professorss

FWW again demonstrates its claim to be the ultimate recycler. We happily pay them for material we have previously read in our FWW magazines, and which are available on the members' web site, for which we also pay. If you think you need this repackaged material right away get it from the library. If your need is not immediate, buy it used at Alibris. For charter or long-time subscribers this is equivalent to owning all of the Beatles album and then buying a CD of the Beatles' Greatest Hits from the Michael Jackson estate. (Jackson bought the rights years before his death.). If I win, it will be available at auction.

This discussion is rather trivial. Why don't we just shelve the topic? jdmaher has it right: ADVERTISING. Giving a free plug to Phil Lowe's & Jeff Miller's ongoing classes is not relevant to the road show listing. Note also the large number of listings for the Marc Adams school. It's commendable that these editors are invited more for their draw than for their expertise - and their services are not free. It is naive to think otherwise.
Let's expand on the last. Classes are very expensive. I live within 50 miles of Phil Lowe's workshop. However, rush hour traffic precludes the possibility of commuting for anything but one-day sessions. It doesn't take much imagination to realize that the high cost of tuition is compounded by the high cost of food and lodging. It is of course the same for all instruction away from home. What's the point? Most woodworkers can't afford these lessons.
FWW's entry into the annual woodworker's koffee klatsch weekend arena is a case in point, and it wasn't that nexpensive. The response was good, but hardly overwhelming. Nobody had to be turned away because of a massive rush for tickets. I would have gone but decided that I'd rather buy a good toll than spend the money on accommodations.
If you have read this far, I thank you. Only one comment remains. It would be wonderful if these sessions were made available digitally, but let's not get carried away. We should expect to pay for them just like the attendees. I leave the choice of format - live feed, DVD or download, buy or rent - to the publisher. That I can afford.

I am most comfortable with the attitudes expressed by dags and tails1st. The remark was almost certainly made in jest, but it really placed a lot of people on the defensive. I employ power tools extensively, more so as I grow older and more feeble. My approach is to use power tools for the heavy lifting. I use hand tools (generally old ones) for fine tuning and doing things that can't be done with power tools (yes they do exist) or which are more efficiently done with hand tools. Hand tools require little or no setup time, which adds to their appeal.
Jigs are a separate issue. Many hand tools are jigs. A plane is no more than a guided chisel jig. You can fill in the rest. Old time craftsmen routinely used jigs. The most familiar are the bench hook, the shooting board and bench dogs. So jigs are not cheating. They lead to efficiency, quality and uniformity.
Finally, everyone should reflect on dags boatbuilding instructors belief that you should learn to do some basic operations by hand before you escalate to jigs or power tools. I have learned more about the materials we work with by learning to do them with hand tools.
So what is cheating? Corked baseball bats, steroids, copying on an exam, not crediting your sources, perhaps assembling furniture from kits...I hope you get it.

So you are saying that poplar is popular for veneer backing.

Just couldn't resist the opportunity to chide the editor who relies on the spell checker. After all, if this detail is incorrect by poor oversight, is it not conceivable that important details may also be stated incorrectly?

Saw stop mechanism activating and wiping out a blade.

Radio type interviews are good on NPR because they are dealing with ideas and facts that require no visualization. Touring a tool factory without being able to view the process is a waste of time.

Beneath the standards of Fine Woodworking and its readers. Please don't talk down to us. This hardly belongs in your newbie newsletter. No original ideas in this design; no challenge in the construction. built a similar war horse out of scrap years ago, without plans.

The odds are so much better than the lottery. Why not give Welsh chairs a try?

Everything I could have written has already been posted, so I will close with a query of my own. Is this what they mean by "cutting edge" technology?

General should take a lot of the heat. Their distribution network in the US is imperceptible. Their prices were outrageously high. Even their General International was priced above Powermatic. Very few nonprofessional woodworkers could justify or afford the outlay. Too bad for the elitists who yearn for the good old days. They're not coming back. Live with it.

You should do giveaways every month, especially ones tha treat more advanced topics.

I have nothing against FB, but when I followed the links, the best I could do was get to the drawing only to find a dark gray curtain over the the page.

Not a god idea.


the contest I mean. Feel sorry for you editors who have to select one from over 300 scintillating entries each month. Let's stick to woodworking. We do that best.

I hate to be at the tail end. Everything that can be said about the topic probably has been said, but I can't resist defending an old friend.

I bought mine in the late 1960s. It was my first stationary tool, a Craftsman. Two casualties: (1) burned up the motor very early on because of dull saw blade (no carbide then); (2) got a slight laceration between thumb and forefinger while rushing a crosscut. Have had nothing but success ever since. I still have the saw (and another later model as well).

I use the saw for its versatility. One of my earliest projects was a series of 8 foot high interior shutters. Used the molding head and the dado head for ornamentation and coped joints. Even made a coping sled.

I dis see the need early on for a table saw for ripping. Other than with sheet goods I could not get it to cut a straight line or get through thick hardwood without stalling.

The one complaint I had (past tense) was alignment: squareness to the table and and the yoke. Invariably this problem was triggered by my allowing the saw to to climb and stall on a crosscut of thick lumber. It finally dawned on me that I was not sufficient torque.when tightening up the cap screws that are relaxed during the alignment. Nowadays I check the alignment about once every three months, but haven't had to make an adjustment in a very lonmg time (probably years, but I don't keep track. In addition to using more torque, I take extra care to ensure that I have a sharp carbide blade installed to minimize those crosscut climbing episodes.

No hints necessary. I knew it was a fake right away. Rube Goldberg died years ago!

You can never have too many clamps.

You can always remove more dust.

As I grow older I tend more and more to appreciate hand craftsmanship. I have a lot of edged tools, antique and contemporary. don't need any more, so my list reflects an appreciation for beuty as well as utility. Besides, my sveral LN planes and saws are eager to make new friends.

After more than 40 years of woodworking, I have nearly everything, so this planer represents an upgrade, not a must have.

Simple solution to vexing problem.