Timer setup

[James E. Welch]

This seemed fitting. 

[Gene Howe]

My shop clock

[Sycamore67]

Since I do not use a timer, it would be interesting for those that do to post a picture of a project and the time.  One interesting thing is that the time does not include time to change blades only machine time.  

[rafairchild2]

35 minutes ago, Sycamore67 said:

Since I do not use a timer, it would be interesting for those that do to post a picture of a project and the time.  One interesting thing is that the time does not include time to change blades only machine time.  

That can be a bit of lost time for sure.  Not only changing blades but the time you need when you are doing inside cuts.  Stop, loosen chuck/blade, lift arm, pierce through drill hole, reposition blade, tension, then cut.

The seconds/ minutes add up for complex pieces.

[Wichman]

Tell you what, scince I have two clocks already, on my next project I'll have one clock on the foot switch and one on the overall time and give both values ( at least as it applies to me and my rate of cutting (slow).

 

[James E. Welch]

I think many are thinking too much into it. It was just a neat idea that cost very little to do and gave you a general idea of how much "saw on" time a project took. I think if someone wanted to know total project time you'd need a different approach. Maybe a stop watch and a notepad or excel spreadsheet with each step broken out. That sounds like an awful lot of effort though. The clock idea requires very little effort. I set it at 12 when I start and that's it. From there it's just recording with no input from me. Then at the end I can say "that took 5 hours of cutting, and that's not even counting prep and sanding or finishing" which is good enough for me. 

I do like the idea of sharing this info though, just for fun. 

 

[rafairchild2]

45 minutes ago, James E. Welch said:

I think many are thinking too much into it. It was just a neat idea that cost very little to do and gave you a general idea of how much "saw on" time a project took. I think if someone wanted to know total project time you'd need a different approach. Maybe a stop watch and a notepad or excel spreadsheet with each step broken out. That sounds like an awful lot of effort though. The clock idea requires very little effort. I set it at 12 when I start and that's it. From there it's just recording with no input from me. Then at the end I can say "that took 5 hours of cutting, and that's not even counting prep and sanding or finishing" which is good enough for me. 

I do like the idea of sharing this info though, just for fun. 

 

I'm with you James I am sloooow. 

But this is a great thinking and inventing exercise, so over thinking is a good thing.  We're just fleshing it out.

That being said, I like improving the design of things and also making modifications that will make my life easier.  I do like the "Run-time" clock.  For me, this is most helpful for maintenance. How many hours until I need to clean and grease for example?  I used to train Apache helicopter pilots and maintainers on a radar system.  Guess what... there is a mechanical 'hours' time on the main module, this way we knew when to do PM, but also MTBF (Mean time between Failures) as well.

If I am interested in figuring out how long a project takes I just use my Android stopwatch.  But usually, I forget to check it when I take breaks or stop...

[kmmcrafts]

Something else is kinda interesting with the hour meters is: I can cut two of the same projects coming from the same board using the same brand /make of blade on two separate saws and one saw it takes less time than the other.. Blade life from one saw to the other is also a difference.

As James said it's just a neat little gadget to have to toy around with and it's not like it cost a lot of money to set up your own timer.. I don't really see a reason to post your cut times.. just go buy you a clock or hour meter and time your own stuff.. You can get some interesting useless data from it besides just saw maintenance.. Also showed me how long my dust collection vacuum runs / lasted before the first vacuum burned up, LOL.. We'll see if the next one last around the same amount of time, then I can know when to expect another one to fail. Kinda like having a odometer on your car, you have an idea of how long your tires last or other things.. check your gas mileage ( blade life LOL ).  I am kinda a data geek I suppose, I wish everything came standard with hour meters on them.. just gives an idea of usage or how much wear something has.. 

 

[Wichman]

Here are the stats for now. This my cutting style and speed, not everyone will be this slow

4.5 hrs working on the project. 2.5 hrs saw runtime. The areas in red are what I cut today.  There was additional time for taping each piece back in place after cutting and with the learning curve of threading the blade through the slot in the table for inside cuts.

Pattern from a magazine. 1" thick plywood ( 2,  1/2" thick plaques ) 18 plies total.  FD #1 Polar blades.

 

[rafairchild2]

10 hours ago, Wichman said:

Here are the stats for now. This my cutting style and speed, not everyone will be this slow

 

I am probably a LOT SLOWER than you are...  Mollassas on a mid-winters night slow. 

But in reality, it fits me perfectly.  I can be very precise on my lines, not feel that I need to rush and bring out the true art. It won't look like CNC/Laser perfect, but one can tell it was hand-crafted perfect.