I made the mistake of buying a bottom-of-the-line Delta 10 inch miter saw about 2 years ago. The center part ( the rotating part) is aluminum, as is the part that it rotates on. It has always been a little difficult to rotate at times, but now the aluminum on aluminum has galled to the extent that it would no longer rotate. I completely dis-assembled it and have tried to polish the respective surfaces to no positive results. I’m wondering if there is a teflon product that I could apply (tape or spray-on) to the surfaces. Bear in mind that the respective surfaces are only 1/8 to 3/16 wide.
Thanks for any advice
artnumber1
Replies
I don't have a Rockler catalog in front of me but I remember seeing a "slippery" plastic (perhaps teflon) tape intended to stick on wooden drawer bottom slides to make them easy to pull in/out.
Check the rockler web site?
http://www.rockler.com/search_results.cfm?filter=tape&submit.x=9&submit.y=8
The 3" tape is 20 mil thick. Self adhesive. Looks like what you need.
Let me know your thoughts. Good luck
However, I think I would go to a craft storeand find some "slippery" plastic sheeting I could cut to fit. The Rockler stuff looks pretty pricy...
Edited 1/4/2007 3:13 pm ET by rwjiudice
Edited 1/4/2007 5:56 pm ET by rwjiudice
rwjudice
Thanks for the idea. I looked at the Rockler on-line catalog. I think I'll wait to see if there are any more products or ideas out there before I jump for the tape.
artnumber1
Dupont makes, "Teflon Multi-Use Dry, Wax Lubricant", (that is the only name on the can), in a spray can. It would be my first choice.
You can by Teflon in sheets, try sailing stores that cater to catamarans, they use it for a bearing under the mast.
I just checked and there are several people selling Teflon sheets on ebay.
Thanks! I'll try those two options. In the meantime, I'm still trying to smooth the surfaces.
Art Ricker
Just an idea, might work, but then it might not, but it is what I would try.
Clean up the two parts as best you can and get them fairly smooth, then put some rubbing compound on them put them loosely back to together, and rotate the saw through the range of motion for a while. Take it back apart to see what has happened. If things are getting better, wipe it out, apply new rubbing compound and go again. Open it up and see how things look. If it is starting to look shiny, wipe out the compound, and color one part with a black felt marker, so it is solid black, apply rubbing compound and rotate through the motion for a while. Open it up and see how much black is left, if there is very much, clean it out apply compound and rotate it through the motions again. Keep it up until you have a good clean bearing surface. Then lube it up with the Dupont spray lube I told you about in the earlier post, put it ack together and hope.
One caveat: It you take too much metal off, things may never line up again. That is why I'm recommending rubbing compound, it will polish, with out excess metal removal.
That sounds like a good approach. Probably the best idea yet. There are a number of grit sizes available. Where do you think I should start? I'm not entirely familiar with the grit sizes. Art
I guess I was thinking of grinding compound.
Does polishing compound come in coarse grits? The machining on the mating surfaces is really bad. I'm not sure that automotive polishing compound is coarse enough. Any thoughts? Art
Edited 1/6/2007 6:01 pm ET by artnumber1
Valve grinding compound might be the place to start if your surfaces are really rough. And, yes polishing compound comes in various grits. It is generally sold in sticks for use on felt buffing wheels. A Google search should turn up many sources. Expect to pay $5 to $10 for an assortment of 5 to 7 sticks. You should be able to just rub it on your surfaces like a crayon.
Lee Valley sells lapping grit for blade sharpening that might do the trick, and there are quite a few other possibilities. The main thing is to not get things that are too coarse. Once the material is off, you can't put it back.
I have to ask, why not just go buy another saw, you are going to have quite a bit of time and effort into this by the time your done.
Thanks for the tip on valve grinding compound. I had just gotten online to check it out. My first stop was going to be J&L Industrial, but I may be able to get it at the local auto parts store.
I think I have fixed (perhaps temporarily) the problem. I went to J&L Industrial Supplies http://www.jlindustrial.com. If you're interested, go directly to Page 1445. They have polishing compound in both diamond and silicon carbide, in grits rangeing from 1 micron to 483 microns. It is also listed in grit size; as in 50 to 1200 in silicon carbide at the price of $22 to $50, with $50 being the 1200 grit. These are all 1 lb cans. As an interim measure I bought a can of valve grinding compound, but after checking the grit size. It is 120, which I decided was too coarse. I followed (as an interim solution) the suggestion from highfigh; grease. It works for now. So, thanks everyone. If I decide later to go for the polishing compound I'll check in again.
Art
I may have the same model because it did the same thing. I bought it used and do nothing heavy-duty with it but it still works. If I decide to buy a new one, I'll check it out fully before I pull the trigger. I used grease with Teflon in it to lube the moving parts after I disassembled it, cleaned it and reassembled. So far, so good.
The tape is for facing table saw fences, right? I have a roll of it but haven't tried it.
The slick tape can be used for tablesaw fences, or any other surface you want slick and easy to slide things over. I have used for some of the jigs-n-fixtures I make. My table saw fence has UHMW Poly on the sides, so it is plenty slick.
It's nice on the bottom of sleds for the table saw, and router table.
Thanks highfigh. I hadn't tried any lube more than a light oil, so maybe the heavier grease might work. Since I'm at this stage though, I think I'll try the grinding- or lapping compound first. Just hoping I don't take off too much material! Art
It was a couple of years ago but I think I smoothed anything that was galled with fine silicon carbide paper, polished it and then used QuickSilver 2-4-C grease with Teflon. It's available from most marine suppliers, marinas, Mercruiser dealers and West Marine. I use it for things that aren't boat oriented but it's made for bearing surfaces where the film may be squeezed out but lubrication is still needed.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
You can also order replacement parts directly from Delta.
http://www.dewaltservicenet.com/ServiceNet/logon.asp
The Service Net link will allow you to find manuals and exploded parts diagrams.
Thanks. I don't think I want to buy whole base or table. As I just posted, I think I have it fixed, however temporarily.
Art
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