I have been cutting up my scale wood with a 12" mitre saw and I got thinking this is really overkill for a little piece of wood so I would like to put a mini saw on my Christmas wish list question is what is a good make of saw that I should persue? Looking in a MicroMark catalog they have the chops from $30- $200. Finding a decent one around $50 would be good. Any experiences or advice?
Thanks

I just got a little razor saw and miter box on amazon for about $14. How much wood are you cutting? This is a good thing for small bits…

Todd , I have the mini chop saw and mini table saw from Harbor freight. both at $25.00. I’ve had them for a few years now, and you can see the mount I made for the chop saw in ‘My New Freight Cars’ thread under rolling stock. Depending on your needs these work fine. I have heard great praise for the Micro Mark tools also

Hi Todd,

Like Dave I have both the chop saw and the table saw from HF and have had them for several years.

The chop saw I love. It still has the original blade in it and I cut brass, aluminum, plastic, and even wood all the time. Just today I was using it to cut .332 aluminum rail, a slow cut but does a good job.

To be really super good it needs a stop gauge that drops out of the way when cutting, I have been threatening to build one but haven’t “gotaroundtoit” Maximum material size 1/2 by 3/4 approx.

The table saw is a little different matter. It works fine but “in my opinion” is of limited value. The way to adjust the blade height that shows above the table is to loosen the table and slide it up or down in a rough casting. This of course slightly changes the angle that your miter gauge presents to the blade. Also there is no fence attachment for any kind of ripping.

Here again I think if a mechanically minded person spent a little time with adaptations to this machine you could have a very serviceable saw.

Like Dave I bought both of these saws on special sale for about 20$ each.

Good luck in your search.
Rick

get a Dremel 580 off ebay

Thanks guys. I have a 10" table saw that will rip something down pretty small after I built a small throat plate for it. So i’m all set there. The little choppers would be very handy. It is amazing how many cuts need to be made just to plank a small 5x6 building. I don’t know where the nearest harbor freight is to Cape Cod but $25 sounds like a affordable price for a mini saw. I wonder if the more expensive saws have the stop gauge that would be really handy for making multiple cuts?

I have the Harbor Freight saw and made the mount Dave designed, helped a lot. I also have a Dremel table saw I’ve had for over 20 years. I’ve used it a LOT and it just keeps on cutting. Well worth getting.

I concur with John Miller. I have the Harbor Freight Finger remover and put that on the shelf and got a Dremel 580 on ebay. Muy bettero for sure and safer.

How are these mini-saws an improvement over a table saw?

I’ve heard of rivet counters who insist on cutting their wood with scale size saws. Is this the draw? A 10 inch diameter table saw blade in 1:20.3 is about a half inch in diameter. A 60 inch sawmill type blade will scale out to about 3 inches at 1:20.3. That will give scale cut marks, for sure.

Steve,
I have both a full sized table saw and a micro mark mini table saw. I use both for modeling (and for around the house projects, the mini saw works great for cutting up gingerbread houses!). I personally like the smaller saw for cutting smaller parts, instead of using the full sized saw. The smaller saw works good for cutting styrene (strips, shapes, etc), and 1/2" or smaller wood pieces. Yes these can be done with a full sized saw and the proper set up, but I seem to get more consistent results using the smaller saw with smaller pieces. I basically use my mini saw for ever single small cut I make, as I hardly use a #11 knife, or anything else to hand cut.
Just my personal preference.
Craig

My next shop purchase is going to be a Mikro Mark or Proxxon mini table saw. I use a high quality German made precision miter saw for the small stuff. I’ve had it for years and cut all my trestles and buildings with it. I find it easier to use than a power chop saw.

(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/jebouck/saw.jpg)

Steve Featherkile said:
How are these mini-saws an improvement over a table saw?

I’ve heard of rivet counters who insist on cutting their wood with scale size saws. Is this the draw? A 10 inch diameter table saw blade in 1:20.3 is about a half inch in diameter. A 60 inch sawmill type blade will scale out to about 3 inches at 1:20.3. That will give scale cut marks, for sure.

Steve, i don’t say an improvement over a full size table saw, but it’s tuff to cut a scale piece of 2xX stock into 1/2" lengths on a table saw. So when I want short consistant pieces I use the mini saws.Just a personal preferance. And I’m far from a rivet counter

Hi Todd,
There is a Harbor Frright store in Fall Tiver MA and Attleboro MA. The Fall River Store is just of of Interstate 195, Watch there website for the sale and print down the coupon before you go to the store. I am on there mailing list so I will keep an eye open for you.

I have the HF mini chop saw, and as delivered, it really wasn’t very useful for cutting small wood pieces. The little built in vise doesn’t hold stock squarely or even firmly. However, the steel blade does make a nice finished cut on code 332 rail (which is why I bought it). Eventually I’ll get around to improving the vise situation, I suppose.

So, if you buy one of these, be aware you may have to do a little tweaking or rebuilding to make it truly useful.

Just my own experience, of course. Yours may vary.

Cheers,

Steve

Steve,
If you make the holder/mount that Dave did for his HF saw it is much more useful. I like mine a LOT better now.

Jerry (and Dave),

Thanks for the lead to the chop saw mount. Looks very useful. I’ll have to do something like that!
(and Dave, nice freight cars!)
Steve

Jerry,

I just purchased the HF chop saw. Please post a photo of the holder/mount. I would love to see this

Rick S

http://www.largescalecentral.com/LSCForums/viewtopic.php?id=13795 near the bottom of the page Richard

Steve thank you and you’re welcome

Dave,

Thank for the link. That mount is just what the Dr ordered.

Richard

You will like it.