Upside - down saber saw?

(...)

Yup. That is very similar to the BladeRunner approach and it does seem to work well enough. For a while.

--Winston

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Nup. ~3" with lots of TPI.

(...)

I was thinking about notching say, 1/2" square tube. Kinda doubt the presser foot would stand up to that. :)

Those are right pretty. Repousse?

--Winston

I looked at the product reviews at Amazon.com. These saws are very light (17#), and just are not made that well, so it's hard to assess the idea.

Joe Gwinn

Dunno. Make the bridge out of 1" hollow square, the foot out of 1-1/2"x1/4", attach with a 3/8" bolt?

Thank you.

Only the rosettes at the center are repouse. The main petals a 3/16" plate, made from the discs cut from the surrounding plate. Textured with a 1/4"-diameter fuller die on a 25# power hammer, then shaped up with a hand hammer. The fullering spreads them so together they're bigger than the hole they were cut out of.

Vertical or lateral? You didn't specify, so I took it to mean vertical separation between the table and workpiece. Wait a minute, you just said "workpiece and blade". How is that happening? If it's sliding up against the side of the blade, it will begin oscillation. Gitfiddle wire'll fix 'er right up, overcoming that tendency.

How thick was the additional table when you tried it upside down? I don't think you addressed that.

Try cutting a sink out and find a subterranean tubafore lurking a couple inches below the substrate. Instant pogo stick, all the way to the top of the counter.

I doubt it would take more than a dozen pounds. Give 'er a try.

No. Bandsaws are light years ahead for speed in wood/metal cutting.

Oh! The Somesheimers Question, eh?

Talk to Bill over on the Wreck. He's one up on ya. ;)

-- In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer. -- Albert Camus

Yeahbut. We still have to be able to move the workpiece under the foot and the foot won't address lateral blade resonance, by itself. The blade guides in the BladeRunner look like a good approach but I am dubious about their longevity when cutting steel. Perhaps I am in error there. That would be a Good Thing.

(...)

Very clever. Also some very neat stuff in your Gallery:

I think it would be ultra kewl to make a garden gate with one of Lemony Snicket's deliciously creepy Evil Eyes featured near the top.

--Winston

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I've seen a YouTube review of the tool that made it look slow, and difficult to use. The HomeTime commercial must have had several 'takes' to iron out the hiccups. :)

--Winston

Lateral blade movement. It waggles in the kerf and can appear to be a much wider blade than it actually is. Bingo, we have a bind. One can also induce lateral blade movement via insufficient base pressure against the workpiece. (excessive vertical separation).

Yup. The end of the blade is totally unconstrained so it'll break into oscillation if it taps itself against the inside of the workpiece kerf once or a few times.

If I were gonna do that, I'd figure out how to power a hacksaw blade instead. Can't beat that for cheap and easy to locate.

They will sell like hotcakes!

I vaguely recall it was 3/4" ply clamped in a Workmate.

Frustrating, that.

Much cheaper and faster to put a transmission on my existing band saw. I *know* that'll work. :)

No. I agree with you, too. :)

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Exactly. Not all. Some.

There are *two* of us? OMG.

--Winston

It should be kept in contact with the uncut portion of the workpiece. That would keep it centered.

Them's electricalified nowadays and they call 'em "scrollsaws".

That would probably be the problem. You lost a whole lot of reinforcement by extending the cut portion to the outer end of the blade.

True. An extra set of external pulleys would be easier. Then watch the tires disintegrate from the swarf. ;)

When are visiting hours?

Scary, isn't it?

This just in...

--snip-- HELL EXPLAINED

The following is an actual question given on a University of Arizona chemistry mid term, and an actual answer turned in by a student.

The answer by one student was so 'profound' that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well :

Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant.

One student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving, which is unlikely.. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today.

Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.

This gives two possibilities:

1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.
2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over. So which is it?

If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, 'It will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you,' and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number two must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct...... ...leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting 'Oh my God.'

THIS STUDENT RECEIVED AN A+

--snip--

-- In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer. -- Albert Camus

The unconstrained tip of the blade is in the air above the workpiece most of the time. That is the bit that waggles laterally, causing binding inside the kerf.

"Whole thing connected. Take a look!" :)

I want a *big* scroll saw good for cutting up scrap 4 x 6's for firewood or slicing slots in tool steel or cutting out patterns in Masonite or sawing MOT laminations, with a minimum floorspace footprint. Such a thing does not appear to be for sale.

Nearest I see is a $$$ band saw. Donations gratefully accepted.

I also tried it just by clamping the base of the inverted saber saw in the Workmate. Same binding. Tis blade waggle, methinks.

Or the blade squeals itself to an early death. I hear tell. Rumor, you know. :)

By now, my former boss's boss and his tame 'doctor' should be in here somewhere:

(The lab manager skated because he was just involved in nickel - and - dime threats, thefts, stalking, vandalism, sabotage. Just kid stuff.) See, my boss's boss had to contract with a guy in Florida to do both the preliminary and final diagnoses. That's wire fraud and attempted murder, both across state lines, so we are talking about Federal incarceration for my boss's boss and his tame 'doctor' (in place to do the local diagnosis).

The guy from Florida conspired in the wire fraud and the attempted murder, so that is a federal crime too. He should be in here:

Please give them my regards. I'd visit but I have to wash my hair. :)

The president of the company had 'plausible deniability' so he probably skated as well. Hold on, let me check. Yup. He's still at Headquarters.

Hey, you asked. :)

Whoa man. You said it.

--Winston

So build a table for your recip saw, put a 12" blade on 'er, and run a wire up to hold the blade erect and reduce or eliminate waves. End Erectile Dysfunction Now with new VIAGWIRE!

I donate one "Hear, Hear!"

Yabbut... Oh, never mind.

Oh, suuuuuuure.

One can only hope!

Nice folks you work with, son. Sheesh!

Which one? (NO visuals, please.)

Nuh-uh! I asked "if", not "who/what/when/where/how", sir.

So invent something siliconny, then use your newfound fortune on a bandsaur.

-- In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer. -- Albert Camus

What?

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That'd just shift the resonant point. It'd be more effective to just put a transmission on my existing band saw. ('There an echo in here?)

That and five bucks gets me a Latte!

(Bladocide)

Uh oh. Busted.

(...)

I disliked working with criminals but they gave me a desk on the top floor of the headquarters building and paid overtime!

WooHoo!

(...)

You asked 'when'. You got 'when' and a novel. A bargain for sure. :)

(...)

What's that, an old groupie? :)

--Winston

We're on 2 different frequencies.

Higher resonant freq, much lower wave intensity, and compliant behavior, I'd wager.

Yabbut, I was the first to donate. It'll get 'em started. On your donation site, put down that SallySue donated $1,450 and your goal is $75,999 before Christmas and It's For The Children. You'll be rich. A "Will Work for Tools" sign couldn't hurt, either.

Splain? Not googlable.

Toldjaso.

Yeah, it sounds good until you realize where it could lead you.

Where the hell did that yell come from? I'm hearing it from everyone and their brother nowadays. What farking commercial?

Yes, considerably more than I paid for.

Eh? Speak up, sonny. I can't hear you.

-- In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer. -- Albert Camus

Roger that.

I see that in the larger versions of that mechanical metaphor, that the blade tension is set by a frame and the sawing motion is coupled to that frame from the chassis of the saw. The traditional jigsaw combines blade clamping with motion coupling. I think I would require much higher blade tension than could be reasonably provided by an overhead spring mechanism, ala traditional jigsaw, given the cost in terms of sawing power.

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Causing the death of a perfectly innocent saw blade by mis-application. Most often by greatly exceeding the SPFM for a particular workpiece.

(...)

By then it is much too late!

That doesn't bother me nearly as much as the pain suffered by the other hard-working, dedicated folks who have been or are going to get pushed through the same meat grinder.

Humorous exclamation of clueless delight popularized by cartoon character Homer Simpson. This utterance entered the popular lexicon starting in December 17, 1989 at 4:35 PM PST and fell out of favor by that Tuesday the 19th, shortly before noon.

The expression continued to be used well into the 21st century by a collection of balding, badly aging, ignorant, fat white guys that are sure they don't look exactly like Mssr. Simpson.

(...)

YOUNG DOCTOR FRANKENSTIEN: "That goes without saying."

Whoa. Slipped off the frequency again!

--Winston

Where on-line do I find a pic of those particular creepy Evil Eyes? (I've heard of Lemony Snicket but never read/saw the books/flicks or whatever.)

I did a jeweler's workbench once: exotic wood top, legs/ends embodied creepy eyes in metal but more giggly than Evil -- sort of Kilroy Was Here meets Henry Moore. I don't think I have a pic.

I recall encountering this with a carpenter's saw cutting wood. The solution there is to slow the stroke rate. Is there any way you can do that with your sabre saw? I suppose if you put it on a rheostat, it would either fry or not run at all. Or not?

Old roto-tiller -- a worm on the shaft from the engine drives a worm wheel on the tine shaft.

Also an old automatic stoker from a coal furnace. I've rigged several useful ad-hoceries from one of the latter. A 3450 RPM motor produces 6 RPM output.

Here's a use-once widget for rotating 3-1/2" thick-wall tube while beveling and then butt-welding:

and here's the same furnace stoker gear box set up for reciprocating motion:

And here's the same gear box driving the original stoker screw to crush oversize forge coal:

They are seen in various forms throughout the film. The one I find compelling (and am unable to find on the net) is in the form of a sort of 'Steampunk Solar Weapon' in the top of a tower, wielded by Klaus Baudelaire to rescue his sister during the 'Woeful Wedding' sequence.

It is the tool described in:

wit: "In the movie version of the first three books, during the time when Olaf is forcing Violet to marry him, Klaus finds a giant magnifying glass which focuses the light. He finds that it is a clear shot to the house, indicating that Olaf used this glass as a method of arson."

Some wonderful 'eye' image files come up as search results of 'Steampunk evil eye':

I found the film _A Series Of Unfortunate Events_ quite entertaining. The end of the sequence _The letter that never came_ is Violet Baudelaire reading a letter that finally arrives from her murdered parents. It reduced me to babbling tears. It ends:

"At? times the world can seem an unfriendly and sinister place. But believe us when we say there is much more good in it than bad. All you have to do is look hard enough. And what seems to be a series of unfortunate events, may in fact, be the fist steps of a journey."

Sounds very cool! Post a link if you do run across a pic, please.

--Winston