cosmec502

I think the design for that tool would be better if they placed a magnifying sight on top just like on a riffle... but I like the color though.

I have a mounted circular saw for a table saw which only means I neither have a blade guard or a riving knife and my fence is just a piece of board nailed down to a plywood table top. I bet I am sending goosebumps to all of you now. However I always try it very hard to keep my hands (especially my precious fingers) off the blade. My best safety rule for myself is just to keep the blade height as low as possible over the cutting piece because my principle is this: You won't loose a finger unless the blade goes through.

I cut my left thumb (an 8th of an inch)before accidentally because I was in front of the table saw for more than 36 hours without sleep.

My late father however has a better advise for me. He constantly reminded me that the blade can run it does not move an inch away from where it is planted. He told me that woodworkers loose a finger (or even get minor cuts) because of two things: scared that the machine will cut them or very confident nothing bad will happen.

It is good to have these safety measures to better avoid injuries, but no safety gadget can save an unfocused woodworker. The blade will stay around the shaft so just don't touch the blade!

wow I found all the errors and ended up with -170! I started good with 200 points but I never thought that the face against the fence wasn't planed yet.

i really don't think that wearing eye protection during cutting dovetails is an issue. I have tried putting "these safety glasses" while cutting pins and tails and every time I do that I miss my lines. I guess I'm better without those for dovetailing joints.

I think it's a cool machine, regardless of the noise, My hearing will eventually return but my finger just won't grow back.

Hi everyone!
The farthest memory i can recall was me playing under my father's workbench. Furniture and cabinet making has been a family tradition as my late father use to tell me stories about his grand dad teaching him how to push the smoother plane. I got my share when I was in fourth grade, i was ten that time, and since then I would help my father every summer in the wood shop.

I was 12 when I assembled my first side chair, bed and bedside table. When I got 15 I was already doing piece rates against the old timers. That was also the time I got interested with purchasing machines and machine components. That same summer I assembled my first fabricated table saw and it was awesome, my mother would always tell me that other teens are assembling bicycles and that I should too and not waste so much time and money for finger cutting monsters.

I must admit that I love this trade very much that I believe I was born for this! I started my first workshop in our backyard and was marketing my trade to my classmates' parents and neighbors doing small projects like closet cabinets, garden benches, and the bestseller of all time: beds! Woodworking made my every summer complete.

I was very young that time and my folks thought that I should consider taking engineering, so I did. But here in the Philippines, carpenters aren't looked up to. My father couldn't put me through till the last year of my education because "he was just a carpenter" as what people say.
So I stepped out of college and thought about what to do with my life. I applied for a job in Kuwait as a carpenter and landed as a cnc operator because of my autocad knowledge. I was having a ball, receiving good salary and earning respect from my bosses. However, I find being an employee is not my thing. I wasn't born to be forced to work and be forced to go home when I don't feel like to so as abstract as it may seem I filed for resignation. Everybody was shocked with the idea no one believed me till I was heading for the airport.

I returned to my shop and exploited all my skills. Turned to the internet, post my designs and projects and marketed my trade to almost every possible way. I am basically doing everything here from marketing, designing, purchasing, carpentry and finishing (both varnish and automotive duco painting) I am planning on building my own cnc router and lathe but I guess it will take some time. Now I am back in my shop working like a horse in a civil war but it doesn't bother me. Now I am enjoying my 27th year as a woodworker. My body may be always tired but I am happy like a sunflower in the summertime.