Knew Concept Saw

After lusting over a Knew Concept Saw, I finally bought one, and have had a lot of blade breaking since. I bought 12 Vallorbe 2/0 saw blades from Cookies and have used nearly all of them over the course of a month, and probably broken about three or four at a time, which is a bit frustrating. Has anyone else had this problem, my old cheapie saw was fine, I have used Burr Life and beeswax and followed the instructions on setting the tension, is it possible it could be the blades this time. I only make small jewellery so not expecting it to cut 4mm etc.

You should be breaking less, not more. Maybe you're tightening them too much?

Mine either broke or buckled which is why I wasn't a great fan either Pat. Have used it a bit more recently. Your vallorbe blades should be just the thing for KC. I'm at a loss to understand why this saw seems to be great for some and not for others. I still like my ancient Eclipse but it's now 40 years old and not doing so well either :(

I have been using it for around two weeks, but not happy at the moment. My old one is an eclipse too.

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Originally Posted by Patstone

I have been using it for around two weeks, but not happy at the moment. My old one is an eclipse too.

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Pity they don't make them anymore we could have saved ourselves a lot of money !

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Eclipse-PS51.../dp/B0043YJ0HI

and there are loads more on ebay.

I think a lot of the problem is to do with Vallorbe blades at the moment. But that's another post (which I shall write up in the next couple of days).

I can't remember the last time I broke a blade in any of my KCs. They do take a little bit of getting used to, but I cut across rather than forward for most things and I think this might make a difference.

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Originally Posted by mizgeorge

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Eclipse-PS51.../dp/B0043YJ0HI

and there are loads more on ebay.

I think a lot of the problem is to do with Vallorbe blades at the moment. But that's another post (which I shall write up in the next couple of days).

I can't remember the last time I broke a blade in any of my KCs. They do take a little bit of getting used to, but I cut across rather than forward for most things and I think this might make a difference.

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George - have heard others mention cutting across rather than forward but cannot picture it at all. Do you have your bench peg on the side of your bench in order to do this? Sorry if this is a silly question :"> Susie

I used an Eclipse for years but the nuts have grooves in them now and won't hold the blades. Just using a cheapo saw bought for my son to learn with but it works okay. I'll be very interested to read your post on Vallorbe blades George as I don't think the blades are anywhere near the quality they used to be.

I saw a post on ganoskin which said a lot of people over tension the KCs which leads to blades snapping. I have found that the vallorabe blades I bought ages ago last really well and did so in my old frame as well.

Where I find them snapping in my KC is at the tips. I don't like the way the blades are held in place as I now have about four blades so far which are almost unused and have the full length of blade teeth but are too short to use in the KC.

Liz, if they're snapping at the tips, the little grub screws that hold them in place may well not be set quite right. I had this happen with my first one, and it was just a case of turning the screw back by about 1/8 of a turn with a small allen key.

I'll post separately about the blades!

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Originally Posted by mizgeorge

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Eclipse-PS51.../dp/B0043YJ0HI

and there are loads more on ebay.

I think a lot of the problem is to do with Vallorbe blades at the moment. But that's another post (which I shall write up in the next couple of days).

I can't remember the last time I broke a blade in any of my KCs. They do take a little bit of getting used to, but I cut across rather than forward for most things and I think this might make a difference.

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Thanks George I was told by a rep that they were no longer made. The handle does look bigger and heavier than mine though

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Originally Posted by susieq

George - have heard others mention cutting across rather than forward but cannot picture it at all. Do you have your bench peg on the side of your bench in order to do this? Sorry if this is a silly question :"> Susie

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My pin is set pretty much in front of me - perhaps slightly to the right (I'm right handed) and I cut from right to left across the pin rather than from front to back. I started doing this because I'm just not the right shape to hold a saw directly in front of me comfortably (something to do with having rather more of a chest than the average bloke!) and found I was much more accurate in doing this as I could actually see where I'm going rather than constantly trying to peer round the blade.

If I use a pin clamped to a table, I set it to one side and turn my chair so I'm still in the sideways position.

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Originally Posted by susieq

George - have heard others mention cutting across rather than forward but cannot picture it at all. Do you have your bench peg on the side of your bench in order to do this? Sorry if this is a silly question :"> Susie

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Hi Susie, I am quite an accomplished piercer and I was taught to pierce across a centre set bench peg, as George says it is better to see where you are piercing. Most students are taught to pierce away from their face holding the saw frame straight, I was told that this was because of health and safety rules. I pierce in all directions and swivel my saw frames in all directions when piercing intricate shapes, but for straight lines I always hold the saw frame so that the saw's frame is at right angles to my eyeline, then you can view the front of the saw blade and cut following the marked lines easier.

James

Thanks George and James - my bench peg has an inverted v shape cut into it and if I try to cut at right angles then I have very little space to cut in before hitting the sides of the "v". Is it just a case of getting used to cutting smaller areas at a time and moving the metal more or do you have more of a "7" shape cut into the peg?

Thanks, Susie

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Originally Posted by mizgeorge

Liz, if they're snapping at the tips, the little grub screws that hold them in place may well not be set quite right. I had this happen with my first one, and it was just a case of turning the screw back by about 1/8 of a turn with a small allen key.

I'll post separately about the blades!

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ahhh right, I'll give that a go. I figured there must be some way of jimmying it.

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Originally Posted by susieq

Thanks George and James - my bench peg has an inverted v shape cut into it and if I try to cut at right angles then I have very little space to cut in before hitting the sides of the "v". Is it just a case of getting used to cutting smaller areas at a time and moving the metal more or do you have more of a "7" shape cut into the peg?

Thanks, Susie

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Yes Susie, you get used to moving the metal around with your spare hand. When piercing flat pieces all you need is a flat, firm bench pin with the V cut in the front. As the blade cuts on the down stroke the bench peg takes all the pressure and all you need is a couple of finger tips to hold the metal steady while piercing. The pics show my workbench, bench peg and a couple of my piercings.
James

Attachment 6091Attachment 6092Attachment 6093Attachment 6094

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Originally Posted by Goldsmith

Yes Susie, you get used to moving the metal around with your spare hand. When piercing flat pieces all you need is a flat, firm bench pin with the V cut in the front. As the blade cuts on the down stroke the bench peg takes all the pressure and all you need is a couple of finger tips to hold the metal steady while piercing. The pics show my workbench, bench peg and a couple of my piercings.
James

Attachment 6091Attachment 6092Attachment 6093Attachment 6094

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James

I started out with a cheep flat pench peg
Attachment 6096

later i bought this one from cookies
Attachment 6095

and went back to my old one, i did not like the slope at all. Are we saying the one in picture is upside down?

Julian

Yes Julian, I was taught that the flat side of the bench peg is for piercing and most other work and the sloped side is used for filing jobs. When piercing some shapes I hold the job to the sloped underside of my bench peg.
This was me piercing an egg shell some 30+ years ago.
Attachment 6097

James

I'm always baffled when I see people using a sloped peg for piercing. I simply can't imagine how they can work like that.

The Cookies portable setup is designed so you can insert the peg either way up, depending on what you're doing. I use a benchmate, and found it annoying to have to unscrew the peg so bought a second one, which means I have a selection of different shapes cut or filed in to help when I'm filing.