There are many items that are not forklift friendly.  These items maybe very long, or tall or narrow or a combination of all three like a triple window unit.  Some 12 and 16 foot patio doors are not supported in the middle except for the frame and packaging.

The Solution to being soft in the middle is “more support”.

The Scoop Dolly was developed by a vertical panel saw manufacture called Saw Trax to move their 10.5 ft. long, 7 ft. tall, 1 ft. wide crates containing their 500 lb. panel saws with one person.

Last year, a large door and window manufacturer approached Saw Trax about using their Scoop Dollies to move their 12 and 16 foot long patio door sets.  These sets can have the center doors removed for shipping so the packaging and frame are the only support in the middle.  An early solution was to use two attached Scoop Dollies separated by supports to be used as one unit.  This 10 foot wide machine worked great but was hard to store when not in use.  The engineers at Saw Trax came up with a simple solution, “Make a wider support lip”.

The support lip for this version went from 30” to 72”, almost 2.5 times larger.  This greater support allows a single scoop and single user to move these super wide door and window sets with ease.

This lip is an easy retrofit on earlier Scoop Dollies.

For more information, go to www.sawtrax.com or email info@sawtrax.com.  770-974-0021

Above a 12 foot patio door is shown on the prototype version. This lip is an easy retrofit on earlier Scoop Dollies.

For more information, go to www.sawtrax.com or email info@sawtrax.com.  770-974-0021

“CAN YOU AFFORD TO HAVE TWO MEN DO A ONE MAN JOB?”

Recently I got a chance to try a traditional Tilt door dolly, and compare it to the new Saw Trax pivoting Scoop Dolly.  The differences were huge from a business stand point.

Saw Trax, a Georgia company, came up with the Scoop Dolly to move their 500 lb crated panel saws.   They married a pivoting type mechanism to the side of their yellow dolly initially.  It was later refined to use a dedicated “box”.    The Pivot Door and Window Scoop Dolly allows one person to move 500 pound door and window sets alone or a crated panel saw.   Traditional door dollies need two people.

It is unique in the door and window industry.   The idea is that the “L” support mechanism of this dolly pivots on the dolly so the dolly itself stays

flat and just the “L” shaped part is moved.   The 4 (or 5) casters used under the box of this dolly stay on the floor.

This way a large weight is not put on two angled casters so undue stress is not placed on the bearings as in the Tilt dolly.    In use, the lone user can stand on the platform box of the dolly and either pull an item or use a pull stick to pull an item onto the L.  They can continue to hold the item on the L while pulling the L back to the adjustable angle saddles.   The item can then be moved.

What is nice about this arrangement is that one person is used instead of two.  Other benefits are the ergonomics are much easier and you are not lifting the weight of the cart constantly loading and unloading items as in the tilt dolly.  This causes less user fatigue and chance of injury.

The dolly box, blade and saddles are made out of 12 gauge powder coated steel.  The square tubes use 16 gauge steel.  Four casters come in the standard version that has an 800 lb. maximum lift.  A weight upgrade to 1000 lb. uses a fifth wheel under the box.

Options for the Scoop Dolly are a directional wheel that allows the user to push the load instead of pull the load, dock transition wheels, a foot leverage step for wider loads like a refrigerator, brakes and forklift channels that allow the entire cart and door to be lifted from a truck to the ground or ground to a truck. 

A traditional Tilt dolly is structured similar to a dry wall cart but the “L” shaped holding mechanism is below the platform.  The idea is you tilt the entire dolly onto two wheels picking up almost 60 lbs. so the L holding mechanism is on the floor, parallel to the floor.  Then you slide the lip under what you want to pick up.  The heavy duty one’s weigh in around 116 pounds so you need one person to lift almost 60 pounds to lift the dolly at an angle and another person to push the door onto the dolly.  Once on the dolly, the dolly is lowered so all four wheels are back onto the ground and the door is on the lip and off of the ground ready to be moved.   To remove the door from the dolly, the weight of the door plus half the weight of the dolly is lifted to get the door vertical.  A second person “Catcher” is then used to catch the door and slowly tilt it against the wall or support structure.

To sum up the benefits of a pivot dolly, you have better utilization of manpower because it only requires one person to operate it instead of two.  You have less product damage because the product is more controlled and is never slammed into a wall unloading.  You have less fatigued  people and less chances of injury because employees won’t be lifting half the weight of the dolly all day.

For more information on the pivoting door Scoop Dolly contact Saw Trax at info@sawtrax.com, 770-974-0021 or go to their website at www.sawtrax.com.

Every workshop must be fitted with a wide variety of tools to accomplish any task thrown a craftsman’s way. One of the most widely used and common tools that can be found in almost any workspace is the abrasive circular saw. As time has progressed and technology has increased, the need to cut a multitude of materials has risen in response. Now, industry members have the ability to choose the exact saw and blade to give the operator the precise finish they desire.

In today’s market, there are over 47 different types of saws! Our personal favorite, the vertical panel saw offers a wide range of benefits that outshines others in terms of productivity, function, and overall versatility. Panel saws are a vital tool for Cabinet Makers, Sign Shops, Shipping and Crating Service Providers, Flooring Contractors, Builders, and any craftsman/operator needing to cut large sheets of a material into smaller pieces/sections. With a Saw Trax panel saw even small strips can be cut from the large sheet goods which is only one aspect of our panel saws that stands apart from the rest. Rest assured knowing your Saw Trax panel saw will arrive squared, and with our patented Accu-Square system you should never lose that perfect alignment. Our alignment system has been a shining star in terms of customer satisfaction.

With the Saw Trax Rotating Insert Plate, operators are able to set up multiple tools ahead of time. With the needed tools set and ready, the operator can take advantage of the 8 second tool change by quickly swapping out the tool plate with the tool attached, reducing the need to change the blade itself in-between cuts. The Rotating Insert Plate also allows the operator to cut their materials in both vertical AND horizontal directions, a feature that provides extreme convenience and a favorite among users.

But what about the blades!? It may seem like a daunting task when trying to decide which blade is right for the job. With the massive amounts of different types, different teeth, different material FOR different materials, it can become quit confusing to know exactly which blade is best suited for the task at hand. Let’s take a look at the four basic types of circular saw blades and learn which is the optimal choice for what applications! Reader stay tuned and be sure to check back later for an deeper dive when we break down these basic types of blades further in upcoming blog posts! But first, let’s define some basic vocabulary so the information below is as easy to absorb as possible…

Bore : The bore of the circular saw blade is the center circle that allows the blade to be attached to the saw via the saw’s arbor (the shaft that allows the blade to be secured in position and locked into place).

Kerf : refers to the thickness of the slot which the saw blade will cut. It is often used as well to define the thickness of the blade itself, or at least the widest point of the blade, as this will define the width of the cut made.

Teeth : The outside points of a blade that do the work cutting the material. There are many different types of teeth that give the user a different type of cut. Generally, the more teeth the blade has the smoother the cut will be, and likewise, the fewer teeth the blade has will cause the blade to remove more material giving a rougher cut.

Gullet : The curved area at the base of the tooth. The tooth tip to the bottom of the gullet is the gullet depth.

Expansion Slot : Used primarily on larger diameter blades and functions to create an outlet for heat buildup created during cutting. A steel blade will heat up to a point where the heat is great

Shoulder : The part of the blade body directly behind each tooth that provides support for each tooth. The shoulder’s major function is to provide strength and support to the tip of the tooth. A well designed blade allows the shoulder to provide extra strength and helps guide the tip through the material the operator is cutting.

Hook Tooth Angle : The amount of lean to the blades teeth, and the angle the teeth will engage with the material being cut.

Negative Hook Angle: Negative angles are blade teeth that have a backward lean. Negative hook angle blades are more appropriate for cross cutting cuts, and are better suited for plywood and non-wood materials such as plastics as well as metal.

Positive Hook Angle : In contrast to Negative Hook Angle, Positive Hook Angle refers to blade teeth that have a forward lean. Positive hook angles are generally used on rip blades to help pull the wood into the blade. For harder materials, the angle needs to be a smaller degree with less steepness. The higher the value the angle goes, corresponds to softer materials.

Crosscut : cuts that run across, perpendicular, the grain of the material such as wood.

Rip Cut : cuts that run along the grain, parallel, of the material such as wood.

Rake : another word for hook angle. The rake of the blades teeth affects the tendency of material to move during cutting. Positive rake helps move the material “into” the blade, in other words, helps the blade self feed. A negative rake is less aggressive and does not help force the material towards the blade.

The Four Basic Types of Circular Saw Blades:

FTG Blades – Flat Top Grind : FTG Blades have teeth with the top edges square to the saw plate. These flat top teeth work by attacking the wood like a chisel, chopping the wood. This blade style produces very fast cuts while the blade itself remains very durable; however, these types of blades do not produce a very clean cut, leaving the surface unsmooth. FTG blades are designed for Rip cuts, or cutting WITH the grain.

ATB Blades – Alternate Top Bevel : ATB blades have teeth that are angled across the top edge. Every other tooth is angled the opposite direction from the previous tooth. The shape of the teeth gives a clean tear through the material. The steeper the angle of the teeth, the cleaner the cut the blade produces, however; this allows the blade to dull faster the steeper the angle gets. Most ATB blades are considered “general purpose,” and usually have at least 40 teeth.

Combination ATBR : Standard combination blades are made up of sets of 5 teeth (4 ATB, or angled teeth, followed by a raker tooth (squared top). The ATB teeth are made to produce smooth, clean cuts while the Ranker tooth aids with Rip Cuts. Combination blades are also considered to be an “all-purpose” blade.

Tiple-Chip Grind (TCG) : TCG blades consists of alternating teeth. Each tooth alternates between angled and squared. Each ATB (angled or chamfered) tooth chisels the cut while the ranker tooth follows behind to clean the roughness. TCG type blades are primarily used on dense materials such as laminated plastic, Corian, and metals like brass and aluminum.

Don’t forget to check back in when we take a deeper dive into blade types and expand on what saw blades are best suited for different materials!

a·dapt·a·bil·i·ty

/əˌdaptəˈbilədē/

noun

1. the quality of being able to adjust to new conditions.
2. the capacity to be modified for a new use or purpose

   .

With all the changes happening because of the novel coronavirus, adaptability has been an important trait for all of us to cultivate. Although adapting to the new standards in the workplace and in

social life has not been easy, it is necessary for us to take care of our own and to take care of our valued customers.

Saw Trax is a small home-grown manufacturing company, and social distancing rules have been so much easier to conform to thanks to this nature of the company. All our Vertical Panel Saws are built to order by one of our technicians and do not pass through all sorts of people before coming to you, the customer. These technicians know the saw inside and out. They ensure our panel saws are built sturdy and square. Our technicians even crate the panel saw themselves. You know they care for the safe transportation of the products because they have already spent so much time building them.

Our Vertical Panel Saws, much like our employees and customers, are also adaptable. They can be easily moved around the shop or to new job sites thanks to the optional factory attached folding stand and transport wheels. The quick release spring locks on the saw carriage allow for ten second tool swaps, and the spinning insert plate makes switching between standard and rip cuts fast and easy. Have you had to take on new material to fill a customer’s needs, or do you switch between different cutting jobs frequently? Our optional vertical panel saw accessories, like the OLFA pivoting knife insert plate or ACM cutter insert plate, allows you to be versatile and opens the door to new opportunities.

We are incredibly grateful for our dedicated employees here. They have continued to show their adaptability in this crisis. We are selling saws as fast as we can build them and that just shows how adaptable our great customers are as well. When things get challenging, you assess, you adapt, and you drive on.

The ISA International Sign Expo back in April may have been cancelled, but the world is picking back up and changing. As we get back to business, protective barriers and signage have become more prominent than ever. Clear plastics are being utilized for their ability to keep people safe and keep business going.

Our Vertical Panel Saw Sign Maker Package is perfect for cutting these barriers that are becoming an industry standard. These panel saws were designed specifically for the multitude of materials used in sign shops.Our patented Accu-Square alignment system assures that your machine will never go out of square. Our unique sealed roller bearing system provides for smoother carriage action and tighter tolerances. The Sign Maker Series comes with a lot of great features such as the pivoting knife insert and spring hold down.

• Pivoting Knife Cutter and Makita 5007F 15 Amp Saw
• Patented Accu-Square keeps cut accuracy 0f 1/64″
• Cuts a Multitude of Material, easily changing from Saw to Router to Knife
• Accu-Glide sealed bearings make for smooth repetition for cuts
• Clean Dust Collection System
• Mid shelf for cutting smaller projects at waist height (optional)
• Spring Hold Down for Material
• Folding Stand and Frame Wheels allow for easy transportation

Pivoting Knife                                                   Dual Rip Pointers                                      Sealed Steal Bearings

Cut thin poly-carbonate or thicker plastic acrylics and anything in between!

Your cuts need to be clean, fast, and accurate. The Sign Maker Package has all the tools you need to get this job done and works with a variety of thickness. Use the 15 AMP Makita circular saw or the Pivoting Knife Cutter. Both of these inserts work with our Mid-Fence option for cutting smaller pieces without having to bend over to the bottom of the saw. Safety barriers are being installed everywhere to create separation and protection. Meeting these standards doesn’t have to be a difficult task. Saw Trax has a variety of cutting supplies that can help you.

Cutting Plastics for Protective Barriers

·         Perfect machine for cutting your plastic blanks

·         Depth of cut up to 1 3/4 inch

·         Cut Accuracy up to 1/64 inch

·         Available Accessory Insert Plates for various sign making materials

At Saw Trax, we are all about manufacturing products that are easy to use. Not easy to make. We go the extra mile to make sure your vertical panel saws get the job done and get it done right.

Let’s see how the Saw Trax 1052 compares with our competitors H-4 with silver package.

The 1052, like all our other saws, has our patented accu-square alignment system. Your vertical panel saw will come to you already squared. Our unique saw carriage has 2 locks instead of 1 and allows for many great optional interchangeable cutting tools. The saws carriages are held to the guide tubes with 12 steal sealed roller bearings. These won’t become brittle and crack or shift over time like our competitors U-bolts.

Ours                                                                                              Theirs

Alignment is important for any vertical panel saw. At Saw Trax, we have 18 centered material rollers that hold your material. Our competition, however, uses 14 adjustable rollers. This makes aligning our competitors’ rollers a difficult process that requires a custom-made tool and leaves little room for error on the users part.

All of our saws come with a 7.25 inch blade that is non-proprietary and can be easily found. Our competitor can’t say the same with their non-standard 8” blade.
This blade is protected from damage and you are protected from the blade with the guard attached. Our competitors’ saw  has no guard and their blade is exposed.
Unlike our competitor, our saw motor includes a viewing port for a closer look at your cuts.

Ours                                                                                      Theirs

                                                    Ours

You can easily move our saw into your workspace and set up in seconds thanks to our folding stand and transport wheels. Both come factory attached on the 1052 model and make moving your saw a breeze. Our competitors stand must be installed by the user and can’t be adjusted. Attaching the stand is a long and complicated process. The wheels also must be installed by the user and lifting the saw frame is the only way to place them.

                                                                        Theirs

(As you can see in the last picture, this poor design has no durability. The stand components of our competitors can easily be bent and damaged.)

The 1052, like all of our other saws, allows for rip cuts in both directions, which means we have two rip pointers for maximum accuracy on either side. The h-4 only had one rip pointer…. Because it only cuts in one direction… You have to cut from left to right.

Our saw frames have a quick stop that is easy to use on both sides. The competitions quick stop has to be mounted and secured in several places and can only be used on one side of the saw frame.

Ours                                                                                             Theirs

Our dust collection system is like no other. With a dust hood and brush included and factory attached, your workspace can stay neater and cleaner. The competitions dust collection system must be attached by the user. The process is tedious, and you could easily damage their system if not installed properly.

Just above the accu-square, you will see our optional frames dust collection that helps reduce the workspace dust. The center support is used for small material that doesn’t reach the material rollers. The material will be supported for cutting unlike our competition.

When held together, it becomes clear that the Saw Trax doesn’t take short cuts in providing a vertical panel saw built with the customer in mind. 

ALL OF THIS AND SAW TRAX IS MORE AFFORDABLE THAN THE COMPETITOR!
The 1052 coming in at approximately $3,099 and the H-4 Silver Package being over $500 more at approximately $3,676.

For a complete walk through on our differences, please watch our comparison video. 

To check out the 1052 click here!

Modex 2020 was an excellent show, although different from previous years. Above all we wish everyone great health, and safety during this challenging time.  For many attendees, their trip was cut short and they were unable to visit all the exhibits they had hoped for. Accordingly, we used the show floor opportunity to create some great new videos about our dollies. Here is one of the videos we made on the Shuttle Dolly that we hope you will enjoy.

Saw Trax was able to demonstrate many of our dollies and accessories. We brought some incredible Material Handling solutions to this year’s show floor.  In addition to our ever reliable yel-Low Safety Dolly and Scoop Dolly, we also brought our new and exciting Lift Dolly and Shuttle Dolly. These new solutions make working in your warehouse, distribution center or supply and logistics division easier, safer, and more productive.

You can see our Shuttle Dolly front and center HERE.

The Shuttle Dolly, much like the others we offer is fully customizable and has angled post slots to allow posts to be used a wheelbarrow like handles. This really makes the Shuttle dolly easy to maneuver and can be pulled OR pushed easily.

As we all expected, there have been cancellations and postponing of our next planned trade shows. This is a good time to rest up and reflect on our schedule for the year. We have some great things planned and, as always, we are here to continue to provide excellent service and quality products.  Follow us on social media and reach out with a call to our staff if you have questions or would like to place an order.

770-974-0021

As many of you can relate, we recently received the show cancellation update from the ISA. Although we wish the show could go on, we understand the choice due to the current environment regarding COVID-19. We are putting the health and welfare of our valued employees first!

The International Sign Association Board of Directors had this to say:

“Given the latest developments with COVID-19,
the ISA Board and staff were not confident we could deliver
the exceptional experience the industry deserves.
In addition, many of you contacted ISA staff to share your concerns.
ISA’s purpose is to listen and serve the industry. We heard you.
ISA Sign Expo^® 2020 will now occur Sunday, August 23 – Tuesday, August 25,
with preconference sessions on Saturday, August 22.
ISA Sign Expo^® will remain at the Orange County Convention Center.”

You can stay up to date with ISA’s rescheduling here.

Not cancelled, just postponed!

With the postponing of the show, Saw Trax has begun to revisit our own show attendance schedule to make sure we can see you in August.  In the meantime, we will continue to keep our operations running to provide the quality products you expect.  Feel free to look here to review our Sign Maker Series Package and reach out to our staff if you have questions or would like to place an order.

Blog post are available here, and we will be working to keep you informed of any additional changes to our organization and the market as we receive them.