Power tools

General topics of interest to racers and race coordinators alike.
macd
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Re: Power tools

Post by macd »

My son's Tiger year, I bought a scroll saw. $25 used on Craig's list.
I like it because I feel OK with my son using it. Last year, with 4 hands on the wood. This year, he ran solo for most of the cuts. I wouldn't let him near a band saw, but I feel OK with him using a scroll saw.

My son's Wolf year, I bought a drill press. $50 new from Harbor Freight with sale + coupon.
Even though it is not the best quality drill press, I love it for derby work. This year my son did all his axle work solo. After I leveled the table and set up the fence, he was able to drill his own axle holes. He was able to drill his weight holes this year. Using a hand held cordless drill was too hard for him to do accurate work last year.

Other than polishing the bore, we haven't done much wheel work yet. I'll be on the look out for a general use tool to help with that next year. :thumbup:
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drathbun
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Re: Power tools

Post by drathbun »

I have a 14" Delta band saw, so it's a horse. It's on a wheeled base so I can roll it around my garage, and it lives in a corner when it's not being used. As suggested, it's not portable enough to take to another site to use, so I host workshops in my garage. I outfit it with a 3/16" Timber Wolf blade. My first blade lasted for over three years; I only replaced it prior to derby workshops starting this year. Never had it stretch or break. The thinner the blade the tighter the curve can be. With a wider blade it will cut better straight lines, but at the expense of flexibility and curves. I went with the smaller blade because most cuts on derby cars are small.

I picked up a fast clamp-on fence for Christmas that makes it much easier to cut straight cuts now. Woodcraft had them on sale for less than the price on amazon.com and the smallest one from the set works great on my band saw. I also bought a taper jig (was going to make one, but again found one on sale) that makes it easier to cut wedge shapes.

The only time the scroll saw gets used is when someone wants to cut middle areas out, and most of our boys don't seem to go for that sort of design. My scroll saw is from Dremel, and I don't know if I'm not using it right but when I try to cut a full-sized derby block it's incredibly slow and hard to work with. I rarely ever get the scroll saw out at this point. Even if I do want to do internal holes myself, I will often start holes with my drill press and then carve / shape things out with my hand Dremel tool.
rpcarpe
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Re: Power tools

Post by rpcarpe »

Yes - Benchtop style tools are usually sufficient for PWD needs
Bandsaw vs. Scroll Saw - I now own both, wide blade on bandsaw for good straight cuts, scroll saw for interior cuts. Dremel for a lot of other stuff.
Keep your eyes on Craigslist, want ads, auctions, pawn shops & harbor freight if you don't want to spend $$ on new from Rockler & Grizzly.
My wife started a new support group... Widows of the Pinewood Derby.
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gpraceman
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Re: Power tools

Post by gpraceman »

I got started with my tool collection with a Ryobi scroll saw. Later added a 10" drill press and a disk/belt sander, also from Ryobi. I still have all of them and have gotten plenty of use out of them. I went with the scroll saw over a band saw, since we wanted the kids to be involved in as much of the build process as possible and the scroll saw is a much safer way to go.

As for cutting a full width block with a scroll saw, you do need to press harder than you think to get it done. My scroll saw actually seems to speed up when pressing with the right amount of force, so I instruct the parents to listen for the saw to speed up to know that they are doing it right.
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Awana Grand Prix and Pinewood Derby racing - Where a child, an adult and a small block of wood combine for a lot of fun and memories.
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drathbun
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Re: Power tools

Post by drathbun »

Unfortunately when we pushed harder it just bent or broke the blades. Plus the blade was forced back into the saw casing (not sure how to describe it) and wore a groove in the metal there. It took forever to cut even a simple design out. As I said, maybe it was just my saw, or my blade selection, or something, but I'm far happier with a band saw. The decision is probably based on equipment, style of use, technique, and a whole bunch of other factors.

The point about boys using the saw is well taken, however. After the boy transfers his design to his block, I have him put on safety goggles and stand up on a step ladder so he can see the cutting process. I don't let any boys use the band saw, and I don't let many of the parents use it either! ;) If we don't have a big crowd, I will unplug the saw and open the entire case up so the boys can see how it works. Some of the boys are fascinated by gears and pulleys and they love seeing how the saw is designed. At the end of the day, I have had boys help me clean up, and they think using a tooth brush to clean the "teeth" of the band saw is great fun, and then using the leaf blower to blow all of the dust out is something else they can have fun with.
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gpraceman
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Re: Power tools

Post by gpraceman »

I use 15 tpi blades with the speed of the saw maxed out. I tried 10 tpi blades, which are supposed to cut thicker wood, but they would surge through the cut. We do break our share of blades (some parents more than others) but we generally get a few cars cut before one lets go.
Randy Lisano
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Awana Grand Prix and Pinewood Derby racing - Where a child, an adult and a small block of wood combine for a lot of fun and memories.
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whodathunkit
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Re: Power tools

Post by whodathunkit »

Most scroll saw guys will tell you if you can get 30 min or longer out
of a blade your doing good.

For making tighter turns and cuts with the heaver & thicker blades..
I like to use an EZE-LAP diamond hone & stone and round over the back
side of the blade while it's running. Befor trying to make the cuts.

This tip: will keep you from bending the blade in the work brakeing the blade.

Here is a good web site on chooseing scroll saw blades.
http://www.woodcraft.com/Articles/Artic ... icleId=411" target="_blank
As you can see there are all types of blades for the scroll saw.
But not only are there blades there are accessories for them also.
to turn them in to scroll sanders.
http://www.pozsgaidesigns.com/page0007.htm" target="_blank

Here is a tip for turning your scroll saw into a band saw also.
The 90 degrees blade twist trick.
It is a technique that may be practical in some situations.
To change the cutting direction of the blade,simply twist it on the ends.
When it is twisted to 90 degrees, you can feed the work from the side
like a band saw.
Most blades are not tempered at the ends so they can bend with out breaking.

Remember, how-ever, that when the 90 degree blade-twist trick is done with
a C-arm and parallel-arm constant-tension saws,the result will be less-then-ideal cutting stroke.

In bouth cases,the action is such that blade moves slightly from the back to the front of the machine with every stroke.
What type of automobile can be spelled the same forwards & backwards?
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