bill117

I like the setup but I would think those bulky hand-screws would get in the way. I would use Quick Slip or "C" Clamps with a lower profile.

Files, bull scraper, nail sets, and awl.

Is he cheating? He used a marking guage and a metal rabbet plane instead of sharpend stones. (re Jan 9th blog)

Imagin what they could have done with MDF and Melamine.

Do today's bakers and cooks still grind their flour in a grist mill?

Do pharmacists still use a mortar and pestle? I do hear that some doctors are using leeches and maggots again.

No thanks, I'll take the modern approach.

If you can't bear the thought of machines then do it all by hand but don't bore us with your sanctimonious crap!

Someone earlier said it's not cheating until you start using a CNC. Have you ever used a CNC? You still need the skill of an architect to draw the piece. You need to know how to set up the correct cutter. How to read the grain of the piece you are machining etc.

Is using a marking-gage from the 1800's cheating or do you mark everything freehand with a pencil.

When I look at a turned leg, I don't wonder if it was made with a pole lathe or a power lathe. I just admire the fine design and looks of the piece.

I don't care if you made a dovetail with a machine or by primitive hand tools, I just care about the end results.

What a bunch of SNOBS on this site. (Not everyone).
Just enjoy working with wood, it is FUN and should be simple.

The bed is incredible but I am more impressed with the posters.

Do all you people, worried about too much waste, eat carrot tops, egg shells, and tomato vines? Maybe we should just make every thing out of plastic. Oh wait, you don't like that either.

A 30 pack of Bud to enjoy after a good day in the shop.

I have been doing this for years. It works with dowels too. Like any other use of the table saw, you have to use caution. We all can't afford every mechanical jig made.

What will happen to all the old saws out there? They all have different style boxes so the new parts would have to be made specifically for each model. Will the government break down my front door to confiscate my old Delta? Ridiculous. Everyone just keep your eyes on the blade and the stock and take responsibility for your own actions.

My only accident in 55 years of woodworking was on a 16 inch sanding disk (sanded my fingertips to the bone) should we outlaw sandpaper?

Look at all those silly people staring at me and trying to come up with a cleaver joke. If they are so smart, why don't they make their own marking gauge?

If I use my elbow as a push stick, my fingers are safe!

I always tell everyone that I did it on purpose so it will look homemade. If I made it perfect, it would look store bought.

When I cut, I cut too short

Or cut too long, it's close enough

If I would mark or measure right

My finished joints would fit quite tight



I've been to school and worked a lot

I've used the books like I've been taught

But still my work dissatisfies

Most people always criticize



If I could win just one more book

To read the text and pictures look

Maybe I would find the way

To do things right, the Fine Woodworking way

Is that Pot I smell?

After this, I'll trim my toenails with my Sawzall and I'll be ready for my blind date.

I can't wait to tackle my nose-hair.

Second place wins a foot powered pole lathe.

50 years ago my shop teacher told me "keep your left hand on the left corner of the table and push with your right. You always know where your left hand is and you can watch your right". After 47 years in the trade,I retired 3 years ago with all my fingers. Thank you Mr Mayer!

I told my wife wan't two sets. Next year I will ask for a router.

I have used MDF in combination with real hardwood, veneers, and plastic laminates. Used in the right places, it is fine. It makes great moldings if they are going to be painted.

I made one just like it 45 years ago and I still use it at home. It is a working tool box, not a piece of furniture. It was built for hard use and served me well. Since then, I have made about 6 or 7 more from all different types and thicknesses of veneered plywood, some plain and some fancy but I always went back to my simple 3/4 fir box. I worked as a union carpenter/cabinet-maker for 40 years.That old box has more memories than tools, it is a little heavy though.

Forget veneering it, it would be siding your old house with vinyl.

Bill

You BOUGHT a shed? ;)

..I'm sitting on a white horse, the maiden is struggling with 2 ne'er-do-wells, I shout "unhand her"! They turn and look my way....

Imagine what I could do with a CNC!

I would like a lathe. I used my first one back in Jr High. We turned ash trays out of walnut rifle stocks from surplus WW2 rifle butts.

Robin9, I would rather have a chest of drawers from a CNC than dovetails chewed by your dog. The chest is useful no matter how it was made. We are not all artists.

I have been a paid cabinetmaker for 50 years and the last dovetail I cut by hand was back in high school. I have worked on fine furniture, elaborate lobbies, eloquent reception desks, and simple counter tops. I have used hand tools and power tools with the same results. My last 3 years of work were with the CNC. I LOVED IT! I had little computer skills but caught on fast. You still have to understand wood and how to machine it. It will only do what you program it do do and how to do it.
If you enjoy cutting dovetails by hand, you should but don't get all huffy when some people are not impressed. My grandmother used to make her own bread when I was a kid. She was thrilled when she could finelly buy sliced bread from the corner store. I get the feeling that some of you are still using the foot powered lathe and look down on anyone who doesn't. Farmers use tractors instead of horses and plowshares, it is called progress.

If cookies help me at my bench
I would like to have quite a few
But If I don't have any skill at all
Then even hundreds won't do!

I agree the lemon juice will work wonders. Also, Crazy Glue on those finger splits.

I see other people have mentioned useing tape. I have found that double faced tape is much more sticky than masking or celophane tape and realy grabs a splinter even if you can't see it but can feel it.

I retired 2 years ago after working in cabinet shops for 45 years. The last 4 years I worked on a CNC router. You can make almost anything on a CNC but every once in a while, I would still need to use a table saw. You need a table saw. If I had the room and money, I would buy a CNC 2nd.

I love it. I have done many more stupid things. When you are determond to create, you can't be stopped. I have held a caster in my hand against a drive belt to make a tensioner on the belt of a compressor to charge a sprinkler system when the belts were too slimy (in a pit below ground) for the pulley. I rode the top of a freight elevator cab to grease the rails. You do what you have to do. This country was built by people who did what they had to do.