Help identifying this table saw

[OddsBodkins]

Hello. I’ve recently been given some new responsibilities at work and one of them includes using some equipment in an old “cutting room” to prepare small test pieces. As part of this I have done a quick audit to ensure we have manuals/operating instructions for all of the equipment. The last person to look after all of this was an old fella who past away some time ago and seemingly took all of the knowledge with him as there is nothing written or filed anywhere on this dual blade parallel table saw. I have checked all around and there is no manufactures plate and only one sticker. Can anyone help identify it so that I can start looking for manuals etc. Also I see in principle how it works, but I don‘t understand how the guard is supposed to work, so any help on that would be most appreciated. There’s also some discussion about the orientation of the blades, I assume the teeth should facing the operator so the piece is “pulled” away from you but another lad is pretty certain he remembers it needing to be set up the other way! As you can from a H&S pov we are nowhere near using it yet but I’m hoping someone on here can help with identification. Pics are attached.

 

[Lorenzl]

It looks like a MAKITA 2708 and I would say the dual blade is a custom setup just for your project.

The blades look like metal cutting ones - slitting saw.

 

[OddsBodkins]

It looks like a MAKITA 2708 and I would say the dual blade is a custom setup just for your project.

The blades look like metal cutting ones - slitting saw.

Thanks! We’ll that’s the first bit sorted, I can now tell our maintenance dept what the make/model is! It looks like an older model when I compare to images on the web

The blades need to be set to cut ”strips” of UPVC both 10mm and 6mm wide and I can see that there are a washers and spacers to do this.

Is my assumption about the orientation of the blade (teeth facing the user) correct?

any idea about how that guard is supposed to be positioned? If it is over the blades then you wouldn’t be able to feed anything in to them?

thanks

 

[Lorenzl]

I would say the blades want to be cutting down into the table otherwise it will lift the material up.

Not sure about the guard. If you have the plastic cut into strips already the guard could be moved out to its full extent and the material could go behind it. If the UPVC isn't very thick could the guard be holding it onto the table?

 

[recipio]

Firstly the teeth of the blade should absolutely be facing the operator. It would be worth taking off the blades as you may have a dado arbor which in itself may be removable. I would guess the plastic guard is for use as a depth stop - you obviously can't feed material through it. That is a hole in the extension table to take a router. If the main bearing is in good condition ( check with a dial gauge ) it could make a nice saw for small scale woodworking.

 

[OddsBodkins]

Firstly the teeth of the blade should absolutely be facing the operator. It would be worth taking off the blades as you may have a dado arbor which in itself may be removable. I would guess the plastic guard is for use as a depth stop - you obviously can't feed material through it. That is a hole in the extension table to take a router. If the main bearing is in good condition ( check with a dial gauge ) it could make a nice saw for small scale woodworking.

Thank you. It’s a nice little bit of kit that just hasn’t been cared for and left to rot.

As you can imagine from my teeth question, I’m a total beginner when it comes to this so I hope you forgive me for the basic questions, but I’m a keen learner!

Now that I know the make/model I’ll be able to ask the maintenance dept to check bearings etc.

I don’t think anyone ever used or knew how the guard should be used given where it is! But I’m sure it’s needed to guard against kickback?

I took the cover from off the blade and the set up is below. I then undid the nut and have disassembled the saw set and laid them out. does the setup look? The washer allows the gap to change from 6mm to 10mm (the 2 widths needed).

I also found a couple of other bits. I know one as a mitre fence but don’t know the other?

One last question (promise!) when it comes to reassembly is it critical that the teeth of the two blades are aligned? If they are (it doesn’t look like they were but that doesn’t mean anyrthing) any tips on how to do that with such a small blade?

thanks

 

[recipio]

As expected you have a 5/8 " arbor and somebody has used adaptors to mount 30 mm bore blades. They may be genuine Makita parts ? The saw is obviously set up for metal working and needs a good clean with a degreaser ! Not sure why you would want to remount the blades but they don't need to have the teeth aligned together. The only time I have seen twin blade mounting is to cut tenons in wood vertically with a sliding support and that was in a joinery workshop.
You can get blades with a 5/8" center hole of course if you want to use it for woodworking.

 

[Lorenzl]

@recipio The saw has been customised to cut plastic to set sizes for I presume testing or assembly. I assume the slotting saws are used as the plastic is thin and a normal wood saw blade would destroy the parts being cut..

The intention is to use it for the same thing but the person who set it up and customised it is no longer available to use it or explain how it works..

 

[recipio]

Apologies. They look like ' slitting ' saw blades used on metalworking lathes. You can of course cut plastics including acrylic with a negative rake carbide blade and I suspect you would get a better finish. Of course you could just insert a single blade and use the fence to dimension the pieces ? !

 

[OddsBodkins]

Apologies. They look like ' slitting ' saw blades used on metalworking lathes. You can of course cut plastics including acrylic with a negative rake carbide blade and I suspect you would get a better finish. Of course you could just insert a single blade and use the fence to dimension the pieces ? !

Thanks both. And thanks for identifying the blade type (I was getting nowhere looking for bench saw blades). Not to gatecrash a woodworking forum with plastic but just to flesh out the reason for all of this if anyones interested. I work for a pvc manufacturer and one of my (new) jobs is to prepare and test up UPVC.

Most tests involve using a standard test piece that is 80 x 10 x 4mm. We can do this from the raw material via injection moulding (see pic.) However, some of the standards require you to cut/machine the test piece directly from a finished product, that is where this twin blade set up comes in. The blades are 10mm apart (or 6mm for a different test) and the idea is that you can produce a long 10mm wide strip which can then be cut down into 80mm lengths for testing (and don’t get me started on the antiquated Atlas shaping machine and Akexander Pantograph that I also need to learn how to use).

Some of the younger pups are twisting and suggesting buying a CNC router (I doubt management would be keen) but I think with a bit of TLC and know how I'm sure I can produce some decent pieces.

My issue with this machine is that it had been disassembled and put in a corner so my task is to get it back up and running and also learn how to use it.

I did think about your suggestion of using a single blade and measuring/cutting, but the fence isn’t very stable and I think it’d struggle to keep straight?

 

[Lorenzl]

I once was approached to run a similar setup for cutting test pieces out of cast iron water pipes. That was done using two side and face cutters spaced apart on a horizontal milling machine.

Using the spacers would probably be more consistent than trying to get the fence in the correct position every time

 

[fixit45]

The teeth of the blade should point in the direction of the rotation of the blade.

 

[StephenArfer]

In the first photo of the stack in place with the two spacers, there appears to be no arbor thread projecting through the nut. If the nut is fully engaged - I.E. the end of the arbor at least flush with the end of the nut it could be considered just acceptable from a practical point of view. However if the end of the arbor shaft is inset within the net, that is an unacceptable hazard IMHO. Especially on a custom set up of blades and spacers.

 

[OddsBodkins]

In the first photo of the stack in place with the two spacers, there appears to be no arbor thread projecting through the nut. If the nut is fully engaged - I.E. the end of the arbor at least flush with the end of the nut it could be considered just acceptable from a practical point of view. However if the end of the arbor shaft is inset within the net, that is an unacceptable hazard IMHO. Especially on a custom set up of blades and spacers.

 

[OddsBodkins]

In the first photo of the stack in place with the two spacers, there appears to be no arbor thread projecting through the nut. If the nut is fully engaged - I.E. the end of the arbor at least flush with the end of the nut it could be considered just acceptable from a practical point of view. However if the end of the arbor shaft is inset within the net, that is an unacceptable hazard IMHO. Especially on a custom set up of blades and spacers.

Thanks for the heads up regarding safety. When fully tightened the end of the threaded spindle is pretty much flush with the nut. I did some digging and found a copy of the manual for this machine. As you can see from the pics below there (once) was a dado set and you could cut up 1/2” wide so that’s more than the 10mm that I need. Also looking at the picture closely for the 1/2” set up you must remove the inner and outer flange and use the “dado outer flange” only. The “dado outer flange” looks a lot like the flange on our machine so maybe someone already factored this in (but our machine still has the inner flange present).

I have sourced a supplier of the outer flange so I’m going to order that and if, as this picture suggests it is the one that I don’t need, no harm done, but it does give me more confidence.

As I mentioned earlier I have limited knowledge of these machines so appreciate any help and advice. The nut is in bad shape so I think it would be worth replacing. When it comes to hex nuts and arbors are there any special designs for the nut or would any H12 hex nut do (again the supplier does do them but I’m sure I can find one in a spares draw!).

 

[MikeJhn]

Just seen this thread and the OP's experience makes me very nervous in an industrial employed situation, the OP should have professional training before using any machine they are not experienced with, speak with the company Director responsible for H&S if they are a responsible Director they should have apoplexy at the thought of an unexperienced employee using any machine in the workplace, just a thought, do you have instructions to use this machine in writing, and check your employee insurance and company liability.

 

[OddsBodkins]

Hello @MikeJhn . I appreciate your concern. The company I work for places H&S at the top of its priorities and we are encouraged to not perform any task if we do not feel it is safe. Rest assured I will not be doing anything with this machine until a) it is in working order and has been risk assessed and b) I’ve been trained, assessed and “signed off” both of which are a long way off! The interesting challenge right now is getting the machine in a working condition and understanding how it was used and with the help of this forum I’ve now sourced a manual, a new set of blades, new nuts and collars, so a big thank you to all involved. If and when I get this up and running (and if I’ve still got all of my fingers ) I’ll post an update.

 

[MikeJhn]

Working on the machine to get it up and running can be more fraught with danger than simply using it, send it away to someone like "Scott and Sergeant" to have it refurbished.