A Table Saw snafu ...

[Little John]

Yesterday I found myself cutting an insane quantity of 11mm wide battens from 22mm thick pallet planks - so that a single pass over a table router set at 10mm will provide the wood from which to make some foundationless 14x12 frames, smooth on the outside but with a rough(ish) surface on the inside - just as the bees like it.

And so, I was just slicing-up the very last plank ... when the Table Saw blade started disappearing. And so I duly cranked it up, only for it to drop down again. Curious. And so I investigated ...

This is the blade height adjustment mechanism of the German-made Einhell TKS 250 UV. If you look carefully, you can just make out a crack in the cross-piece:

Here are the two pieces separated - you may notice just how little metal remains in the cross-piece after a hole has been drilled through it, and then tapped:

I'm sorry this is such a poor photograph, but I hope you can see that there's around 1mm of steel on either side of the hole - and not only is that inadequate, but it's also been subjected to crack-propagation originating from the threads, with that hole having been tapped.

So - I burst out laughing when I saw that - what ever happened to German engineering ? What has really puzzled me is not so much why it failed yesterday - but how on earth has it managed to survive like that for so long ?

Ah well - I'll now weld on some splints and re-tap the hole.
This snafu certainly brightened-up an otherwise very uneventful day.
LJ

 

[wightbees]

Zooming in and it's terrible, a bit banana shaped lol. Welder will sort it for sure.

 

[alfazer]

Einhell might be a German brand but in my experience they are definitely at the budget end of Germany in terms of build quality. Having said that, I have an Einhell bench grinder for about 28 years and it has been fine in all that time for diy use.
The design of your component is quite remarkable though, particularly for something that adjusts a high speed saw blade.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Einhell might be a German brand...

......with many of their tools/components made in China.

 

[Apiarisnt]

......with many of their tools/components made in China.

"Our purchasing strategies cover the world market. We rely on local experts using stringent criteria to check the quality of the goods we buy. One of the most important purchasing markets today is China. Highly qualified employees located in Germany coordinate all of the company’s essential functions and optimize our activities to meet the high expectations of our customers." - from the Einhell website.

Similarly do not be confused or misled by the Scheppach brand let alone the Erbauer brand.

Having said that lot of Axminster machinery is openly made in either China or Taiwan, but is (usually) reasonably good quality

 

[Little John]

Einhell might be a German brand but in my experience they are definitely at the budget end of Germany in terms of build quality.

Sure - a very fair comment. And compared with 'proper' cast-iron bed table saws, these hobby units are toys - but - for knocking out a few bee boxes on a casual basis, quite good enough. You may have noticed that I wasn't furious, or even annoyed - which is my usual intolerant response to equipment failure - but amused at how stupidly that mechanism has been designed. ('Cause it makes some of my lash-ups look positively well-made. )
Certainly such a table saw wouldn't be good enough for a pro woodworker, or anyone making a living from it's use, but for around 20 hrs hobby use a year, all it will need now is some creative welding ...

Incidently - some time back I made a mini-table-saw from an old tile-cutter (the sort that runs a diamond-dust blade immersed in a water tank), by swapping that blade with one from a Black and Decker conversion kit. Do you remember those, from the 1950's - 70's ? It was a kit to convert a B&D pistol drill into a hand-held circular saw - which was guaranteed to burn-out your drill motor within half an hour ! Anyway, those blades have fine teeth with almost zero set, and can be picked-up at boot-sales for pennies, as it seems that many DIY-ers at that time bought one - and never really used 'em.
This mini-table-saw is proving very useful for cutting-up the 11mm battens into preset lengths for the making of frames, without any observable break-out. (*)
Motor gets a bit hot, as it's fully sealed (designed to run next to a water-bath). I keep meaning to drill some holes in the case and maybe fit a fan - one day - when I find one of those round tuits.
LJ

(*) Like so:

 

[rossbyjove]

Yesterday I found myself cutting an insane quantity of 11mm wide battens from 22mm thick pallet planks - so that a single pass over a table router set at 10mm will provide the wood from which to make some foundationless 14x12 frames, smooth on the outside but with a rough(ish) surface on the inside - just as the bees like it.

And so, I was just slicing-up the very last plank ... when the Table Saw blade started disappearing. And so I duly cranked it up, only for it to drop down again. Curious. And so I investigated ...

This is the blade height adjustment mechanism of the German-made Einhell TKS 250 UV. If you look carefully, you can just make out a crack in the cross-piece:

Here are the two pieces separated - you may notice just how little metal remains in the cross-piece after a hole has been drilled through it, and then tapped:

I'm sorry this is such a poor photograph, but I hope you can see that there's around 1mm of steel on either side of the hole - and not only is that inadequate, but it's also been subjected to crack-propagation originating from the threads, with that hole having been tapped.

So - I burst out laughing when I saw that - what ever happened to German engineering ? What has really puzzled me is not so much why it failed yesterday - but how on earth has it managed to survive like that for so long ?

Ah well - I'll now weld on some splints and re-tap the hole.
This snafu certainly brightened-up an otherwise very uneventful day.
LJ

What happened to German engineering?
China !

 

[pargyle]

What happened to German engineering?
China !

Probably not changed a lot in the five years since this thread died ....

 

[Hedgerow Honey]

We are needing a table saw and thickneser planer. What should I be looking for?.
I have used a few in the past, but never looked at what brands.

 

[Oculentum]

I keep meaning to drill some holes in the case and maybe fit a fan - one day - when I find one of those round tuits.

Just remember to keep a tight hold on your Long Felt Want because it is a well known fact that once you get a Round Tuit, your Long Felt Want tends to disappear quite soon afterwards .