Sycamore67

People buy the 1.75 hp motor because you do not have 220 available.

My son has that saw but with the 36 and T glide fence. I would choose that fence as it is better. I have the same saw but the 3 hp version. I also got the industrial mobile base which is not cheap but the best mobile base made. I am too old to break down full sheets of plywood on the cabinet saw so use a Festool track saw to do that job.

I have the Sawstop PCS and it is a high quality cabinet saw. I had another cabinet saw but decided with the wife that the safety features were worth it as I get older. When I was thinking of getting one I had a discussion with my wife and explained the cost and safety features. She quickly responded. "How soon can you get one?" Many will tell you that if you stay alert and follow all safety stuff you do not need it....No! It only takes a second of not paying attention. I want the extra safety of the saw. I have been using a table saw over 40 years and never an accident but I still felt like it was a good investment. Yes, not cheap but worth it to me.

I have a Dremel and Weecher rotary tools both with flex shaft. I have had the Dremel for years and works great.

Unfortunately, most of the drill presses have no way to tighten the quill. The run out of the spindle on my Jet was low but the quill slop was getting worse and made it difficult to drill accurately. I bought one with a split head that can tightened if needed. The total run out on my new one is only about 0.003".

I had a 16" Jet that had quill slop and large run out. It was difficult to find a good one these days.

Learn to use the table saw is my advice. Find someone who knows and understand it and safety.

In general, cherry is prone to burning on a scroll saw, table saw, or bandsaw. On this thickness wood, I use a skip tooth blade and no burning. On the table saw, I do not use a fine tooth blade. Lots of solutions to every problem.

A Forstner bit does not need a pilot hole....that is correct. However, having a small pilot hole makes it easy to get the bit centered and you can feel when the center of the Forstner bit is in the right place. A good Forstner bit should work fine. Another way is to drill a hole of the same size in a scrap board. Then position the hole in the scrap board over your work piece in the proper location and clamp securely. You then use this as a guide. Drilling larger holes by hand can be dangerous and inaccurate.

I always drill the hole first with large holes. It is much easier to clamp securely. Normally, Forstner bits are pretty easy to use and keep centered. It would help us help you if we could see a picture of the bit. Did you use a drill press?

I looked at the Frog Tape and 3m websites and they are consistent. Blue has the greatest holding power followed by Green, then Yellow. The recommended max time for leaving it on is the reverse with Yellow being the longest followed by Green then Blue.

I have run 1/8" & 3/16" blades on my Rikon with no problems. It does take more effort to get them running right and not too much tension. With small blades, it is very easy to over tension. Initially, I just ran with the standard guides and it was OK but I got the Carter Stabilizer guides and it is great.

Excellent work on the dust collection. Mine is similar and works great.

I use a solid black line. The way I position the light is important to seeing the blade and line. Most of the time I do not cut on the line. With Intarsia, I cut one side or the other. If you cut on the line, you will end up with gaps between pieces.

I make sanding stick using popsicle sticks or narrow ones. I lay a bunch of the sticks down side by side, spray 3M77 on good sandpaper and put it on the sticks. I cut them apart with a razor knife. Cheap and works good for me. One thing I have found is that there are huge differences in the brands of sand paper. I use a lot from Klingspor and Norton. Cuts cleaner and longer and more expensive...worth it for me.

I do not have problems with thin wood or plywood. I typically use a #3 FD UR blade but turn the speed way down. You can easily control the cutting by changing the speed.

Just my opinion, but I would not get riser blocks to begin with. Resawing requires quite a bit of set up to do properly and a learning curve. If this is your first bandsaw, I would learn with it first before the riser blocks. Depending on the model, a 14" bandsaw can resaw anywhere from 6-12" . I can resaw 6-8" on my 16" Jet with relatively no problems. However, when you get to a taller piece of wood to resaw, it gets more difficult. Are you going to do a lot of resawing? If you are, then you will also need a thickness planer or drum sander to smooth out the saw marks. While smaller 10" bandsaw can not do everything a 14" one can do. It is also the reverse. I can do things with my 10" Rikon with the blade stabilizer that I can not do on my 16" bandsaw. It is easier to run small blades and do intricate cuts. The best advice for you is to decide what you are going to use it for and how much you will use it. Are you going to get into doing a lot of resawing, make bandsaw boxes, general woodworking or what. This will help you decide what to get.

As I said earlier, I have the 10" Rikon. I put the Carter Stabilizer Guide on it and with a small blade can cut very tight curves. I also have a 16" Jet for resawing and heavy ripping or cross cuts. The 10" works great for stuff too big for my Hegner Scroll Saw. I end up using it a lot. So much depends on what you want to do with it. If it is resawing, then the 14" is much better.

I have the Rikon 10" bandsaw and very pleased with it. There are several like it with different paint and brand names but the same.

Interesting comments....hearing or lungs. Some have built enclosures for vacuums to lower noise. I think a vacuum is much better than a dust collector for a scroll saw. The vacuum has much higher suction over 50" while a dust collector is about 10" of suction. This is important when using smaller diameter suction pickups.

Great work....getting dust at the source is always the best way. Just blowing it away with a fan is not real good and puts fine dust up in the air to breath.

I struggle with my eyes also. But, I have a very good lighted magnifying light which makes the small ones possible. I might make more but arthritis in the hands and wrists mean I can only do so much. Such is getting old......

I make a lot of the Reindeer each year and have been for a long time. I get bored making the bigger ones and anything above 3/4" as they are easy to make. One of my favorite uses for the tiny reindeer is to put them in ornaments. I make a few each year and give them away. On larger ones, I use a pin with a red head for the nose.

I cut the miniature reindeer from oak, ash and Sycamore. The smallest that I have cut is just over 3/8" tall.

With wood that thick, I would use a skip tooth blade and a #5. Here are some small ones I cut year so.