Model Forum / General / Models / October 2005

Interesting review.  But I wouldn't have dreamed of cutting PCBs with
something like this (especially the glass/epoxy ones).  Carbide is the
only thing that won't dull in an instant while machining glas/epoxy.

And I sure hope that you are wearing some sort of mask.  Glass/epoxy or
phenolic dust is really nasty on your lungs!

Also, this saw wasn't ment to cut this type of materials.  So, I'm sure
that the dust will do a number on all the bearings (as I'm sure they
aren't really sealed).

Peteski

I don't want to hear it, try $100 or more for a top end carbide blade
for a real tablesaw.

I've got a contrary review.  I bought the Microlux high-end saw with the
tilting table and variable speed motor.  Costs about $350.  Some problems,
but lots of good solutions.  I build wooden ship models, so the cost of
buying pre-cut lumber the sizes I wanted rapidly paid for the saw.  I
researched this very thoroughly before I bought.  My research showed that
all these little saws are overpriced (like expensive table saws) and all
have problems.  Look at it as buying a kit and you won't be dissatisfied.
        A full-sized table saw, (even my little 7.5" saw) is useless
because you can't rip  1/16" strips out of a 1/32" sheet with it, no matter
how sharp and how many teeth you have on the blade.  I've made lots of
noteworthy improvements though.

1.  First was to make a new rip fence.  Everyone knows that the rip fences
on even high-end table saws suck big time.  Took me a day of  mostly milling
work to create a very accurate high fence.   Also made a cross-cut table.

2.  I abused it by ripping very heavy hardwood stock (e.g., 1" thick ebony).
Burned out the drive belt and drive cog in no time.  Bought replacements
from Micro-lux.  Very good service, albeit, expensive.  Had to take the
motor apart and machine the stripped cog off the armature.  Didn't want to
come off even with a gear puller.  Made some small changes to the set up to
make belt and cog replacement easier.  Burned out another belt and cog, so I
went on the internet and located a source of better belts and drive cogs at
about 1/3 the Micromark price.   Now that I have several sets of spare cogs
and belts, I probably won't need to do this again.
      Also, I have a bigger table saw now for the heavy-duty cutting.  But
I still have no problem ripping through 3/4" walnut and making 1/16" thick
strips.   For ebony and African bloodwood, though, I use the "big"  (7.5")
table saw.   A real bargain. An old Craftsman table saw from about 1930 or
so.  Cast iron, 7.5" blade, but the best part is that there is an adjustment
for everything, including spindle play, so it was easy to tweak it up to
ultra precision (for a table saw).  Had to improve the fence, of course, and
rig up a vaccum port, new plates, etc.  I use a high-end Freud blade, of
course.  No trouble cutting  up to 2.25" thick slices down to 1/16" thick
with no need to finish sand them.

3.  The blades are so-so.  The micro-curf blade from Micro-Mark wears out
too quickly and the carbides are really marginal.  And very expensive.
Solution.  I machined various arbor adapters out of brass, so I now can
mount any blade: 10mm, 1/2", 15mm, 3/4", 1" .. and whatever I may need in
the future.  Replacement carbide blades typically run about $10.00 from many
vendors .. but you need an adaptor arbor for most of them.

4.  I lucked into a huge assortment of slitting saws some time back ... from
0.010 to 0.125" .  Some with up to 300 teeth. All 3.5" under.  Using these
are great for really thin stuff and also much better than using a dado
blade, which is a royal pain to adjust.   I also use some very thin milling
cutters, turning the saw into a poor-man's micro-jointer.

5.  Makita makes some nice 3.5" 40 tooth blades with a narrow kerf.  Bought
a couple of these for 50 cents at the flea market, still in the shrink pack.
Much better than the blade Micro-lux sells.

6.  Made my own zero clearance plates .. very useful for the thin stuff.
Also several different kinds of (better) feather boards.

7.  Closed the air intake and redid the vacuum port at the back (it works
now) and put in an adapter so that I can hook it to the shop vac.   The way
it was, all that the vacuum did  was direct the chips away from the motor,
but didn't do anything about the sawdust all over the place.

8.  With metal cutting blades, a good fence, the motor is variable
speed...this had become an indispensible little too for me.  Well worth the
price.