contour saw - repair or replace

[Juan23]

I have a Alpha AWS125 that I mainly use for sink cut outs. The bearing are starting to go so I'm debating whether or not to repair or replace it. I didn't get the number of hours of use out of that I expected but its been a decent saw. Has anyone used a different contour saw that they would recommend?

[keith]

We use the alpha as well we keep two one has a contour blade and one a straight blade.we just replace them when the bearings go bad and the newer one gets the contour blade the older is used with the straight to rough out larger radius cuts and for straight cuts on some sinks

[Curtis R. Marburger]

we have 1/2 dozen of alpha saw's we rotate for repairs , its the one next thing i would like to eliminate from shop , i found these Air saws on Ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/140573640897?ss ... 1423.l2649
anyone have experience with these ?

There are peeps that just through brushes and bearings in them saws , Then there are the mechanics who repair the Alpha saws the correct way

[graniteman]

We use the alpha saws to cut rod slots. We get about 6-8 months out of one, we cut slots in 6-8 kitchens everyday.

I know when we used them dry they didn't last as long. I probably have 20-30 of them sitting in crates.

[Andy Ross]

I've been using the Skil version of the alpha 125. It has probs with the brushes getting stuck and the saw won't turn on. You gotta bang on it to jar it loose and then its fine. Also don't like that the trigger won't lock on, and my poor little finger gets tired squeezing it the whole cutout. They are under $100 from braxton-bragg so you can't expect much. Not sure if I will keep buying them or switch back to the alpha's. It depends on how ticked I am at the Alpha tool department at the time and how mad I am about the "banging to get it to work" situation.

To answer the original question, unless you can fix it yourself, buy a new one. It will be $100 or more to have it repaired. I replace brushes and switches in our grinders and saws otherwise it gets tossed in the bin for parts and scrap.

[Juan23]

Thanks all. I was going to wait till Monday to call a repair shop but at $100 to repair the Alpha, I'll replace it with something else.

Sent from my DROIDX Using ForumTouch for Android

[dustinbraudway]

I think Justin Z can fix them.

[CustomMarbleGranite]

Justin repairs them with a stainless bearing. It lasts a lot longer than the original. Also he repairs the parts that hold the brushes which makes it last a lot longer than it would otherwise.

[Andy Ross]

Anyone got a price on this Justin guy. He sounds like the man.

[CustomMarbleGranite]

You can contact him on here. Justin at Creekside granite. He had a post up here a while ago

[Justzack]

I am not hard to find, I don't know how long the repairs last bit I have had over a year on my contour saw and there is still no
Play in the bearing. I would recommend if you have me do it to do the electric end also. Just give me a call if interested.
Thanks

[Nick]

Curtis that air saw looks sick. I may just buy it and try it... I will let you know if I do.

[btimike]

Andy, we are using the skil from bb also and were burning through them until i put some plastic under the vent right by the brushes and cupped it up to keep water out held on with electric tape also pop the caps off the brushes every once in awhile and wd40 them the one im running like i described has lasted through roughly 100 sinks and still going strong.

[Todd Luster]

I have a crate of burned up alphas, jepsons and makitas too.

I bought the big barranca air grinder from gq last year after playing with it at the mega
My intent was to hang it by the fab enter for freeing parts up on the saw.
It took a while for the guys to love on it, but they finally tried it after seeing me use it several times and now they love it.
We put a 5" flush cut with water feed on it, but use it for grinding too.
It's a hog.

[Andy Ross]

Andy, we are using the skil from bb also and were burning through them until i put some plastic under the vent right by the brushes and cupped it up to keep water out held on with electric tape also pop the caps off the brushes every once in awhile and wd40 them the one im running like i described has lasted through roughly 100 sinks and still going strong.

Thanks for the tip. I'll try it today with the plastic. Seems like it would overheat but at 100 sinks, thats only $1 per sink.

[btimike]

Use like ice cream bucket plastic and just heat up with a heat gun and bend it up alittle bit not fully covering the vent let me know and i can get pics if you need.

[bdtoolrepairs]

Hi. I am Bledar Dardeshi and i do tool repairs I repair the alpha 125 for 65 $. i repair alost all the tools for fabrication shop. For more info contact me at bdtoolrepairs@yahoo.com or 215-989-9460 Thank you