offcuts and some longer narrow bits. commercial places don't store all this extra stock they need the space.

Regards Rick

 

[rdesign]

just thought you might be interested set up my cheap router table on a work mate behind my saw! extra outfeed support and used it to do tennons the table saw wasted away most of the material then a router bit gave a nice smooth finish. was pretty happy with the results.

 

[kmp]

Hi Rick,

Excellent idea and looks very useful, but makes me even more disappointed that I haven't got the sliding table for mine - yet?

When I picked up my son from Exeter the other day I diverted to Axminster and had a good look at the sliding table fitted to the little TS200 which is very reasonably priced. One of my thoughts was to use it both on the table saw if I could fit it and on a router table for my newly acquired router, so your picture is most interesting to me and proves it can be done and it works. The issue of course would be the very limited travel for the much smaller sliding table.

I also managed to get some of the remaining missing parts for my saw from them and what I thought was very reasonable prices. Have to take my son back tomorrow so will then be back out in the workshop to put it all together and finish my sled as you advised. Picked up some decent hardwood strips for the runners so just need the time to get on with it.

I would also be interested in any comments you have on a small router table as the one I currently have is rather large and heavy and I am running out of space. Perhaps I could accommodate the sliding table for the SIP if I didn't need to find room for a larger separate router table.

Thanks again Rick, very useful for me to think about.

Regards

Keith

 

[rdesign]

Hi Keith
at the moment thats just a 40 euro router table want to build a table on the back of my saw. all a router table is, is a flat surface with a hole in the top and a router in the bottom i am going to get t nuts and laminate a long strip of birch ply and have it attached to my rip fence on my table saw to act for the router as well if I needed one but can use the original as a depth marker with the sliding carriage at the moment. some people say that a router table their makes ur life harder it was great for me I cut the shoulders of the tennons with the saw blade then quickly wasted away some of the waste and then used the router table to clean them up nicely got some good results. To drop the router or the table saw blade isn't difficult and i usually use either a bearing bit or the slider. an outfeed makes big stock easier to cut on the table saw and its really dead space anyway so perfect for me to have it their no other space in my shop. 27 x 18 is my workshop.
see a spindal moulder advertised at the moment! would be nice their also

Good luck
rick

 

[kmp]

Thanks Rick, excellent advice and some good ideas for me to ponder.

Have just agreed with builder to start a workshop extension tomorrow so am now thinking of waiting for that to be completed to see what extra room I have available. I understand the Axminster sliding table will fit and is a fair bit cheaper than the SIP version at the moment. I have made the cross sled as you advised and it is a revelation in ease of use and getting an accurate cut so thanks very much. I am still tempted by a sliding table however and as it looks like I can afford a little bit bigger extension than I feared, I am hopeful that I could accommodate the complete setup as you show in your picture.

The router table sounds a relatively easy project for me to build so perhaps the money would be better spent on the sliding table and a bandsaw which appears to be my next "must have". As I told the wife last night I am at risk of having more space than machines to fill it so something has to be done - she didn't look that convinced.

Hope you enjoy your time in America, my daughter spent some time working in Washington and really enjoyed it.

Good luck

Keith

 

[rdesign]

found one problem doh!! have the router table up to the back rail which stops the fence getting closer than 120 mm to the blade definitely need to build a t Square fence now. or could move the router table back 1 inch but don't want to have to re level it! lazy i know..... will be gone in two weeks don't need to do any ripping before then and will prob move the router table before i leave for the dad and brother to use the saw :/ kinda want to lock my workshop and hid the keys!! its my baby........... is it bad not to share???

Regards Rick