Official Luthiers Forum!

I thought I would post this link. An unusual saw. I found some info online from FWW, as well as a couple of youtube videos of the saw in operation . As of this posting, it is still available. My first thought is that it would make a good fret sloting machine. These were manufactured for cutting-trimming printers type.
Check it out.
http://dubuque.craigslist.org/tls/5486269838.html

Dave

_________________
"It is easier to fool a man, than it is to convince him that he has been fooled"
Mark Twain

I find this a little more compact.

_________________
The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Our fretting machine is a converted inexpensive Delta bench top -- That "Glider" looks to be an over kill to me.

_________________
Ken Cierp

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/

My dad owned a newspaper and print shop. He had one of these that he put in storage when they made the switch from letterpress to offset printing. When I got out of college I asked him if I could buy it from him. His response:
"Oh, I threw it away because a mouse had chewed the power chord."

He seriously threw it in the dump instead of replacing a $5 chord.
I've been looking for one ever since, they are EXTREMELY accurate machines. I'd make the drive down to DBQ but I don't have 3phase in my shop.

Another saw to look at for extremely accurate crosscutting is the Inca Model 259. This is a tilt table design, so no need to make the 20 mm saw arbor move (a 20 mm arbor is much, much stiffer than the 5/8" arbors commonly used in 10" contractor, hybrid, or cabinet saws). With dovetailed aluminum rails and hard aluminum wings removed, the saw is very compact - around 24" wide by 26" deep. There is an Inca 259 for sale on Wood Central for $400, including 1-1/2 hp single phase Baldor motor. That is a great price, given my boss sold his 259 15 years ago for a little over $1200. Using the usual miter slot guided carrier would still be very accurate with the short stroke required of a slotting jig, or convert to an all-moving sliding table top with to linear bearings. The slotting blade would have to be opened up to 20mm, but any good saw service can handle that work, or slitting blade can be had with keyed 20mm arbor holes, or purchased with 1" hole and reducer.

_________________
A constellation only takes shape when one maps the whole.
- Beth Brower

I've seen one of these Hammond compositors saws set up for fret slotting in another guy's workshop and it looked like it worked well. They are extremely accurate precision machines, the one I saw was dead straight travel on the sliding table, no slop and cut perfect lines with not a hint of runout or wobble in the blade that I could detect. I remember being told that there was a bit of modification work involved in getting it set up for fret slotting. But it's a cool old machine from the days they made em to last.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You could always swap out the motor or make your own converter using a 3 phase slave motor to generate the third leg.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

_________________
"It is easier to fool a man, than it is to convince him that he has been fooled"
Mark Twain

I live real close to where the saw is and almost drove down to buy it. I really like well built old iron. But honestly I don't need it.
But on the other hand maybe I can use it for something? Hahaha.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

_________________
"It is easier to fool a man, than it is to convince him that he has been fooled"
Mark Twain

How about you drive down, buy it, swap the motor out to a nice 120V, sit on it for a year or so and then deliver it up to Madison for half of what you paid for it?

In all seriousness, if you end up buying it please let me know if you want to sell it in the future.

Fine Woodworking #32 Hammond Glider printer's-saw-to-woodworking tablesaw conversion article:

http://vintagemachinery.org/files/PDF/Restoration/Hammond-Glider.PDF

_________________
A constellation only takes shape when one maps the whole.
- Beth Brower