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thingstodo · 05-29-2013, 05:26 AM

Time to make an aluminum frame to mount the motor, transmission, and all of the rest of the stuff into.

Started up my old cutoff saw (outside) and ... I heard the breaker trip in the garage immediately (bad) ... and ... it was snowing capacitor fluff!

So I unplugged the saw to investigate. A mouse had eaten away some of the starting capacitor on the 1.5 HP motor ... so the remainder of the insulation sort of EXPLODED out of the capacitor when I turned it on.

I think I need another saw!

I had been thinking about how much work it would be to set up the old saw plumb and square. It's a garage sale unit from years ago .. so I had been looking around for a saw for a while. There is a sale at Princess Auto this week so I went and splurged on a NEW saw. $70 plus tax for a 14 inch cutoff saw with a 1 inch arbor. YAY!

Now ... what was I supposed to cut?

My free trial of Alibre CAD software has expired. And I did not print out the list of parts (a simple list, but still a list) before it expired. SIGH!! uninstall, then reinstall, sign up for the trial again .... nope!

Do it again. Cycle power a lot (since it's windows). No dice.

OK - I could .. maybe .. buy the software if I had to. So I call the software company ... no answer from their SALES department ... perhaps I should just go back to bed!

I went out and set up a bench .. of sorts .. to do the cutting ... when I figure out what I'm cutting. 12 feet long, just behind my garage (I don't want metal filings in the garage, or the bits of metal from drilling, either). A lot of leveling was required on the bench. And I had to learn how to adjust guides on the new saw, and I had to gather some scrap wood to level the metal on either side of the saw before I cut it, so that the cuts would be vertical (plumb). Finally, I tested the cut on a few pieces of scrap thin tube I have. Several adjustments later and it's cutting pretty much plumb and square (at least, to the accuracy I can measure).

Try the software again. And this time the same procedure works ... go figure ... but it's too dark to do any cutting tonight. Perhaps tomorrow.

05-29-2013, 05:26 AM	#58 (permalink)
thingstodo Master EcoModder Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Saskatoon, canada Posts: 1,488 Ford Prefect - '18 Ford F150 XLT XTR Tess - '22 Tesla Y LR Thanks: 746 Thanked 565 Times in 447 Posts	Update for May 27, 2013 Time to make an aluminum frame to mount the motor, transmission, and all of the rest of the stuff into. Started up my old cutoff saw (outside) and ... I heard the breaker trip in the garage immediately (bad) ... and ... it was snowing capacitor fluff! So I unplugged the saw to investigate. A mouse had eaten away some of the starting capacitor on the 1.5 HP motor ... so the remainder of the insulation sort of EXPLODED out of the capacitor when I turned it on. I think I need another saw! I had been thinking about how much work it would be to set up the old saw plumb and square. It's a garage sale unit from years ago .. so I had been looking around for a saw for a while. There is a sale at Princess Auto this week so I went and splurged on a NEW saw. $70 plus tax for a 14 inch cutoff saw with a 1 inch arbor. YAY! Now ... what was I supposed to cut? My free trial of Alibre CAD software has expired. And I did not print out the list of parts (a simple list, but still a list) before it expired. SIGH!! uninstall, then reinstall, sign up for the trial again .... nope! Do it again. Cycle power a lot (since it's windows). No dice. OK - I could .. maybe .. buy the software if I had to. So I call the software company ... no answer from their SALES department ... perhaps I should just go back to bed! I went out and set up a bench .. of sorts .. to do the cutting ... when I figure out what I'm cutting. 12 feet long, just behind my garage (I don't want metal filings in the garage, or the bits of metal from drilling, either). A lot of leveling was required on the bench. And I had to learn how to adjust guides on the new saw, and I had to gather some scrap wood to level the metal on either side of the saw before I cut it, so that the cuts would be vertical (plumb). Finally, I tested the cut on a few pieces of scrap thin tube I have. Several adjustments later and it's cutting pretty much plumb and square (at least, to the accuracy I can measure). Try the software again. And this time the same procedure works ... go figure ... but it's too dark to do any cutting tonight. Perhaps tomorrow.