FINALLy.

Woodcraft called yesterday and I picked the saw up today. 3 of us tipped it
into my pickup and I got an idea of the amount of effort it was going to
take form my son and I to unload it and get it into the garage.

The saw was in a plywood crate that was well built and perfectly protected
the contents. My truck has a rubberized sprayed bed liner. My son and I
grunted and groaned for 20 minutes trying to slide the crate to the end of
the tail gate some 20 inches. Once the crate was at the end of the tail
gate, I lifted from the ground and he pushed from inside the bed. Another
12 inches in only 5 minutes. 30 more inches and the crate began to tip and
slowly it slid down to the concrete drive nice and slow. The crate sets on
3, 3x3 particle board skids that stick to concrete like Velcro. The crate
WAS NOT GOING TO SLIDE ANYWHERE. We tipped the crate over a bit and put
2x4's under it so that we could slide it over those. NOT. Velcro adhesion
still in effect. Finally I slipped a 2 wheel dolly under one end and lifted
while my son pushed from the other end. 1 minute later the crate is in the
garage.

A good 15 minutes to dismantle the crate and there sat a beautifully shrink
wrapped band saw. Clean, dry and no grease or preservatives gunking
everything up. As I was cutting the shrink wrap off I unwrapped and handed
off to my son on the other side of the saw. BLAM, and I go running around
the garage like a chicken with its head cut off. The shrink wrap was
holding the cast iron table on edge against the saw column and I had not
noticed that. It fell on my big toe, all of about 50# of it. The cast iron
top was in a plastic bag and covered with oil. The table was the only
thing that I had to clean.

Now I have to measure the base and assemble the Rockler universal mobile
base. The kit is well made but as usual the instructions were a hoot to
read. Step 3. When the machine is in resting position, take off the
Central wheel by "loosing" the 2 thumb screws for avoiding kicking and
saving spaces. I am calling Rockler tomorrow to get 2 new thumb screw to
replace the ones that I was instructed to lose.

Moving the saw from the crate bottom on to the mobile base was non eventful.
I laid 2 Ipe boards across the mobile base and under the crate. Slid the
saw onto the Ipe boards and centered the saw to the base, tipped the saw and
removed the Ipe boards one end at a time. Ahhh, a perfect fit.

The saw seems to be as well made as any tool that I have purchased. Look
out Jet and Delta. Fit and finish, paint, attention to details, perfect.
Cast iron table top finish almost comparable to a PM66. Grind marks still
visible but a mirror finish.
The trunion and been changed on this newer model. It is now cast aluminum
that is a minimum 1/4" thick. The blade guard has a small window at the
bottom so that you can see cuts on thin materials and the guard has a hinged
door to make blade changing a little easier. The tension release lever is
now at the bottom of the upper cabinet and moves left to right horizontally.
I was informed that the upper and lower wheel bearings are improved also.

I have not had much of a chance so far to test the cuts but I was able to
immediately cut 2" thick Oak in to slices 1/16" thick using the stock fence
and not having to adjust for drift. The surface was not smooth as I
expected but the thickness was consistent.

Now my toe is starting to swell. ;~(

"Leon" wrote in message
m...

....

A good 15 minutes to dismantle the crate and there sat a beautifully
shrink wrapped band saw. Clean, dry and no grease or preservatives
gunking everything up. As I was cutting the shrink wrap off I unwrapped
and handed off to my son on the other side of the saw. BLAM, and I go
running around the garage like a chicken with its head cut off. The
shrink wrap was holding the cast iron table on edge against the saw column
and I had not noticed that. It fell on my big toe, all of about 50# of
it. The cast iron top was in a plastic bag and covered with oil. The
table was the only thing that I had to clean.

....

Now my toe is starting to swell. ;~(

You have arrived... only a true believer is willing to sacrifice their body
for their art... ;~)

John

All you kids are so cute on Christmas mornings! I hear the trunnion is
an improvement. Anyone know? Tom

"Leon" wrote in message

Now my toe is starting to swell. ;~(

What you make on the grapes, you lose on the toe... er, tomatoes. At least
you have a new tool to mitigate the pain on the toe, if not on the wallet.

Congratulations, in any event, or in order.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 12/13/05

In article ,
"Leon" wrote:

[snipped for brevity]

I have not had much of a chance so far to test the cuts but I was able to
immediately cut 2" thick Oak in to slices 1/16" thick using the stock fence
and not having to adjust for drift. The surface was not smooth as I
expected but the thickness was consistent.

Hey, who knows what kinda blade came with it...I'm sure you'll tweak it
to maximum performance soon enough. Besides, with that new planer, who
cares if there are a few saw marks

Now my toe is starting to swell. ;~(

Get it x-rayed. Then, into a cast up to your waist. *G*
Seriously, crushed toes are nothing to mess with. Infections can flare
up in a couple of hours. See a doctor, immediately.

Congrats on the new saw, use it in good health.

r

"tom" wrote in message
oups.com...
All you kids are so cute on Christmas mornings! I hear the trunnion is
an improvement. Anyone know? Tom


I believe the original was stamped steel and was superior by comparison to
other units. Hopefully the aluminum one is an actual improvement.

"Swingman" wrote in message
...
"Leon" wrote in message

Now my toe is starting to swell. ;~(

What you make on the grapes, you lose on the toe... er, tomatoes. At least
you have a new tool to mitigate the pain on the toe, if not on the wallet.

Congratulations, in any event, or in order.


Thank you sir. I was going to call you about the instructions on the mobile
base but the drawings were pretty good. :~) I figgered you would have a
good understanding having been through that lately.

"Robatoy" wrote in message
...


Hey, who knows what kinda blade came with it...I'm sure you'll tweak it
to maximum performance soon enough. Besides, with that new planer, who
cares if there are a few saw marks

From what I understand, the original blade is a real pooper. And the new
planer is working nicely. I glued up some 7/8" thick oak double thickness
for the rails on the mobile base. I needed 1.5"x1.5" stock for that. I
ripped 1-5/8" wide and glued. This morning I sent the squares 8 footers
through the planer taking just a whisper. The falling shavings looked like
snow flakes floating in the sir. It was a cool 68 degrees F and all was
well. ;~)


Now my toe is starting to swell. ;~(

Get it x-rayed. Then, into a cast up to your waist. *G*
Seriously, crushed toes are nothing to mess with. Infections can flare
up in a couple of hours. See a doctor, immediately.

Actually the swelling stopped and I have popped my toe knuckle a couple of
times and all felt normal. :~) No throbbing or pain any more.


Congrats on the new saw, use it in good health.

Thank you sir. Now if I can learn to stop popping my fore head into the
guard adjustment wheel knob. I have done that 2 times already. Its going
to be my toe or my eye that suffers. :~)

"Leon" wrote

Thank you sir. Now if I can learn to stop popping my fore head into the
guard adjustment wheel knob. I have done that 2 times already. Its going
to be my toe or my eye that suffers. :~)

Perhaps some protective head gear may be in order.

In article ,
"Lee Michaels" wrote:

"Leon" wrote

Thank you sir. Now if I can learn to stop popping my fore head into the
guard adjustment wheel knob. I have done that 2 times already. Its going
to be my toe or my eye that suffers. :~)

Perhaps some protective head gear may be in order.

A basic motion detector, the kind that fit in a light switch, a buzzer
and a xenon-arc discharge tube. $ 30.00 and an hour's work.

You can control the 'view' of the motion detector with a simple
cardboard tube and fiddling with the sensitivity settings.

The neighbour's dog has NEVER revisited my garbage cans since his one
and only encounter with 'The Device'. No reason Leon couldn't mount one
on his bandsaw?

"Robatoy" wrote

In article ,
"Lee Michaels" wrote:

"Leon" wrote

Thank you sir. Now if I can learn to stop popping my fore head into
the
guard adjustment wheel knob. I have done that 2 times already. Its
going
to be my toe or my eye that suffers. :~)

Perhaps some protective head gear may be in order.

A basic motion detector, the kind that fit in a light switch, a buzzer
and a xenon-arc discharge tube. $ 30.00 and an hour's work.

You can control the 'view' of the motion detector with a simple
cardboard tube and fiddling with the sensitivity settings.

The neighbour's dog has NEVER revisited my garbage cans since his one
and only encounter with 'The Device'. No reason Leon couldn't mount one
on his bandsaw?

Many years ago, in my first shop, there were LOW beams. And I smacked my
head into them a number of times. I was walking down the street one day and
saw some nice, bright closed cell foam sheets at a garage sale for cheap.
They were about a quarter inch thick. Nice and firm. I bought them and
carried them home.

I cut those foam sheets up and nailed several layers anyplace where my head
might hit. They were bright and easy to see. And if I spaced out and ran
into them, it was much nicer than a hard wood beam.

Robatoy wrote:
Now my toe is starting to swell. ;~(

Get it x-rayed. Then, into a cast up to your waist. *G*
Seriously, crushed toes are nothing to mess with. Infections can flare
up in a couple of hours. See a doctor, immediately.


Tape it to the toe next to it. That's what the ER is going to do. Send me
$200.

Oh yeah, if it turns black and starts smelling like rotten garbage, forget I
said anything.

You're going to like that bandsaw. I bought mine right after Woodcraft started
carrying the Rikon and love it.




--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

VE

On Wed, 01 Feb 2006 00:55:14 GMT, "Leon"
wrote:

snip

The tension release lever is
now at the bottom of the upper cabinet and moves left to right horizontally.
I was informed that the upper and lower wheel bearings are improved also.

Leon, congrats on finally getting your saw - it only took two months
;-)

Would you be willing to post photos of the new tensioning mechanism?
The biggest weakness in the previous model, IMO, was the non-linear
tensioning mechanism. I'd like to see how they've improved it.

If it's a hassle, NP, I can always go to Woodcraft and check it out in
person - it just that visiting Woodcraft is always expensive ;-)

TWS

In article ,
"Lee Michaels" wrote:

And if I spaced out and ran
into them, it was much nicer than a hard wood beam.

Let me get this straight here, Lee. Hitting the beam was nice..but you managed
to make it nicer. I must try that.

r

I'll do that this afternoon.





"TWS" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 01 Feb 2006 00:55:14 GMT, "Leon"
wrote:

snip

The tension release lever is
now at the bottom of the upper cabinet and moves left to right
horizontally.
I was informed that the upper and lower wheel bearings are improved also.

Leon, congrats on finally getting your saw - it only took two months
;-)

Would you be willing to post photos of the new tensioning mechanism?
The biggest weakness in the previous model, IMO, was the non-linear
tensioning mechanism. I'd like to see how they've improved it.

If it's a hassle, NP, I can always go to Woodcraft and check it out in
person - it just that visiting Woodcraft is always expensive ;-)

TWS

"Robatoy" wrote

"Lee Michaels" wrote:

And if I spaced out and ran
into them, it was much nicer than a hard wood beam.

Let me get this straight here, Lee. Hitting the beam was nice..but you
managed
to make it nicer. I must try that.

It is all relative. It was never nice to hit the beam. But if it had to
happen, it was much nicer to have it heavily padded.

Even with the padding, it was a bit of a shock to hit it.

On Wed, 01 Feb 2006 18:10:21 GMT, "Leon"
wrote:

I'll do that this afternoon.





"TWS" wrote in message
.. .
On Wed, 01 Feb 2006 00:55:14 GMT, "Leon"
wrote:

snip

The tension release lever is
now at the bottom of the upper cabinet and moves left to right
horizontally.
I was informed that the upper and lower wheel bearings are improved also.

Leon, congrats on finally getting your saw - it only took two months
;-)

Would you be willing to post photos of the new tensioning mechanism?
The biggest weakness in the previous model, IMO, was the non-linear
tensioning mechanism. I'd like to see how they've improved it.

If it's a hassle, NP, I can always go to Woodcraft and check it out in
person - it just that visiting Woodcraft is always expensive ;-)

TWS

Cool! Thanks! I like the changes. Firstly because they seem like
they fixed weaknesses in the original and secondly because it means
that they're interested in improving their product rather than milking
the cash cow.

I like the new tensioning mechanism and really like the new trunion
set up rather than the stamped metal pieces they put on the original.

Thanks for taking the time to post the pics. I appreciate it.
Tom

"TWS" wrote in message
...

Cool! Thanks! I like the changes. Firstly because they seem like
they fixed weaknesses in the original and secondly because it means
that they're interested in improving their product rather than milking
the cash cow.

I like the new tensioning mechanism and really like the new trunion
set up rather than the stamped metal pieces they put on the original.

Thanks for taking the time to post the pics. I appreciate it.
Tom

Your are welcome Tom.

If it's a hassle, NP, I can always go to Woodcraft and check it out in
person - it just that visiting Woodcraft is always expensive ;-)

TWS

========================
EXPENSIVE ????

Got the flyer yesterday in the mail... da ta da

New Woodcraft Store in Leesburg Virginia opens this weekend..
10 percent off everything in the store this Saturday .. and its only
25 miles from the house...

Yesterday was also the day I got my First ever Social Security check
(Direct Deposit actually )

SO

I plan to drop by this new Woodcraft and let Uncle Sam
buy me a few things...

I am still using my original early 60's Crapsman Bandsaw...and
to be honest have been only thinking of replacing it for about 30
years....Saturday just may be the day... lol

I DO plan on bypassing the Clamp Section... and you all know why

Bob G..