I have a five-year-old DELTA Benchtop Saw. I'm in no position to spend
$$$ on an upgrade, so......
The top contains nary an ounce of iron (no magnet alive will stick to
it). It seems to be made of aluminum and some sort of hard plastic
(phenolic?). The slots would be T-shaped if it weren't for the fact
that all the corners are rounded -- no two to the same radius. The
mitre gauge rocks left-to-right in a fun little dance that mocks the
very thought of getting an accurate cut. Add to this the fact that the
slots vary in width from front to back as well as from slot to slot.
I'm thinking of gluing 60-grit sandpaper to opposing sides of hardwood
sticks and working them front-to-back in the slots, using ever-wider
sticks until the sides of the slots can be made uniform. At this point
I would forget the "T" and simply use hardwood sticks as runners (for
jigs) to be used in the slots.
Has anyone out there had a similar experience? Is this worth the
effort?
All suggestions 'twill be much-appreciated. (Nix the "get out of
woodworking" suggestion. What little I can do, I enjoy too much.....)
BTW: I've been lurking here for about a year. My thanks to the
powers-that-be on this particular wreck. It has been very informative.
Do you have a router? Aluminum is easily machined with a carbide bit.
Just a thought,
H.
[email protected] (hdmundt) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> I have a five-year-old DELTA Benchtop Saw. I'm in no position to spend
> $$$ on an upgrade, so......
>
> The top contains nary an ounce of iron (no magnet alive will stick to
> it). It seems to be made of aluminum and some sort of hard plastic
> (phenolic?). The slots would be T-shaped if it weren't for the fact
> that all the corners are rounded -- no two to the same radius. The
> mitre gauge rocks left-to-right in a fun little dance that mocks the
> very thought of getting an accurate cut. Add to this the fact that the
> slots vary in width from front to back as well as from slot to slot.
>
> I'm thinking of gluing 60-grit sandpaper to opposing sides of hardwood
> sticks and working them front-to-back in the slots, using ever-wider
> sticks until the sides of the slots can be made uniform. At this point
> I would forget the "T" and simply use hardwood sticks as runners (for
> jigs) to be used in the slots.
>
> Has anyone out there had a similar experience? Is this worth the
> effort?
>
> All suggestions 'twill be much-appreciated. (Nix the "get out of
> woodworking" suggestion. What little I can do, I enjoy too much.....)
>
> BTW: I've been lurking here for about a year. My thanks to the
> powers-that-be on this particular wreck. It has been very informative.
>
> [email protected] (hdmundt) wrote in message
> news:<[email protected]>...
I have made accurate channels using exactly the same method you outline.
It takes a little time but it does work. You will probably find that
knocking off a few high spots will go a long way to solving the basic
problem. Since you can use a long runner in your slot it will average
out many of the small irregularities.
Dick
> > I have a five-year-old DELTA Benchtop Saw. I'm in no position to spend
> > $$$ on an upgrade, so......
> >
> > The top contains nary an ounce of iron (no magnet alive will stick to
> > it). It seems to be made of aluminum and some sort of hard plastic
> > (phenolic?). The slots would be T-shaped if it weren't for the fact
> > that all the corners are rounded -- no two to the same radius. The
> > mitre gauge rocks left-to-right in a fun little dance that mocks the
> > very thought of getting an accurate cut. Add to this the fact that the
> > slots vary in width from front to back as well as from slot to slot.
> >
> > I'm thinking of gluing 60-grit sandpaper to opposing sides of hardwood
> > sticks and working them front-to-back in the slots, using ever-wider
> > sticks until the sides of the slots can be made uniform. At this point
> > I would forget the "T" and simply use hardwood sticks as runners (for
> > jigs) to be used in the slots.
> >
> > Has anyone out there had a similar experience? Is this worth the
> > effort?
> >
> > All suggestions 'twill be much-appreciated. (Nix the "get out of
> > woodworking" suggestion. What little I can do, I enjoy too much.....)
> >
> > BTW: I've been lurking here for about a year. My thanks to the
> > powers-that-be on this particular wreck. It has been very informative.
On 3 May 2004 19:29:57 -0700, [email protected] (hdmundt) wrote:
>All suggestions 'twill be much-appreciated. (Nix the "get out of
>woodworking" suggestion. What little I can do, I enjoy too much.....)
Have you tried using a shallower miter bar? How about planing the
bottom edges of a full depth miter bar so that the lower corners don't
touch?
Barry
On 3 May 2004 19:29:57 -0700, [email protected] (hdmundt) wrote:
>I have a five-year-old DELTA Benchtop Saw. I'm in no position to spend
>$$$ on an upgrade, so......
>
>The top contains nary an ounce of iron (no magnet alive will stick to
>it). It seems to be made of aluminum and some sort of hard plastic
>(phenolic?). The slots would be T-shaped if it weren't for the fact
>that all the corners are rounded -- no two to the same radius. The
>mitre gauge rocks left-to-right in a fun little dance that mocks the
>very thought of getting an accurate cut. Add to this the fact that the
>slots vary in width from front to back as well as from slot to slot.
>
>I'm thinking of gluing 60-grit sandpaper to opposing sides of hardwood
>sticks and working them front-to-back in the slots, using ever-wider
>sticks until the sides of the slots can be made uniform.
it might work. at least you know you won't be hurting the resale
value...
> At this point
>I would forget the "T" and simply use hardwood sticks as runners (for
>jigs) to be used in the slots.
kiss your miter gage goodbye.... and with good riddance. with a good
sled you'll get much better crosscuts.