Overhead Scroll Blade Storage

[davidg]

I'd like to share my design for a swing wing, overhead blade storage system. The basic concept is that individual tubes of blades can be easily accessed either from a seated or standing position whilst at the saw. They are located above the general work area, so do not take up otherwise useful workspace, and both racks of blades (wings) can be individually swing to an open or closed position. The plastic, screw top tubes were purchased on Amazon and have an integral lip near the top, which allows them to sit in pre-drilled holes without falling through. I imagine that the normal straight sided tubes could also be fitted with elastic bands or o-rings around the top section to perform a similar function.

When not in use, both wings of tubes can hinge/swing back into the main body section, which is supported by a large bracket onto the back wall behind the saw (could also potentially attach to the rear of a saw stand) and a threaded rod gives additional support nearest the front. The rod is attached to the ceiling of the garage (a fairly low ceiling height in my case). I used ply for the main body, some old recycled chipboard (sprayed silver) for the wings and a length of pine along the upper centre of the main body. The rod support also holds a ply support bracket to which I clip an illuminated LED magnifier which lights up when the saw is operated via. a foot switch.

To allow the arms to swing out, I simply fitted a bolt with a nyloc nut through both the main body and wing, with two pairs slightly dished oversize washes (convex sides face to face) sandwiched between the the two pieces of wood to act as bearings (a little grease added for lubrication). A small knob was added to each wing section to allow my finger to operate the pivot movement. When in the open position, the inner front radius on each wing contacts with the near end of the central pine support, which acts as a stop. Care was taken so that the storage system did not interfere with visibility of the work area or obstruct in any way. The holes for the tubes (nine in each wing), were purposely offset so that the blade identification labels in the far row could be read without being obscured by tubes in front. 

[flarud]

Pretty cool!

[OCtoolguy]

Very nice setup DavidG. You obviously have a great mind for designing. I'd love for you to also do a good pictorial description of your dust pick-up system. It looks very interesting. There have been many topics here on SSV on that subject and yours is very nicely done. Thanks for the great pics of your blade storage system. I really like it.

 

Edited April 15, 2019 by octoolguy

[davidg]

29 minutes ago, octoolguy said:

Very nice setup DavidG. You obviously have a great mind for designing. I'd love for you to also do a good pictorial description of your dust pick-up system. It looks very interesting. There have been many topics here on SSV on that subject and yours is very nicely done. Thanks for the great pics of your blade storage system. I really like it.

 

Thanks octoolguy. My setup is still work in progress and I may change/add on items/workflow as the hobby develops. I did initially research dust extraction for the Hegner online, which formed the basis for the dust extraction pipework (and as you mention, there is also a thread on these forums on the subject). I will definitely do a separate pictorial description of the dust extraction, probably tomorrow. Not visible in the above photos, but I have also installed a digital strokes per minute display for the saw, which I can talk about in another thread and decided to remotely operate the foot switch to better fit my needs.

There are still a couple of things I want to do with the blade storage, namely to add a length of smaller diameter tubing in each of the test tubes so that brand new blades are bundled inside the inner tubing and any part-used blades are placed in the gap between the tubing and outer tube wall. For light usage, non-commercial hobby use, this idea may be the most cost effective. The second thing I want to do is to have a separate holder lower down perhaps, which will hold only the storage tube for the current blade type in use, so that there is no mixing up or forgetting which blade is currently in the holder. That seems a simpler method than using magnetic labels as another scroller suggested, as each tube is already labelled with the contents.

David

 

[OCtoolguy]

6 minutes ago, davidg said:

Thanks octoolguy. My setup is still work in progress and I may change/add on items/workflow as the hobby develops. I did initially research dust extraction for the Hegner online, which formed the basis for the dust extraction pipework (and as you mention, there is also a thread on these forums on the subject). I will definitely do a separate pictorial description of the dust extraction, probably tomorrow. Not visible in the above photos, but I have also installed a digital strokes per minute display for the saw, which I can talk about in another thread and decided to remotely operate the foot switch to better fit my needs.

There are still a couple of things I want to do with the blade storage, namely to add a length of smaller diameter tubing in each of the test tubes so that brand new blades are bundled inside the inner tubing and any part-used blades are placed in the gap between the tubing and outer tube wall. For light usage, non-commercial hobby use, this idea may be the most cost effective. The second thing I want to do is to have a separate holder lower down perhaps, which will hold only the storage tube for the current blade type in use, so that there is no mixing up or forgetting which blade is currently in the holder. That seems a simpler method than using magnetic labels as another scroller suggested, as each tube is already labelled with the contents.

David

 

Thanks David, I am no plumber by any means and I see that you have made good use of all the different pvc pipes and joints. I have been thinking of incorporating some way to "swivel" the dust collecting pipes/nozzles so that they can be swung out of the way if needed. I was wondering if those pvc unions could do the trick. I look forward to a description of how you have put it all together and what fittings you used. 

 

[davidg]

6 minutes ago, octoolguy said:

Thanks David, I am no plumber by any means and I see that you have made good use of all the different pvc pipes and joints. I have been thinking of incorporating some way to "swivel" the dust collecting pipes/nozzles so that they can be swung out of the way if needed. I was wondering if those pvc unions could do the trick. I look forward to a description of how you have put it all together and what fittings you used. 

 

Yes, Ray, the upper section of Locline 'suction' tube can be swivelled out of the way with one finger via a lever (without altering the current Locline tubing alignment). The smaller upper Locline blower tube (which is attached to the bellows) can quickly be height adjusted via a wing nut. I'll post some closeups and further details tomorrow.

[OCtoolguy]

26 minutes ago, davidg said:

Yes, Ray, the upper section of Locline 'suction' tube can be swivelled out of the way with one finger via a lever (without altering the current Locline tubing alignment). The smaller upper Locline blower tube (which is attached to the bellows) can quickly be height adjusted via a wing nut. I'll post some closeups and further details tomorrow.

I look forward to seeing what you have done. Thanks.

 

[scrollingforsanity]

looks like a surgeon could work in your shop. So Clean. Need a scoop shovel for mine after a couple days cutting LOL

grizz

[davidg]

6 hours ago, scrollingforsanity said:

looks like a surgeon could work in your shop. So Clean. Need a scoop shovel for mine after a couple days cutting LOL

grizz

Admittedly I did vac and polish before taking the photos. I jokingly said to my wife yesterday, that it looks like a piece of hospital equipment with all the tubes and such. I must be getting OCD about dust (not having it around) these days, and I've even purchased an air quality monitor. Given the choice though, I think I'd love to use the saw outdoors, on a warm summer's day, without the added extraction noise and listen to the birds singing and the wind gently blowing in the trees.

[kmmcrafts]

9 hours ago, scrollingforsanity said:

looks like a surgeon could work in your shop. So Clean. Need a scoop shovel for mine after a couple days cutting LOL

grizz

Thought the same thing when I seen it.. actually reminded me of the dentist for some reason..

 

[ike]

Is there enough room on the dust collector to handle a pattern that is 15" X 12". You must top feed the blade..

IKE

[davidg]

6 hours ago, ike said:

Is there enough room on the dust collector to handle a pattern that is 15" X 12". You must top feed the blade..

IKE

Hi Ike,

I the saw is a Hegner Multicut-2S and the distance between the blade and back frame is 18 inches. To answer your question on size capacity, I have not tested it on anything that large, as I'm more interested in cutting smaller pieces, but I imagine that would be a sort of maximum capacity size, or perhaps a little less than that. The drawback for blade feed is that the upper arm on the Hegners do not lift sufficiently for top feeding, unless the blade is first removed completely.

Edit: Sorry, Ike, I may have misinterpreted your comment. I think you may have been referring to the possibility of the upper extraction pipework (Locline) getting in the way when continually manipulating workpieces above the table for bottom feeding the blades. As I mentioned previously, Hegners do have a limitation in this way, but in my design the upper Locline extraction pipe can be easily and temporarily swung to the side, away from the table for this very purpose. Your comment has however made me think about the ability to quickly lift the smaller blower Locline temporarily out of the way whilst bottom feeding the blade. At the moment, the Locline blower section can be lifted by first loosening a wing nut near the point near the upper arm bearing, but there may be a way to do that more quickly, again. without repeatedly having to bend the Locline out of shape to move it. I'll have to give it some thought.

Edited April 16, 2019 by davidg
Possibly misinterpreted comment

[Scrappile]

5 hours ago, davidg said:

Admittedly I did vac and polish before taking the photos. I jokingly said to my wife yesterday, that it looks like a piece of hospital equipment with all the tubes and such. I must be getting OCD about dust (not having it around) these days, and I've even purchased an air quality monitor. Given the choice though, I think I'd love to use the saw outdoors, on a warm summer's day, without the added extraction noise and listen to the birds singing and the wind gently blowing in the trees.

That was my initial thoughts also, first glance looks like a surgical station all the tubing and gadgets. I'm another one anxious to see you post on the vacuum set up.  I keep tweaking mine and always looking for ideas.  

I notice you have something in the nozzle of the top suction.  I can't make out what it is but I assume it is to keep little cut off pieces from being sucked away.  Here is what I found work like it was built for that purpose. Only problem is finding a good source for them.  I found this as part of the nozzle that screws on to the end of a faucet in on my utility sink when I replaced that faucet.  It is the perfect size to clip right into a 3/4" nozzle.  I hope to find some more of them one of these days.

 

Edited April 16, 2019 by Scrappile

[OCtoolguy]

13 hours ago, scrollingforsanity said:

looks like a surgeon could work in your shop. So Clean. Need a scoop shovel for mine after a couple days cutting LOL

grizz

Mine too.

[OCtoolguy]

2 hours ago, davidg said:

Hi Ike,

I the saw is a Hegner Multicut-2S and the distance between the blade and back frame is 18 inches. To answer your question on size capacity, I have not tested it on anything that large, as I'm more interested in cutting smaller pieces, but I imagine that would be a sort of maximum capacity size, or perhaps a little less than that. The drawback for blade feed is that the upper arm on the Hegners do not lift sufficiently for top feeding, unless the blade is first removed completely.

David, there is a fix for that arm lift problem if your saw is out of warranty. Somebody here on the Village made a lot changes to his Hegner. It's a simple matter of removing that cast iron bump stop or altering the size of it. Basically you could just remove part of it and allow the arm to go up a lot more.

[davidg]

6 hours ago, Scrappile said:

That was my initial thoughts also, first glance looks like a surgical station all the tubing and gadgets. I'm another one anxious to see you post on the vacuum set up.  I keep tweaking mine and always looking for ideas.  

I notice you have something in the nozzle of the top suction.  I can't make out what it is but I assume it is to keep little cut off pieces from being sucked away.  Here is what I found work like it was built for that purpose. Only problem is finding a good source for them.  I found this as part of the nozzle that screws on to the end of a faucet in on my utility sink when I replaced that faucet.  It is the perfect size to clip right into a 3/4" nozzle.  I hope to find some more of them one of these days.

 

Thank you for showing me this –much more elegant than my 'bundle of tubes' version. Do you find that the addition changes/improves the 'jet engine' noise which the unmodified Locline nozzles seem to produce when hooked up to a vacuum? I volunteer at a charity shop, and am always on the lookout for potentially useful bits and pieces which I recycle from any donated but broken items. I made a repair to our washing machine with nothing more than a recycled piece of plastic a few weeks ago.

[davidg]

4 hours ago, octoolguy said:

David, there is a fix for that arm lift problem if your saw is out of warranty. Somebody here on the Village made a lot changes to his Hegner. It's a simple matter of removing that cast iron bump stop or altering the size of it. Basically you could just remove part of it and allow the arm to go up a lot more.

My saw was purchased in 1998, so it's definitely out of warranty. I remember seeing a YouTube video once, where someone made an alteration to their Hegner in order to be able to cut thicker material by further increasing the upper arm distance to the table.

[Scrappile]

6 hours ago, octoolguy said:

David, there is a fix for that arm lift problem if your saw is out of warranty. Somebody here on the Village made a lot changes to his Hegner. It's a simple matter of removing that cast iron bump stop or altering the size of it. Basically you could just remove part of it and allow the arm to go up a lot more.

@stoney, did the modifications to his Hegner so the arm would lift heigher.  You can read his post on it here:

2 hours ago, davidg said:

Thank you for showing me this –much more elegant than my 'bundle of tubes' version. Do you find that the addition changes/improves the 'jet engine' noise which the unmodified Locline nozzles seem to produce when hooked up to a vacuum? I volunteer at a charity shop, and am always on the lookout for potentially useful bits and pieces which I recycle from any donated but broken items. I made a repair to our washing machine with nothing more than a recycled piece of plastic a few weeks ago.

I took the loc-line nozzle off the bottom suction on my and just used a straight piece of 1" pvc.  It reduced the noise a Db or two.  Not much.  I think the bigger the opening at the end the less noise, but not sure how you would direct the suction as well to where you want it.  I try to remember to put on ear protection.... that helps.  But the noise is the biggest draw back of this type of dust collection.   I don't really mind wearing ear protection.  It kinda isolates me and reduces other distractions.....