michael2160

I only have one Rikon tool and it is their small band saw, which does a good job at what it was designed for.

I am curious as to why any manufacturer would announce a new saw model with the uncertainty of the Consumer Safety Product Commission. (I don't think calling it a "contractor" saw removes it from the "consumer" purview of the commission.)

When the Osorio hit the news and complaints against Saw Stop gouging the table saw market with their patent I started to think about other ways to stop the blade: my first method was electro-mechanical braking - something similar to the Whirlwind.

While his current invention stops the blade in 1/8 second, ameridady did the math and the blade moves guite a distance. With that said, I believe you can back feed stored energy into the motor and stop it a lot sooner than the 1/8".

This brings up the reason why it should not be done with the current blade manufacturing process:

Today's saw blade, as opposed to European blades, are not pegged to the arbor and are desgned to relieve stresses in only one rotational direction. Current saws have a reverse thread so pressure against the blade during a cut will tighten the arbor nut.

If the blade were to stop immediately using electro-mechanical braking, it will/may spin off the arbor. Imagine having a six pound set of dado blades spinning off the arbor and racing in your direction.

Saw Stop does not have this disadvantage because Saw Stop stops the blade.

This problem with inertia in the blade itself can be solved readily by requiring the blade to be resisted by pins on the arbor. Existing blades may distort with the rapid deceleration, but blades are relatively cheap.

I do believe electro-mechanical braking is the way to solve the problem for saws purchased in the future and may be the least expensive way to retro-fit current machines.

I am going to second, for the most part, what mcnervy has written.
Since most of these product liability issues are adjudicated at the federal level, I would suggest the CPSC be authorized to create a rule, that if followed by the manufacturer would shield the manufacturer from a liability for an injury if the unit is properly installed and operating. The savings in liability insurance cost may outweigh the cost of the protective unit.

When using a PC Trim Router I would balance the unit on the material with a finger from the hand not holding the router. One afternoon while trimming an edge my finger splipped off the base and the next thing I am trying to get out of the way of a flying trim router.

No injury to me but it was the last time I used that trim router. I now have a Festool trim router with a wide base and I can control the router with two hands.

I fell in love with Lie-Nielsen tools about ten years ago. I now have 14 planes, 2 saws, a set of bench chisels and 4 mortising chisels.
My Grandfather was a pre-WWII boat builder (much like Lie's father) and between my brother and myself we inherited a bunch of Stanley planes. The L-Ns are clearly superior to the older planes and the newer Stanleys feel too light.
I have compared my L-N planes to the Wood River stuff at Woodcraft and while they are close to a L-N, they are only close. I think the Cliftons are closer in quality and feel in the hand than the Stanleys or Wood Rivers.
The L-N chisels feel nice in the hand, but are bit too small for larger work. They are definitely bench chisels.
I have started collecting Japanese saws and they are the ones I pull out of the cabinet these days.

I was thinking: Did I make a mistake getting the new Rikon 10" bandsaw instead of this tool? Nope.

While I can see this in a homeowner's garage, I think a small bandsaw in a woodworker's shop is a better investment.

If you are going to smoke, don't do it in the shop.

"I would hardly classify what I just smoked as Marijuana" Walter's Weekly Wisdom (Fringe)

I share Gary's opinion of Spring Joints, but not his method of cutting them.
Gary briefly mentioned (horrors) using a hand plane. I found the technique using a #4 1/2 smoother or #5 1/2 jack plane to be very easy. Why knock your power jointer out of alignment when you can plane a long arc in your boards in a matter of seconds/board.
Charlesworth has a nice video on his method.

Kickback from a chain sometimes results in this:

A frantic phone call from my wife's best friend saying her husband's chainsaw just landed in his face; driving him to the emergency room without ever seeing his face because he wouldn't remove the towel covering the carnage; and then having to visit the husband in the hospital after they removed his front teeth from his sinuses and replacing parts of his upper lip and nose with pieces of skin taken from his thigh.

He has worn a beard since then to cover the scars.

Good veneer work requires two veneers, a top finest grade piece and bottom lesser veneer for stability, with an inexpensive stable core.

Isn't that plywood, with a couple less middle veneers?

Do you really think if good quality plywood was available two, three, four centuries ago we wouldn't be having this conversation?

This is a comment on oily rags.
I was building a spec house and my painters were staining the cabinets with DuraSeal. They left their wiping rags next to a wall in the dining room on a Friday.
Fortunately, I was showing another spec I was building next door and decided to check on the first. When I open the door, the house was filled with smoke but there was no flames. I finally found the source in the dining room where the rags had been tossed. Because the house was air tight without any flow the fire burnt down through floor. It was hot enough to melt an aluminum ladder.
The painters finished the cabinets the following week and using the same stain. They tossed their rags out against a rail fence; the fence burnt down that night.
I now keep an ash can in my shop and any rag, towel or piece of paper with any combustible material goes in the can.

Well, Santa did get the Rikon 10" band saw down the chimney and it is a neat little machine. It is light enough to store in a corner and put it up on my workbench when I need it.

I am think about writing a review on it later this year. If anyone else has one, let me know what your experience has been.

I split my woodworking dollars about 25% to the two local Woodcraft's (always good:sometimes excellent service), 25% to the internet and 50% to the Japan Woodworker (always GREAT service).

I live about 45 minutes from the JWW store in Alameda and they will let you try every tool they have on the site: including their $300 chisels (that's each). JWW typically carries about half the L-N catalog on the floor.

They will even let you bring a competing tool into the store to do a comparison.

I have a MM16 band saw but I keep a 1" carbide blade on it 100% of the time.
I talked Santa into a getting a Rikon 10" band saw to keep the bigger one company.

My favorite tool is a carpenter's tool bench my brother built as a christmas present about 20 years ago. When I was trimming my custom homes I would load it up with tools, nails and screws and carry it room to room, using it as a saw horse to cut window stool and aprons or to stand on when I needed to nail something high. (Also worked well as a lunch bench!!)
It is just about worn out. I think I'll build two this holiday season: keep one and give the other to my brother.

Several years ago I needed an MRI to diagnose a torn Meniscus. I encountered EXTREME pain when the metal chip I was unaware of started flying around the inside of my knee.

Looking back as to when the chip in my knee first occurred was probably in the early sixties when I was in metal shop in school and hammering metal on an anvil. I recall the hammer had chipped and had hit my knee. I didn't realize the blood on my knee indicated the chip had embedded itself in my knee.

There was probably nothing I could have done to prevent the injury. But to say this doesn't ever happen is folly. I can only imagine what would nave been the outcome if the chip had embedded itself in my eye.