No matter how many years I’ve used a table saw, my blood still runs cold when I think about the potential for a kickback that leads to injury. Thank goodness it hasn’t happened to me. But, others in our community haven’t been so fortunate. You don’t have to search woodworking forums for too long before you’ll find direct proof. The scary photos and war stories are definitely out there. There’s no debating the fact that kickback is one of the leading causes of table saw accidents. We all know it, but what are we doing in our shops to prevent it?
Posts Tagged ‘Table Saw’
Products for Safer Sawing
February 19th, 2010 by Chris Marshall2 Comments »
Quicker Dado Blade Set-ups
February 1st, 2010 by Chris Marshall3 Comments »
Label your blades and chippers, then keep track of combinations that you use often on cards you keep in your dado blade case.
Well, this week I’ll be pulling out my dado blade and cutting some shelf dadoes for a big case goods project that will run in our June 2010 issue. Of course I’ll want to set it up accurately to cut nice, tight dadoes on my undersized plywood. It’s a job that reminds me of a post I wrote last September. In case you didn’t see it then, I’d like to offer up a couple of tricks to make the set-up process faster and easier. They’ve come in awful handy for me.
Top 20 Clever Captions
January 15th, 2010 by Chris Marshall2 Comments »
Those of you who’ve submitted captions to our cabinet saw photo have proven this: woodworkers can take a goofy photo and made something good of it. At well over 100 captions submitted—and counting—it’s clear we’ve got a collective funnybone!
I’ve been wanting to pick a “Top Ten” list, but between the captions posted to our Facebook page and here on the blog, there are too many good ones for just ten fingers. (And despite all those cabinet saws, I still have ten to count with.) So, with Matt Becker’s help—he’s got all ten digits, too—we’ve picked 20 of the funniest ones. If yours didn’t make the cut (yeah, couldn’t help that one), it’s nothing personal. These just made us laugh out loud…but there were plenty of chuckles and smiles for the rest.
See if you agree:
Jerry Seinfeld Who?
January 8th, 2010 by Chris Marshall2 Comments »
Stuffed shop or situation comedy? Looks like both to you.
Who knew that a bunch of shop rats could be so darn funny?
Your response to Matt Becker’s request for Cabinet Saw Captions has been OFF THE CHARTS! And we couldn’t be happier about it. The numbers keep clicking higher as your rapier wit unleashes itself. Do you think we can top 150 captions before the comedy runs cold?
Gotta Clever Cabinet Saw Caption?
January 4th, 2010 by Matt Becker97 Comments »
When Field Editor Chris Marshall sent us this photo of the collection of Cabinet Saws in his shop preparing for the review you’ll find in our February issue, the completely ridiculous image just begged for a fun caption.
My entry? “A cabinet saw bomb went off in my shop!”
Got a better one? Leave it in the Comments section and let’s see what our clever readers can come up with!
Matt Becker
Content Coordinator
February Issue Sneak Peek
December 18th, 2009 by Chris MarshallLeave A Comment »
In case you’re taking the week off between Christmas and New Year’s, you’re in luck! The February print issue of Woodworker’s Journal is on its way and should arrive while you’re enjoying the holiday respite. We’ll help fill that free time with some fresh woodworking goodness! Here’s the inside scoop on what we think is a great new issue.
Four Solid Projects: Ian Kirby presents a stylish Dinette Set that should fit neatly into a smaller kitchen or breakfast nook. He’s keeping the lumber budget affordable here, using longleaf pine instead of more costly hardwood alternatives. Butt joints, glue and screws will keep this project straightforward to build, as well. Or, you can work off some of those holiday calories building Frank Grant’s Sharpening Cart—a clever unit for sharpening all of your turning tools. It features a three-drawer cabinet, metal worksurface and two tip-out racks for keeping those gouges and chisels within easy reach. And, Kenneth Minnaert builds a handsome Weekend Tambour Gift Box from contrasting wood scraps. It presents itself as well as any gift you’ll hide inside it! All three projects include measured drawings and step-by-steps to help you along.
Keeping Warm?
December 7th, 2009 by Chris Marshall18 Comments »
This little blue-flamed wonder added months to my woodworking season during many cold Minnesota winters.
The other day I was out in the shop blowing a summer’s worth of dust off of my furnace filter. Call it the Minnesotan in me, but I’m already hunkering down and getting ready for much colder days to come. I guess it’s one of those instinctive things you do when you’re used to winters that last from sometime in October to past the fishing opener. You make sure the heat is ready to go.
I take my furnace for granted. Although I leave the heat off when I’m not working, my little forced air furnace can bring the temps up from the mid 30s to a balmy 62 in about 15 minutes flat. It’s a wonderful luxury, and it isn’t much bigger than an air conditioner.
December Issue Sneak Peek
October 26th, 2009 by Joanna TakesLeave A Comment »
Bill Hylton surveys two full-featured router tables in Today's Shop.
There’s a December issue of Woodworker’s Journal headed to your mailbox soon, and this issue is dedicated to one of our all-time favorite tools: the router. Here’s the inside scoop on what you’ll find.
Whiz-bang Router Tables: Bill Hylton takes a close look at two of the industry’s “top-shelf” router tables in “Today’s Shop,” and he discusses how installing a router in a table can help you take new “routes” in your woodworking projects. If you’d rather build your own router table, Sandor Nagyszalanczy has designed a versatile horizontal router table, and we’ll provide the measured drawings and step-by-steps so you can build one for your shop.
Angling Without the Snags
September 28th, 2009 by Chris Marshall2 Comments »
Sutherland Tools Bevel Boss takes all the guesswork out of setting accurate cutting angles.
About six years ago, I was building some outdoor furniture with lots of angles to them, and the closest thing I had to an angle-setting device was my speed square. No offense to you hard-core carpenters out there, but frankly, a speed square seems better suited to rafter tails than woodworking.
I always felt like I was plus or minus a few degrees on my cuts, which just wasn’t cutting it, so to speak. I needed something more accurate that I could really trust.
Stick with What Works
August 19th, 2009 by Chris Marshall2 Comments »
Some might call this tedious work, but repetition is part of what I enjoy about mortising.
A couple years ago, I invested in a popular loose-tenon joinery system to see how that would work for me. As a tool reviewer, I’m always anxious to try a new gizmo on for size, and this tool was getting a lot of buzz. Heck, a faster, easier way to make mortise-and-tenon joinery. Sounded good to me!
Well, the product came, and I put it to work on my next few projects. It did the job swimmingly, chomping mortise after mortise in good time. The cuts were clean, the setup was pretty easy and those loose tenons dropped right into place. Really, there was no part of the operation I could complain about.
But as time went on, that new tool got less use than it first did. I ended up switching back to making M&Ts the way I’ve always done them: mortising on the drill press, followed by tenon-cutting on the table saw.
Why?
