Woodworking

[Pointer19]

The only non-pen piece I ever finished and was proud of enough to keep:

Spoiler!

A few pens:

Spoiler!

[Holladay]

DARN...NICE. Beyond me. Cool.

introducing me to turning pens

When you said "pens", I first thought Hog Pens (ref Hog Farmer), or some special pin thingie.

I love WRITING pens. I am trying to re-learn cursive writing. Side note, my son of 18 couldn't read my Mom's B-Day cards and many other old farts cursive writing. I am into the old style "fountain" pens. In the old days, a way to judge a persons character was in the way they wrote. Now with the internet, type out and print what you want to say, no need (as my son told me)...except when you have to write a thank you note, hand written or printed Lost art.

Cool ass bowl. I have not gotten into lathe work. Yet!

yes my 12" compound sliding miter can cut up to 60 degrees angles.

You have MUCH more knowledge then I do. But for a basic hobbyist, you can't rip wood with a miter saw. Yes, nice angles, but not rip.

If space is an issue and not portability, I think the 2 main saws should be a radial arm saw and a table saw. I could very well be wrong. What can you do with a miter saw that can't be done with a non-portable RAS?

If I, as a hobbyist, with limited space and budget...me thinks those two. JMO.

Nice discussions though.

[Pointer19]

Originally Posted by Holladay

DARN...NICE. Beyond me. Cool.



When you said "pens", I first thought Hog Pens (ref Hog Farmer), or some special pin thingie.

I love WRITING pens. I am trying to re-learn cursive writing. Side note, my son of 18 couldn't read my Mom's B-Day cards and many other old farts cursive writing. I am into the old style "fountain" pens. In the old days, a way to judge a persons character was in the way they wrote. Now with the internet, type out and print what you want to say, no need (as my son told me)...except when you have to write a thank you note, hand written or printed Lost art.

Cool ass bowl. I have not gotten into lathe work. Yet!

Thanks for the kind words! I agree that penmanship is a lost art, and I am certainly not the one who will bring it back. My teachers joked that I'd make a great doctor just based on the way I write.

[Holladay]

I just finished one side of the star. Looks cool. I can't seem to remember how to download it from my phone to my computer.

Anyway, the daughter tonight said I should have at least looked online. She found one for $25. Of course I have. Nothing like this exists (what do teenage daughters know, except EVERYTHING).

It is a pain making the first one...many errors. I did get a new table saw, a Bosch portable worksite saw. It was rated the top saw for $499. Love it. Not gonna lose anymore thumbs!

As too having someone manufacture them for me, there is an Amish village close by. I say this as last night finishing up just one side and cussing up a blue storm, somebody more qualified has to be out there. So I will go there or "try" to call them.

Someone stated about my "work", I found a pic of the stairs I made in our bedroom to go up into the loft rather then a ladder. Sorry side wise pic. You get the idea.

Opps, not a finished pic. Dang computers

[HemiEd]

Stairs look great!


My neighbor has the same Bosch table saw, most likely. It is impressive, much fancier and more precise than my Craftsman.


I spent two days this week planing, cutting and jointing the last 20 white oak boards I bought last year.
They were pretty fresh when I got them and have shrunk a lot.

They were 8 1/4 wide x 1 1/4 thick by 8ft long. Wow that stuff is hard and heavy. Had to cut most of the them to 4ft lengths by 3 7/8 to get them flat.

[kccrow]

Never found the need for a radial arm saw except for making wide cross-cuts that you'd find in a cabinet shop or making cutting boards. In a cab shop, you're probably investing in panel saws anyhow.

Having one in the home garage seems stupid to me. They are dangerous saws because of kickback and the blade exposure when using it to rip and the fact that they pull through wood in either cut. Remember, you're essentially turning a radial arm into a straight line rip less the anti-kickback fingers and guards. You're asking to lose your digits...

I think it's smarter to get a table saw and compound sliding miter unless you really know wtf you are doing with a radial arm. I think you'd spend your money more wisely investing in a jointer and a planer to expand capabilities, than waste money on a radial arm.

Whatever floats your boats.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by kccrow

Never found the need for a radial arm saw except for making wide cross-cuts that you'd find in a cabinet shop or making cutting boards. In a cab shop, you're probably investing in panel saws anyhow.

Having one in the home garage seems stupid to me. They are dangerous saws because of kickback and the blade exposure when using it to rip and the fact that they pull through wood in either cut. Remember, you're essentially turning a radial arm into a straight line rip less the anti-kickback fingers and guards. You're asking to lose your digits...

I think it's smarter to get a table saw and compound sliding miter unless you really know wtf you are doing with a radial arm. I think you'd spend your money more wisely investing in a jointer and a planer to expand capabilities, than waste money on a radial arm.

Whatever floats your boats.

I wanted a radial arm saw for finish cross cuts on the 16" and 20" glued together cedar panels, but the ones I could afford are junk. The good ones with enough travel for what I wanted to accomplish are expensive so I just use my Makita circular saw with a nice blade.

[kccrow]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

I wanted a radial arm saw for finish cross cuts on the 16" and 20" glued together cedar panels, but the ones I could afford are junk. The good ones with enough travel for what I wanted to accomplish are expensive so I just use my Makita circular saw with a nice blade.

With a jig to keep the cut square, it's probably all you'd ever need. We had a big DeWalt in the shop and I bet we didn't use it more than 100 hours a year. Otherwise it sat collecting dust.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by kccrow

Never found the need for a radial arm saw except for making wide cross-cuts that you'd find in a cabinet shop or making cutting boards. In a cab shop, you're probably investing in panel saws anyhow.

Having one in the home garage seems stupid to me. They are dangerous saws because of kickback and the blade exposure when using it to rip and the fact that they pull through wood in either cut. Remember, you're essentially turning a radial arm into a straight line rip less the anti-kickback fingers and guards. You're asking to lose your digits...

I think it's smarter to get a table saw and compound sliding miter unless you really know wtf you are doing with a radial arm. I think you'd spend your money more wisely investing in a jointer and a planer to expand capabilities, than waste money on a radial arm.

Whatever floats your boats.

This is unbelievably good advice.

You'll never realize how difficult you were making things for yourself until you start doing proper milling with a jointer/planer. Its simple; run a board over a jointer until you get a nice flat 'wide' side (some people say run it with the smile up, others say smile down. Personally I tend to go with the 'frown' shape because it avoids rocking, you just need to be smart and not put too much pressure on it to end up working a curve into it.

Then you put your newly flat side against the fence and run it through to joint an edge. Then with a flat edge and flat surface, run it through a planer to get the wide surface. Finally you run it through the table saw to true up the other edge.

To have every one of your boards the exact same thickness and perfectly square with true corners makes everything you make a million times easier. Your corners come together right, you have to do far less sanding. It's just amazing.

First time I did it I realized I'd never go back to trusting a lumber-yard again. It's a miracle worker.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

This is unbelievably good advice.

You'll never realize how difficult you were making things for yourself until you start doing proper milling with a jointer/planer. Its simple; run a board over a jointer until you get a nice flat 'wide' side (some people say run it with the smile up, others say smile down. Personally I tend to go with the 'frown' shape because it avoids rocking, you just need to be smart and not put too much pressure on it to end up working a curve into it.

Then you put your newly flat side against the fence and run it through to joint an edge. Then with a flat edge and flat surface, run it through a planer to get the wide surface. Finally you run it through the table saw to true up the other edge.

To have every one of your boards the exact same thickness and perfectly square with true corners makes everything you make a million times easier. Your corners come together right, you have to do far less sanding. It's just amazing.

First time I did it I realized I'd never go back to trusting a lumber-yard again. It's a miracle worker.

All great advice.

I was fortunate enough to inherit the 6" cast iron jointer my Dad bought new back in 63 and bought a new DeWalt 12 1/2 inch planer.

Had to flip the blades on the planer last week, wow what a difference. New set ordered to have on hand.

[kccrow]

Hemi, thought I'd add something... popped into my brain...

Have you thought about making a crosscut sled for a table saw? Might save you alot of time and headache with the circular.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by kccrow

Hemi, thought I'd add something... popped into my brain...

Have you thought about making a crosscut sled for a table saw? Might save you alot of time and headache with the circular.

Great idea, I have no idea on how to do it though. Maybe I will google it.

[kccrow]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

Great idea, I have no idea on how to do it though. Maybe I will google it.

Should be alot out there on it.

Give you an idea of the world I lived in...

Here's a Weinig Dimter OptiCut S700 in action for wide panel cutting:



Here's a Weinig Dimter OptiCut 350 in action for normal width cutting:



We also had alot of other Weinig machines... a BKS resaw, ProfiMat and UniMat moulders and such. We had Mereen Johnson 431 Gang Rip Saws, Doucet End Matcher/Even Ender, and then a Newman Rough Planer... If you ever want to get really into it and see the astronomical costs associated with a full millwork shop, just google some of that shit.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by kccrow

Should be alot out there on it.

Give you an idea of the world I lived in...

Here's a Weinig Dimter OptiCut S700 in action for wide panel cutting:



Here's a Weinig Dimter OptiCut 350 in action for normal width cutting:



We also had alot of other Weinig machines... a BKS resaw, ProfiMat and UniMat moulders and such. We had Mereen Johnson 431 Gang Rip Saws, Doucet End Matcher/Even Ender, and then a Newman Rough Planer... If you ever want to get really into it and see the astronomical costs associated with a full millwork shop, just google some of that shit.

Very interesting. It is similar technology to what we had in the electronic manufacturing industry and a lot of our customers had in the metal industry.

We had pick and place machines that would place up to 70,000 components per hour on a smd circuit board. Millions of dollars on the production line.

What do they do with those good sections of wood, glue them back together?

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by kccrow

Hemi, thought I'd add something... popped into my brain...

Have you thought about making a crosscut sled for a table saw? Might save you alot of time and headache with the circular.

kccrow, thanks, I finally got around to making that cross cut sled for my craftsman table saw yesterday. Thank you!

The challenge was my table saw had tabs sticking out over the slide slot. I found a you tube that addressed that very issue. Lots of hand work making the the slides out of oak, but it works nice!