I bought this saw at Harbor Freight for about $35. I can't invest in any expensive power tools right now. This saw looked like it would be great for small cuts and it is.
It cut this piece of scrap 1/4" plywood nicely. It was fun to hear the quiet hum of the saw and smell the sawdust. :D
The problem is that the cut is too wide (1/4") and it would only cut a 4 inch length. The saw base is too small for larger pieces of wood and there is no fence to guide you.
The saw came with a diamond blade that is more narrow. I thought I would try to change the blade and see if that one made a smaller cut. I read the instructions. Really. Then I gathered up all of the wrenches I have and found two that fit the nuts on either side of the blade.
I'm not sure about you, but my hands are not as strong as they need to be. I twisted, re-positioned my wrenches and twisted again. Righty tighty, lefty loosey. That bolt is on tight!
Then there is this scary, sharp blade staring me right in the face and VERY close to my not so strong hands!
Don't worry. I still have all of my fingers intact. No cuts on my hands or arms.
No new blade in my saw.
Not yet anyway...
I may take the saw back to Harbor Freight later today and see if someone can help me? There is no shame in asking for help. Especially if it means saving your skin!
I'm going to work now. It is much safer there. Hope you have a great day!
6 comments:
oh my gosh that's scary looking I was looking on Amazon for this:
http://www.amazon.com/Darice-NSP103-Cuts-Crafting-Jigsaw/dp/B0024V57JC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343306367&sr=8-1&keywords=darice+nsp103
Im saving up to buy it, I think it's safer for me cause Id cut my hands off with anything else
Hi Kathi,
That's a wonderful little saw forthe price and you can use a even thinner blade on its long asthe whole in the middle is the same size on the new blade. When you speak to the store to get the bolt lose, as them what the thinnest blade they have is that will fit it. My blade is super thin and it makes all the difference in the world with mini work.
Once you customize the saw bench a little, it will become your most used tool of all for sure.
Oh and maybe try some wd40 spray oil on the nut, may help you loosen it yourself... We have wd40 in Australia, I hope it's available in the USA too?
All the best,
Kim xx
Hi kathi,
you could make your own fence by clamping a metal ruler parallel to the blade and running your material along it. It shouldn't be done but the only way to increase the cutting depth is to remove the blade guard...I've done it before but it isn't something that I'd advise =0/
The diamond blade is for hard materials (metal and plastics). It burns wood quickly by sanding rather than cutting so just be careful, okay. You're making my sawing fingers twitchy =0(
Okay. Thanks! I can DO this. I know I can!
I'm going over to visit Karin Corbin's blog to see how she made her own saw fence. I remember seeing a post about that...
Maybe I won't have to change the blade right now. :D
Hi Kathi, I had the same problem when I bought my table saw about 3 months ago (not the same one, though). I had four different people try to undo it as I also wanted a finer blade in it. The supplier said it is because the blade has something on it called lock-tite, to prevent it coming loose in transit. I sent it back to the supplier here in England and it came back within the week, unfortunately they didn't tell me how they got it loose.
My table saw has the most unhelpful guard that you could possibly imagine, so I'm making a table sled with a guard over the blade so that I can still see what I'm doing. It can also be a bit bigger than the size of the table. I will put some pictures on my blog idskesminis.blogspot.co.uk, when I get round to making the sled.
A full size example is on this video from Steve Marin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69t6MFCUobw&feature=bf_prev&list=PL160053139FD6860F&noredirect=1. You will still need a fence to start with, but once you have the sled you won't have to clamp it to the rather small table any more.
I've spotted something very similar being used on one of the Guild School videos about furniture making classes.
I love your blog, it inspiring as so many others, Karin Corbin included!
I hope that this helps a bit, Idske
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