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Add Suction to Your Radial Arm Saw When I used to use my radial arm saw, the chips would fall on the table and floor. Fine dust would float in the air and get into the heating system, where it eventually found its way to the dining room table. My vacuum system never seemed to draw enough dust from the saw until I finally came up with this idea. The shield over the saw blade has an opening two inches wide and the air is divided across the whole expanse, leaving very little suction around the blade. The space is wide to accommodate a dado head and other cutters. All I did was fasten a piece of wood into the shield and around the hardware, and now I have plenty of suction.

Expert Advice

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Woodworking 101

Setting up your workshop & getting started in woodworking
This is the best of our Forums plus some great ideas sent specially for this section! You find a diverse and thoughtful group of opinions and guidelines for getting started in woodworking. To get started click on one of the subject pages to the left. In some cases, we've added links or clarified terms, but essentially these are the suggestions from real woodworkers based on their real-life experience. If you don't see a topic that meets your needs, do a search in the Forums.

Designing Your Own
23rd in a series of articles by Barb Siddiqui

One of the first hurdles a new woodworker must get past is the fear of messing up a project, and one of the best ways to tackle that apprehension is to simply "think outside the box". Most beginners decide to start with something simple (but may not know which projects have simple joinery) and then set out on a search for preprinted plans to make such- and-such. In doing so, a beginner has set herself up for...

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Click on the links below to see the previous articles by Barb Siddiqui.