tgiro

What Rodney Said - I constantly cut 3/4" thick and thicker for my intarsia pieces. If I get in a hurry, I'll find my curves and corners don't fit just right. If I look at the piece from the side, I'll see where the blade warped in the corner and now the side isn't perfectly square - then I have to recut the piece. Ensure your blade is perfectly 90º and slow down in corners and curves.

Here is how it's done - https://theawesomer.com/this-is-not-a-perpetual-motion-machine/660022/ Although someone accomplished the same function with a funnel and plastic tubing -

The Toughbuilt fits the my saw blade just fine. As for the accuracy, I cut segmented rings to make bowls, If I wish to cut 16 staves to make a round, each stave has to be 22.5°, which means I have to cut each side of the stave at 11.25° With the Wixey, it was a trial and "sneak-up-on-it" adjustment. The Toughbuilt (although I haven't tried one yet) will, hopefully, eliminate the trial & error phase.

I've had both types, but mine was a B&D Mouse sander, which I gave to one of the kids, years ago, and haven't seen it since - and haven't missed it. I have a Dewalt cordless multi-tool, which is great for detail or corner sanding, and you can switch to a blade for trim cutting (wood and thin metal), or a scraper blade for removing layers, or a half-moon blade for removing grout. Note - they all vibrate so take breaks to let the hand muscles settle every now & then. Corded tools are normally lighter than portable, because of no battery weight, but, then you are limited by cord length. TLDR: Go for the multi-tool.

I have been using my Wixey Angle Gauge for a few years and it works fine. Lowes sells the Toughbuilt Angle Gauge. We got one back in returns a couple of days ago, and after testing, the only thing we could think was the guy just couldn't figure out how to use it. Since the gauge worked OK, the boss knocked 50% off the price and put it in clearance - and I grabbed it. Today, I had a chance to test it against the Wixey. The first thing I did was put them on my saw blade. The first photo shows that they agree my blade is 90° to the table. Then I leaned on one corner of the saw. The Wixey shows that I knocked the angle off by .1°, because the Wixey displays down to a 10th of a degree. The Toughbuilt shows I knocked the angle off by, only, .05°, as the Toughbuilt displays down to 100th of a degree. I zeroed both gauges to the table before attaching them to the blade. When you first turn a Wixey on, no matter how you hold it, it will display some angle reading. When you first turn a Toughbuilt on, if you are holding it so it is laying on it's back, it will display an error. Once you mount the Toughbuilt on the device you are testing, the gauge displays the angle. With these gauges - to get an accurate angle reading, they must be zeroed first. When I set both gauges on the saw table, they both read a few degrees off zero. When I pressed the zero button on the Wixey, it blinked a couple times and then displayed zero. When I pressed the zero button on the Toughbuilt, it thought about it for two or three seconds then displayed zero. The Wixey has two buttons - On/Off and Zero. The Toughbuilt adds a Mode button and a Hold button. The Hold button just locks whatever angle is currently displayed. The mode button switches between degrees, percentage, ft/in, and m/mm. I haven't played with the mode button to test the other modes. While neither of the two gauges will stick to aluminum or plastic, The Toughbuilt has an added feature for piping. The Toughbuilt has a groove in the magnetic surface to align the gauge with the pipe. The Wixey does not. Both gauges are sensitive enough to show an incorrect angle, if they are not aligned perfectly with piping. All in all - it looks to me that the Toughbuilt is the better of the gauges. I think the Wixey was/is a good gauge, but advancements in technology have caught up. If you are interested, Lowes sells these for $19.98 -- https://www.lowes.com/pd/TOUGHBUILT-...vel/5013732061 I checked Amazon, but couldn't find Toughbuilt gauges. There are some like the Toughbuilt, but they were more expensive.

Here is a mod to the JGR Angel Bear - The Angel with a Heart of Love

Easiest way to change black line to red -- Irfanview -- https://www.irfanview.com/ It's a freebie. Once you have it installed -- 1. Open Irfanview 2. Load or copy your black line pattern into Irfanview 3. type a [shift]-[g]. 4. Move the 'R' tab all the way to the right and click the OK button. Your pattern is now a red line. 5. Save it as a redline pattern and print it.

Haven't tried coke, but I've heard about it. I use Simple Green on all my cleanable blades - table saw, band saw, skilsaw, and hand saws. soak them in simple green for 20-30 minutes. Then, brush them good with a hard bristle brush (I use a fingernail/hand brush). Rinse then in really hot water - dry them, and rub them with some WD40 or other good oil. I've had contractors bring gummed up blades into the store to make sure they get the same new blade. I check the teeth on their blade and send them down to cleaning supplies for some Simple Green. On table saw and 12" miter saw blades, they're saving some dollars by just cleaning their blades.

If it looks stupid and it works - it's not stupid.

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/497650/Craftsman-137-216200.html

Switched from 3M to Aillene's Repositionable for a spray glue some years ago. It is readily available through Walmart, Amazon, and the hobby/craft stores. It sticks well - I've had it on the board for a few days without it drying out and lifting. And I don't need to soak is in mineral spirits or anything to peel it off. For small quick pattern glue-ups, I'll use the Scotch prepositional glue sticks - available on Amazon. That will dry and start lifting/peeling after being on the board a day or two.

Let me clarify a bit. I have to use small bits I trey to use sizes between #50 - #57. The very largest I use is a 1/16" - sometimes a 1mm or 2mm. These bits are very short. The drill press chuck is big enough that it hits the wood before the hole is complete, when using the smaller bits. I have tried the jig from the video Jerry suggested - Thank you, Jerry. The issue with that one is that it covers the spot where I'm supposed to drill and the thickness of the jig prevented to small bits from completing the hole. Here is a couple of pictures of my current drill press jig, which works mostly. It's OK with a 1/16th" bit or the 1mm & 2mm. The smaller bits don't complete the hole before the chuck hits the wood. I have tried to find a smaller chuck, that I could clamp into the DP chuck, but I can't find on that holds drill bits less than 1/16th".

As I'm constantly making "Bowls-from-boards" I'm always having to drill holes at a 45° angle. I've made a couple of jigs,with limited success, but they are far from perfect. I have seen jigs & guides on the web (some thing like this - https://www.amazon.com/ANGLE-DRILL-GUIDE-increments-settings/dp/B006ZBCS1M ), but I wonder if they are more gadgets that work sometimes. Has anyone used anything like this, and, if so what are your recommendations? Or, is there a made jig that you have used with good success? I have some angle jigs that work very well, but, when you're drilling 35° or more, they fail. Any good recommendations?

Kevin - since you already have a Hitachi, I would recommend you look at the new Metabo Sliding saws. Hitachi Power Tools bought Metabo a while back and changed the name of their US products to Metabo. Most sliding miter saws have sliders that tend to bang against the wall, as they slide back behind the machine. Metabo (HTP) designed theirs so the slider is towards the front of the machine. You can back the saw up to a wall and still have full sliding action. And they still have the laser line guide. We have them at Lowes, if you want to look/touch/feel. I don't know if they are at HD, but they are on Amazon.

A couple of months ago Shop-Vac closed down, laid off 1200 people, and things looked pretty grim. Now GreatStar has bought the company. https://www.finsmes.com/2021/01/greatstar-tools-usa-acquires-shop-vac-corporation-solidifies-position-as-emerging-leader-in-tool-category.html GreatStar, albeit a Chinese holding company, already makes a lot of tools, here in the US. Whether they keep manufacturing for Shop-Vac in the US or not hasn't been published.

I've seen quite a few carpenters use that trick when they are on site. They don't always have a compass or trammel with them. It's a neat trick for cutting holes for dryer tubing/vents, recessed lights and such.

I've found that the accelerator makes CA somewhat brittle and the joint is easier to break. For permanent joints I would avoid it. Titebond II or III should work better.

I keep records of my major tools and hand power tools. For those of us, keeping those records for insurance purposes -- Insurance companies usually follow "Standard Line Depreciation" or 20% per year for 5 years. If your tools are older than that, you may have to put a rider on your policy to cover replacement costs. This is particularly true if you are using your tools in a small business sense, like my "Tony Giroux's Workshop" that I use for craft show sales and online sales. I have never bar coded them. I really don't have the inventory to require that kind of tracking. BTW - if you aren't already doing it, SL depreciation works for taxes, also, for major tools.

The Delta Contractor saw, sold at Lowes, is an excellent saw. However; the Rigid, sold at HD, is just as good and come with a lifetime parts & service guarantee. Personally, I use and recommend Sawstop, and not just for the safety reasons. My contractor saw, out of the box, had the table to blade measurement at 5 thousandths of an inch. After three years use, it has actually gotten better - 4 thousandths. Having said that, add another $900 to the cost of the saw for the safety braking system. But weigh that against Emergency Room charges.

Ray -- If you're moving to Knoxville, you won't be far from Judy Gale Roberts. Maybe it's time for you to learn intarsia.

One of my pet peeves with table saws is when the user removes the upper saw guard. Not so much that the upper guard is gone, but that piece that holds the upper guard is called a Riving Knife. It is the thin metal piece behind the blade that keeps the board from turning into the back of the spinning saw blade. When the board hits the back of the blade - which is spinning in the direction of the user - the blade will cause that board to fly. Having said that - I do not use the upper guard, it gets in the way of the jigs I use when cutting segments for bowls and other pieces. But, my SawStop came with an extra riving knife, that sits behind the blade and is just shorter than the height of the blade. And, when I'm not using jigs, I'm using my Incra miter for cross cutting and Grr-Ripper push blocks for ripping. Any one who uses a push stick, on a table saw, with no upper guard or riving knife, is begging for a trip to the ER. And I know a lot of old timers who yell "I've been doing it for years with no problem!" I, also, know a few of them who yell that while waving their hands with missing fingers. I have no business or professional relation to Micro-Jig, Incremental Tools, or Sawstop - I am just a happy user of their products and strongly recommend them. Consider --- Micro-Jig Grr-Ripper push block set $80 - you'll need two so $160 on Amazon Incra Miter Gauge with fence - $190 - $250 on Amazon or Kreg Miter Gauge with fence - $150 on Amazon Amazon has different Riving Knives for $15 - $60 depending on your brand of table saw. OR Trip to the emergency room because of a table saw accident $10,000 -- $$$$$$$$$$$$$ Note - Sawstops are expensive because of the safety features built into them. They are excellent saws, but there many excellent table saws that work very well when used correctly. I have a Sawstop because my wife watched a live demo of one at a wood show. When my old table saw died, I had little choice in the brand of my new one. I imagine, that many home owners of Sawstops had wives that watched the demo.

That's a neat idea. I'm always trying to get both ends of my fence aligned correctly. Yours is kind of set & forget.