Model Railway Forum

Chuffchuff wrote: ↑Sun Jan 12, 2020 5:10 pm

The plunge cut is about 70 mm long, so with a gentle movement fore and aft makes the right size cut, repeat the three cuts, and minimum of cut with a keyhole saw to make good the corners, good to go for the next one,!

A bit of an unusual way of making a hole for cables, as someone has already said a hole saw would have been the easiest way. If there was a reason for making the holes square/rectangular a jig saw would have been my initial tool of choice.

Those little plunge saws are quite good for things like cutting flooring boards on the joist but only marginally better than a jig saw when it comes to making long straight cuts. I think I would have saved myself £20 and gone for the Macalister table saw which would be a far more versatile tool especially if you do not consider your woodworking skills up to scratch.

Richard

I have a relatively cheap McAllister plunge saw (Screw-fix/B&Q).
Bought for this layout build and it copes well with 18 mm birch ply (hard as iron) - max capacity 20mm in wood. Happy with it so far.
Not so happy with their heavy and powerful drill though, the chuck has dismantled itself due to the side handle (which is necessary as the main handle is small and angled awkwardly) slipping from its detent under torque, grabbing the chuck ring and ... Capputt.

Is it not fit for purpose. If so,i would return it. Cant speak for screwfix, but B and Q, are normally, happy to help. I have just bought a new drill Makita, top of the range, for a song, body only. Quite a wheeze.Bought Heather a Makita 36 volt mower, with double charger, and 2x 5ah batteries, in a sale for £200 off. Realized that would only need batts in spring/ summer, thus free to power up, something else. Batts/ charger, normally a fortune. Amazon had drill on offer, so saved best part of a tidy bit. Drill is absolutely superb. , and batts charge in 30 mins. Win?win.

I agree that the easiest way to remove the centre would have been with a hole saw like https://www.toolstation.com/downlight-h ... kit/p90948
(bigger and better are available)

I bought a combination chopsaw/table saw from BnQ it is ideal for accurate cutting of small pieces with nice square cuts however if space allowed I would have got a bigger table saw.

As a point on Makita stuff, if you use the drivers or drill for hobby stuff it is really helpful to have the small capacity battery as it makes such a difference to the weight when your upside down struggling to reach and for light work they still last a long time.

Chris, thanks for tip about smaller makita battery.

if I was starting afresh, I would have used timber and improve my carpentry skills.

I started with a hole cutter but it was a bit of a challenge because the cutter was losing it’s edge.

I was making do with what I had in the shed, so came up with rectangular cut outs. Eventually you have to use what’s in the barn ( so as to speak !) and it was too good to burn, and not much use for anything else.

FWIWorth the little plunge saw is quite good, the cuts are approximately 120 mm long, I plunge from one end to the other, basically down and along an inch or so. Then tidy the corners with a jig saw, and the middle drops out. I can see light at the end of the tunnel .

Thanks for your comments

Chuffchuff wrote: ↑Mon Jan 20, 2020 3:22 am
I started with a hole cutter but it was a bit of a challenge because the cutter was losing it’s edge.

You said earlier that it was ex MFI chipboard then presumably it was Melamine faced, now that is notorious for blunting cutting blades so not surprised your hole saw was losing its edge the same will apply to any type of saw powered or hand operated. It is tempting to tend to use what you may have lying around because it does not initially present an additional cost but as you have found out it may not be the most cost effective in the long run.

Richard

Keeping with the sawing wood theme, I would like to cut wood into lengths for my use. Lengths can be variable, but the height and width of the sections need to be around 5 or 6mm wide by about 12 to 14mm high. I may want to cut other small sized lengths as required. I don't want a large circular saw as there would be such a waste of wood, and my fingers would be so close to the blade... Not a good combination. But... I was looking at mini circular saws and they seem to have very small cuts to them. More like trying to cut matchstick size!

Oh. I don't want to cut my fingers, but I need nice straight cuts.

This sort of thing might be good. Just an example.


https://www.amazon.co.uk/KATSU-Craft-Ma ... 536&sr=8-2

Might be useful to investigate a small band saw.

You an get fine blades for wood plastic or light metals. Very thin / narrow blades for tight curves. Although it can get exciting if you go to tight a bend. Some also have a Velcro based disc sander incorporated

Heavier blades for thicker wood. Depth of passage, IE from blade to the body is the limiting factor . Mine is about 5 inches, the other way, as long as you want !

I have one similar to the Screwfix one @ £100 approx.

Rgds