Homebrew Power Scraper

petertha

H-M Supporter - Gold Member
H-M Supporter Gold Member
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Jan 15, 2016
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Or maybe this should be 'what exactly is inside a Biax'?. Forgive my ignorance but I suspect will never be one of those lucky guys who own a power scraper. New ones like the BL-10 go for <cough> 3200$U. Used ones.. I rarely see on ebay anymore, they get snapped up quickly because people know what they are worth. I know, some of you will say just buy the hand scraping tools, and I probably will when I embark on a few simple projects.

But I just wanted to explore - what makes these power units so expensive? Super accurate mechanism, heavy duty tool meant to last a lifetime, or maybe extremely low customer base even offshore replicators don't want to clone them? I see they have adjustable stroke length and controllable stroke rate. They look like big amp motors that convert rotary to linear motion. But what else? Seems to me as a qualified Youtube observer expert :) that so much of power scraping is a hand/feel thing. For example, here are the guts of some random $200 Sawzall. Why couldn't we repurpose these mechanics, attach a good quality scraper blade assembly & accomplish something similar? Am I completely naïve & off base? If so, why?

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The problem with the Sawzall is controlling the length of the stroke. If you could vary the stroke length, you would have a much cheaper Biax!
I think it can be done.:sherlock:
 
The Sawzall handle setup is also not configured well for holding the scraper reliably level and for making tiny angle changes (steeper or shallower attack angle, precise left to right and right to left roll angles) to make the ideal cut for both hard and soft materials, and roughing and finishing passes. We want to hit a precise spot on the work with a particular point on the cutter, making the length and depth of cut exactly what we want, and it varies during the pass. Actually, a Sawzall works in a manner that is not very much like a Biax at all, though I sure would like to see a cheaper (and hopefully better) solution as well. For me, so far, I have much difficulty getting the type of finished work I want with my ancient Biax. I am tightening up the slides of it presently, and hope that and lots more practice will give me better results.
 
Hmm..I tried some different keywords. Most of my initial searches turned up rather non-applicable contraptions. This looks interesting, but you guys have raised some worthwhile points.
 
Sorry, just had a bugger of a time trying to respond to this post. Repaid my subscription, changed my password, logged on & off, tried contacting Admin... I thought maybe embedded link. Something tells me it had something to do with the little gear symbol? I'll tinker around a bit & try & find that link.

Anyway, thanks for good points & comments. I guess hand scarping is in my future
 
the reason, IMO, the biax is so expensive is that there is a lot of costs involved with presenting small numbers of precision tools to a select base of people. you add the dealer mark up, the freight to get them from europe to the US, and other costs not covered- you soon have an initial manufacturing and delivery price that is high.
they are wonderfully crafted and very durable.
not to discourage but, i would find it difficult to imagine creating a machine from another machine that could come close to performing the same action as accurately as the biax.
the machine of new creation may perform the same function, but it may not give the same final result in the same amount of time.
the engineers that made the biax were very good at their job.
 
looking at my worn out biax I see how robust it is. The shoe that carries the blade is forged and it rides on lapped tool steel ways (probably D2 which has low friction). The ram runs in a bushing. it is a high quality motor housing. the body is a heavy casting that is comfortable to hold. These things can run all day for years. They are made in Europe for industry, and industry wants something good. They care way more about down time than the initial cost. Who cares about $2000 for a tool. If it breaks and some guy sits around for 2 days there's your $2k right there .Also they don't sell the quantities that they do with consumer products.
 
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the bia i used i think was made in germany or switzerland
They are made in Switzerland. Over on the other forum, Richard King shared some pictures of the place in Switzerland that makes and assembles the Biax power scraper. Oh, I believe the motor assembly is made in Italy by a well known power tool company. Can't recall the name.
 
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