The 'What did you do in your workshop tonight?' thread

Snoopy1 said:

I agree with all of you it looks like a great tool but as said I belive that it is not possible to cut a long slice of a sheet of aluminum, and it can cut stuff up 5 inches in diameter or something like that. But like I was doing was cutting aluminum strip of a sheet of aluminum to make landing gear .
Please tell me I am wrong because my left arm is killing me from using a hack saw to cut out landing gear for my plane. Cut more than 48 inches in length to make the landing gear and would not like to do that again.

Click to expand...

It hard to beat a vertical band saw for that, other than maybe a water jet.

Jetpainter said:

It hard to beat a vertical band saw for that, other than maybe a water jet.

Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly.

Snoopy1 said:

I agree with all of you it looks like a great tool but as said I belive that it is not possible to cut a long slice of a sheet of aluminum, and it can cut stuff up 5 inches in diameter or something like that. But like I was doing was cutting aluminum strip of a sheet of aluminum to make landing gear .
Please tell me I am wrong because my left arm is killing me from using a hack saw to cut out landing gear for my plane. Cut more than 48 inches in length to make the landing gear and would not like to do that again.

Click to expand...

It will Work fine for that. The way the blade sets it’s kind of offset. When made the gear on my 55cc profile I wanted the legs to taper from 2” wide at the top to 1” wide at the bottom. Went to a buddies house and we clamped the portaband in a vise standing up so it was setup like a normal band saw. He held the trigger on it while I ripped both pieces to what I needed. Each leg is about 16” long before being bent.
Also for occasional use there is no need to get the milwakee one. Don’t get me wrong it’s a badass saw but unless you plan to use it everyday it’s just overkill. If you have a habor frieght near you they sell a cheaper one that will Work just fine.

Snoopy1 said:

I agree with all of you it looks like a great tool but as said I belive that it is not possible to cut a long slice of a sheet of aluminum, and it can cut stuff up 5 inches in diameter or something like that. But like I was doing was cutting aluminum strip of a sheet of aluminum to make landing gear .
Please tell me I am wrong because my left arm is killing me from using a hack saw to cut out landing gear for my plane. Cut more than 48 inches in length to make the landing gear and would not like to do that again.

Click to expand...

Should be able to cut strips from a sheet of aluminum. Or at least the deep cut offset saw should. Probably limited to as wide as the offset is.

@stangflyer I just ran across this on the MZ-32 radio. kinda cool to have a radio simulator, might just have to download and try it.
https://www.graupnerusa.com/mz-32-radio.html

dhal22 said:

Should be able to cut strips from a sheet of aluminum. Or at least the deep cut offset saw should. Probably limited to as wide as the offset is.

Click to expand...

Without owning one I do not know the offset. If you have could you tell me what the off set is thanks.

One more thing done. The gear is bent, circular polished and installed. Now I have build the top back bone and the removable hatch. The back bone is going to be fun has to fit from the rudder to the spinner in one piece with all the bends to try and make it look like a plane again.

Snoopy1 said:

Without owning one I do not know the offset. If you have could you tell me what the off set is thanks.

Click to expand...

I'll try to cut a strip of something at my shop this week.

dhal22 said:

I'll try to cut a strip of something at my shop this week.

Click to expand...

Thanks no rush look after yourself first plenty of time. When you get chance great and thanks again.

Got the back bone shaped. It some work getting it to bend and shape in the right places. But as we all know water steam and ammonia will let you do quite some bending with balsa. Now just let is sit there for a day and dry. Remove it all and then glue it all back together.