Shooting shack construction underway!

[Bret4207]

One of these days....

Got an ancient Craftsman radio arm saw in "inventory". We used to use it with a dado head for certain milling ops. Got tired of cleaning it off every time we went to use it so,chucked it on the round tuit pile.

Anyfreakin way.... a nice tight smallish one,think Default used to make a nice HD 9" but don't quote me..... take one and pretty much strip it to the bone. Put the correct thin wheel on it and make a GREAT bandsaw blade or chainsaw sharpener. The fixturing would clamp/bolt onto the metal chassis rails under the wood(toss the wood).

Won't work on a chainsaw chain because there are 2 angles involved. You'd have to back the saw into the tooth and lower it too. A power miter saw might, but you can get the same basic thing done up right (more or less) at Harbor Freight for $39.00 on sale.

 

[Bret4207]

I have always been terrified of radial arm saws and skil saws. No doubt due to my fathers insistence on me holding the "other end" of whatever he was cutting from an early age. I worked in a truss plant using 12 to 16" radial arm saws all day long for good while. If you think that 10" saw in your shop is scary, try a 16 incher! Anyway, I still have my dads Craftsman radial arm saw. It still scares me a bit, no doubt left over childhood trauma, but I use it regularly and it's not going anywhere. Now tablesaws, those suckers I've never liked. Clumsy people like me should be scared of them. (I have the reflexes of a drunken Giant Sloth that has suffered several debilitating strokes!) Again, I used the big Delta Unisaws and some of the larger jobs with at least 12" blades. If I ever get hurt, it's going to be on a table saw with a piece of plywood. I can rip dimension lumber all day and never have a problem. Give me a sheet of 3/4" AC and there is a good chance I'll be buying you a 2nd sheet because I screwed it up and the alst you saw of it was when it seemed to propel itself sideways and out your front shop door!. I used to run a panel saw (sort of a large sliding skil saw thing for cutting 4x8 sheets of plywood or paneling for consumers. Never had a problem when it was vertical. Lay it out horizontally and I could screw it up just looking at it.

 

[Bret4207]

I have several but haven't been using them for this yet. Need some fresh ones anyway.

Getcha a chainsaw helmet with the screen type face guard. No foggy uppy like the solid plastic jobs. Sweat and plastic face shields (or welding helmets) are 2 mutually exclusive items!

 

[Pistolero]

Yeah, I can quickly see that the screen type would make more sense for chainsawing.

 

[Ian]

Brilliant, Bret, never would have thought of that. I see they can be had with built-in earmuffs too.

 

[popper]

Never seen or heard of a blade stopper. I did work on a project for 1K HP chippers, to prevent guys from being dragged into it. Naw, you can't stop them. Silly idea but we got paid some. Dad made his table saw, AC motor and belt drive. Even let me use it. Gave it to older Bro and got a radial saw. It worked fine too. Had a kid in wood shop take of a couple fingers in planer/joiner. Bicycle helmet? What? Ever see a kid get up to speed on a 20"er and have (bro) toss a bamboo pole into the front spokes? I did chase him after the 3rd time. My elec. chain saw doesn't stop immediately but it does require reactivating the safety before it runs again.

 

[Bret4207]

It's almost common to hear of some poor guy being dragged into a chopper up her. One lady I knew found what was left of her husband after he tried to clear a jam on a running chopper while chopping newspaper for cow bedding. A wood chipper works the same way. Once they get you, it's over, and it isn't a pleasant way to go.

Ian, yes, muffs and a face screen and they don't fog up. Handy!

 

[JSH]

I also used to think chainsaw kick back was a scare tactic. Not anymore. Even the big homeowner sized Stihl saws I respected but never had an issue with kick back.
Enter an older logging Stihl and a Jonsred, forget the model numbers. Both are ungodly high rpm and high torque. These things are made to work all day long everyday.

 

[Pistolero]

Ian,
Draco.... the new tips are right there.
Mike up front talking with folks. Just as high energy in person as on the videos.

Bill

 

[Bret4207]

WOW!!! That thing really will land in a small area!

 

[Ian]

Some of the ultra-light cubs can take off and land in much shorter distances than Draco but weigh 1/4 as much and are at best two-seaters. Draco can fly Seattle to Anchorage nonstop, cruise at 26K feet due to O2 system, carry a lot of gear and people, and still land and take off again on pretty rough terrain in well under 100'. Did you know Mike owned the first production Wilga and sold it? When he had the idea to buy another and build his dream, Cadillac bush plane, the only one for sale was the last one made, so he has owned first and last of all 24 of them ever made.

I can't wait to see what he does with Scrappy, his experimental that will be built from wrecks and junk he has laying around....including a bored/stroked six-cylinder Lycoming, the largest ever made that he custom-built for speed records. His twin Mark is also building a "Scrappy" with a totally different pholosophy, sort of a welterweight vs. heavyweight pair of builds.

 

[Pistolero]

Short, Bret, but not quite that short.

 

[Ian]

Naw...Mike brings all the bricks, mulch, and flowers to the show in the back of the plane so he can display in style.

 

[Hawk]

When i was young, I had my chest ripped open by a 16" chainsaw, caused by a kickback. I'll never use a another saw without a chain break.
I also have a friend we call fingers, becuase he doesn't have any on his left hand. 6-1/2" skillsaw accident.
We all have storys!

 

[fiver]

looks like he has a lawn mower attachment for that thing too.

 

[Ian]

That's an electric tug doubling as shore power.

 

[Pistolero]

Short, Bret, but not quite that short.
Those tugs are how he pays for his toys.

 

[RBHarter]

I have a "what a dummy" radial arm saw story .
Short version don't cut across your arm . He got to keep it but 2 fingers basically don't work .

I ran a 14" table saw , 16" radial arm , 12" chop and 22" band saw for 22 yr . I somehow managed to escape with all of my digits and piggies .

A 16" arm saw , in one of our more exciting moments , will cut right through a piece 3/8 CRS rod . Probably something like a 40d or a tent peg nail dead center in a 4×4 ........ It does of course bend those 80 tooth blade teeth out from a 3/16" kerf to about 3/4" slot .

Our saw was equipped shut down brake that was supposed to stop the blade in 30 seconds .........32-40 but whatever . We would demonstrate for new guys by pushing the stop switch counting 10 and cutting off a piece of 4×4 or 2×6 Douglas fir . We had roller conveyor beds on the arm saws and an adjustable positive stop . Feed , cut , pull stack , repeat as needed . We cut double stacks up to 2×12 and sometimes whole bundles to blocking dimensions in 30-35 min when we all worked together smoothly .

 

[Bret4207]

Those 16's are something after running 12's. I was cutting short blocks on day, (probably a stack of 4 or 6 at a time) and the new 16 grabbed one and sent it flying through the back wall of the shop! Learned some new respect that time.

 

[RBHarter]

We we're cutting some short 4×4 blocks , pallet legs I think . The saw snatched one up , back to the dust collector which was screened for large debris , back out the front between the sawman and feeder , cutting a hole in the 18' ceiling insulation on it's way 35' across the shop into the corner behind compressor ......

We changed the fence for short cuts after that . The side guards are 3.5" wide so our saw had a 5" slot . Tough to cut 2.5-3.5" blocks . Probably 14 OSHA violations the way we did it but we didn't chuck any more blocks and everyone kept their digits .