Nachoman's summer 2010 enginehouse challenge.

[nachoman]

Step two is to figure out what I am going to make this thing out of. I will use a freelance design, and the design will have to consider what materials are available to me. I want the look of a wood frame building with steel siding. But, my stash of scale lumber is low and I would rather avoid buying new lumber if I can find something free that will work.

   

I bought this little table saw from Garbage (Harbor) Freight a few years ago for cutting PCB ties. I think it cost me about 35 bucks. It came with two 4" blades - one about 40 teeth, and the other a diamond blade. The diamond blade worked great for the PCB, and I have also used it for cutting plastic or thin wood. It works okay for that, but has many limitations. First, the motor spins fast but is not that powerful. It won't cut wood much thicker than 1/4 of an inch. Second, the 40 tooth blade is a little coarse for fine model work. Micro mark sells blades that will fit, but they are expensive. A finer (and sharper) blade may help its performance for model work. The drawback with the included blade is that the cuts can be a little rough and require sanding.

   

Another drawback of the saw is the small table size and lack of rip fence. The slot for the blade opening was also too wide for ripping small pieces. So, yesterday I built this top to fit over the saw. So far, it seems to work well. I have a few more features I want to add to improve it, but I think this will suit my purpose. It works well on soft woods like paint stirring sticks...!!! That's the beauty. My dad has a 5-gallon bucket full of paint stirring sticks he never used. Home Depot gives a bunch to him every time he buys paint, but probably has only used 1/4 of them. Next time I see him, I should have an armload of stirring sticks to turn into scale lumber.