I just got myself a Pillar drill what else have I been missing out on?

[CwazyWabbit]

......

What do you think Barry!!! It was the first thing I did The only way I could pull the cable out was by cutting the crimp with a disk!! .....

That sounds very promising then! Am looking forward to tomorrows delivery.

[Astro_Al]

Forget it, a good bandsaw will always outperform a donkey saw. Much more use. Al

[steve b]

I agree for production and flexibiliy , bandsaws are the industrial choice , donkey saws are ok for small scale or diy , like all machine tools correct setting and maintainance make all the difference

cheers

Steveb

[simonr]

The trouble you get is that the little band saws sold by Machine Mart etc are badly made to start with and no amount of adjustment, attention or care will make them cut straight! They are inexpensive though and fine for most things.

A Donkey saw, although originally very expensive, used is likely to be cheaper than a band saw and will make a much nicer cut than an entry level band saw.

There is no comparison really between the entry level saws such as this:

Which cost around £200 is a very different proposition even to the next step up such as this:

Which typically costs about £700

[simonr]

and the muppets don't know how to use it. They're forever complaining its not cutting vertical,

I guess I must be a muppet then?

Si

[Bowie69]

Depends on what you define as vertical!

[simonr]

Perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the material?

The problem I have with my little band saw is the casing flexes depending on the tension in the blade. If you are cutting circular section bar in particular, the tension is higher in the middle which makes the blade wander in and then back out as it gets to the end - so it's not so much that it's not vertical, it's that it's not flat. Adjusting the initial blade tension helps, but there is a limit to how tight it can be as it then tends to walk off the spools. I've replaced the spool bearings - but it made no difference. Again it's because the tension is causing the casing to flex and the spools move together slightly.

Si

[CwazyWabbit]

So the advantages of the donkey saw would be put down to a stiffer blade and the frame also being stiffer (than small bandsaws).

I have a small metal cutting bandsaw, from axminster which is in between the two you pictured Si. It did cut straight with no adjustment out of the box but like you I have noticed on thicker stock it does tend to make a cut that is not flat.

Cheers for the answers From both camps

[CwazyWabbit]

So I have today realised another item i have been missing I brought a Hydraulic crimper and whilst not the cheapest tool in the world I am so impressed I brought it to do the battery lugs on the storage unit but this evening have been using it to do standard crimp connections. One word WOW, why have I been messing around with hand crimps using the smaller die made a great job of crimping connections, battery lugs and anything else I did. It made a really professional job and of wiring an investment I would recommend to all.

Mine arrived today and of course I had to have a quick play I agree with your comment of 'WOW'! I only did a little blue crimp and just used some wire that was laying around (ok I'm messy ). Crimping was easy and you can actually hear when the crimp is tight, I gave the crimp a good hard tug after and I've never had a crimp hold so solid, it felt like the wire was going to snap and the crimp showed no sign of budging.

Thank you for your recommendation, I shall spend the evening crimping anything that stays still long enough

[ejparrott]

I guess I must be a muppet then?

Si

lol, no, our muppets, our two supposedly labourers...i'm sure they can't tell one end of a brush from the other.

[Bowie69]

Perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the material?

Agreed, but every person will have a definition of what is acceptable or not, I suspect you are more on the finnicky end of the scale, as am I.