Finally, saw upgrade!

[Jeff H.]

Yes, this next week we will be putting 10 lbs of sh*t into a 5 lb bag since my shop is very small (pictures of install to follow)! My used 2008 Yukon purchased from Park showed up yesterday and so did the buyer (Nik Mostad) for my used Johnson. Unload Yukon from 7am till 9am, tear down Johnson and load onto trailer for trip to Missoula Montana done at 1:30pm. That's a lot of equipment to move in one day. Some pucker factor, but all went well.

Now lets get this machine unloaded




And here's Nik Mostad and he'll be happy to get off that rail saw!

[Jeff H.]

We removed and dumped the concrete bed on the table for transport.

[Dan R.]

That Johnson looks brand new!
I bet even Ron Hannah is envious of that shine!

It will be a great saw for Nik.

Congrats on your new saw?

[tim farr]

Nice! I hope to be posting the same type of pics in a few months.

[Joshua Hopkins]

Awesome Jeff, I am glad its comming together for you. I am jealous of area your shops in it has to be nice country out there.

[Nick]

Exciting stuff all the way around . That Johnson does look new, holy cow man. You are going to love that Yukon....plunge cutting FTW!

[Qualey Granite]

Iron and tarps. Gotta love it. Congrats!!

[Jeff H.]

We are up and running. Cut my 1st slab today in about 1/2 the time it would have taken on the old saw mainly due to the multiple locking mechanisms on the turntable and the laser alignment . I had neither of these on the Johnson. This process of moving a wall (cost about $5k) in a building I don't own , deciding on and buying the new saw, and installing it has been a huge stress in my life. As many have said before, it's always more expensive than you think it will be. Bottom line, I'm ready for those mitered apron edges and overall I think this saw will pay for itself in 5 years .

Getting this beast through a 10 foot door will be fun!


Placing the rails


This shows the saw completed in a tight area. You can see the wall on the left side I had to move to make enough room. there's a steel post and I beam to take the load (rated at 70,000 lbs)






You can see the steel I beam to support the glue lam beam above.

[clhilde]

And I thought my shop was small

Congrats Jeff

[Dan R.]

Congrats!

[Qualey Granite]

That's a nice looking setup. Somewhere I've got pics of my first shop and we crammed the Yukon in there with about 2" to spare on the Z-axis a about as tight as yours on the sides. Good decision!

[Dustin Adams]

nice one jeff!! These pics make me jealous I never stayed in your position!!!

[Nick]

Jeff, a rotating table with an infinite stop, a laser, and plunge cutting miters are major points that make one bridgesaw completely different from another.

You are gonna love all of that and be cutting faster and better in no time. That thing sure is pretty, it looks brand new!

[Matt Lansing]

Looks great Jeff!

You made a good choice there!

[Andy Ross]

I cant imagine not having a laser, brake lock table with pos stops and a full size tilt table (i extended mine from 55 to 80 and its way better) You are going to love it! Congrats

[Dan R.]

I cant imagine not having a laser, brake lock table with pos stops and a full size tilt table (i extended mine from 55 to 80 and its way better) You are going to love it! Congrats

Spoken like true bridge saw veteran!

[DavidL]

Congrats Jeff. Should be a good purchase for you!

[Jeff H.]

My old saw had no laser and only positive stops at 0, 45, 90, & 135 and no tilt. We loaded slabs with a tilting hydraulic cart. I had to line up cuts by running the saw blade back and forth and bumping the slab on a positive stop for 20 years. If I wanted to lock the table on an odd angle, I would use 2 clamps on the table base which was a pain in the ass and wasn't really locked all that well. In hindsight , I should have installed a laser and a better locking system on the table as time went on. I don't think saws had these features back in 1993!

[ronald hannah]

Congratulations Jeff!

[Dustin Adams]

The Johnson was great at rusting out like a bugger and the table became the hardest workout of the day. In fact the rust helped in the end because we never had to lock the table down when cutting.
Good old saws but dude you are gonna have a much easier time with that thing!! Rock on, it might even earn you a few more ski days this winter in time savings!!!