Automatic fence for chopsaw

[myxpykalix]

I am a tool junkie....(aren't we all?) I saw this a guy made using stepper motors and other stuff and thought if you didn't want to make a toolpath and set up your bot to make several different cuts you might be interested in this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHXoMG2s5yE

[curtiss]

Rather difficult to "go on another day" without this item,

Any tips on how to convince my wife on why this is needed ? :confused:

I think I would want to rig it up so I could run it from my phone... if it would only cost an extra 15 to 20 bucks a month.

[myxpykalix]

Well if you think about it, it seems to me that you are dealing with a stepper motor that travels in a +X, -X direction. The only thing that confuses me is how to calibrate the spindle axle rotation to coincide with the measurements. This guy seems to ave worked it out. I would bet if someone contacted him he might give you information to replicate it....

[dlcw]

Very cool idea.

I've never used my chopsaw for accurate length cutting. I use it to cut large boards into manageable sized boards then use a cross-cut sled (parts cut on the Shopbot)and stops on my table saw to perform accurate length cuts. For really FINE tuning (furniture, not cabinetry), I use block planes and other hand tools. Just my thing....

[gundog]

It seems like a waist to me. A DRO (Digital Read Out) would do the same thing in less time and be more accurate. To me you would spend more time inputting the cut lengths than it would take to measure and make the cuts again a DRO would be just as accurate. Now if it automatically feed the boards loaded them and spit them out in a pile I could see the time saving but he was still running the saw by hand. A DRO with a good glass scale would cost much less but you would have to move the fence by hand to the desired length.

[Ajcoholic]

In a shop like mine, I would some day love to add a Tiger stop fence (or similar from another company) to my radial arm saw table. This looks like a similar, but home-made unit.

Why is it IMO better than a DRO? Well, like a fixed fence with adjustable flip stops (my fence goes 8' on either side of the saw with three stops and an accurate tape), a DRO still relies on the operator to walk over and position the stop, wwalk back to the saw and make the cut. Also, it is still eaiser to set the stop in the wrong spot, as is with my setup, if you are thinking of one measurement ahead while youre trying to set another.

I put a Tiger fence on my big sliding panel saw 3 years ago. It is accurate to a few thousandths and allows me to stand beside the saw and punch in my settings, never having to walk back and forth to adjust the fence. Also, it can store multiple values that can be recalled with 4 separate buttons - so when cutting cabinet parts for instance where you are ripping a lot of similar sized parts, you just hit A,B,C or D and the fence slews to the position. That can save a lot of time and again reduced the chance of user introduced errors.

The fence was an investment at $5K, and I have been puitting off the radial arm & mitre fence for the past few years, but as soon as I can make the extra $$ to devote to it, it will happen. When cutting a whole pile of material (like say for frame stock for a set of 40 to 60 doors) having to not move back and forth 100 times to reset the stops would be of value to me.

Everyone's priorities are different of course.. but for me, a computerized fence is something I'd love to incorporate in the future on my saw, since it gets used so many times a day, each and every day.

I like this one: http://www.tigerstop.com/Products/SawGear.aspx