Page 3 of 3 FirstFirst 123
Results 31 to 42 of 42

Thread: A look at a german table saw (Rapid PK-100)

  1. #31
    Get the oil off with mineral spirits. Wire brush the top until it feels smooth. You don't have to cut through the brownish patina, though it may happen in places. Then use paste wax. Waxilit is good for machine tops. Dunno what it is exactly but I know it's a European thing. You can get a rubberized emery block... it's like a pencil eraser but black and loaded with fine abrasives for cleaning oxidized ferrous metals. In the states it's called a "Wonderbar"... I think it's made in Germany.

  2. #32
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Location
    Finland
    Posts
    297
    Took a closer look at the blade that came with and it says it's meant to cut HW HL board, I don't know what that is, in this PDF file the circular saw blade that fits the blade profile on this says it's for "for sizing cuts in plasticlaminated panels". So perrhaps like laminate floor panels? I have a bunch of those that I will be putting in the house soon. Could it have other uses than this?

    http://www.leucosgp.com.sg/Newslette...wBlades_EN.pdf (102478 or similar blade)

    Also inspected the design of the sliding table. Looks like it has no angling abilities. I am somewhat disappointed in that as to me it reduces the use of the sliding table. I guess I will be making a sled with built in angling abilities, suppose the sliding table can still be used to actuate the sled so I can stand to the side for safety reasons, and for simple straight cuts. Or perhaps some king of jig can be attached to the table itself to allow for angling. The modern PK-100's table I think can angle in both directions.

  3. #33
    HL I think is pressure laminate like formica on particleboard. The laminates are prone to chipping. That would probably be a high quality blade and may be a real benefit in working with melamine and splintery plywoods but you may want one with a lower tooth count for general woodworking.

    I have a sliding table saw and usually if I need to do an angle it's a 45, so I have this triangle I put against the fence. I can move the fence, but the triangle is faster.

  4. #34
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Location
    Finland
    Posts
    297
    Yeah I bought a 40 tooth blade from a local store, some unknown brand called Javelin. I hope I can do finer crosscutting of non plywood with this laminate blade though, got some MDF moulding I want to try it on.

    I also have a Freud 40 tooth blade but I bought that when I was planning on buying a saw with a 5/8" arbor and so it does not fit my current saw with its 30mm arbor. Looks like a real good blade though and it kinda stings to not being able to use it, but boring it up would cost as much as the blade so I am hoping to sell it locally.
    Last edited by Dennis Aspö; 06-25-2014 at 1:56 AM.

  5. A local machine or auto shop may do it for some beer. Boring a blade arbor hole doesn't require special equipment the way sharpening does.

  6. #36
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Location
    Finland
    Posts
    297
    I was told elsewhere, in big black letters, that it was a bad idea and I should never bore up a blade, if I had to I should only leave it to some professional service with specialized equipment and even then better to buy a new blade. There was a place specializing in boring and shaepening blades here and they wanted 30 euros for it, I paid 37 euros inc. shipping for the blade.

    I do know some guys with lathes and the like, such as gunsmiths, maybe they could do it? If so I'll return this Javelin blade as I have not opened the package yet.
    Last edited by Dennis Aspö; 06-25-2014 at 3:00 AM.

  7. Well, you can't so it with a drill bit. People with more metal experience may chime in. I have bored them out with a special guided cutter machinests use... I smoked the tips and ruined the carbide on it. Normally I think it is done on a lathe.

  8. #38
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Location
    Finland
    Posts
    297
    Noticed a part has broken in the saw, seems to be part of the assembly that tilts the motor, not sure what to make of it, looking at the schematics the part seems to be bent like it is in the pictures, but there's no tear in the metal.

    [IMG]https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3901/14503434191_b9f14340ee_c.jpg[IMG]



    Also looking at this arbor, do you think it's long enough to take a dado set, even a partial one?


    Also noticed the arbor is 20mm (when I noticed that the saw blade I took out had a spacer), not 30mm as the currently made PK100s have.

  9. #39
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Location
    Finland
    Posts
    297
    Bumping this thread back up since I finally put the sliding table back on and I got some pictures if anyone's interested. Garage is still a mess, more so since I got the saw:


    From the other side:


    The suspension mechanism


    Table rides on ball bearings


    In standard mode it'll cut up to almost 150 centimeters (almost 5 feet I guess), but it can be extended up to 250cm (8 feet)


    The scale turned out to be exact to the millimetre when I tested it against a tape measure as well, good enough for me. This will really come in handy when I am cutting molding for the floor and trimming around doors in my house as I'll need to cut pieces 7 feet in length or more and I need to get them exact. Doing it so far in a miter box has been a less than pleasant experience IMO. Had time to use it cut a bunch of trimmings to identical and proper lengths last night before I went home.


  10. #40
    Quote Originally Posted by Dennis Aspö View Post
    This will really come in handy when I am cutting molding for the floor and trimming around doors in my house as I'll need to cut pieces 7 feet in length or more and I need to get them exact. Doing it so far in a miter box has been a less than pleasant experience IMO.
    If you need them exact I'd just direct-mark the molding pieces in place. When you measure with one tape, and then use a different tape (the one on your fence), you're just begging for joints that are gappy.

  11. I do recall you were inquiring about importing a contractor saw from the UK. Hah. That's most useful looking machine and that long stop bar is a plus too.

  12. #42
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Location
    Finland
    Posts
    297
    Quote Originally Posted by Phil Thien View Post
    If you need them exact I'd just direct-mark the molding pieces in place. When you measure with one tape, and then use a different tape (the one on your fence), you're just begging for joints that are gappy.
    Yeah what I do is I measure & mark with my tape measure, then set up the table stop so it cuts at the mark, then I can do a bunch of trimmings for the doors to identical lengths.

    I am not sure about the built in readouts on the scale by the way, there is one metal block (not pictured) that seems to work as a stop with a lever to tighten it down and a magnifying glass and line that hovers over the scale, so you see clearly to the sub-mm, but the block doesn't line up with what the indicator says so I am not sure what purpose it serves. It's a piece of metal without much adjustment so I don't think it's been damaged somehow, it's just designed like that.

    Quote Originally Posted by Loren Woirhaye View Post
    I do recall you were inquiring about importing a contractor saw from the UK. Hah. That's most useful looking machine and that long stop bar is a plus too.
    Yeah, fortunately I was steered away in the last minute by a local woodworker who happened to post there. This is a much better saw for essentially a little more money as the saw I was looking at (Woodford, which I wanted for the dado ability) and it'll probably outlast me. The lack of dado is something I can live with or work around.

    EDIT: And the table doesn't adjust for angles, but I found this german forum where someone did just that to their table, maybe it's within my reach todo this sometime in the future:
    http://www.woodworking.de/cgi-bin/ho...-viele-bilder/
    Last edited by Dennis Aspö; 07-25-2014 at 12:44 AM.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •