Elu TGS 172 Table saw - mitre saw
I've been looking into second (or thirteenth?) hand table saw around me for quite a while. I also had a thing for mitre saws, even though it seemed obvious I don't need one for the kind of works I want to do. I still felt like it would be cool.
I've seen some combination of both, but they tend to be just as expensive as buying two, and I couldn't really spare the space. Or they would be cheap, but with huge limitations, like a Femi TR076 discounted in a big store, but with a very small table. And life thought me that tools that want to do everything, don't usually do said things very good.
But then when looking for a table saw, deciding that a mitre saw wasn't a necessity, I found someone listing this Elu TGS 172, about half an hour away from me. It looked in good shape, perfect working condition, but no fence or riving knife. I dismissed it and kept looking. Then after a few weeks, it was still there, and it looked like maybe I could manage to mount something on the side. Looking up a few old forum threads, people seemed to be quite fond of it. New owners were happy with their catch, showing off how they got something cool from a dumpster, and old guys remembering they were good machines. They mentioned also a pretty quiet engine, which I'll realize later it is.
I found some spare parts online, for a terrible price of course. The machine was selling For 800 zł, or about 200 €, and I would need about another 100 to 150 for a fence. I tried sending a message, asking about those missing parts, thinking that maybe I can negotiate at least part of that price out. Turns out, they had the fence, a mitre gauge, and riving knife!
I got there later that day, everything was smooth except for the riving knife that doesn't have the piece to tie it to the table. I loaded up the saw in the back of the truck, a big 33 kilos baby, and went on my way. I've used it just a bit, and very carefully because of the absence of riving knife. Those big tools still scare the heck out of me, which is probably for the best.
Finding the missing parts
Manual
Here's the manual I found
Spaltkeilhalter, or riving knife holder
I'm currently collecting pictures of the Spaltkeilhalter, the riving knife holder, so that I can figure out how it looks, maybe guess some measurements and make it work with a DIY version of it. It seems to be a fairly simple piece, which can maybe be soldered together, 3D printed or whatnot.
If you have some information about them, like pictures with measurements, or even just some measurements, feel free to write me to leon @ vagrant-workshop.eu