What I learned in the shop today . . .

Jim Mattheiss

Member
Messages
467
Location
Long Hill Township, NJ
Background: I'm making a box for my daughter to store her carving knife and gouge set. It's going to be 8W x 12L x 3H made out of 1/2 AC plywood. The corners will be mitered with splines for added strength.

Lesson 1 - I like my new Incra 1000SE miter gauge. This is the first project I've used it for. I used it to crosscut the pieces and it worked as desired. I've already built Mod 0 of a jig to cut the splines in the corners of the box and attached it with the t-track bolts.

Lesson 2 - I need some dust collection for my Jet contractor saw. I have an "El Cheapo" 450 CFM dust collector that was handed down by my father in law. Hooking that up to the dust port on the bottom of the saw at least kept the saw from spitting saw dust back at me. I know I need "real" dust collection but getting that hooked up when in use wold be an improvement. Need to find some 4" flex hose to hook it up.

Lesson 3 - My new Magswitch Feather Board works great, but is directional?!? I have a right tilt saw and was using the fence on the left of the blade while I was ripping a board at 45 degrees. I used it "backwards" - feathers pointing away from the blade - but it seemed to work fine. I'll have to look at other options - Lee Valley has a Magswitch double sided one in their catalog.

Lesson 4 - My 24 inch bench rule is too long for working on small projects. I need a 6 inch and a 12 inch. Lee Valley has inexpensive bench rules in their catalog. Are they good enough for a weekend woodworker? My 24 inch is the low end center finder rle from Woodcraft.

Lesson 5 - I need to make my zero clearance inserts. As I was cutting the rebates on the strips they would drop into the opening on the standard throat plate if I wasn't careful. I've cut 2 blanks out of oak ply. They are a hair shy on depth to be level with the table. How do you folks shim your inserts? I was thinking of threading in set screws similar to the OEM throat plate.

Lesson 6 - Titebond really means "Don't stress a joint for 24 hours" really means 24 hours. I popped a glued up corner by accident after waiting only 45 mins. Oops! :doh:

Lesson 7 - My thought of making a small 24 by 36 rolling work table to hold all the tools used during a project it woefully inadequate. I was using a laminated top 36 x 48 table and it was WAY too small. I don' have room to store a large rolling work table, so I need a Plan B. My 2 car garage normally holds 2 cars, so everything needs to be parked on the perimeter of MY half of the garage.

Lesson 8 - I need a knockdown outfeed table for the table saw. Knockdown due to the space considerations above. The short strips I was cutting today were falling off the back of the saw - not a great thing if you don't like dinged corners on your pieces.

I'm sure I missed a few things. Thanks for reading.

Jim

PS - As soon as it's together, I post some pic's of the box.
 
Hi Jim :wave:,
It sounds like you had a rather wonderful day, and have been kind enough to share it with us. Thanks!
Space, tools and experience are things dreams are made of.
Shaz :)
 
Lesson 3 - My new Magswitch Feather Board works great, but is directional?!? I have a right tilt saw and was using the fence on the left of the blade while I was ripping a board at 45 degrees. I used it "backwards" - feathers pointing away from the blade - but it seemed to work fine. I'll have to look at other options - Lee Valley has a Magswitch double sided one in their catalog.

- Get one, I did, works for TS and the BS too.

Lesson 4 - My 24 inch bench rule is too long for working on small projects. I need a 6 inch and a 12 inch. Lee Valley has inexpensive bench rules in their catalog. Are they good enough for a weekend woodworker? My 24 inch is the low end center finder rle from Woodcraft.

- I have the set of 4 from LV, 6, 12, 18 and 24. Inexpensive and accurate although I did have to exchange the 24" from the original set; replacement is fine. Very easy to read in almost any light.

Lesson 5 - I need to make my zero clearance inserts. As I was cutting the rebates on the strips they would drop into the opening on the standard throat plate if I wasn't careful. I've cut 2 blanks out of oak ply. They are a hair shy on depth to be level with the table. How do you folks shim your inserts? I was thinking of threading in set screws similar to the OEM throat plate.

- I use 1/4" x 20 TPI hex socket set-screws. I thread them directly into the BB ply I use for my ZCI's, works great.

Lesson 6 - Titebond really means "Don't stress a joint for 24 hours" really means 24 hours. I popped a glued up corner by accident after waiting only 45 mins. Oops! :doh:

- If the glue was spread correctly and the joint was clamped it should have been near impossible to seperate after 30 to 40 minutes without tearing the wood. Either too little glue, unevenly spread (starved joint) or poor clamping(?).

Lesson 7 - My thought of making a small 24 by 36 rolling work table to hold all the tools used during a project it woefully inadequate. I was using a laminated top 36 x 48 table and it was WAY too small. I don' have room to store a large rolling work table, so I need a Plan B. My 2 car garage normally holds 2 cars, so everything needs to be parked on the perimeter of MY half of the garage.

- I have ssen fold down tables that swing up against the wall when not in use. Downside (or upside depending on your point of view) you have to clean it off when you're done. I read that you need at least 4 square feet of available space just for the 'stuff' (clamps, screws, drills, parts, etc.)you use to work on whatever you're working on on it's (the project) work surface (your bench). I would have to agree; I tried it with less, it wasn't pretty ;-)

Lesson 8 - I need a knockdown outfeed table for the table saw. Knockdown due to the space considerations above. The short strips I was cutting today were falling off the back of the saw - not a great thing if you don't like dinged corners on your pieces.

- Someone here had posted a fold down outfeed, let me see . . . Ahhh, post #5 here: http://familywoodworking.org/forums/showthread.php?t=850

I'm sure I missed a few things. Thanks for reading.

Jim

PS - As soon as it's together, I post some pic's of the box.

Hope my inserted comments come out OK here.
 
Lesson 3 - My new Magswitch Feather Board works great, but is directional?!? I have a right tilt saw and was using the fence on the left of the blade while I was ripping a board at 45 degrees. I used it "backwards" - feathers pointing away from the blade - but it seemed to work fine. I'll have to look at other options - Lee Valley has a Magswitch double sided one in their catalog.

Lesson 5 - I need to make my zero clearance inserts. As I was cutting the rebates on the strips they would drop into the opening on the standard throat plate if I wasn't careful. I've cut 2 blanks out of oak ply. They are a hair shy on depth to be level with the table. How do you folks shim your inserts? I was thinking of threading in set screws similar to the OEM throat plate.

#3 - MagnaSwitch makes a feather board for use on a jointer fence. It's "feathers" aren't as long as the standard table saw one. However it faces the opposite direction as the TS one. I have both, and the jointer featherboard works fine on the table saw for ripping the other side of the fence.

#5 - for the ZCIs that I made for my saw, I used MDF. Before even cutting them to rough shape, I ran them through the planer to get them down to the correct thickness. I did up a whole batch so they are all the same thickness. Then I made a template from the original metal one. Then rough cut the blanks on the bandsaw. Then I double stick taped them on the pattern. Took the pattern to the router table with a pattern bit, and that was it. ;) So I guess to answer your question, I didn't need to make shims for mine.
 
Looks like you got more than a week's worth of lessons in a single day. ;) Lot of it sounds like the learning curve a lot of us are going through.

I agree on the Incra Miter 1000SE...I really like mine.

4" flex hose is available at places like Rockler, Woodcraft, and Penn State Industries, to name a few. You'll appreciate getting even some of the sawdust out of the way.

My go-to bench rule is the six inch version of one of these Incra t-rules. I'd like to add the 12" version someday, but haven'y really had the need yet.

Zero clearance inserts are a must, IMHO. Especially if you're cutting thin pieces. Glenn's suggestion about hex screws is what I'd suggest, too.

I also agree with Glenn on the glue. It shouldn't have come apart after 45 minutes unless you were REALLY tugging on it. Like Glenn, I'd guess too little glue or gaps in the joint.

Looking forward to seeing the box when it's done. :thumb:
 
Thanks for all the replies. I enjoyed my first weekend doing WW in the garage in a long time.

The glue joint that broke was accidentally twisted. It was probably a little too "dry" as suggested. It probably was not clamped tight enough either. This is my second box I've ever made. The first was back in high school shop class back in 1981. I'm a little rusty . . .

I'll find some socket set screws for the ZCI's. I don't have a planer to thickness stock yet. That's on the list . . .

I need to "sneak" accessories into the shop under the guise of a new project. The "double" magswitch feather board is on the list, but it's below a dado set in priority.

That said I ordered a LV 6" bench rule along with a bunch of rare earth magnets I needed for another project for my daughter.

Cheers

Jim

PS: The box is still in progress - no pics yet.
 
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