Cheap Panel Saw

[uneedasign]

For those of you that do not have a panel saw, I found this by accident yesterday and thought some of you would be interested. It is a kit that includes the rails, and plans to make your own frame with mdf. I ordered on of the 60" units, and will let you know how well it works in a few weeks. Heres the link

http://www.versatool.com/PanelSawKit.htm

[GraphixCALC]

Yes, please keep us posted as I've been looking for a panel saw for a while now, but of course the one I want is $2800.

[DOGraphics]

Can't wait to hear how it turns out. Let us know how it went together.

[Gino]

Yeah, I'm sure your insurance company will approve a homemade saw that you move with your own arm. I wonder if OSHA will consider it safe if you have employees ??

I would check with them first.

[Columbia Signs]

POOR design! so many issues..... WHY would you risk it? Crap in, crap out.

http://www.safetyspeedcut.com/ makes good AFFORDABLE panel saws that work great.

[SignsInTime]

Yeah, I'm sure your insurance company will approve a homemade saw that you move with your own arm. I wonder if OSHA will consider it safe if you have employees ??

I would check with them first.


I move my safety speed cut panel saw with my own arm. how else would you move it?

[high impact]

Sorry, I wouldn't mess with the time or liability of building a homemade saw. I'll just buy one when I get serious enough.

[Gino]

Hi John.... yes, you move yours with your arm.... same as we do, but it was built by professionals. Therein lies the difference. You build a saw for home use and do something stupid, you're responsible for it. Do it in the workplace and insurance will look differently upon that. If a screw or bolt falls off from a professionally manufactured unit.... you can go to them for something defective. If you or your employee get hurt because you didn't quite cut something straight or didn't tighten it.... instantly your insurance will drop you for doing something you have no knowledge to do, let alone authorization to let others operate. This is NOT the place to save some money.

My biggest concern would be that I couldn't live with myself if I knew I had created a guillotine to save money or cut arms & fingers instead of corners.


BTW.... your thing shipped Monday night.

[VinylCraft]

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/tls/548985207.html

cant imagine the saw attachment is that much.

[Bogie]

Actually, it looks fairly simple, with not that much to fail or go wrong. I'm thinking it'd be a far sight safer than using my current table saw for large stuff...

[customquint]

I seen this and many other do it yourself ideas when I was shopping for my panel saw. I ended up buying a used Safety Speed Cut Saw.

After owning a panel saw for a few years now, I don't know how I did it before. I also think a home built saw wouldn't be as rugged & be a workhorse like a true manufactured piece of equipment.

I also did some math, buy the time you buy everything you need to build one, plus the saw, you can almost buy a entry level safety speed cut. Plus the time to try to build it.

[onesource]

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=6240&cookietest=1
One good sign should pay for this

[signmeup]

POOR design! so many issues..... WHY would you risk it? Crap in, crap out.

http://www.safetyspeedcut.com/ makes good AFFORDABLE panel saws that work great.

While I don't care either way if they build their own saw...it is the same design. Different execution but same design.
I went to the safety speedy cutty panel saw site but couldn't find out why they were so safe. You'd think they would mention why their product would benefit someone safety wise with a name like that. I couldn't seem to locate the price of the item either.

Adrian

[OldPaint]

these things just tell me how INANE some people who make signage are.
i have a 8-10" piece of 3/4" MDO that is 8 ft long.....for when i want to cut a board lenthwise, i take 2 C-clamps, position the board the so the width of the skil saw rides against the factory striaght edge on the 3/4" mdo.....and CUT IT PERFECTLY STRAIGHT....every time. and i didnt spend $500-2000 just to cut a board!!!!
for the 4 ft width they sell a nice heavy alum STRAIGHT EDGE at most hardware stores for $30.....clamp it and cut....oh and a sharp fine toothed blade helps...for $500 i can use a new blade on every board i cut......)))))))))

[LarryBoy]

I haven't looked at the panel saw in question but I think it's almost got to be safer than cutting a 4x8 set up on saw horses wether you use a metal straight edge or not (which I have many times).Something safer to do is buy a couple of 4x8 blue board insulation 2" thick an lay them on the floor and place the plywood on top of them with the metal straight edge. Much safer than saw horses, trouble is it's not as fast so if you want something to get the job done quickly get a panel saw.

[customquint]

these things just tell me how INANE some people who make signage are.
i have a 8-10" piece of 3/4" MDO that is 8 ft long.....for when i want to cut a board lenthwise, i take 2 C-clamps, position the board the so the width of the skil saw rides against the factory striaght edge on the 3/4" mdo.....and CUT IT PERFECTLY STRAIGHT....every time. and i didnt spend $500-2000 just to cut a board!!!!
for the 4 ft width they sell a nice heavy alum STRAIGHT EDGE at most hardware stores for $30.....clamp it and cut....oh and a sharp fine toothed blade helps...for $500 i can use a new blade on every board i cut......)))))))))

I did the same thing before I got my panel saw, but time became an issue (Time is Money)

Its the speed of having the panel saw, by the time you measure and clamp a straight edge and cut, I can have 5 or 6 pieces cut already. Also, when cutting thin materials like PVC & Coro, you can't just lay this stuff on saw horses & cut, you need to drag out other sheets to lay under it, with a panel saw, it is cake.

Plus the room it takes to lay a 4x8 flat to cut, don't always have that room when other projects are going on. Having a panel saw that sits vertical against the wall make a nice place to do all my cutting without wasting valuable floor space.

I rank my panel saw almost as valuable as my vinyl cutter. It helped streamline my whole production. I also can send any of my guys back and trust they cut everything straight and to the right size, and not have to worry about them cutting a limb off.

[Rollie]

A local contractor I know built one from scratch. I assume he saw the real thing and just copied it using wood and whatever materials he had. Had counterweights and everything. It looked GREAT.

When he left town he gave it to me. I was impressed.
Up until I used it.... Scary. It did work but what a contraption. I knew it was an accident waiting to happen.

It was NOT safe and I also gave it to someone who thought it "looked great".


You get what you pay for.

[onesource]

Nothing wrong with that and it does take less room, the only time for a panel saw is when you have alot of cutting all the time.these things just tell me how INANE some people who make signage are.
i have a 8-10" piece of 3/4" MDO that is 8 ft long.....for when i want to cut a board lenthwise, i take 2 C-clamps, position the board the so the width of the skil saw rides against the factory striaght edge on the 3/4" mdo.....and CUT IT PERFECTLY STRAIGHT....every time. and i didnt spend $500-2000 just to cut a board!!!!
for the 4 ft width they sell a nice heavy alum STRAIGHT EDGE at most hardware stores for $30.....clamp it and cut....oh and a sharp fine toothed blade helps...for $500 i can use a new blade on every board i cut......)))))))))

[jiarby]

My wife says I have to sell my JetSki's and then I can put it in our garage. Zero room in the shop for it.

[zmatalucci]

FYI, on craigslist in central nj, there is a panel saw for sale for $400. Just do a search on the homepage.

[uneedasign]

I Finished the saw. I didn't like the plans that came with the saw kit, so I purchased these plans http://www.rockler.com/ecom7/product_details.cfm?Cat_ID=459&offerings_id=5311&catid=7&objectgroup_id=293 and made it 14' long. I also purchased the 60" rail kit, so I can cut 5'x12' Aluminum. The saw was relatively easy to make, however it took much longer than I expected. I have about $450.00 total into this and so far it seems to cut really nice.
I hope this helps.
22197 22198 22199 22200 22201

[Baz]

Thats a sweet deal for $450.00 and some sweat. Nice saw!

[Gino]

Actually, that’s not bad. I hope it remains square for you, since you used wood for everything. What are you using for ‘Stay-Downs’ ?? Are there any in-place clamps to prevent any pieces from flying off without your holding them or clamping it ??

You might want to think about re-enforcing your top and bottom bolts that are holding your guide bars down, because they take a beating every time you cut.
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Also, it’s hard to see from your photos if you can take the saw out and run it horizontally, but if you change the direction….. how do you move the substrate through ?? It would help to have some kind of wheels or bearings for the substrate to ride along at the bottom.

[Marlene]

how square are your cuts? that's the hard part of this do-it-yourself kit. were you able to build it so you can adjust it when it's off or is it OK?