John Rumm wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:
Having built around 25 decks, my Axminster White SCMS is in a bad
way & needs replacing. I'm in a quandary, do I buy an ALDI el
cheapo and replace as necessary or shell out on a decent brand for
long term?
As another alternative you may find you can replace bits of the
existing one to return it to serviceable condition. Axminster
sometimes have spares for these things.
I've checked that out & they did have most of the parts, but at a fairly
high cost. Not far of the cost of a new Aldi or Titan one.
Spot on 100% accuracy isn't essential, its only used for decking -
trimming 150 x 47 softwood or 147 x 28 deck boards.
You could do that with a 10" chop saw rather than a sliding one
probably.
I've only seen one 250mm non slider that will cut a 150 x 47 and thats the
Titan from SF. At £60 its cheap enough. Most will only cut 130 - 140mm.
I'm now thinking do I need an SCMS at all? I have the idea of
making up a 'sawboard' with a right angle fence (I think Dennis
mentioned this idea) and using a circular saw.
I don't mind buying a new power tool :-) but its not just the cost.
An SCMS is a bulky & heavy item to store & squeeze into the van and
involves double handling of the timber very often. I don't use a
stand for the SCMS because that often involves lifting a 4.8m 150 x
47 and then holding it in place - PITA if you only have to trim 30cm
off. Easier at floor level.
I can see the dilemma. Although I expect if you had one of the decent
stands like Dom suggested you would find its actually quite a
comfortable way of working. Using a sliding saw you can also stack up
a pile of boards and cut a number at a time. The big SCMS will
probably do 8 deck boards at a time for example.
Still got to double handle the timber - lift it up onto the saw, then down
onto the floor. Plus getting the big stand into the van.
It occurs to me that a sawboard & circular saw could be taken to the
timber, rather than taking the timber to the saw - I'd just need to
support the end, clamp on the sawboard & cut. Probably quicker.
Could be in some cases. As could be laying a number of boards
overlength and then trimming them all together with a hand held saw
and a straight edge.
Easiest way is to trim the boards after they are laid, I use a sawbord &
circ saw. If you plan things correctly you can buy the boards almost the
right size - provided the supplier has that size in stock of course.
I spent an hour or so today mucking about with some 12mm ply & a strip of
ally angle.
After a few trials I ended up with a saw board based cross cut jig that
works a real treat. I have an old, but good, B&D circ saw with a 65mm dopth
of cut, so with 12mm ply it still gives 53mm capacity.
I'll give it a try on the next deck (prolly next year by now) & see how it
goes, but I reckon it will save time overall.
--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk