Woodworking

[HemiEd]

I don't recall seeing anything on here about the hobby. Do you do it? Have any interest? Tools? Have you made anything? Do you want to learn?

With the recent developments on the Planet, it got me thinking, what can I do to contribute and support the new effort?

I had no problem with any of the old guard and want to support the effort to make Chiefs Planet great again with the regime.


They aren't teaching vocational training in high school anymore, but maybe we can provide a venue here to learn woodworking?

There is a handyman mega thread, but this deserves it's own thread if we are going to accomplish something.

When I went to Junior high school we had woodworking class and I have always loved it. Finally, upon retirement, I have been able to set up a nice woodwork shop. I can go from station to station and perform the particular task, planing, jointer, sander, router table, radial arm, table and band saw.

I am currently on my fifth cedar chest this winter. Each one has gotten much easier as I have learned.

We have a cedar mill about ten miles away so it has been very instrumental in the effort as raw material is the main ingredient. It is dirt cheap at the mill and I have been buying 1.1 inch thick by 52 long by 4.25 wide boards and gluing them together.

What are you working on?

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by notorious

A local school (not ours) couldn't find a shop teacher so they had an auction and sold all the tools.

That's insanity.

Sounds like a downward spiral. Quit teaching it, you have less of a teacher pool.

[notorious]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

Sounds like a downward spiral. Quit teaching it, you have less of a teacher pool.

This is in a rural area, too. I can't believe they couldn't find somebody to come in for a couple hours a day.

[kccrow]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

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?

We ran all kinds of things... Dimension stiles and rails for the cabinet industry, S4S boards for big box, dimension components for furniture industry, flooring etc.

At the gang rip, you have an arbor, say 31", with multiple blades set to cut a variety of widths at the same time. You try to rip such that more defects go into narrower pieces to increase yield. You might be ripping a 1x6 for box store and a 1-5/8 rail blank for a cabinet at the same time. They just get processed at different automated crosscuts down the chain line and kick out to conveyors going to different molders.

Combined ripping, of course, depended on species though. We ran alot of hard maple for cabinets, which we didn't run for S4S. We ran alot of birch for furniture that was 6/4 and 8/4 instead of 4/4, so not much overlap there either. When it came to running red oak and cherry we had alot of overlap there. We'd usually split the hard maple out to flooring and dimension cabinet. Soft maple would be box store boards, cutting boards, and trim.

Wide panels get glued (16" and 20" mainly). We could glue some for the wider S4S boards too (1x8+).

Eventually you end up with an overabundance of shorts and those get finger jointed to make longer sticks for paint grade trims.

Originally Posted by HemiEd

Looks very doable, thanks kccrow! http://www.finewoodworking.com/2011/...-crosscut-sled

You're welcome. Just build it to fit your dimensions. I did a quick google and a saw a couple that were pretty good. I think there was one from Kreg where he builds a 20" sled.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by notorious

This is in a rural area, too. I can't believe they couldn't find somebody to come in for a couple hours a day.

That is sad. They want the young people to all become "computer programmers."

[Holladay]

Stairs look great!

Thanks for the kind compliment. The pic is just the frame. I will say the finished product exceed my expectations. I am my own worst critic. Thus when I think they turned out nice...prolly is.

I will try and find the finished pics.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by notorious

Get a Sawstop. They are expensive but a thumb is more.

I have nicked each thumb the last 15 years. I am not ****ing around anymore. If you really need a decent table saw that stores small get a dewalt 745. Christmas sales at Home Depot usually prices them from 225-275. That's a steal.

Keep your blade sharp/clean (clean is usually the biggest culprit) and use a splitter/riving knife and you'll be in similar shape.

The biggest problem with a table saw is kickback. If you have a well dialed in splitter, kickback should be damn near impossible, especially if you build a cross cut sled. Keep your table top waxed so you don't have to muscle anything through, don't forget to set your featherboards and it couldn't hurt to put some board buddies on your fence. If you do all that, you've gotta be pretty damn reckless to catch a digit on a table saw. And for all that stuff you'll be out about $100.00. So with the money you save there, you can get yourself a cabinet grade 3 HP, 220 table saw with more cutting power than most of what you can get from Saw Stop for a reasonable price.

As for the Radial Arm Saw; the only thing I've done on one of those that I don't do on my compound miter saw is dado cuts, but with my table saw I don't need to worry about that. Ultimately there are times you're going to want a table saw for long rip cuts either way and if you're doing anything remotely serious, you'll need both a table saw and a slider of some sort.

I prefer the ease of use of the compound miter saw so with that and a table saw, a radial arm is just completely redundant.

[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.

[kccrow]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Keep your blade sharp/clean (clean is usually the biggest culprit) and use a splitter/riving knife and you'll be in similar shape.

The biggest problem with a table saw is kickback. If you have a well dialed in splitter, kickback should be damn near impossible, especially if you build a cross cut sled. Keep your table top waxed so you don't have to muscle anything through, don't forget to set your featherboards and it couldn't hurt to put some board buddies on your fence. If you do all that, you've gotta be pretty damn reckless to catch a digit on a table saw. And for all that stuff you'll be out about $100.00. So with the money you save there, you can get yourself a cabinet grade 3 HP, 220 table saw with more cutting power than most of what you can get from Saw Stop for a reasonable price.

As for the Radial Arm Saw; the only thing I've done on one of those that I don't do on my compound miter saw is dado cuts, but with my table saw I don't need to worry about that. Ultimately there are times you're going to want a table saw for long rip cuts either way and if you're doing anything remotely serious, you'll need both a table saw and a slider of some sort.

I prefer the ease of use of the compound miter saw so with that and a table saw, a radial arm is just completely redundant.

Really good stuff here on the table saw.

The riving knife will keep the exiting pieces from hitting the back of the saw blade and creating shrapnel.

I think the other half the equation is more about proper blade and rake of the blade for material cut and setting blade height properly.

If you have to push hard to get the board through, then you probably have the blade set too low and you're at major risk for kickback (straight into your guts or nuts). If it's super easy with a bunch of tear out on the bottom face, then you probably have the blade set too high. You should never have a blade on a table saw sticking up way above the top face. Not only is it going to tear the shit out of the bottom face, you have a huge safety risk.

A popular rule of thumb (ironic I know hahaha) is to set the blade so that the gullets clear the top face, then make adjustments from there on test strips. I've found that it isn't necessarily the gullets that you want to be sure clear. If you set a tooth at its highest point (top dead center) and ensure that the carbide clears, then that's usually enough. If the gullets clear then you end up with sawdust all over the place. Tablesaws are built to have material exit on the downstroke.

[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.

[duncan_idaho]

All this joining and planing talk is making me jealous. Someday...

I'm getting ready to do a fun little project for wifey... turning a small library file card catalog cabinet (three drawers high, six drawers wide) into a console table for her.

Need to build a new frame (current one is ugly, and she wants a nice pretty wood top). Since she wants it stained, I'm going to be using 1x birch and joining two pieces together (the width needs to be 16", which annoying means I can't use 1x8s for it).

I'll end up with a nice pretty end grain and think I've decided I'm going to dowel, glue, and Keegan join the top.

I'm pretty excited about it despite the challenges of pulling it off without a full-fledged wood shop.

What I'd give for a biscuit joiner...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

All this joining and planing talk is making me jealous. Someday...

I'm getting ready to do a fun little project for wifey... turning a small library file card catalog cabinet (three drawers high, six drawers wide) into a console table for her.

Need to build a new frame (current one is ugly, and she wants a nice pretty wood top). Since she wants it stained, I'm going to be using 1x birch and joining two pieces together (the width needs to be 16", which annoying means I can't use 1x8s for it).

I'll end up with a nice pretty end grain and think I've decided I'm going to dowel, glue, and Keegan join the top.

I'm pretty excited about it despite the challenges of pulling it off without a full-fledged wood shop.

What I'd give for a biscuit joiner...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have now glued up 46 cedar chest panels using this fairly cheap system. Seems to work fine.

https://www.grainger.com/product/3KKV2?cm_mmc=PPC:+Google+PLA&s_kwcid=AL!2966!3!166588663882!!!g!82166337117!&ef_id=Wfs2WQAAAGBwdFbn:20171128142303:s&kwid=productads-adid^166588663882-device^c-plaid^82166337117-sku^3KKV2-adType^PLA

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

All this joining and planing talk is making me jealous. Someday...

I'm getting ready to do a fun little project for wifey... turning a small library file card catalog cabinet (three drawers high, six drawers wide) into a console table for her.

Need to build a new frame (current one is ugly, and she wants a nice pretty wood top). Since she wants it stained, I'm going to be using 1x birch and joining two pieces together (the width needs to be 16", which annoying means I can't use 1x8s for it).

I'll end up with a nice pretty end grain and think I've decided I'm going to dowel, glue, and Keegan join the top.

I'm pretty excited about it despite the challenges of pulling it off without a full-fledged wood shop.

What I'd give for a biscuit joiner...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Kreg's pocket hole jig can be pretty damn handy and a versatile substitute for a biscuit joiner. Granted, it won't help for panels but really, just using good bar clamps placed correctly (and being patient; don't try to put too many pieces together at once) will make a good panel.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Kreg's pocket hole jig can be pretty damn handy and a versatile substitute for a biscuit joiner. Granted, it won't help for panels but really, just using good bar clamps placed correctly (and being patient; don't try to put too many pieces together at once) will make a good panel.

Yeah, that's what I meant. Autocorrect didn't like "Kreg."

I only need to do one, two piece join for the top. Shouldn't be too bad.

[notorious]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Keep your blade sharp/clean (clean is usually the biggest culprit) and use a splitter/riving knife and you'll be in similar shape.

The biggest problem with a table saw is kickback. If you have a well dialed in splitter, kickback should be damn near impossible, especially if you build a cross cut sled. Keep your table top waxed so you don't have to muscle anything through, don't forget to set your featherboards and it couldn't hurt to put some board buddies on your fence. If you do all that, you've gotta be pretty damn reckless to catch a digit on a table saw. And for all that stuff you'll be out about $100.00. So with the money you save there, you can get yourself a cabinet grade 3 HP, 220 table saw with more cutting power than most of what you can get from Saw Stop for a reasonable price.

As for the Radial Arm Saw; the only thing I've done on one of those that I don't do on my compound miter saw is dado cuts, but with my table saw I don't need to worry about that. Ultimately there are times you're going to want a table saw for long rip cuts either way and if you're doing anything remotely serious, you'll need both a table saw and a slider of some sort.

I prefer the ease of use of the compound miter saw so with that and a table saw, a radial arm is just completely redundant.

I do all of those things. I literally make hundreds if not thousands of cuts a day. The law of averages will almost always catch up since I am not a weekend warrior making a napkin holder for my wife.

[HemiEd]

The dowel jig I linked will do both Duncan and it is inexpensive.