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Friday, March 9, 2012

Starting to look like something


With dash bar in place


Sunday, March 4, 2012

Front Frame

First things first.  Always ware your safety gear.  I didn't even notice this disk come apart until I turned off the angle grinder.  Thought I heard something hit the wall on the other side of the garage.


I didn't get as much done this weekend as I wanted, but any progress is good progress.  I have all the uprights except UR1/UR2.  Looking at the drawing it will be easier to put them in after U1/U2 are in place.

Front Frame.  Man is that a fiddly bit to work out.  I am using the Vodou plans for the chassis.  Or I think I am.  The front frame would have been the first departure from the standard Haynes frame.  The Vodou plans have their own front frame, or show how to add a packing bit to the standard frame.  I tried to draw up the Vodou front frame in sketchup with no luck.  Either I don't understand, or the numbers are wrong.  Either way I build the standard Haynes front frame.  The dry saw wasn't much use here.  I cut the bottom 26 degree, then used the angle grinder for the compound part of the cut.  Next i used the angle grinder to cut the 26 degree wedge out of the middle, then again to cut the top.

The front isn't welded to the rest of the frame yet, not even aligned well.  I just wanted to see how it looks.





Saturday, March 3, 2012

Saw Review

I wanted to add to the saw review a bit now that I have made a number of cuts with it.  Again I am using the Northern Industrial Dry Cut Metal Saw - 14in., Model# RP2814A (http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200326857_200326857).

Overall I like this saw a lot.  It makes quick clean cuts that you don't need to deburr.  You don't have fine metal dust all over the place like using an abrasive disk.  It does through little nibbles of metal around, but they tend to hit the floor and not stick to you.  Easy to shop vac.

The saw has a fence that is adjustable from cutting at 90 degrees, to cutting at 45 degrees.  This is a bit fiddle.  There are two Allen screws that you have to loosen, adjust the fence, then tighten back up.  The fence does have an angle gauge built in, but it is hard to read and I would not rely on it.  I use my own angle gauge to setup the saw.

For the price i would definitely buy this saw again.  Now we will see how long the blades last at $85 each.