My new Festo(ol) BD170

[ulta]

Hi everyone,

i got an new old machine from Festo that i wanna show you. I bet not everyone knows this tool.
It´s a hand held circular saw built from the late 1930 to the early 1940s with 170mm cutting depth!
It weighs 28kg and has a power of 3,2kW.
There where the smaller brothers the BD125 and BD145. The D in the name stands for "Drehstrom" which means that it needs three phase current.

View attachment 2
(HKC55 for size reference)

The saw has a really weird height adjustment (it was patented)
It´s realized by turning the outer gear around the one on the motor shaft thereby chaninging its hight.
The disadvantages are that your blade changes positions and you can only adjut the height between 70-170mm
View attachment 1

In the next months i will restore the machine and bring it back to beauty

Let me know if you knew this saw!

 

[woodbutcherbower]

3-phase and 28kg for a handheld saw !!!!!  [eek] [eek] [eek] [eek] That’s 62 pounds for our US friends.

It looks absolutely terrifying - like the modern Mafell MKS165EC and MKS185EC saws used for cutting beams. (I posted a picture below to show other forum members what these monster machines look like  [big grin] ) It shows how far we’ve come with tool technology. Be sure to return and show the machine restored and looking beautiful !!

Thanks for posting. Very interesting.
Kevin

[attachimg=1]

EDIT - Are you in Germany? Austria? Switzerland? It’s good to post your location in your profile.

 

[PaulMarcel]

I'd love to see how you restore it and maybe a bit on how to use it (even if you don't have 3-phase... just something on how it adjusts as you said it was special and patented).

Nice find!

 

[squall_line]

The HK55 looks like the pizza cutter next to that monster!

Can't wait to see the restoration!

 

[Frank-Jan]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing.

 

[Hawkeye0001]

Are you gonna retrofit a plugit connector and dustport though?!  [big grin]

 

[WastedP]

Riving knife, too.

That is awesome and terrifying.  Like turning a table saw upside down and cutting stuff with it.

 

[usernumber1]

i think that's more than most table saws

170mm cutting depth is almost 6 3/4. you'd need 14" blade? or more

and don't need three phase power either

 

[ulta]

so updates from the saw: it´s finished!

I greased the gears
repaired the broken switch husing
made the missing depth changing lever
put on a new safe cable
got a new 450mm sawblade
and painted everything.

it works great, goes through like butter and feels safer to use than expected. But it´s hard to hold the weight.

heres a video and pictures of it: VideoandPictures

 

[mino]

What a find!

Maintain it well and it will be an inheritance for grandkids. These things were built like tanks.

...
The disadvantages are that your blade changes positions and you can only adjut the height between 70-170mm
...

The special height adjustment travel of 100 mm is actually a plus of this saw. The motor not "moving" gives it more spability at the "high" setting, allowing for such a great depth range.

Context:
I have a 1990s Holzher heritage Protookl CSP 145 E and it is limited to 75-145.

If one thinks about it, there is no other way if bare minimum safety is sought. Mine has "only" a 380 mm blade and is already top-heavy at the 75 mm setting as the motor moves with the blade using a rod-shaft arrangement in the plunge routers style.

The Maffel EKS 165 and 185 have "only" 80 mm of movement travel, the minimums there are 85 and 105 mm respectively ..

...
It shows how far we’ve come with tool technology.
...

Well, per above, I would argue these 80 years newer Maffels are actually not much of an improvement. Excepting weight and being single-phase, thus more flexible/practical, I would argue they are a *downgrade* to this Festo in capability.

Having 400V on a worksite (common in Europe) and rip-cutting a hardwood beam (common at the time), I would prefer this 28 kg stable monster with more power to the lighter but less stable Maffels of today.

That said, these days one can easily get enginnered beams in exact sizes, so I absolutely understand why Maffel goes for the "lighter duty" market. If these can be called "lighter duty". Ahem.

 

[Coen]

Wow that thing is huge.

What is the rpm? Isn't the gyroscopic effect enormous?

 

[mino]

...
What is the rpm? Isn't the gyroscopic effect enormous?

Oh, it is ... helps (a lot) with the saw lateral stability. Allows pretty clean cuts without a rail if the riding surface is flat.

In a way, I think this class of saws is safer in practice than the smaller saws. Even pros give them the respect they need and "civils" do not even think about being in the blade path ..

 

[Packard]

My friend owns a tree service company (trims or removes trees).  When I went to him for advice on a chain saw his advice surprised me:  Buy the longest bar version of the saw I am interested in. 

Short bars, he said, were the single major reason that chain saws kick back.  It is when the tip of the saw is not long enough to exit the opposite side of the cut.  When the tip catches, the saw bucks back and the results are devastating.

At any rate, that “bigger is safer” resonated with me.

 

[Coen]

...
What is the rpm? Isn't the gyroscopic effect enormous?

Oh, it is ... helps (a lot) with the saw lateral stability. Allows pretty clean cuts without a rail if the riding surface is flat.

In a way, I think this class of saws is safer in practice than the smaller saws. Even pros give them the respect they need and "civils" do not even think about being in the blade path ..

Yes, but it might jerk when turning on and then it's hard to get straight again. I have a wall chaser with 230mm blades. I tend to add a 3rd blade so the chiseling is reduced by 95%. It spins at 6500 rpm... the gyroscopic effect is insane. The amount of dust it can generate too  [tongue]

 

[mino]

Yes, but it might jerk when turning on and then it's hard to get straight again. I have a wall chaser with 230mm blades. I tend to add a 3rd blade so the chiseling is reduced by 95%. It spins at 6500 rpm... the gyroscopic effect is insane. The amount of dust it can generate too  [tongue]

Not sure about this 1930s marvel.

My 1990s Protool starts going like a jet engine, about 5 seconds to full rpm. That blade mass coupled with soft-start does wonders. Use it rarely, but it is worship-worthy when in operation. They not make 'em like that anymore, so they say.

It is a youngtimer though, compared to the OPs wonder!