Good tool for cutting lighting track?

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kwired said:
Resharpening is a lost art, today it costs more to have it done then it does to just replace blades in most instances anyway.
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I respectfully disagree with these particular type of blades. They cost over $120/blade. When I was having them resharpened in Chicago, my guy would do the entire blade for about $15, and even replace chipped carbide teeth for about $2/tooth. Much easier to stomach $25 every so often rather than $120.

Normal circ saw blades are another matter; most of them are cheap enough as to be throw-away. Table saw blades depend on tooth count and quality. I have a plexi blade that costs upward of $100. That's worth resharpening too. The coarse tooth ripping blade, not so much.


SceneryDriver
 
cowboyjwc said:
Did you even consider a light saber?
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I did. The problem is it has a very uneven kerf at the speeds I'd be able to swing it accurately. Corners and thicker areas vaporize less, while the thinner wall sections vaporize about another 1/4 inch or more. If I swing it through the material really fast, I can get a pretty decent edge, but you have to swing it so fast that there's no way anyone but a master jedi would hit the line.
 
PetrosA said:
I did. The problem is it has a very uneven kerf at the speeds I'd be able to swing it accurately. Corners and thicker areas vaporize less, while the thinner wall sections vaporize about another 1/4 inch or more. If I swing it through the material really fast, I can get a pretty decent edge, but you have to swing it so fast that there's no way anyone but a master jedi would hit the line.
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no more 'spresso shots for you tonight... you are on decaf.
 
SceneryDriver said:
I respectfully disagree with these particular type of blades. They cost over $120/blade. When I was having them resharpened in Chicago, my guy would do the entire blade for about $15, and even replace chipped carbide teeth for about $2/tooth. Much easier to stomach $25 every so often rather than $120.

Normal circ saw blades are another matter; most of them are cheap enough as to be throw-away. Table saw blades depend on tooth count and quality. I have a plexi blade that costs upward of $100. That's worth resharpening too. The coarse tooth ripping blade, not so much.


SceneryDriver
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Probably true, I don't even know where to take any blade to sharpen it though, nobody does that kind of thing in this area that I am aware of. Used to be old timer carpenters did know how to sharpen saw blades, but like most everything else in this world majority of those have become "disposable", and most of those who could sharpen blades have died as well.
 
PetrosA said:
Anything with teeth that big that screams that loud scares me. That's why I divorced my first wife.

Seriously, after getting a demonstration from a local aluminum fabricator on a similar setup, I don't think I would be comfortable using it on track. I saw that it works really well on complicated aluminum profiles, but it's more beast than I'm used to handling and I'd really hate to mess up the high-dollar Lightolier track I need to cut due to my lack of experience with a tool. If I needed to cut a lot of pipe I'd probably go with it since it's seems a lot faster and more accurate than a band saw at that kind of thing. I wish I had had one a few years back when I was working with a crew installing ground mount PVs on GRC frames :)
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Some people cheap it and put a blade on a regular mitre saw. That said, the one I showed, or the equal by Milwaulkee tools will not mess up your high dollar any more or less than a band saw will. I have personally used it to cut 4000 Wiremold and the result is perfection. I wouldn't hesitate to use it on Lightolier track. The only trick and it applies to all cuts is let the blade spin up before engaging the media. And feed slowly. This also saves teeth.
 
BTW, Hilti has a hand held "Skill saw" version with the metal blade now. Battery operated. I think from the demonstration it would also be better than the band saw.
 
kwired said:
Probably true, I don't even know where to take any blade to sharpen it though, nobody does that kind of thing in this area that I am aware of. Used to be old timer carpenters did know how to sharpen saw blades, but like most everything else in this world majority of those have become "disposable", and most of those who could sharpen blades have died as well.
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Have a look for the little hole-in-the-wall places that resharpen chainsaw chains, scissors and shears, and knives. They're usually run by some guy that's older than dirt and remembers the days of chipped flint tools. Those shops can sharpen just about anything.

These are the guys I've used. They can put a sharp edge on a wet ice cube. They'd probably do mail order sharpening too.

http://www.bullsharp.com/home.html



SceneryDriver
 
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