Customizing a field stock for a pump shotgun

[TomG]

I used a Freud 72 tooth fine cross-cut blade to chop off the field stock on my wife's gun so she could shoot it while I built the trap stock. No pre-scoring or tape and it made a perfect cut with no splinters. Unfortunately as Willie found out, a blade like that runs around $60, but they do make nice cuts.

Tom

[Highpower]

(10-20-2014, 09:30 PM)TomG Wrote: I used a Freud 72 tooth fine cross-cut blade to chop off the field stock on my wife's gun so she could shoot it while I built the trap stock. No pre-scoring or tape and it made a perfect cut with no splinters. Unfortunately as Willie found out, a blade like that runs around $60, but they do make nice cuts.

Tom

Wow. You don't know how happy I am to see that Tom. 

That is the same blade I ordered. Well maybe... I didn't get the more expensive one with the non-stick coating. Still, $65 for the "plain" Freud thin kerf 72 tooth blade. I did some reading on the web and saw that the alternating teeth and negative rake angle are best for fine cuts on a sliding saw? At least it sounded good to me anyway, so I went with it. 

Greg, I went with the 12" only because I figured I could use it as a straight "chop saw" for cutting stocks. I actually do have an old Craftsman 10" miter saw sitting outside in my shed, but it isn't big enough to go all the way across the stock (4-3/4"). At most I can cut 2x4's with it which makes it really limited. I won't have a need to cut any big lumber like 6x6's but it will be nice to be able to cut up to a 2x12 if I have to.

Ed, I started off looking at the Harbor Freight saw, but after reading a lot of bad reviews about it (no surprise) I decided against it. Lots of complaints about the belt drive getting hot and stinking. Also HF does not stock or sell ANY replacement parts for the saw! If it breaks after the 90 day warranty (or extended warranty) you are SOL. I'm sure I'll be in the same boat with this one, but at least it is a direct drive and I wont have to worry about burning up a drive belt you can't get. This one will spend more time collecting dust than getting used. But it will be nice to have when I need it.

Interesting that the price on this one went up right after I ordered one. I paid $176 and change, no sales tax, and free shipping. I sure couldn't afford to spend $400 - $900 for a name brand! 

Wen 12" miter saw.

[EdK]

Willie,

Just make sure you tune it up before using it. It likely won't cut an exact 90 degrees right out of the box. My Hitachi was off a bit when I first set it up. It doesn't take long to tweak the adjustments.

Ed

[Highpower]

You got that right Ed! No way would I trust it out of the box. That is why I was considering renting a saw for a whole day instead of their 4 hour rate. I wanted plenty of time to make sure everything was 100% square before cutting this stock. Now I'll have all the time I need. That reminds me, I need to change the blade on my 7x12 and check it for square again too. Some time ago I put a heavy blade on it (3-4) to cut some 6-1/2" aluminum round. I need to put my "general purpose" 10-14 blade back on it.

[Highpower]

Just my luck.

Miter saw was delivered today. I opened the box to find the molded Styrofoam packing shell crushed and broken on top. I removed that and the plastic bag covering the saw and the next thing I noticed was a large crusty rust spot on one of the sliding rails.

   

   


I pulled the saw out of the box for a closer look. As I moved things around I noticed that the blade on the saw seemed to have an awful lot of backlash in it. About 5/8" at the tooth edge. So what I thought was a direct drive turns out to be a gear reduction setup. As I was fiddling with the blade I happened to look down at the kerf panels and saw a few dings from the blade striking it up front. Then I looked down into the bottom of the  casting and saw more teeth dings and a CRACK!

   

 I had already seen enough, but decided to plug it in anyway just to see if it ran. It did, but it had an odd rattling sound to it. After about 30 seconds of run time I shut it off because of the horrid smell it was giving off - like burnt wiring/insulation. And I mean a STRONG smell.

Needless to say it's going back. I'll try one more (replacement) from them, but if it's not a marked improvement over this one it will also go back for a refund, and I'll just have to save my pennies to get a higher quality saw down the road.

[DaveH]

That is just not good
 
DaveH

[EdK]

Looks like they sent you a returned item. If you got it through Amazon, at least returning it for a replacement should be a fairly smooth process. Good luck with the second one.

Ed

[Mayhem]

Do you have a 'men's shed' or similar near you? These are often well tooled and the old boys there are often only to happy to help.

[Highpower]

Yes, that is the good thing about Amazon. No hassles on returns. Just go to your online account and click on return/exchange this item. They immediately set up a pre-paid return label and a UPS pick-up was scheduled. All I have to do is tape up the box again and wait for UPS to come and pick it up.   

Darren, i have no idea what a "men's shed" is. It that a type of pre-owned tool store or something?

You guy's with Hitachi, Bosch, Makita, DeWalt etc. saws - do they have any backlash in the blade if you rock them back and forth a little?
Hmmmm.... I think a trip back to HD may be in order to check out the displays. 

[TomG]

(10-22-2014, 08:53 PM)Highpower Wrote: You guy's with Hitachi, Bosch, Makita, DeWalt etc. saws - do they have any backlash in the blade if you rock them back and forth a little?
Hmmmm.... I think a trip back to HD may be in order to check out the displays. 

My DeWalt is direct drive so no, no backlash.

Have you thought about getting a used one off CL? At least you can see it before you pay.

Tom