nealaron

I had a similar project recently. I wanted square pegs on each corner of 2 large octagonal lamps. Cutting square holes for that many pegs would have cost the client too much. I have a metal lathe with a collet holder that takes square collets. So, I turned a round end on my square pegs and drilled holes to match. They worked great and add strngth to the project without taking hours to chop.

Very impressive indeed. I have been using a Sawstop for a couple years now and am very happy with it. It was time to upgrade to a cabinet saw from a 30 year old contractor saw, so it made sense for me to buy the Sawstop for both the quality of the saw and the added safety features. This seems like a great solution for retrofitting older saws and for the portable saw market. What it really shows, though, is that time and energy are spent solving the safety problems associated with the table saw design,. innovative solution s emerge. This is just the beginning.
Incidentally, in 40 years of woodworking I have never injured myself using the table saw. I bought the Sawstop because I recognize that accidents can happen to safe people, just as bad things can happen to good people. The only time I set off the brake on my saw was while cutting freshly cut bamboo on a cross-cut sled. Apparently, the moisture and mineral content was similar to blood. Sawstop replace the brake module for free, but I was out the cost of the blade. I didn't mind a bit - not because I can afford a new blade easily (which I can't), but because it proved the system works. A small price to pay for safety.

I worked with my Rockwell contractor saw for 35 years without an accident. I generally did not use guards, but had a healthy respect (fear) of the blade and stayed clear of it. When I finally saved up enough money to buy a quality cabinet saw I bought a SawStop, not because I had to, but because it is a precise tool AND it has good safety features. I have learned that accidents happen to smart, careful and good people. As a 20 year veteran of the local fire department, I have witnessed proof of that. I've seen my share of amputations, lacerations and impact injuries from kickback. My good friend lost his right hand last year in a farming accident - he is intelligent and normally very careful, but a nano-second of distraction was his undoing and it can't be taken back.

I have read the comments of those who interpret any regulation as government intrusion. I can see your point. I hate to read about people who expect others to take responsibility for their actions - and get paid for it. But let's face it, if it weren't for litigation there would be no seat belts, air bags or job safety. Corporations are here to make profit and they will do it any way they can. Safety is not their priority, money is. The fact is, some regulations help to keep us safe and they have always been met with resistance from corporations and horror by anti government types.

You will always be able to find good used tools that don't have safety features. But why cut off your nose to spite your face? Have a little humility and admit that even those of us who are intelligent and careful can make mistakes.

My main complaint is when navigating a multiple page list of, say, techniques. If I'm on page 3 and have viewed a technique, hit the back arrow, I end up back on page one and have to find my way back to where I was. It should return me to my last point on the list.

Most of my customers hand me a crude drawing or pictures from a few magazines and ask me to build them "something like this" with some size constraints built in. No exploded drawings, no cutlists. What a luxury a cutlist is - if you can trust it. Unlike the previous poster who recalibrates all his tools and mic's his wood after milling, I don't treat my wood shop like a machine shop. Wood is alive, it's inconsistent, it moves. That's it beauty and its charm. I like to shape it with handplanes more than routers. Generally, once the basic structure of the piece is done, I put away the tape measure, ruler and micrometer and use a story pole or transfer the marks directly to the piece being cut.
When I go to the lumber store I have generated my own cut list and have added 10 to 20% to what I think I need. If I'm lucky I have some leftover material for a future project. If not, I go back to the store. Generating plans and cut lists are an integral part of making furniture and is essential for us to learn by doing it. I don't think the magazine does us any favors by doing this for us.

This is just what I need now. I've made small tables, but am hesitating at the prospect of building a full sized dining table.

Wipe on Poly is pretty much the only finish I use these days. I can apply it in my dusty shop and not worry about ruining my finish. I typically put on 4-5 coats and rub it out with oooo steel wool after letting it dry overnight. A coat of good wax to top it off gives it that good mellow glow.
I am a terrible finisher and always promised myself I'd learn to do it right. Once I discovered wiping varnishes, I was able to break that promise and still feel good about my results.

I am an amateur woodworker and recently retired after being a professional firefighter for over 20 years. I can't tell you how many fires I've been to that were started by spontaneous combustion in oily rags. That cause is just way too easy to avoid. I take mine outside and dry them in the sun. From there they go in the trash, never back in the shop. I keep an extinguisher, pressurized water, next to the door and plumbed a hose just outside the shop. It has to be easily accessible and on your path toward safety. An incipient fire in a wood shop will go from stoppable to total loss faster than most people can imagine. But no shop is worth getting severely burned or killed for.
I clean the shop every day and put the sawdust in my compost pile. Not only is it safer without the accumulation, but I seem to think better when the shop is clean ( and I need all the help I can get).
I agree with the previous poster, there is no way I could recall all the tools in my shop, not to mention the jigs which I spent countless hours making. It is so much better to avoid the disaster

I use my iPod Touch in my shop quite a bit. There are apps that help with evenly spacing holes, balusters, etc. I often reference PDFs of shop jigs that I've loaded to the Touch from Finewoodworking or replay bits of podcasts that contain information I want to access in the shop. The only problem with the Touch or iPhone for this is the small size makes it a challenge for my old eyes to read. I would use my Powerbook, but I don't want to get it full of saw dust. That's the beauty of the iPad - not affected by dust and big enough to view without a magnifying glass. Bring it on!

I am just starting to learn to turn. I'd love some professional insight.

Good clamps, like the Jet parallel clamps, are always on my list. This year I'm also hoping for Leigh Valley's new dovetail saw. But if some one wants to replace my 30 year old contractor saw with a new Unisaw, who am I to complain?

If I had a set of these cookies I could give my wife her rubber shelf liner back. Then maybe she'd make me the other kind of cookies.