Weird issue with guard - couldn’t fix. Couple of us had a look and put it out of use.
Woodshop Chop saw out of use 15/9/19
Just to clarify - this is the woodshop one not metal.
I noticed that on 31st August but I got it to work. I thought it was just a quirk
Apologies for not reporting it
Took a quick look today.
Tye mentioned trying to use it today and a piece flying off. Or was this the same thing as the day before?
The piece was recovered and I’ve re-mounted it but there still seems to be a small issue that I haven’t yet come across in previous fixes.
Can you (@Calum_Nicoll, @RobertL) confirm that the issue you spotted is that the guard doesn’t travel beyond the 6 o’clock position thus not allowing engagement of the blade with the workpiece.
And the “Quirk” being a sort of wiggle against the bed to tuck the guard in further before hitting the workpiece.
Every little bit of information helps a quicker diagnosis and fix, so the more you can elaborate the better!
The blade has been removed from the saw and stashed away. I’ll try make it in soon to have a closer look, please don’t play with it unless you genuinely know what you are doing and if so please photo document and message the woodtechs so we can confirm it’s safe to use before putting it back into service.
Thanks
I noticed the fault because the guard didn’t retract as expected, when coming down directly onto the work piece.
The guard would catch on the work piece and not retract any further, until I pulled the saw back further than usually necessary.
Bringing the saw down, before making contact with the work piece, the guard retracted enough for the blade to make contact with the work piece before hitting the guard. It would then operate as expected. I made 2 or 3 small cuts like this.
This was with a very small, thin work piece, so I’m not sure how it would function with anything larger.
When was it last working normally?
It’s highly likely that whoever used it before me would have noticed the same fault, because they would have been unable to cut anything normally.
Does anyone remember something unusual happening whilst using the machine on or before 31st August?
@woodworkers the Mitre Saw has been fixed (again…) and what’s left of the blade has been resharpened.
Some things to note…
Half the teeth on the blade are missing, a good few others are chipped in places which implies that a few people have been chopping wood riddled with metal.
There is a Bosch metal detector on the doors of the woodshop - please give any pieces of reclaimed / repurposed / unknown timber a quick pass to make sure it’s clean.
And… Whilst tools have personalities to some degree, they shouldn’t have any “quirks” that mean that you have to force or wiggle the machine in order to get it to do what it’s designed to do.
If you notice anything slightly strange please put a sticker saying “DO NOT USE” and report it immediately else the damage accumulates and the fix becomes more difficult.
The guard retraction arm has been damaged on multiple occasions from people forcing the tool, this being bent up and thus shorter was the cause of the guard not retracting properly. And is made worse by continued use when the guard isn’t retracting properly…
Please look after the equipment so we neither have down time nor excessive consumption of tech’s time and energy.
Thanks
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Hey Jonty all good things to note there. Just an idea but would it worth buying a “default” multi-blade for this saw? I use one at home and it seems pretty good for most things including metal! We could always swap it for a finer wood blade for whenever needed.
We trialed one with the table saw with good results and it’s definitely an option worthwhile considering.
The one thing that we noted was they don’t resharpen with adequate results in metal and use with a dulling blade results in a large number of sparks and thus unacceptable fire risk so mileage as a multi material / metal cutting saw is pretty limited…
It’s neither difficult nor time consuming to pass a metal detector over any piece of wood planned on being used in the shop, and taking the odd nail out isn’t much effort.
This strikes me as far less wasteful of cash, time and energy and the ideal solution going forward.
Sure if members don’t look after it maybe we’ll have to make a transition.
Replacing blades unnecessarily is both wasteful and costly.
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I can’t see any need to cut metal in the woodwork shop.
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Yes, this mustn’t happen. It’s nails/screws in reclaimed timber that are the likely culprits here
Hey, was about to do a cut but noticed the blade guard is still getting stuck at the 6 o’clock position so going to put a do not use sign on it again.
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Thanks, I’ll try a different hack to keep it operational for the meantime and will order a replacement arm.
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Any joy?
It got broken again since.
Anything I can do to help?
I think the guard is broken? Does not drop down. Perhaps we need a replacement.
Has this been ordered?
There are 3 broken machines in the wood shop now.
I’ll figure out where to get one and get one ordered? Unless @Jonty_Bottomley already has a part number?
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