So whaddya think? I got this Hammond Slider Trim-O-Saw today for free from a local newspaper. This is a small precision table-top saw originally designed for use in a print shop, for cutting metal type, back in the days when lead time was still used. I saw this last summer in the back room of his newspaper and expressed an interest in it then, but he wanted more than I wanted to pay. Today I talked with him again and he told me if I wanted it to come and get it. It seems to have most of the attachments, too. The only 'bad' thing about this is the 3-phase motor....I'm not sure my shop is set up for that. I CAN run 220V with it though, so I might be getting this wired in fairly soon and start playing around with it.
There is a sliding, ball-bearing supported section of the table which resembles the sliding tables on the more expensive and precise woodworking table saws currently made... however, miter cuts in more than one plane require a jig, since the Hammond's blades do not tilt. The control on the front raises and lowers the 7" blade, and there is a micrometer attachment on the top of the sliding table. There is even a built-in clamp for doing the piece down to the table.
Since nobody uses metal type anymore, I understand these are are showing up fairly frequently in woodworking shops. Doing a search of completed auctions on E-bay show these things for for between $300 and $600.
I'm thinking about doing some modifications to this for metal working....kind of like a chop-saw on steriods. I'd change out the current blade for a cutoff blade, which would allow me to make nice square cuts in anything I decide to fabricate, and I could raise the blade and use it like a drum sander for finishing parts. Anyway, for free...I couldn't turn it down.
You can never have too many power tools, right?
