some cutting equipment and delrin questions...
 

ok, so i am standing in home depot the other day i the tool department. and i was looking at a 10" ryobi portable table saw, and a royobi band saw. both would be nice, but right now the budget will only allow for one of them. so my question is this, what would be a more practical saw to buy for the casual hobbist that works with metals and delrin? the table saw with a metal cutting blade, or the band saw with a metal cutting blade?


as far as delrin goes, i was wondering if square delrin tubing was a standard stock shape for places that carry delrin?

thanks in advance for an input...

If I had to choose one of them I would go with the band saw. The table saw is really better for wood working than what we do here. I have a table saw but wish I had a ban saw for my crawler projects. I use mine as a table more than anything else. Another nice thing is a chop saw. I picked mine up from harbor frieght. Not the best but it works well. It's the 6" one I picked up on sale. for like $20 or something.

Not sure about the delrin tubing though.

DO NOT BUY THE RAYOBI BAND SAW! its JUNK it is litterally IMPOSSIBLE to cut a straight line. and thats not an exageration. i have several of there other power tool and am VERY pleased with them. but the band saw is literaly a waste of space. a paper weight. its junk. litteraly that bad.

ok, so a band saw is the way to go, just not the $99 ryobi one from home depot, which is fine, because i think if i went with just a band saw, i'd probabally pony up the extra cash and by something a little better.

ok, got that issue resolved, but does anyone know about the delrin? is square tubing a standard stock shape for it?

I don't think they make square tubed Delrin.

I'd look around here.
www.mcmaster.com

crap, that's what i figured, i looked thru mcmaster (an engineer's bible for bought items...) and only say round tube....

i guess i'll just get some delrin "bar" and route it out to get the shape i'm looking for...

look for a delta 4x6 bandsaw. its expensive usually 330 bucks but its WORTH IT. i have one and use it every day. its also what i slice my frame tubes with. dont screw with the crappy blades either get the starret bi metal ones.

dremel and hack saw.lol any saw will cut straight if you have been using one for almost 20 years..

They do sell square stock,just not square tubing.You would have to drill the hole through it.Search for delrin square stock.Here is a p/n for 1/4 x 1/4 for an example.
8663K11

is this the 4x6 bandsaw? it's the only delta i could find around $330. if it is, i beleive i saw one at the tool consignment store for about $250. also, do they happen to have rip fences available for it?

Im the different one here Id guess....I use the table saw 10 times moe than the portable band saw, I make cuts (straight) notches and grooves inteh plastis with them. a big time saver for me

http://www.coastaltool.com/a/delt/images/20330.jpg

http://www.coastaltool.com/cgi-bin/S...c5c+1161233468

this be the saw in question.

it does both vertical and horizontal. the base isnt too sturdy though so youll want to reinforce it or build a new one. i reinforced it quickly when i first got it and its been fine.

you could use a hacksaw but being a fabricator i know time is money and when customers are paying for more than a dollar a minute an entry level too like this always comes through and always gets the job done, not to mention that youll use it for everything you need from cutting wood to bolts to miter cuts on alum and steel and all that junk :) also it uses a half inch blade which takes the abuse of production stuff you just cant cut a sharp radius with it.

wow, that is a cool saw. but rockwerks has a good point. i also have to be able to justify to the GF (and to myself a bit..) why i'm buying a new power saw, and i think i would have an easier time justifing the 10" table saw with a metal cutting blade on it, than the bandsaw. especially with the work i have going on around my house. now the only thing is how do i justify wanting one of those nice little hobby grade wire feed lincoln electric welders that home depot sells....

i have one of the 110V Lincoln welders from the Depot (i think it is the WeldPak 100). i've welded up to 5/8" steel plate with it. you need to use the flux-core wire, but that really isn't that big of a deal. it just means you need to clean the weld up more after you're done. it's one of those things where once you have it, you WILL use it. i've put at least 30 pounds of wire through mine since i've had it. while that isn't much for a production welding shop, it's a good bit for a guy in his garage just playing around. :)

oh, don't bother getting one of the el-cheapo wirefeed welders from places like Horror Freight. replacement tips and parts are almost impossible to find. at least with the Lincoln (or other name brand) you can buy parts if you need them instead of a new welder.

as for your cutting options, the tablesaw will excel at cutting straight lines. it will also cut grooves (like you mentioned using the router to do). the bandsaw will be best if you need to cut curves. for cutting pieces of delrin to length, i don't see why the tablesaw wouldn't work. one note on the bandsaw you originally posted a photo of, that is a woodcutting bandsaw. the speed of the blade will be way too fast for cutting metal (and maybe even cutting delrin). the saw peej410 posted is pretty much what is needed for metal work. just be careful with the tablesaw. i'd imagine you won't be cutting 4' sheets of delrin, so your fingers will be close to the blade.

andy b.

as far as welders. id look for a used miller or lincoln that uses gas. instead of a new cheaper model. i ponied up and bought the miller and i havent had a problem with it in 5 years of owning it. i have had problems with friends cheaper models. like the wire getting bound up. which is annoying but if you use it infrequently its not a big deal. the other option is an old used tig, you could get an old old like 70s lincoln idealarc or miller syncrowave welder for about 500 nowadays, i know its alot of loot but its also still worth 500 if you ever need to sell it :)

hmmm, thanks for the good advice so far guys. i do know a source that has an older gas welder sitting in a garage that isn't getting used, and they might be willing to sell it considering her husband passed away several years ago. plus i might be able to pick it up for $150-$200, because i doubt she realizes what is is worth. the only thing i am not interested in with a gas welder is having a huge friggin bottle in my basment, would a smaller "mini" bottle be enough for someone using it for hobbist reasons?

no problems with the mini bottles. they just run out faster when you don't turn them off when you're done. :lol: my neighbor is an expert at this.

you can run flux-core wire in a MIG, so it doesn't hurt to keep a spool around in case you're in the middle of a project at 12am sunday morning and the gas runs out.

andy b.

ahhh, that was the answer i was looking for. those full size bottles are too much of a pain for just the average joe working in his basement.

I know you can cut aluminum with a table saw but it's and extremely noisy, hot chip throwing and IMO scary assed thing to do.

Forget steel of any kind.

I could be wrong but the delta 4x6 saw pictured above looks just like the Harbor Freight saw, right down to the almost unusable stand. I bought a MSC 4x6 thinking it would be nicer than the HF, nope exact same but more expensive.

If you plan on cutting metal only, you'll be far better served with a cheapie 4x6 than any wood cutting saw.

Only a buck eighty!:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=93762