MadScientist

I am amused by the immediate dismissal of all the "new age mumbo jumbo" used in this project. I have found that what you believe is real is real. Even if it is a placebo effect, the mind is a powerful thing and can do much for you if you believe.

That being said, I am mostly interested in the use of sacred geometry in your design. What aspects of sacred design have you used? Is it an issue of ratios, shapes or both? I like the three legged design as it is inherently sturdy and also incorporates the idea of the sacred trinity.

Overall, I think the best thing you have done was to raise awareness of sustainable practices. In our culture, it is commonplace for people to not know where their stuff comes from. Thank you for that and keep it up!

I am all for choice in the marketplace. I am curious as to the sales figures of the Saw Stop. Because we live in a capitalist society, we vote with our wallets. Effectively, government regulation stifles this freedom and can do the same for innovation. If they write the regulation in such a way that all manufacturers have to use the Saw Stop technology, that prevents others from coming up with better solutions. Perhaps something that does the same thing but doesn't ruin your blade.
We can argue about personal responsibility and the function of government all day long and not come to an agreement. We can say that it is a woodworker's choice to remove their safety equipment from their table saw. But what does that say about the safety equipment? When it is known that a high percentage of people disengage their safety equipment, the right thing to do is redesign it to be less obtrusive. Government steps in when manufacturers refuse to do the right thing.

I love when people try to come up with low tech ideas to fix things. Obviously crude oil is much different from refined chainsaw oil but I appreciate when people think outside the box. And who knows, you might stumble on a simple and elegant solution when the "all knowing" scientists consistently have failed. Ingenuity, what our world has thrived on for centuries.

It seems to me that faulty training is more to blame than the tablesaw. I know the manufacturer is the one with the money and therefore the best target but that doesn't make it right. I consider the "Saw Stop" technology to be a feature and the lack of it does not constitute a defect. The fact that all safety equipment was removed from this tablesaw shows negligence on his and his employer's part.
Oh well, I guess I'll be paying more for a new tablesaw in the future.

Great job on the bowl. I love how the tung oil brings out the figure of the burl. My one concern is about the card scraper. I just read a story about a guy that had one catch on the bowl he was using it on and got a nice trip to the hospital.
I always love stories about people being able to salvage wood and make something beautiful with it. Well done!

@mstrrktek
To counter your points, there is a fundamental difference between a book reader and your iPhone. The e-ink technology is much easier on the eyes than the iPhone's backlit LCD screen. No app can turn an LCD screen into e-ink. I'd like to use an iPad to view some of FWW's content but I wouldn't want to read the magazine with it. I like my eyesight.

I know this may be a small portion of woodworkers but not everyone has wi-fi access in their shop or would like to use their device in places that do not provide wi-fi access. For them 3G access is necessary.

Flash may be "OLD SCHOOL" as you said but most sites still use it. This includes YouTube. They implement flash better than FWW in some ways but it is still flash. They do have a beta that uses HTML5 and the h.264 video codec but for most people it is still flash. At least it isn't quicktime. I hope FWW follows this trend and gets away from flash.

One of the ideas behind the iPad, and iPhone for that matter is to kill flash. It is a security risk and a system resource hog. There are better ways of displaying video over the internet. Youtube is trying to get away from flash(as are many other companies) and currently has a beta version without flash. I'm not an Apple fan or anything but I'd like to view media over my smartphone. The iPad would be a perfect device for viewing articles and video wherever you are, including the workshop. I'd say the forums too if they were designed better. Look to tech and gaming sites to get an idea of what a forum can be. Not the posts, the design.

The orrery in the lid is a brilliant addition. Just wondering, what was the inspiration behind this amazing project?

Nice to see there are other gamers here. I love the steampunk feel to it as well. Great project and keep up the good work.