Home-Built Heavy Duty Chop Saw

Home-Built Heavy Duty Chop Saw WOODLOT EQUIPMENT Saws 23-5-39 Howard Vogel, Waverly, Iowa: "After looking at various commercial chop saws, I reached three conclusions: They weren't built heavy enough, they didn't cut angles with the accuracy I required, and I couldn't justify the expense. "So I built my own chop saw that'll cut 100 percent accurately at virtually any angle and will go through anything. For instance, I once cut a crankshaft from an old Volkswagen car for a man who had tried unsuccessfully to cut it with a power hacksaw. "My chop saw is fitted with industrial strength, high-speed, 14-in. dia. blades and is powered by a 1 hp motor off an old milking machine. It's rewired for 110 volts instead of 220. The saw mounts on a piece of 1 by 6 with a saw arbor mounted on the opposite end. The platform-mounted motor and arbor mount on a 5/8-in. dia. rod that runs across the back of my work bench. This allows me to slide the saw left or right of the vise on front of the bench. The vise bolts to a plywood disc that rotates and is marked off in degree increments that let me know exactly what angle I'm cutting. "Works better than any commercial unit I know of and didn't cost more than $20 to build."

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