I'm guessing there will be some here who own and use the `nobex' mitre
saw.
I've owned one for several yrs, but don't use it all that often. When
I do though, it will likely be a fair bit of work. A fair bit as in
hobby usage .. not commercial.
But even after quite a few cuts with it, numbering by now well into
the hundreds, I've never found a way to use it smoothly.
Mine came with a variety of sizes of those new style flame hardened
blades that show the heat treating coloration and have very sharp and
long lasting teeth.
However those same teeth are absolutely terrible about hanging up.
Even in soft pine.
Even with serious concentration I'm able to only get a few strokes
before the blade will catch. By `catch' I mean just a momentary bite
or snag that throws off the smooth stroke. Easy enough to ram it on
through but not so easy to get a smooth stoke going with the constant
snagging.
I almost never have this trouble with my frame saws or just plain old
long blade carpenter saws... even a 5 tooth rip I use (usually for
fast crosscutting) is many times smoother to stoke evenly.
If I use the mitre box extensively it really gets to be an
aggravation.
I'm guessing its that style of blade. The teeth are really small and
apparently not intended to be sharpened by the user. They appear to
have very little set, which I suspect is the cause of the problem.
Or am I just a seriously inept oaf, and no one else has any trouble
with those blades?
Looking online for replacement blades, all I see are similar to the
ones I already have. The new style flame hardened ones with tiny
teeth.
The least number of teeth I see is 12, whereas I can cut smoothly with
a frame saw with 7 teeth per inch... and maintain its set and
sharpness myself. Not much set but is enough to virtually eliminate
snagging.
But not so good for repeated angles.
I could probably adapt the frame saws' blades to work on the nobex but
it would take a fair bit of tinkering. You'd end up burning up a few
drill bits unless you softened the blade locally. And the nobex frame
has little nubs you'd have to either file off or drill even more holes
in the blade to accommodate.
I wondered if there is a source that has the old style blades that one
can hand sharpen and set to taste but that are designed for the nobex,
or will work on it with only minor tinkering.
"Harry Putnam" <reader@newsguy.com> wrote in message
> The least number of teeth I see is 12, whereas I can cut smoothly with
> a frame saw with 7 teeth per inch... and maintain its set and
> sharpness myself. Not much set but is enough to virtually eliminate
> snagging.
Don't know if it helps you, but Lee Valley sells Nobex.
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&p=43836&cat=1,42884
"LD" <lobby.dosser@verizon.net> writes:
[...]
>> I wondered if there is a source that has the old style blades that one
>> can hand sharpen and set to taste but that are designed for the nobex,
>> or will work on it with only minor tinkering.
>
>
> You can get a 10tpi blade (google: nobex blades) and even a Japanese
> style blade. Do you have the blade properly tensioned?
I them now thanks.
I'm not sure what you mean by `properly' unless you mean `as tight as
humanly possible without breaking or bending anything'... it thats
what you mean... then yes, it properly tensioned.
> Does the handle end of the saw ride up the guide when you get a catch?
> I used to have a similar problem and after swapping blades and
> checking tension finally noticed that every time I got a catch the
> handle end of the saw was riding up the guide. I was actually lifting
> my arm a bit. Once I figured that out, a bit of concentration and
> practice put it right. You have to keep your hand, wrist, arm, elbow,
> and the saw blade all parallel to the base. Running as much of the
> blade length as possible through the stock also helps.
Like I mentioned, Even with serious concentration I'm unable to get
a steady smooth stroke for more than a few strokes. I'm talking doing
my darndest to keep the stroke even. Not up, not down.
I find purposely making the cut stroke run uphill... that is, dipping
my saw hand down... helps somewhat, but even then... not for long.
I've lost track of where my extra blades are so am stuck for now with
what appears to be 20 tpi... maybe its 18. At any rate, way to many
teeth.
I must have put that on some where in the distant past for some
special cuts or something.
I'm going to get a 10 and 12.. and see if things improve.
Oh, and for J. Clark.. mine is the 24 inch model. I must have just
overlooked the 10 tpi blades.
Thanks for the suggestions folks.
"LD" <lobby.dosser@verizon.net> writes:
>> I wondered if there is a source that has the old style blades that one
>> can hand sharpen and set to taste but that are designed for the nobex,
>> or will work on it with only minor tinkering.
>
>
> You can get a 10tpi blade (google: nobex blades) and even a Japanese
> style blade. Do you have the blade properly tensioned?
It appears 10 tpi is fairly hard to come by and apparently, as
J. Clarke seemed to indicate, the 12 tpi is only for the shorter
(22 in) models.
Seems to be plenty of places that sell the 10 tpi in UK but no many in
or near the US. I found 10 tpi at:
www.hartevilletool.com
but no 12 tpi x 630 MM (24+ in) anywhere.
I did see a 14 tpi in UK but apparently the next jump is 18 tpi which
is quite a jump and even that is rare...more places jump to 24 tpi.
To me those are way too fine even in finish work with hard wood trim or
whatever.
I use frame saws more often and find a 7 or 9 tpi to be good for just
about anything.
It appears nobex wants the blades to be for both metal and wood... so
makes them in hacksaw type tpi ratings.
"Harry Putnam" <reader@newsguy.com> wrote in message
news:87vdtivzr0.fsf@newsguy.com...
> I'm guessing there will be some here who own and use the `nobex' mitre
> saw.
>
> I've owned one for several yrs, but don't use it all that often. When
> I do though, it will likely be a fair bit of work. A fair bit as in
> hobby usage .. not commercial.
>
> But even after quite a few cuts with it, numbering by now well into
> the hundreds, I've never found a way to use it smoothly.
>
> Mine came with a variety of sizes of those new style flame hardened
> blades that show the heat treating coloration and have very sharp and
> long lasting teeth.
>
> However those same teeth are absolutely terrible about hanging up.
> Even in soft pine.
>
> Even with serious concentration I'm able to only get a few strokes
> before the blade will catch. By `catch' I mean just a momentary bite
> or snag that throws off the smooth stroke. Easy enough to ram it on
> through but not so easy to get a smooth stoke going with the constant
> snagging.
>
> I almost never have this trouble with my frame saws or just plain old
> long blade carpenter saws... even a 5 tooth rip I use (usually for
> fast crosscutting) is many times smoother to stoke evenly.
>
> If I use the mitre box extensively it really gets to be an
> aggravation.
>
> I'm guessing its that style of blade. The teeth are really small and
> apparently not intended to be sharpened by the user. They appear to
> have very little set, which I suspect is the cause of the problem.
>
> Or am I just a seriously inept oaf, and no one else has any trouble
> with those blades?
>
> Looking online for replacement blades, all I see are similar to the
> ones I already have. The new style flame hardened ones with tiny
> teeth.
>
> The least number of teeth I see is 12, whereas I can cut smoothly with
> a frame saw with 7 teeth per inch... and maintain its set and
> sharpness myself. Not much set but is enough to virtually eliminate
> snagging.
>
> But not so good for repeated angles.
>
> I could probably adapt the frame saws' blades to work on the nobex but
> it would take a fair bit of tinkering. You'd end up burning up a few
> drill bits unless you softened the blade locally. And the nobex frame
> has little nubs you'd have to either file off or drill even more holes
> in the blade to accommodate.
>
> I wondered if there is a source that has the old style blades that one
> can hand sharpen and set to taste but that are designed for the nobex,
> or will work on it with only minor tinkering.
You can get a 10tpi blade (google: nobex blades) and even a Japanese style
blade. Do you have the blade properly tensioned?
Does the handle end of the saw ride up the guide when you get a catch? I
used to have a similar problem and after swapping blades and checking
tension finally noticed that every time I got a catch the handle end of the
saw was riding up the guide. I was actually lifting my arm a bit. Once I
figured that out, a bit of concentration and practice put it right. You have
to keep your hand, wrist, arm, elbow, and the saw blade all parallel to the
base. Running as much of the blade length as possible through the stock also
helps.
"Harry Putnam" <reader@newsguy.com> wrote in message
news:87abasond8.fsf@newsguy.com...
> "LD" <lobby.dosser@verizon.net> writes:
> [...]
>
>>> I wondered if there is a source that has the old style blades that one
>>> can hand sharpen and set to taste but that are designed for the nobex,
>>> or will work on it with only minor tinkering.
>>
>>
>> You can get a 10tpi blade (google: nobex blades) and even a Japanese
>> style blade. Do you have the blade properly tensioned?
>
> I them now thanks.
>
> I'm not sure what you mean by `properly' unless you mean `as tight as
> humanly possible without breaking or bending anything'... it thats
> what you mean... then yes, it properly tensioned.
'properly tensioned' does sound better. :o)
LD wrote:
> "Harry Putnam" <reader@newsguy.com> wrote in message
> news:87vdtivzr0.fsf@newsguy.com...
>> I'm guessing there will be some here who own and use the `nobex'
>> mitre saw.
>>
>> I've owned one for several yrs, but don't use it all that often.
>> When I do though, it will likely be a fair bit of work. A fair bit
>> as in hobby usage .. not commercial.
>>
>> But even after quite a few cuts with it, numbering by now well into
>> the hundreds, I've never found a way to use it smoothly.
>>
>> Mine came with a variety of sizes of those new style flame hardened
>> blades that show the heat treating coloration and have very sharp
>> and
>> long lasting teeth.
>>
>> However those same teeth are absolutely terrible about hanging up.
>> Even in soft pine.
>>
>> Even with serious concentration I'm able to only get a few strokes
>> before the blade will catch. By `catch' I mean just a momentary
>> bite
>> or snag that throws off the smooth stroke. Easy enough to ram it
>> on
>> through but not so easy to get a smooth stoke going with the
>> constant
>> snagging.
>>
>> I almost never have this trouble with my frame saws or just plain
>> old
>> long blade carpenter saws... even a 5 tooth rip I use (usually for
>> fast crosscutting) is many times smoother to stoke evenly.
>>
>> If I use the mitre box extensively it really gets to be an
>> aggravation.
>>
>> I'm guessing its that style of blade. The teeth are really small
>> and
>> apparently not intended to be sharpened by the user. They appear
>> to
>> have very little set, which I suspect is the cause of the problem.
>>
>> Or am I just a seriously inept oaf, and no one else has any trouble
>> with those blades?
>>
>> Looking online for replacement blades, all I see are similar to the
>> ones I already have. The new style flame hardened ones with tiny
>> teeth.
>>
>> The least number of teeth I see is 12, whereas I can cut smoothly
>> with a frame saw with 7 teeth per inch... and maintain its set and
>> sharpness myself. Not much set but is enough to virtually
>> eliminate
>> snagging.
>>
>> But not so good for repeated angles.
>>
>> I could probably adapt the frame saws' blades to work on the nobex
>> but it would take a fair bit of tinkering. You'd end up burning up
>> a few drill bits unless you softened the blade locally. And the
>> nobex frame has little nubs you'd have to either file off or drill
>> even more holes in the blade to accommodate.
>>
>> I wondered if there is a source that has the old style blades that
>> one can hand sharpen and set to taste but that are designed for the
>> nobex, or will work on it with only minor tinkering.
>
>
> You can get a 10tpi blade (google: nobex blades) and even a Japanese
> style blade. Do you have the blade properly tensioned?
Those are 24 inch blades for the "champion" model. Given that he can
only fine 12 tpi it's a fair bet that he's got one of their other
models that takes a 22 inch blade.
The Ulmia 352 takes a 21-5/8 blade that _might_ fit the 22" Nobex saws
depending on how much adjustment there is, and has more variety of
blades available than the 22" Nobex. Peck Tools lists them
http://www.pecktool.com.
> Does the handle end of the saw ride up the guide when you get a
> catch? I used to have a similar problem and after swapping blades
> and
> checking tension finally noticed that every time I got a catch the
> handle end of the saw was riding up the guide. I was actually
> lifting
> my arm a bit. Once I figured that out, a bit of concentration and
> practice put it right. You have to keep your hand, wrist, arm,
> elbow,
> and the saw blade all parallel to the base. Running as much of the
> blade length as possible through the stock also helps.
--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)