PLEASE READ!!! My first tutorial....Cutting Circles on a Table Saw.............

Mark Rios

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Location
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Since we don't have a tutorial section, I've decided to go ahead and post this here. I hope everyone finds this tutorial as enlightening as I have.

I would like to present a tutorial on cutting circles on a tablesaw. I learned this very valuable information from a very wise ol' sage of a woodworker, 40 year building inspector, woodshop teacher and true fine craftsman. This is one of the first things that he taught to his students. I'll take it slow so everyone can glean the full importance of this lesson.


Step one:

NEVER CUT CIRCLES ON A TABLESAW!




Thank you for your time.

:D :D :D :D :D
 
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Mark,

Not sure why you think so. I think cutting circles on a table saw is no more risky then cutting a cove on an angle cut. Both are using the saw for unintended uses but can be done quite safely without risk to the operator.
 
It can be done............


You use the same setup say like a bandsaw or router where you have a center point for rotation. In the case of a table saw you would have to have a circle at least 6' if you are




STUPID ENOUGH TO DO IT.
 
You really got my attention with that one. Especially after spending the Christmas weekend with my son and his family. He is an emergency room physician and sees several finger amputations a month on guys just like us. He doesn't like me doing woodworking. Thinks something like buidling ships in a bottle would be much safer. Excuse me, I have circles to cut, see you at the bandsaw. ;)
 
I had a post deleted at another forum when I answered the question as to the difference between a table saw and a bench saw with

"one is for building tables , the other for making bench's "

mods didn't like that one ;)
 
Okay, you sucked me in. I think you owe us all a real tutorial now. You cannot yell "Tutorial !" in a room crowded with woodworkers without some consequences.

I'm consulting with Burt Reynolds about making it a man law.

Pay up, dude !! :laugh2:

WITH photos, pleez
 
I once read in a WW book about using a TS to make concave grooves in wood by feeding the workpiece off-axis through the saw blade. That one's just a bit beyond my level of comfort. :eek:

Cheers,

Kevin
 
I once read in a WW book about using a TS to make concave grooves in wood by feeding the workpiece off-axis through the saw blade. That one's just a bit beyond my level of comfort. :eek:

Cutting coves on the TS is not so bad. Gives you all kinds of possibilities depending on the angle of feed, height and tilt of blade. If you make a good well-secured diagonal fence and don't try to remove too much stock at once it's not a high risk operation.

Seems to me that I read in FWW many years ago that Tage Frid's son was doing his master's thesis on cove cutting at Rochester or some other prestigious technical school.
 
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I once read in a WW book about using a TS to make concave grooves in wood by feeding the workpiece off-axis through the saw blade. That one's just a bit beyond my level of comfort. :eek:

Cheers,

Kevin
As Ian mentioned, cove cuts like you described can be done safely and comfortably. (OK, it spews a lot of sawdust.) It is a little unnerving the first time you do it, but it's really not bad once you've experienced it.

Here's one of a couple boxes that I've made using that technique:

OrientalBox1-600.jpg


The four sides were assembled with flat wood (and box joints), then I did a cove cut on each side of the box. For the lid, I cut the cove on a single piece of padauk, then assembled it with four miter joints. There was a fair amount of hand-sanding to make the lines flow into each other a bit better.

More pics and info here.

BTW...Mark, don't you know you should be cutting circles with a circular saw? ;)
 
It just doesn't seem like a natural thing to do with a table saw. But after reading your thoughts on it and seeing your work I might have to give it a second thought. I should revisit the article in that book, and make a few practice cuts in some scraps.

Just don't tell my LOML. She thinks the table saw is scary enough as it is without seeing me do that. ;)

Cheers,

Kevin
 
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