The Hammond
Glider Trim-o-Saw
is a classic among both printers and now, wood workers and
model makers as well. It precision is unmatched, with a
micrometer-adjustable left side guide that enables
settings to half a point - approx. 144th of an inch. The
blade is ajustable up and down in fractional inch
increments, and if that's not enough, it can be raised up
to arbor height and used for end-trimming - with 144th of
an inch precision. It leaves a nice, smooth, shiny cut
exactly where you need it to be. It really can't be beat.
We have a G-4 that we have used for well over 40 years and have certainly found handy on a daily basis. We use it to cut leads, slugs, engravings, furniture; for kerning letters in the traditional way (with a saw, not a computer key!). We also recently acquired a BGR78 which has some different features compared to the G4. We had a G100, but sold it. The G100 was the newest and best looking of the lot, but the trusty old G4 gets the job done and the "new" (to us) BGR78 is coming up to speed and paying its way more and more every day. We also have a table-top glider saw in the work shop. It uses a micrometer adjustment and runs off of a 2" wide leather belt just like the old Hammond Franklin model that we loaned to a friend about ten years ago... But when I went to use my BGR78, I discovered that the blade did not cut as well - or as accurately as I needed, so I went to the letpress mail forum and posted a question to the group.. And here's some of what I learned from the members of the letpress mail group: Sources of blades for the Hammond Glider Saws From Steve Rush: Here is contact info for Dynamic Saw in Buffalo. They have manufactured three blades for me. I paid $115 for two carbide tipped blades for a Ben Franklin Trim-O-Saw the last time. It helps if you send them one of your old ones. They can then match the arbor and placement and counter sink of any mounting holes. They send that part of the process out to a machinist. Dynamic Saw, Inc. Stephen Callari 551 Smith Street Buffalo, NY 14210 716-827-0446 The only e-mail address I have is for a guy names Dan: dan@dynamicsaw.com And here's what we
learned while fiddling with the saw late one evening:
First of all, I found a wide variety of blades among my collection - accumulated over many years from a variety of sources. I found 5" blades, 5 3/4" blades, 6" blades, 7" blades - and more odd sizes... I found carbide-tipped blades, steel blades, blades with a 6-point kerf and one blade only 4 points wide (aka a 4-point "kerf"). I also found blades with and without swaged teeth. Swaging is a process commonly found on wood saw blades; each tooth is "swaged" to alternately "lean" one way or the other - allowing for fast and efficient cutting of wood, but not so good for trimming leads, slugs and mortising type. And here are photos of and some information about the various models we know or have owned and used:
See also: Our new photo-essay page on the Side Guide Adjustment page last updated June 1, 2018
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