Hi,
Thanks Mark; it's progressing slowly.
I was in the garage early this morning keen to make some good progress. First job was to get everything into position and move things out of the way; the parts of this desk take up quite a bit of space and I don't want to damage any of them.
I set up the Startrite again as a work table and placed upon it the new desk top panel with Formica down. Next the oak was roughly arranged which would form the outer frame. I wasn't in a hurry and juggled the oak around for best results avoiding splits and planer snipe then I very carefully marked the length where the mitres would fall.
Rough frame layout and hardwood hazard.
It's extremely important to ensure mitres are cut the correct way; it is infuriating to end up with a mitre cut in the wrong direction and in this instance would prove costly as the oak is expensive and I don't have any spare to play around with. It only takes a few seconds to indicate with a pencil the way the cut should go and to mark the waste side of the cut. Marking the waste side of the cut with cross hatching might appear over the top but to cut on the wrong side of a pencil mark will give a length 1/8” shorter than wanted due to the saw kerf. (Width of saw cut). 1/8” doesn't sound much but this amount would look huge in a mitre joint rendering the length unusable. I'm going on at length about this because it is so important to be perfectly clear when it comes to machining timber. I check and double check and I can still make silly mistakes.
Which way to cut.
I've owned the Evolution compound mitre saw now for a couple of years but seldom used it as it was a pain kneeling on the garage floor due to lack of bench space. I recently sold my industrial Wadkin chop saw so now I could set up the saw on the bench at last and use it in comfort. I'm not used to using this saw at all so it is another learning curve for me. The saw is fitted with a laser for alignment but I only use this as a rough guide and certainly don't trust it for precision cutting. Using this saw I found cutting the first mitre difficult as the saw was slow going through the oak leaving a ragged cut; I cut the mating half of the mitre and although this would possibly be acceptable for DIY on a less demanding project it wasn't acceptable to me. The cut wandered slightly and splinters were produced so work on the desk stopped abruptly as I can do much better than this; I needed to get to know this saw and set it up for accurate work otherwise it was going on eBay. I bought the saw brand new costing over £150 and it is a new generation saw having a huge cutting capacity of 3” x 12” and not only does it cut timber this saw cuts steel.
Poor mitre joint.
It didn't take long to remove the chip limiting special Evolution 255mm tipped blade. At first I was baffled how the blade could be released as the bottom blade guard was preventing it; I then noticed the guard activating arm was attached to a pivot secured with a spring clip; this arm was released and the blade removed easily. The blade was blunt and this is down to the saw only ever being used to cut metal and I'm not surprised it is dull because one job I did was to cut a lump of 5” diameter cast iron using it; the saw manufacturers were amazed when I sent them pictures of the cast iron. I do not recommend others to follow my lead because I have been trained in mechanical engineering and the cast iron was securely clamped into position on the saw otherwise such a cut would be highly dangerous.
I didn't want to use the Startrite combination machine saw-bench to cut the mitres or the big Startrite band-saw; I wanted to set this Evolution saw up once and for all so now was the time to sort it out. I'm sure there will be a vast improvement once a new blade is installed and here I must point out I'm practising what I preach; keep all tools and cutters sharp. I hadn't realized the blade was blunt because it still cut steel OK otherwise it would have been changed earlier.
I came up into the bungalow and browsed the Screwfix catalogue; circular saw blade selection was limited to fit this saw but I noticed a Titan blade that would be OK so I went online to check availability; whilst checking I decided to register with Screwfix so that I could order online then collect in store. Wow; what a surprise this blade had been reduced in price from £16.02 to £5.99. I ordered three. Unfortunately I have to wait until tomorrow afternoon to collect them but this isn't a hardship especially as I'm saving so much money.
It was pointless trying to carry on with the desk so after dinner I decided to set up the Evolution saw giving it a permanent home on the bench. This sounds much easier than it actually was because the saw protruded much too far in front of the bench to be bolted down to the bench permanently and it would damage the car so a solution was needed. After a great deal of thought and a bit of experimenting I found I could swivel the saw to allow it to be used then parked out of the way. A few quick measurements were taken and I found I had a perfect piece of thick chipboard that could have been made to measure requiring no cutting whatsoever. Four holes were drilled to accept 8mm bolts for the saw feet. Two strips of timber were cut to lift the chipboard clear of the bolt heads then a bit more experimenting gave me the point to drill through the chipboard and bench top for the pivot bolt.
Underside of sub table and two locking nuts on pivot.
A 10mm bolt was used for the pivot and installed using large pan washers and a pair of locking nuts. The nuts were adjusted to give a friction fit allowing the saw to be turned without play. It was a tight fit but the ends of the guide bars just cleared the wall and when parked there was only a couple of inches clearance at the central heating boiler but this pleased me as the saw was now found a home and could be used at will. I think it's turned into a blessing that the blade was blunt as I've finally got the saw sorted out; hopefully a new blade will give the desired results and I'll update in due course.
In cutting position and parked out of the way.
To round the day off Bron asked me where the ladder was which I used to climb over the garden wall onto the lane. I said I had stored it in the bushes against the wall bottom out of sight. It was out of sight all right as it had been stolen; what a society we live in when a low life steals such a ladder and of course no one sees it being stolen. With my luck an insurance lawyer will be contacting me to drag me into court because the low life has suffered an accident whilst using it; life is truly wonderful.
Kind regards, Col.
Thanks Mark; it's progressing slowly.
I was in the garage early this morning keen to make some good progress. First job was to get everything into position and move things out of the way; the parts of this desk take up quite a bit of space and I don't want to damage any of them.
I set up the Startrite again as a work table and placed upon it the new desk top panel with Formica down. Next the oak was roughly arranged which would form the outer frame. I wasn't in a hurry and juggled the oak around for best results avoiding splits and planer snipe then I very carefully marked the length where the mitres would fall.
Rough frame layout and hardwood hazard.
It's extremely important to ensure mitres are cut the correct way; it is infuriating to end up with a mitre cut in the wrong direction and in this instance would prove costly as the oak is expensive and I don't have any spare to play around with. It only takes a few seconds to indicate with a pencil the way the cut should go and to mark the waste side of the cut. Marking the waste side of the cut with cross hatching might appear over the top but to cut on the wrong side of a pencil mark will give a length 1/8” shorter than wanted due to the saw kerf. (Width of saw cut). 1/8” doesn't sound much but this amount would look huge in a mitre joint rendering the length unusable. I'm going on at length about this because it is so important to be perfectly clear when it comes to machining timber. I check and double check and I can still make silly mistakes.
Which way to cut.
I've owned the Evolution compound mitre saw now for a couple of years but seldom used it as it was a pain kneeling on the garage floor due to lack of bench space. I recently sold my industrial Wadkin chop saw so now I could set up the saw on the bench at last and use it in comfort. I'm not used to using this saw at all so it is another learning curve for me. The saw is fitted with a laser for alignment but I only use this as a rough guide and certainly don't trust it for precision cutting. Using this saw I found cutting the first mitre difficult as the saw was slow going through the oak leaving a ragged cut; I cut the mating half of the mitre and although this would possibly be acceptable for DIY on a less demanding project it wasn't acceptable to me. The cut wandered slightly and splinters were produced so work on the desk stopped abruptly as I can do much better than this; I needed to get to know this saw and set it up for accurate work otherwise it was going on eBay. I bought the saw brand new costing over £150 and it is a new generation saw having a huge cutting capacity of 3” x 12” and not only does it cut timber this saw cuts steel.
Poor mitre joint.
It didn't take long to remove the chip limiting special Evolution 255mm tipped blade. At first I was baffled how the blade could be released as the bottom blade guard was preventing it; I then noticed the guard activating arm was attached to a pivot secured with a spring clip; this arm was released and the blade removed easily. The blade was blunt and this is down to the saw only ever being used to cut metal and I'm not surprised it is dull because one job I did was to cut a lump of 5” diameter cast iron using it; the saw manufacturers were amazed when I sent them pictures of the cast iron. I do not recommend others to follow my lead because I have been trained in mechanical engineering and the cast iron was securely clamped into position on the saw otherwise such a cut would be highly dangerous.
I didn't want to use the Startrite combination machine saw-bench to cut the mitres or the big Startrite band-saw; I wanted to set this Evolution saw up once and for all so now was the time to sort it out. I'm sure there will be a vast improvement once a new blade is installed and here I must point out I'm practising what I preach; keep all tools and cutters sharp. I hadn't realized the blade was blunt because it still cut steel OK otherwise it would have been changed earlier.
I came up into the bungalow and browsed the Screwfix catalogue; circular saw blade selection was limited to fit this saw but I noticed a Titan blade that would be OK so I went online to check availability; whilst checking I decided to register with Screwfix so that I could order online then collect in store. Wow; what a surprise this blade had been reduced in price from £16.02 to £5.99. I ordered three. Unfortunately I have to wait until tomorrow afternoon to collect them but this isn't a hardship especially as I'm saving so much money.
It was pointless trying to carry on with the desk so after dinner I decided to set up the Evolution saw giving it a permanent home on the bench. This sounds much easier than it actually was because the saw protruded much too far in front of the bench to be bolted down to the bench permanently and it would damage the car so a solution was needed. After a great deal of thought and a bit of experimenting I found I could swivel the saw to allow it to be used then parked out of the way. A few quick measurements were taken and I found I had a perfect piece of thick chipboard that could have been made to measure requiring no cutting whatsoever. Four holes were drilled to accept 8mm bolts for the saw feet. Two strips of timber were cut to lift the chipboard clear of the bolt heads then a bit more experimenting gave me the point to drill through the chipboard and bench top for the pivot bolt.
Underside of sub table and two locking nuts on pivot.
A 10mm bolt was used for the pivot and installed using large pan washers and a pair of locking nuts. The nuts were adjusted to give a friction fit allowing the saw to be turned without play. It was a tight fit but the ends of the guide bars just cleared the wall and when parked there was only a couple of inches clearance at the central heating boiler but this pleased me as the saw was now found a home and could be used at will. I think it's turned into a blessing that the blade was blunt as I've finally got the saw sorted out; hopefully a new blade will give the desired results and I'll update in due course.
In cutting position and parked out of the way.
To round the day off Bron asked me where the ladder was which I used to climb over the garden wall onto the lane. I said I had stored it in the bushes against the wall bottom out of sight. It was out of sight all right as it had been stolen; what a society we live in when a low life steals such a ladder and of course no one sees it being stolen. With my luck an insurance lawyer will be contacting me to drag me into court because the low life has suffered an accident whilst using it; life is truly wonderful.
Kind regards, Col.
Happiness is a wreck of a cabinet to restore.
