Panel Saw Construction Project ----  Enhance Safety of Shop Operations.

Submitted by Ed Buell

One of the things I’ve noticed as I spend time with the WOODCRAFTERS in the Mustang Shop was that Herm Finkbeiner always seemed particularly concerned whenever we were breaking down whole sheets of plywood.  On our big DELTA saw, even with the large table extension, this is a marginally safe operation.  We spend a lot of time talking in the shop about what things we do that are, either unsafe or at best concerning to our welfare.

A couple months ago I suggested during a Saturday WOODCRAFTERS meeting that we consider getting a panel saw for the shop.  This would alleviate the safety concerns and make that work much easier.   After some discussion, I sought out panels saws to procure or build.  I prefer to build stuff for the shop in the shop.  That’s the best way I have to learn about how to get projects in the shop and at home completed.

Commercially available panel saws are very expensive.  Those that could cut plywood both into 4 X 4 and 2 X 8 pieces were very long as the support has to hold the pieces up to 8 feet from the saw location soothe piece can be slid through the saw.  In my researching, I found a set of plans in WOODSMITH SHOPNOTES issue 88 that had a traversing saw carrier, that would cut both sideways and up and down, and the whole thing is only 10’ long.

After discussing this with several WOODCRAFTERS, we decided to go ahead with a PANEL SAW building project.  Charlie Goddard signed on to co-chair this project with me.

The one big problem we faced was where to put it.  The design is intended to be permanently mounted against a wall.  Well,,,  we don’t have much empty wall space.  We thought about putting it on the outside of the sheet good storage bin, but it is not square and wasn’t made to support anything else.  So, we are making the saw basically to plan and then we are going to design and produce a portable base, so we can move it around for storage and use.

I also found a modification another woodworker made to extend the height of the saw by one foot in height so that it would handle the 5 X 5 sheets of “appleply”…  so we have modified our plans accordingly.

Charlie sourced materials from our stash in the barn and milled materials for the main frame.  The original plan was made with 2X2 material.  We’re fortunate to have good stable Ash and mahogany for our project.  We’ve been working the project for a couple weeks and on Tuesday, May8, with Wayne Distin’s help we assembled the main frame.  I the pictures below the frame is actually upside down.  Our next task will be to begin to manufacture the carriage and carrier for the saw.  We will follow on other articles as the project proceeds.