retired08

Wow, this has been an interesting, albeit long, discussion to read. I teach how to make dovetail joints and show using your method but ---- I've only used a single clamp to hold the guide. Well, I tell students that this is a way they can do it but I've found it's more of a hassle setting it all up and the guide tends to move with the single clamp so discourage it. I tell them they may be better practicing until they can get the shoulders square by hand and you know how difficult that can be. Guess what I'm going to try next? Yep, two bolts and a guide block. I guess I too am now "cheating" because I didn't think of that.

Did you carve the grille work in the door? How thick was the piece when you started? Pretty cool!

Just proves that the biggest problem with any tool use and safety centers around what is politely called "operator error". Let's just call it stupidity and not try to legislate every aspect of our life. What ever happened to common sense and reading the directions?

That's kind of ironic that you posted a tutorial on making dowels with the plate. Here's a link to my recent blog post on the same thing!

http://woodworksbyjohn.blogspot.com/2012/05/dowels-with-lie-nielsen-dowel-plate.html

I made the small router table you show in this article and in your book. Using a small PC router. The simplicity and accuracy of the pivoting fence is pretty cool and being able to clamp it into my end vise makes it quick and easy to run small pieces. It's much quicker to set up then the larger router table I built into my tablesaw that uses the rip fence. Thanks!

This may seem to be on the morbid side of cremation urns but I've done several of them and wondered about sizing them. According to an undertaker friend of mine it takes about 1 cubic inch of volume inside the box for every pound of weight. I have one client who has an urn ready not only for herself, but for her mother who's still alive. Currently they're decorative items sitting in the daughter's home. Pre-planning is good right?

Thanks, I have had a request for one of them but my wife says "No Way!" Appreciate your comments, marketing is pretty hard these days but I'm considering it.

"There's more than one way to skin a cat" is what I often told my students and this is yet another way to cut a tenon. It's too bad that the safety/liability issue is so huge that we're all afraid of the lawsuits. I guess that's a sign of our times. The way I look at it is this; here is a method, try it and if you're comfortable with it go ahead and use it. If you have a kickback, injury, and feel awkward without your SawStop and guards in place do something else!! YOU can decide based on your own experience, tools, and comfort levels whatever way you want to accomplish your own work. So whether you use a CNC router or a highly trained beaver to cut your joints, take responsibility and enjoy woodworking -- that's the bottom line.

Wow, I'm in the process of re-making my sled and I like to use the UHMW (ultra high molecular weight) polyethylene. It can be drilled and tapped to accept machine screws and planed exactly like wood to fit your miter slot. This sure brought lots of different thoughts out in the open. In the past I've used Gary Rogowski's design and used 5/16" bolts in 3/8" holes to allow for adjustments as needed. Any thoughts on that??