MacMarty15221

To all the folks with downloading problems, here's how I got past it today. (I'm using Firefox 11.0 on a Mac, OSX Lion...)

Instead if clicking normally on "Click here to get your free chapter download", (which for me produces a new tab with a blank screen,) use click, which reveals "Save Link As..." in the contextual menu. Pick a location to save the file, and there we are! Works like a charm!

I've never liked the phrase "Save link as..", feeling "Save inked item as..." would be better.

@JBOD - I'm having the same problem with MacBook Pro and Firefox. Safari allows me to open the article, but won't "Save As" the article. We might need to go to the dark side, I'm going to try Exploder on a WinXP box and see what I get. I'll keep you posted.

OK, about those circuit boards.. First, the levers/latches at the corners remind me of the format used in printed circuit boards for computers made by Digital Equipment Corporation, once headquartered in Maynard, MA. If you see the word "DIGITAL" where each letter is enclosed by a rectangle, then my suspicion is correct. (I have a few in the basement... :) )

Secondly, lead-based solder is NOT a hazard if you are just using these boards as panels in a woodworking project. Lead becomes a hazard when lead-containing PAINT degrades into dust or flakes, which can be eaten or breathed by small children. Bottom line, don't lick these panels and you'll be fine. ;)

It's great to see Matthias' awesome work showing up in the mainstream woodworking media. He has not just created precise smooth-runing machinery, he has been able to prepare plans for these machines, with sales and distribution through the internet. If you have more more time than money, he has some awesome tools for you. (Ron Gingery reborn for woodworking!)

Way to go, Matthias!

@DocGHines -

Please do NOT put a plug-in strip or outlets in the benchtop. They will inevitably fill up with sawdust and other crud that the shopvac will not be able to extract. Worst case is that crud will accumulate just enough to separate plug from receptacle bars _just_enough_ to cause arcing, and a subsequent fire.

Safety first, everyone.

It's just another tool in the arsenal, folks.

I'm trying to establish a business supporting some neuroscience research, and for me the ability to use CNC to repeatedly create a given complex part is a godsend.

I built my own machine, of moderate tolerances, and there are lots of other folks out there doing it. Larger working volume, free (open source) motion control software, and a third of the price of Rockler's offerings. (I'd rather spend the dough on a SawStop table saw, and a carbide-insert planer.)

My router table, much further along than shown here.... http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56553

Open-source motion control: http://linuxcnc.org/

I spent many years in model railroading. (Maybe again someday.) The beauty of that "hobby" was that it was more than one thing rolled into one: layout design, woodworking, electronics, scenery, photography, operations, etc etc etc. Take what you like and leave the rest. The emergence of CNC in the workshop is just the same: there to use, or not.

(And by the way, the metal-machining hobbyist crowd is having the same discussion.)

Woodstove coming, eh? Woodstove in a woodworking shop... made of wood. Sounds a little scary to me, can anybody point to some "best practices" to making this as safe as possible? Please, no general testimony about how "I've had that exact setup in my shop for years, ain't burned down yet!" It only takes once...

I have to agree with the "safety in videos" crowd. An actually DKERFOOT missed something: at about 50 seconds into the stop-block video, you will see Mr. White making a rip cut with his left sleeve unbuttoned. (In most of the other "takes", both sleeves _are_ buttoned.) The cuff probably comes within an inch of the blade. It gave me the creeps to watch that, even before I came down and looked at the comments. I guess my safety neurons were firing!

"Do as I say, not as I do" does not translate well into video.

That aside, I like the design of the stop block, because the hinge reduces the side-to-side slop in the hinged portion. I am always amazed when I see a commercial product, like the stops from Rocker or Kreg. I can always generate 1/16" or more of slop by wiggling their hinged component from side to side.