saw for segment turning

[jonward]

Any comments on the cheap Makita combi slide drop saw (around $450), I would like to try segment turning and need an accurate saw for cutting miters, anyone think this would be accurate and stable enough? Or would I be better off saving my hard earned to purchase a table saw, and if so what's the cheapest and best?

[vk4]

Aldi have a small sliding compound mitre saw on sale next week,$149.00, I don't know how accurate these are , but any saw can be set with some patience , and an angle gauge.

Even Makita have issues with accuracy of their angles, I have an olde GMC 210mm compound mitre saw and it works fairly well , i would like to up grade but cannot afford to yet,.

Jeff
vk4

[brendan stemp]

G'day Jonward. I think you need to change the title of this thread because it is a bit misleading. Perhaps "Saw for segemented turning" or similar might get you a bit more interest. I looked at the thread wondering what it was doing in the woodturning section.

My thoughts on cheap or inaccurate saws is don't bother. THey are simply too frustrating, and I know this from personal experience (although the saw I bought wasn't cheap, just inaccurate). Yes, I admit with a bit of fiddling I could get it accurate but I was forever having to measure and check the angles to have any confidence in the cut.

Having said that, and admitting to have done very little segmented work, I have seen quite a few segmenters use disc sanders to get the angles they are after. A cheaper option, perhaps.

[Rod Gilbert]

Hi Jonward,
As Brendan said I do all my segments with a ply template scribe around it and cut on the band saw then sand on a 300mm sanding disk that I have made to fit my lathe with a table that mounts to the bed. when you set them out on a length of timber you can alternate them to get the most out of your material.
See my previous post segmented urn all these segments are cut that way. I find this method far easier to keep the accuracy needed for this type of work.
Regards Rod.

[brendan stemp]

Hi Jonward,
As Brendan said I do all my segments with a ply template scribe around it and cut on the band saw then sand on a 300mm sanding disk that I have made to fit my lathe with a table that mounts to the bed.
Regards Rod.

See this link for a table for your lathe Router Table Tops (http://www.vermec.com/id63.html). With this and Rod's suggestion of making a disc sander for the lathe, you would have a very cheap method of sanding the segments to the correct angles.

[powderpost]

Hi Jonward, cheaper machinery will be a continuing source of frustration, but then you did say you wanted to try segmenting. The down side is that if you take a shine to segmenting, you will probably want to upgrade. I would recommend a good quality table saw. It can always be used for general woodworking if you don't like segmenting. I went down the track of cheap machinery and found it unsatisfactory and invested in a good table saw. Some segmenters do use compound mitre saws, but they go for the top quality saws, not the cheaper versions.
Jim