Itty Bitty Little Table saws

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I think I want one for scratch building–partially because I just inheritied 850 popcycle sticks. I figure thats good for about 200 loading docks 6 bridges and a gravel processing plant.

(I know that’s a false economy)

But what I want to know is those of you that have them, how many of you use them. I know at least one person who got one and ended up using another tool for what he bought it for.

Those of you that use them, how does it work? Where do they excel and what are their limitations? For instance, I’d like to know:

If you can get a consistant 1/32" rip?

Are the equally good with styrene and wood?

What do you use it most for?

What did you expect to be able to do that was disapointing?

(I placed an ad on another forum looking to by a used one and was semi-ridiculed.)

2

Who left you 850 popsicle sticks and why? This does not seem to be moving us to the gazillion range!
Now I have heard of a “chopper”, but no little bitty table saw. Is this something that you could install in your saw mill add make little lumber while you are working on or running trains? What cruel people in that “other” forum to semi-ridicule our Mouse!
Will

3

I have the Dremmel 4" table saw. I am very plesed with it. It rips & crosscuts wood & plastic & my finger very well. The blade that comes with it is very coarse. I bought the fine tooth blade,80 teeth I think. I made a zero clearance insert so I can cut very thin pieces. The crosscutting gude that comes with it is very small so I made a larger one out of wood.
Tom

4

Tom,

I’ve heard the Dremel is out of production and won’t fit the modern dremel tools. How old is yours?

5

My daughter has to build a popcycle stick bridge for a science project. The teacher said she could get help. My questions were how long, how high and how many people had to stand on it.

She bought 1000 popcycle sticks. She only needs 150.

6

Chip
I did a Google search for Dremel & they do not list the table saw. Mine is probably 20 years old. I don"t qite understand what you mean by won"t fit other tools. It has its own motor. Maybe you could find one on ebay.
Tom
I just did an ebay search for Dremel & found 4 of them.

7

I made an expanded version of the chop saw, but it would never do popcycle sticks, certainly not to rip them. I plan to cut my strip wood with my table saw, a forrest blade and zero clearence insert. I can get down to 1/64 but there is a lot of sawdust waste. I have scrap wood to use not popcycle sticks. Being a wood worker I would not know a safe way to get HO strip wood from the sticks others than an xacto knife and lots of cuts. Good luck. Keep us posted. If anyone can invent something it would probably be you. When you do, I will borrow it.

8

I just did the eBay search and for those prices, I’m thinking the MicroMark at $119.

Still, I’m getting it for ripping wood and plastic. What else are table saws for (that you can’t get a better saw for?)

9

I have a 3" Minicraft (made in England). I bought it through ModelExpoLtd (http://www.modelexpo-online.com/cgi-bin/sgsh0101.exe?SKW=MINICRAFT@&FNM=09&UID=2005110317301636) a few years back. There’s a couple of different ones available from Micromark (http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp?MerchantID=RET01229&Action=Catalog&Type=Product&ID=50304) one is $119.95. Mine was a package deal, a 3 1/2" disc sander, the table saw and a mini orbital sander with 12v/5amp power supply for $150. I have found the disc sander and the saw very useful. The power supply has variable speed so you can adjust the speed of the tool for the material you are working with. For wood you can use a medium to coarse blade, for plastic, brass and aluminium you need a fine blade.

10

hi spacemouse
look in the fall issue of the micro-mark catalog on page 4 , they have one listed for $334.95. i don`t know anything about it. i do know micro-mark has some good tools for the hobbyist and they are pretty fast in shipping them out.
their address is micro-mark
340snyder ave.
berkely heights , nj. 07922-1595
write to them and they will send you a free catalog.
have a good day.

11

This one is $119.95

http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp?MerchantID=RET01229&Action=Catalog&Type=Product&ID=50304

12

[:D]

13

I’m still trying to verify that people are able to rip 1/32" pieces out of their wood stock.

14

The microlux saw should be able to do it. You would need a fairly fine blade (at least 80 teeth/inch) and you’ll have to close up the slot around the blade to keep the cut piece from dropping down.

15

Hey Mouse,

I have the $119 Micro - Mark saw. I love it. I also have some Micro Mark brass guages that I use with it. I think the thinest guage is 1/16". 1/32 could be done but you would need a way to reliably measure that thickness (thinness???). I find the saw quite easy to use. Be very careful as lots of times the blade and fingers are fairly close… ??? The Orange wood popsicle sticks are a favorite sourse of scale lumber for me. They are straight grained, take stain vell, and are free!

One more thing, I plan to get seveal other of the miniture Micro Mark power tools as they are well made and easy to use.

16

Keep thinking of things… The Micro mark saw comes with an 80 tooth blade for ripping wood, and a 107 tooth fine cut blade for cross cut work. I am still on my first 80 tooth blade and I have ripped a lot of lumber with already. They seem to stay sharp a long time. The saw will cut up to 1/4" thick stock.

17

One thing I have heard about the Micro-Mark and other hobbyist table saws is that the gap between the saw blade and its housing is larger than 1/32" so a 1/32" cut isn’t possible…but ARTHILL apparently knows how to make a zero-clearance insert which will allow for final cuts. I understand it involves machining a piece of aluminum to fit in between the housing and the blade, and quite a bit of measuring.