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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
    Posts
    99

    Question Chop Saw removable mounting?

    I have built a 16' long bench and plan to mount my DeWalt 718 chop saw on it. I plan to build a fence the entire length and use the Kreg fence system.

    I work towards obtaining accucaries of 64ths of an inch. Think of the INCRA projects. But, I need to be able to remove the chop saw and take it to a job site. When I replace it on the workbench I want to know that the ruler on the fence will still be accurate to within the 64th.

    I am looking for advice on how to be able to remove and re-install the chop saw while maintaining at least 1/64th of an inch accucary and not having to recalabrate the fence.

    If this was steel I would specify matching holes and then drive a hardened steel pin into one pices (the workbench) and have the mating hole a thousand of an inch larger on the saw. But, driving this type of pin into wood would quickly bend the wood.

    What would you suggest?

    Thanks in Advance,
    Jesse

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Seabrook TX
    Posts
    475
    I suspect that it will be easier to develop a fast method to recalibrate your equipment after it has been removed and reinstalled. Perhaps fine thread adjustment screws and several test cuts.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Bellingham, Washington
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    1,149
    I'd say get a second saw and use the mounted one as a dedicated shop saw. Hauling mitre saws to job sites throw the accuracy off pretty fast. If you are wanting to keep 1/64 accuracy, don't move the saw.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Aurora, Colorado (Saddle Rock)
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    514
    I just use some plywood scraps, as stops, for the saw and the stops. I have the Kreg system and it works for me... but I mainly use my SCMS for ripping rough boards.

    To follow your logic, why not mount everything on a metal plate?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Hillsboro, OR
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    If you look at any portable miter saw stand you will see that they come with quick release rails. Create a mount for those rails (same shape as the portable stand) and you can quickly swap between the two. You will also have the portable saw stand for job site work. Left-right mounting accuracy can be accomplished by some form of stand-off (i.e. if the saw it touching that block then you are accurate).

  6. #6
    Hauling it to job sites is going to be a deal killer. But you could mount it to a piece of plywood, with tapered edges (covered with hardwood for wear) and make the assembly a giant sliding dovetail. Set a positive stop at the back (a piece of wood) to control the depth which the base slides into the dovetail. Each time the saw would return to the same location. Both sides of the "sliding dovetail" MUST have the same taper.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Greenville, SC
    Posts
    43
    As woodworkers, we all try and be as accurate as possible but why subject yourself to the frustrations of maintaining a 64th of an inch? Just bumping into your saw, or a little too much left or right hand pressure during the cut will move it out of calibration 1/32 or more. If you try and maintain 1/64th while it is being transported in a vehicle, I am afraid you are fighting a losing battle. I agree with David Helm and just get a second saw for the job site and leave the one at home as your dedicated 1/64th machine.

  8. #8
    Well first off I'm going to agree and say that buy another 718 and bolt one in solid because otherwise you'll never get there. Now with that said....I don't think you'll get there anyway and here is why

    1st-you're working with wood, your length variation from natural wood movement will be more then that over the seasons and your table will move on you.

    2nd-A tape scale end stop will not be that repeatable by most quality standards. The standard rule of thumb for measurement systems is that your measuring device must be repeatable(not capable) of measuring 10 times finer than your tolerance. So with that rule of thumb your end stop would have to be good down to .0015, which isn't happening unless you go servo driven or a manual endstop with a high quality glass scale. Where I work(major manufacturer's custom window/door plant) we don't use tape scales on anything with a tolerance tighter than 1/8" in most cases, though on a few limited use machines we do use them down to a 1/16" if they have a magnifying bubble. If its a piece of equipment I support, when I qualify it I would much rather see a very small range in the data but offset from nominal vs everything within tolerance and has a huge range, its very easy to change an offset, much harder to fix a process that isn't repeatable.

    Now I don't want to seem like a negative nancy and say it won't work, accuracy is a noble goal to strive towards, and I do have a couple saws that have interchangable nexting fixtures for various profiles and we use locating pins from Carr-Lane to repeatably locate the fixtures. See the link below to get an idea of what I mean

    http://www.carrlane.com/Catalog/inde...3C3B2853564659

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