Swarts tools 305mm 12" sliding compound mitre saw drop saw

[skot]

I only found this thread yesterday due to my Electra Beckum SCMC having a problem. Blade would stall and stop spinning when applied to the timber and the blade seemed to have a very minor delay time from turning it on until the blade started spinning...only very small delay but perceptible. After the usual checking that the blade was seated properly & Arbor nut was tight, I proceeded to take it apart.

I discovered that with the blade off , I could apply pressure to the spindle with a piece of timber while it was spinning and I could stop it spinning with a minimum of pressure while the motor happily kept going.

Removed the motor and checked out the spiral thread gear on the motor and that look ok. I can only surmise that the gear/cog inside the spindle assemble is stuffed.

So either I look for parts to fix it or purchase a new SCMS...the EB went under in the 2011 flood through my shed but I resurrected it and has been a great little saw....which brings me to here.....I checked out the Makita LS1016 at Trade Tools and that looked a fine machine but price wise it is in the upper level. It has a 250mm blade. I will have a look at the Swart website and see if their SCMS checks out OK for my needs.

It would be a big jump up in blade size from the EB, it's blade is only 210mm

[DaveVman]

The larger Saw blade obviously has a deeper cut capacity. It might well have a larger cross cut capacity than yours. From memory the 305mm SWARTS has 340mm and the 235mm Bosch has 335mm but I think most 235mm saws have less capacity.

I have come to suspect that a decent 305mm saw also produces a finer cut on these wider bits of wood. Perhaps someone with more experience than me can comment on that.

Whatever you go for use an 80 or 100 tooth blade unless you are just cutting framework. The difference in cut quality is dramatic.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[skot]

My current EB only has 255mm cross cut capacity

[DaveVman]

I got a PM about some of the dimensions of the SWARTS 305mm saw. The site kept crashing when I tried to reply so I'll put some pictures up here for those interested in dimensions.

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[skot]

OK ....decided to give them a go.

Ordered 1 today so will let you know when it arrives then I'll give it a run and post my opinions.

[gabstarrr]

OK ....decided to give them a go.

Ordered 1 today so will let you know when it arrives then I'll give it a run and post my opinions.

You won't be disappointed. Cuts like a dream. Hardly any sanding required.

[skot]

Step 1....Great service

Ordered the saw yesterday and has just arrived 1 day later.

Off to a good start

[skot]

OK....First initial opinion

Out of the Box - Initial Checks

1) Blade is square to fence...maybe minor adjustment required.

2) Bevel adjustment

The Blade is a couple of degrees off 0° when in locked 0° stop position, so I have to adjust.
Minor annoyance with this adjustment is that the allen screws that need to be loosened to allow the adjustment are located inside the rear housing and only accessible through 2 holes in the casting and are approx 45mm down the hole. The supplied 4mm allen key is only 50mm long so 1st you have to prod & poke around in the hole to engage the shank of the key. When engaged the angled section of the key is only JUST outside the back of the saw. This does not allow too much leverage to hold the key in place and loosen the screws, I will have to source a longer 4mm allen key with possibly a T handle on the end (similar to lathe chuck keys) for easier adjustment.
I believe I will only have to do this once so not a HUGE problem.

3)Laser.....

Laser works but there is a VOID area that the laser does not reach that is the laser does not project down to 0,0 which is where the table meets the fence which is not required because otherwise you would be cutting a human hair BUT the void area is a triangular section approx 65mm x 65mm. I have attached a file to roughly illustrate the geometry. I will check more about this this afternoon but at the moment it appears that the laser will not strike the face of the timber under my "65" rule (lets call it "65" rule for the moment). This means you add the width of the 2 sides of the piece of timber that you wish to cut....eg a 35x75 wall stud = 110.....19x12 molding = 31 etc. IF the resultant answer is under 65, then the laser will miss the timber and not show any line. If the answer is JUST over 65, the laser will clip the top edge but not show all the way across. Obviously if the timber is 65mm high you will get a full laser line across the face.
Remedy for future model upgrades would be to lengthen, in a downwards direction, the hole in the casting which the laser projects through BUT this would require a changed mold in the factory and may not be viable unless a new mold is required for future upgrades of the saw.

Swarts.PNG

4) Cut
Did a few test cuts and very impressed. The 100 tooth blade produces a magnificent finish on the cut. The cut surface looked like it had been finely sanded or polished....my previous SCMS could not produce such a lovely finish.

Well that's my initial opinions....now it's back to the shed to do the bevel adjustment and see if anything else pops up.

Cheers

Scott

[skot]

2nd Instalment.......

I have now had a better play with my new saw and want to add/clarify some of the items from my earlier post

1) Blade square to Fence in 0° locked cross cut position ?....as mentioned this was not the case out of the box but it only needed a minor adjustment.

The misalignment may not have been noticable on smaller pieces of timber but this machine can cut a width of 340mm. Over that distance any misalignment will show up by the end of the cut.

NOTE: To Sam (Swart Tools)..the booklet that comes with the machine covers adjustment for blade to the table BUT NOT blade to the fence. As much as quality control may insist that the saw & fence are square in the 0° position...where ever a component is fixed by bolts/screws, there is the possibility of misalignment.

Although the book didn't cover the realignment, I was able to work it out quickly. The fence is fixed to the table by 4 x 6mm bolts with allen heads (2 each end of the fence...see pic below) access from the top of the fence.Those black holes that you can see inside the slot.

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a) Engage the fence into the locked position at 0°
b) Slightly loosen the 4 bolts
c) Using a square against the fence, rotate the fence until the other face of the square is parallel or flat against the blade's face
d) Carefully tighten the bolts and check that the blade is still square to the fence
e) Re Zero pointer on the protractor on front of machine.

2) Bevel Adjustment

The adjustment worked perfectly as per the Instruction Book's directions but as mentioned the allen key provided is not the easiest tool to use due to the location of the adjustment screws and the size of the key. I took a quick trip to my local Autobarn Auto shop and purchased this set of 8 metric hex spanners for $25....worth every cent....the 4mm spanner was easy to manoeuvre into position and the bolts were easy to loosen. I just add this to my growing collection of tools and they can be used for other jobs (the 6mm one was used for the adjustment above)

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3) Laser

Now that the blade is adjusted to the table & fence, it was time to check the laser . It is spot on....I scribed pencil lines onto some test timber using both my 90° square & 45° mitre square and tested against the laser.

Laser line was spot on and the left hand side of the blade came right on top and along the laser line....Very happy bunny

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4) Cuts

As mentioned previously , the finished cut is very nice.

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NOTE:

a) This is not a soft start machine.....with a 2000w motor spinning a 305mm dia blade it gives a little kick on startup. Pull the trigger let it find it's resonance & balance for a millisecond then move into the cut.

b) As mentioned by a previous poster on the forum....the handle does have a tendency to heat up due to the laser transformer located inside the handle. It is not so hot that you can not touch it but you will notice it's warmth. Only time will tell over the years whether this heat will affect the plastic handle.


Conclusion:

Although I have only worked with this saw for 1 day and it's long term endurance is yet to be tested, I believe for the money (mine was $379 delivered to my door) it is a very good saw with capabilities to match the $800 - $1000 range saws.
It's finish may not be as "polished" as the high ends and some of the castings may not look like the quality of Festool or Makita high end product but for the outlay it may just be worth the punt.

This is purely my impression after the first day , some adjustments were needed and the laser's void area could have been fixed by a 3mm slot at the bottom the the laser window so that it catered for smaller timber pieces but all and all I think I can live with it.

PS. The attached pic at the bottom ↓ of this post is after the cut was performed...the laser line appears along the cut line.

Cheers

Scott

[DaveTTC]

As you lower the blade does the laser swing in towards the fence?

DaveTTC

Turning Wood into Art

[skot]

Dave,

If I remember correctly...No

The laser is attached to the stationary body of the machine so as the blade lowers it starts to block the laser line. I will have to check that again tomorrow but I think that is what happened.

Pic 1 is looking from front of machine ...you can see the laser at the back and the rectangular hole in the body for the beam to pass through

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Pic 2 is looking down from above the laser ...just near those glide rails.

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Laser & the hole for the beam do not alter position

[DaveTTC]

I should also have asked as you slide the saw along the rails how does this efffwct the laser. Personally I dont know that I would ever use a laser for cutting but you raise some valid points for those who do or would

DaveTTC

Turning Wood into Art

[skot]

My previous SCMS was an Electra Beckum and I never had a laser on that machine and that was in use for over 15 years.

It may be a bit gimmicky but I can see that instead of constantly lowering and raising the blade to check the blades location against a pencil line....the laser tells you straight away where the edge of the blade will hit the line on the timber.

The blade may not block out the laser but the line stays in the same position.

As I mentioned earlier, this laser lines up with the LH face of the blade so you can still see the laser line while the blade cuts along it.

[skot]

If I have time tomorrow , I will make a short video of a cut in action with the laser line so it makes it clearer.

I should be able to post it tomorrow arvo some time.

[skot]

3rd Instalment

I hope I am more attentive to my projects them I am to the workings of this saw......

DaveTTc,

The Laser is not fixed to the stationary body...it is fixed to the sliding saw section.

This now means I have to take back my remarks & comments about the 65 x 65 void area. The void does occur when the sliding arm is in the full back position. If the slider was fixed by the glide adjustment screw and used as a type of fixed chop saw without the slide... the void exists. Once you start to slide the arm forward, the laser clears the section of machine body where the beam window exists and then creates a beam down into this previously void area BUT this is fleeting as you continue to pull the saw forward, the laser then passes in front of the fence and the line disappears from the work piece.

The laser line disappears and reappears on the work piece depending on the location of the sliding arm and whether there is anything between the laser and the work piece which stands to reason and is a no brainer.

As you mentioned Dave, the laser is not an essential element...it is nice to have for aligning the line of the saw blade with the desired cut location. It does not enhance a cut or make a cut any straighter.....it is a rapid alignment tool , nothing else. If the table & fences & saw blade are set up correctly, that is the main thing.