Vanagon EuroVan
Previous messageNext messagePrevious in topicNext in topicPrevious by same authorNext by same authorPrevious page (December 2012, week 3)Back to main VANAGON pageJoin or leave VANAGON (or change settings)ReplyPost a new messageSearchProportional fontNon-proportional font
Date:         Tue, 18 Dec 2012 23:27:56 -0500
Reply-To:     David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
Subject:      Re: Series resistance unti question
Comments: To: Mike B <mbucchino@charter.net>
In-Reply-To:  <50D11E80.5070006@charter.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

At 08:55 PM 12/18/2012, Mike B wrote: >crooked that screws won't hold it, then the clips may not help either!

The clips have their own well-constructed molded seats, not related to the sonic-welded tabs. Incidentally they're a species of J-clip as well, range maybe ten feet? Not sure - I never found the one that went flying off into the driveway.

>How about a dremel rotary saw or cutoff wheel for the tabs?

Dremel saws scare the snot out of me, even with a guard. I have several but rarely use them (and you can't run them slow enough to cut metal, the heat just wipes the teeth right off them). OTOH I love the cutoff wheels, both the thin unreinforced and the fiber-reinforced ones for when the others won't do. As well as being very effective they're quite inexpensive, unlike most Dremel bits and grinding points which cost a good bit to use. Just make sure that you work away from sharp edges and not toward them, 'cause the edge will peel them down to nothing quick as quick. If used very gently to avoid grooving, you can use them to grind surfaces. I have little use for the "heavy-duty" unreinforced ones as the kerf is much thicker, cutting slower and they put excessive heat in the workpiece. And unlike the thin ones, when they break sometimes the chips are heavy enough to sting.

But using cutoff wheels for plastic is iffy, as the plastic melts. Dremel does have a newer quick-release series of cutoff wheels which are very easy to use but IMO inferior to the plain ones with a screw arbor; one of those wheels is designated for plastic. I have one but no experience with it. Other than the higher price, my main complaint about the quick-mount ones is that the centering isn't accurate or repeatable as there's too much clearance between the wheel and arbor.

The Dremel router bits might work well to eat away the tabs. That's another place where Dremel bit off more than it could chew in terms of the rigidity of the machine, but I keep my spare tool mounted in their router table and use the small rounding-over bit to quickly take the curse off wooden edges. Their plain router adapter incidentally is somewhat useful, but the more expensive plunge router adapter is total junk.

Their buzz-plane adapter (only fits the XLR) is another terrifying tool, but it would certainly work on the tabs.

For those tabs, though, a jeweler's saw with a coarse (#6-#8, say?) blade would go through them like butter. Come to think of it, I probably used this Stanley flush-trimming saw which is flexible, razor-sharp and cuts on the pull stroke. The design is clearly influenced by Japanese saws, and it's an absolute pleasure to use as intended. There's no set so it won't scar the surface you're cutting against, but the teeth are deep to give chip clearance. Probably about five strokes to take off one of those tabs. http://www.amazon.com/Stanley-20-331-4-Inch-Points-Flush/dp/B00002X2BT A fine coping saw would do almost as well.

Yrs, d

-- David Beierl -- dbeierl@attglobal.net


Back to: Top of message | Previous page | Main VANAGON page

Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!


Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com


The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.

Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.