I picked up the Steel City 36526 5 HO TS at IWF for services rendered. And excellently machined saw that come from Taiwan and not thier China plant. Main table under .001.. arbor .004... miter slot .008 off the pallet with as good a grind job on the cast iron top as I've seen.
This is not a saw for everyone I suppose. Many cabinet shops use it around these parts with a Power Feeder as it's very accurate and will eat stock all day long without burping. A good choice for them with no bells and whistles at $1900 and a Power Feeder at around $1000.
But I am not a cabinet shop with need for a power feeder so I did my usual "tricking out" to make it amateur shop friendly and safe as I do rip a large amount of rough stock for hire. So...
I took the rails down to 40" from 52" as I do no large panels and I need the space it blocked in a traffic pattern. Re-capped the rails and extension table I cut down also. Added a UHMW stop at the end of rail to block the fence from coming off as it is slick... very slick.
No phenolic inserts on the market for this saw (to change soon as Ron Lee from Leecraft dropped by IWF and took measurements) so I made 4 zero clearances from birch ply. I spent around $30 and got some plumbing supplies from the Box. It became my swing support for a new over-head dust shield I modified from a PS ($25) big mouth shield. Added 6" port to standard 4" port on the saw.
Made a half fence from UHMW ($4) which attaches with Rockler universal clamps ($15) on the stock fence. I made one of my larger spring-boards for support left from ply scrap... then added a large T track on the left end of my table with 3/8 aircraft bolts for around $12. A crown guard of scrap hard-wood from the scrap bucket was made an attached to the splitter. The standard splitter hex head bolts were removed and I added quick release (1/4 turn each) cam levers.
The saw has a 4" wide throat and is 14" long (same as PM 66) so it's easy to get inside to change blades and remove splitter which takes about 10 seconds to do. I also removed the fixed pin on the splitter and replaced with a hex bolts and 3 prong handle so the plastic shield comes off separately in about 6 seconds.
The kill switch could be larger and is not paddle.. so I made a paddle switch that is larger. Even an old blind squirrel can find this Panic Button! And as I rip often and in some hefty lengths... I needed front and rear friction supports. I modified two Rigid flip top stands for that task. They can be closed and stood on a wall when not in use. The front support is MDF attached to my workbench via the LV twin screw vise.
That's about it.. what was an excellently machined saw with no bells and whistles became a very safety minding machine with home-made bells and whistles. Some bought some scrap with about $87 out-lay on my part as I had the two Rigid stands on hand.
Pictures follow in no certain order. I just finished a BR suit and start a coffee table in a few days. I do have about 2000 sq. ft. of rough air dry coming into my shop I am doing for hire in two weeks. The saw is now ready...
So.... no matter if delicate as the coffee table or raw as the rough stock.. I can stand to one side out of the lane.. keep my hands out of the Red Zone and......
Let the Big Dawg Eat....
Sarge..
This is not a saw for everyone I suppose. Many cabinet shops use it around these parts with a Power Feeder as it's very accurate and will eat stock all day long without burping. A good choice for them with no bells and whistles at $1900 and a Power Feeder at around $1000.
But I am not a cabinet shop with need for a power feeder so I did my usual "tricking out" to make it amateur shop friendly and safe as I do rip a large amount of rough stock for hire. So...
I took the rails down to 40" from 52" as I do no large panels and I need the space it blocked in a traffic pattern. Re-capped the rails and extension table I cut down also. Added a UHMW stop at the end of rail to block the fence from coming off as it is slick... very slick.
No phenolic inserts on the market for this saw (to change soon as Ron Lee from Leecraft dropped by IWF and took measurements) so I made 4 zero clearances from birch ply. I spent around $30 and got some plumbing supplies from the Box. It became my swing support for a new over-head dust shield I modified from a PS ($25) big mouth shield. Added 6" port to standard 4" port on the saw.
Made a half fence from UHMW ($4) which attaches with Rockler universal clamps ($15) on the stock fence. I made one of my larger spring-boards for support left from ply scrap... then added a large T track on the left end of my table with 3/8 aircraft bolts for around $12. A crown guard of scrap hard-wood from the scrap bucket was made an attached to the splitter. The standard splitter hex head bolts were removed and I added quick release (1/4 turn each) cam levers.
The saw has a 4" wide throat and is 14" long (same as PM 66) so it's easy to get inside to change blades and remove splitter which takes about 10 seconds to do. I also removed the fixed pin on the splitter and replaced with a hex bolts and 3 prong handle so the plastic shield comes off separately in about 6 seconds.
The kill switch could be larger and is not paddle.. so I made a paddle switch that is larger. Even an old blind squirrel can find this Panic Button! And as I rip often and in some hefty lengths... I needed front and rear friction supports. I modified two Rigid flip top stands for that task. They can be closed and stood on a wall when not in use. The front support is MDF attached to my workbench via the LV twin screw vise.
That's about it.. what was an excellently machined saw with no bells and whistles became a very safety minding machine with home-made bells and whistles. Some bought some scrap with about $87 out-lay on my part as I had the two Rigid stands on hand.
Pictures follow in no certain order. I just finished a BR suit and start a coffee table in a few days. I do have about 2000 sq. ft. of rough air dry coming into my shop I am doing for hire in two weeks. The saw is now ready...
So.... no matter if delicate as the coffee table or raw as the rough stock.. I can stand to one side out of the lane.. keep my hands out of the Red Zone and......
Let the Big Dawg Eat....
Sarge..
Attached Files
And if you were to try and remove that ugly sticker it would mess up the paint, pull the saw out of alignment, and cause the motor to run backwards.
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