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Component Manufacturing dverti$ dverti $ er
Don’t Forget! You Saw it in the
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August 2021 #13265 Page #10
Sixty Years of Machines Part XXI: Rebirth of the Linear Saw ntering the new Millennium, the linear fed saw needed to be reborn. Though CMs had boosted productivity with bolted-on improvements to their Metra-Cut type saws, they still couldn’t keep up with automated component saws. Yet they remained an essential part of the saw shop, even though they weren’t radically different mechanically than Raymond DeWalt’s 1924 invention. And safety was always a pressing issue.
Joe Kannapell
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The risk of saw injuries was stated succinctly by CM Sam Yoder, as he pointed to the 80-year-old operator of his pull-saw, “He’s not very fast, but notice that he has all his digits (fingers).” Though Sam’s rural location may have escaped OSHA purview, inspectors were citing CMs across the country on two counts: inadequate enclosure of saw blades and lack of viable stroke limiters. In the 1970s, OSHA mandated that a hood completely cover exposed saw blades, as is the case in Europe. Initially, all linear fed saws were in violation. But in 1987, upon appeal from Speed Cut, OSHA allowed certain types of guarding to pass. While Speed Cut was able to beef up its guarding and pass scrutiny, the Metra-Cut’s stroke limiter proved to be ineffective and was increasingly cited because the sawyer had to walk around the table every time the saw angle changed. Later, the imported Mango Apollo Saw automatically limited the stroke, and included very substantial guarding. Despite these improvements, Mango’s documentation included a lengthy list of safety precautions that, unfortunately, actually underscore the grave risk of personal injury. The demands thrust upon these linear fed saws continued to mount, even as bolt-on automation packages enhanced their output. The number of short pieces continued to multiply as a result of the increased prevalence of hip-ends, raised heels and tray ceilings. Ironically, as component saws became more automated, they couldn’t cut nearly as many of these pieces as their manually operated predecessors. And web saws, which could have cut them, were largely abandoned since equipment manufacturers hadn’t automated them. Thus, there was a crying need for an efficient way to cut short pieces. Continued next page
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