countertop project

[Cydrome Leader]

I made some countertops last year from scratch. The longest is 18 feet
long. Made the legs of steel, the rest from wood and then laminated the
tops. Everything can be broken down into no longer than 8 foot sections
for the next move.

The legs are 11 guage 1-1/2 square and the crossmembers are 14 guage 1"
square. Scraps were cut to fit into the bottoms of the legs which were
drilled and then had 5/16-18 nuts welded on. Those were then welded into
the legs. The tops of the legs had 1/8" plates 3" square welded on with
holes for attachment to the wooden frame. There's extra holes due to bad
planning.

http://www.panix.com/~presence/counters/

Note there is no pic of the threaded parts for the feet fully welded to
the legs- they're just tacked on in the photo.

Everything started at 23 or 24 foot tubing from the steel yard.

FWIW, the Evolution saw is pretty decent.

[Gunner Asch]

Nicely done! Good weldments too.

What about the Evolution makes it better than others nearly identical
to it?

Gunner

[Cydrome Leader]

It's cheaper, but made good enough is the main thing. The Steelmax and
Morse 14" saws appear to be the same except for the trigger switch, but
cost more and seem to have about zero distributors that I can find.

Without doubt, these all roll out of the same factory- I've looked at a
steelmax saw in person and examined the parts diagrams from the Morse one.
It clamps and cuts straight, and the frame is better than what you'd get
on a most abrasive cut off saws which are mostly just bad sheet metal
stampings.

I still tore mine down after getting it to pack grease into all parts of
the pivot and the rollers that open the blade guard. It actually feels
nice now and has less slop. I've used some smaller Evolution saws, but the
issue is the smaller clamps wear out or slip. The thing is no work of art
except in how they designed cost out it, but it's still solid.

Northern has a similar model that's apparently even cheaper at $240 with
free shipping- #46461, but there's way more sheet metal vs. castings and
you get 1 year vs 3 years of warranty. I can't imagine the hassle of
boxing and sending the thing anywhere for warranty work though. They did
toss in a set of spare motor brushes in the box though.

[Gunner Asch]

On Sun, 24 Apr 2016 04:13:34 +0000 (UTC), Cydrome Leader

http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=cut-off+saw

[Cydrome Leader]

Those are all abrasive chop saws. Can't put a carbide blade in them- they
run almost twice the rated speed of a steel cutting blade. It's night and
day for abrasrive cut off vs. real cutting blade.

[Gunner Asch]

On Sun, 24 Apr 2016 20:05:40 +0000 (UTC), Cydrome Leader

Oh! You have a cold saw! Sorry..I didnt comprehend that. My
appologies indeed. Ive never seen one of those yet, like that.

Anyone want a much bigger one..I have acess to both an Amana and
several others..Doringer, Haberle and several other brands. My viet
buddy has em collecting dust.....

Gunner

[Cydrome Leader]

It's not a "real" cold saw- no crazy low speeds (think they max out at
hundreds of RPM vs. a couple thousand tops) and worm drives or anything
like that. The part I can't figure out is when does the term really switch
from dry saw or big old metal circular saw to "cold saw" where the prices
start to get really really high. The blades appear to be different,
somehow too.

[Ed Huntress]

On Mon, 25 Apr 2016 15:28:18 +0000 (UTC), Cydrome Leader

The term "cold saw," in metalworking, generally applies to the
high-torque, low-rpm type of staionary saw you describe. They're
pretty much commercial products, used mainly by steel service centers.
They are structurally very strong and rigid.

Saw manufacturers have gotten a little loose with the term lately.
You'll even see it applied to hand-held sheet-metal saws. That's not
how the metalworking industry has traditionally used the term,
however.

I'm working on an article on a high-accuracy version right now. It's
massive and expensive -- the saw, not my article. d8-)

--
Ed Huntress

[Tom Gardner]

On 4/22/2016 2:36 PM, Cydrome Leader wrote:
>
> http://www.panix.com/~presence/counters/
>
> Note there is no pic of the threaded parts for the feet fully welded to
> the legs- they're just tacked on in the photo.
>
> Everything started at 23 or 24 foot tubing from the steel yard.
>
> FWIW, the Evolution saw is pretty decent.
>
>

Have you heard of "Flat Surface Syndrome"? Just leave a counter top
exposed to humans and watch it grow piles of crap.

[rangerssuck]

You can cure that by getting a cat, who will just knock all the crap onto the floor. ALL YOUR HORIZONTAL SURFACES BELONG TO US! MEOW!

[Gunner Asch]

On Mon, 25 Apr 2016 22:08:00 -0400, Tom Gardner <Ma...@tacks.com>
wrote:

I....I...Ive got an epidemic!!!!

[Cydrome Leader]

Oh yeah, they sucked everything of the floor real quick. Had to then clean them off
again. They all have defined uses now and there's no easy way for clutter to appear on
them anymore.

They were finished with MDF tops and then then laminated with Formica.

http://www.panix.com/~presence/counters/counter_20150907_213851.jpg

[Tom Gardner]

On 4/26/2016 12:16 PM, Cydrome Leader wrote:
>
> They were finished with MDF tops and then then laminated with Formica.
>
> http://www.panix.com/~presence/counters/counter_20150907_213851.jpg
>

Good shit Maynard!!!

[William Bagwell]

On Mon, 25 Apr 2016 22:08:00 -0400, Tom Gardner <Ma...@tacks.com>
wrote:

And the corollary is "Any workbench against a wall is a shelf" Piles
of crap can grow /much/ higher... Just ask me how I know:)
--
William

[Lloyd E. Sponenburgh]

William Bagwell <use-...@s.this.one.invalid> fired this volley in
news:t920ibt2on05c781d...@4ax.com:

> And the corollary is "Any workbench against a wall is a shelf" Piles
> of crap can grow /much/ higher... Just ask me how I know:)
> --
> William
>

Yeah... I just warned a friend who finally found a surface plate they
liked to be careful not to turn it into a 'junk catcher' like those I see
in so many shops --

This, "Clear it off? Sure! Whenever we need it, we just clear the stuff
off."

and, "Clean the surface??? Huh? Oh.... yeah, we use a bench brush."

and, "Cover? It don't need no cover! It's made of SOLID GRANITE!"

Lloyd

[Larry Jaques]

"Well, it's just a _little_ chip." and "Not much of a scratch."

--
You never hear anyone say, 'Yeah, but it's a dry cold.'
-- Charles A. Budreau

[Gunner Asch]

On Wed, 27 Apr 2016 05:58:19 -0500, "Lloyd E. Sponenburgh"
<lloydspinsidemindspring.com> wrote:

>

>Yeah... I just warned a friend who finally found a surface plate they
>liked to be careful not to turn it into a 'junk catcher' like those I see
>in so many shops --
>
>This, "Clear it off? Sure! Whenever we need it, we just clear the stuff
>off."

Guilty as charged.

>
> and, "Clean the surface??? Huh? Oh.... yeah, we use a bench brush."
>
> and, "Cover? It don't need no cover! It's made of SOLID GRANITE!"
>
>Lloyd

My 24x36 surface plate has a plywood cover that neatly protects the
top of it, custom made, and then has a piece of conveyor belting on
top of that to protect the cover. Neatly stained, Varathained and
lined with carpet. It does indeed tend to become a junk table, but I
use it regularly. Ive smaller ones for day to day use.

https://picasaweb.google.com/104042282269066802602/ShopDec282012#5827216677847482194

Gunner

[Lloyd E. Sponenburgh]

Gunner Asch <gunne...@gmail.com> fired this volley in
news:h7sbibpbikmr2l1da...@4ax.com:

>
>
> Guilty as charged.

Well... to be honest, I've _been_ guilty of that 'crime against precision',
but eventually developed the discipline to keep the darned thing ready to
do the work it was intended to do! <G>

LLoyd

[Larry Jaques]

On Sun, 01 May 2016 11:05:53 -0700, Gunner Asch <gunne...@gmail.com>
wrote:

While my QA mentor at Southcomm in the '70s would have had a shit fit,
I'm fine with that. You don't need to measure to tenths on it and
your shop soitenly ain't climate controlled. <giggle>


--
Education is that which remains when one has
forgotten everything he learned in school.
--Albert Einstein

[Gunner Asch]

I do measure to tenths on it. But more often I use it with the carbide
tracer on the height gage to trace lines at the proper heights on
work pieces.