Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I am almost at the, "Finish at any Cost" stage. I want to get the trailer covered with aluminum by the end of next week.

I wasn't satisified with my options for cutting the trim, especially where I have to miter the corners. I called my neighbor who has 2 horizontal metal cutting bandsaws to see if I could borrow his small saw. He said that our other neighbor has it. I called him and he said his dad has it and was trying to get a new motor for it.

Long story short, I just bought one from HF, they cheaped out on the coupon, it was only $5 off. I have been using it as is but noticed that the blade may be installed wrong. Aren't the teeth supposed to cut into the material with the steep side? The only info I could find concerned vertical saws.

I noticed this after having to put the blade on numerous times. I think I have the tracking and tension solved. I was able to cut one of Grant's offest hinges without the blade jumping off.

Asianflava, the teeth should point angled toward the stock you are cutting. On my saw the teeth point toward the front of the saw.

I cut my aluminum trim on my mitersaw with a carbide blade and it did a great job, just be sure to cut slow.

I looked at it again. The teeth are in the correct direction. I think I must have been looking at it backwards. When it is vertical, you are looking at the bottom so that means it is actually turning the other way.

The trick I found is to tighten the blade till you can't anymore. The knob is kinda small so unless you have a gorilla grip, you are kinda limited. This was confirmed by some website I found, the guy put some kind of tension meter on it. He was unable to even reach the recomended tension.

I still have to play with the bearings but I'll do that when I'm done. It is working fine for now.

Rocky,

Those little saws can do some good work. They can also be modified and improved to the point of becoming a project of their own. They will work "out of the box", but careful adjustment can make them quite accurate. If the bearings you mentioned are the blade guides, I would take the time to get them right before making any critical cuts as they allow you to adjust the blade to cut square to the vise.

The one I recently sold had lots of mods. The most useful of which was a coolant pump. First thing I did to "improve" the saw though was to stiffen the belt cover and add a drawbolt latch to get rid of a very anoying rattle when it was running. Many complain about the stand, but the only reason I built a new stand for mine was to accomadate the coolant pump and tank.

Now you have me thinking about buying a new one. If I do it will not be sold.........

I was thinking about at least trying to adjust those legs. They bug the crap out of me. Everytime you move it, the legs have to find "neutral" again. I may make some legs out of plywood. Lord knows I have enough of that stuff laying around. I may as well put it to good use. I had to buy a full sheet just to cut out my hatch ribs.

My neighbor who has the big saw has a coolant pump on his. I gave him some powerful magnets to put in the sump. That way the metal shavings won't run thru the pump.

Lawryn, what is a good blade to put on those suckers? BTW: I don't have a torch (other than propane) so I can't braze any together.

Jim Marshall wrote:I cut my aluminum trim on my mitersaw with a carbide blade and it did a great job, just be sure to cut slow.

I did the same thing. But make sure and wear long sleeves and saftey glass's It does make hot pieces of aluminum fly. It cut perfect mitres just like wood.

asianflava wrote:I was thinking about at least trying to adjust those legs. They bug the crap out of me. Everytime you move it, the legs have to find "neutral" again. I may make some legs out of plywood. Lord knows I have enough of that stuff laying around. I may as well put it to good use. I had to buy a full sheet just to cut out my hatch ribs.

My neighbor who has the big saw has a coolant pump on his. I gave him some powerful magnets to put in the sump. That way the metal shavings won't run thru the pump.

Lawryn, what is a good blade to put on those suckers? BTW: I don't have a torch (other than propane) so I can't braze any together.

Rocky
I just had them cut and welded at a local welding/industrial supply. Just give them the length width and tpi, they will take care of it.

Rocky,

I buy my blades at www.use-enco.com.

If you're in a rush, you can find them at HD/Lowes if you look deep enough.

asianflava wrote:I was thinking about at least trying to adjust those legs. They bug the crap out of me. Everytime you move it, the legs have to find "neutral" again. I may make some legs out of plywood.

I made a frame out of angle iron that the other legs set into, then put some casters on the bottom so I can move it around the shop. The legs are stable now and I can get it out of my way when I don't need it.