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Walked posted:Ah, excellent. Can you get sharp corners with the router? I'd assume not, but I'm still learning. You can't get perfectly sharp corners, but you can just carefully use a hand saw to cut out the curve. For precise work like that, I prefer to use the Japanese-style saws. They are thinner and cut on the pull stroke. The work through small jobs much cleaner and faster than conventional hand saws. Here's a decently priced one: http://www.woodcraft.com/product.aspx?ProductID=12F27&FamilyID=850 They may carry them at Home Depot or Lowes but I haven't checked. To keep the cut square, you just need to clamp a straight piece of wood or metal square channel and make sure you measure properly to the router bits edge. The key to precision work is to take it slow. Measure 3, 4, or 5 times if you have to, just take your time.
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Apr 7, 2009 10:57
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meatsneakers posted:To keep the cut square, you just need to clamp a straight piece of wood or metal square channel and make sure you measure properly to the router bits edge. Or use a flush cutting bit with a bearing and lay whatever you are using for a straightedge exactly on the cut line. You'd probably want to rough out the hole with a jig saw first, then use the router for the final trim cut.
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Apr 7, 2009 15:08
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Since we were cutting so many window holes we had templates we made out of 1/4" plywood. Using a clamped square or straight edge will work just fine. For the corners just use a hand saw and a sanding block to get it even.
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Apr 7, 2009 16:37
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Edit: nm I figured a way to do it
Fox1 fucked around with this message at 22:42 on Apr 7, 2009 |
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Apr 7, 2009 20:07
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SkunkDuster posted:You can use a guide board to easily get an edge square to the face of a board with a hand plane. You make a sandwich with a guide board (2), a spacer, and your workpiece (1). As you are planing, hold the side of the plane (3) against the guide board. Awesome, thanks for the tip. Will have to head into the shop tonight.
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Apr 7, 2009 21:54
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Would anyone care to suggest a router? It's primarily intended for cutting circles in MDF and edging various pieces of wood, but would rather buy quality now than re-buy later. http://bosch.cpotools.com/reconditioned_tools/routers/router_combo_packs/1617evspk-rt.html Is this worth my time? If not, could someone suggest something? I'm comfortable going up a bit from there, but not looking to waste money on unnecessary features / whatnot. Thanks 
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Apr 11, 2009 13:14
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This Dewalt has the best plunge action around, last I checked. Also decent dust collection, you can plug a shop vac hose right in the top. http://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DW618PK-Horsepower-Variable-Collets/dp/B00006JKXE/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1239456775&sr=8-1
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Apr 11, 2009 14:35
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This guy right here is also pretty awesome as both a plunge and table-mounted router: http://www.woodcraft.com/product.aspx?ProductID=149213&FamilyID=5890 Now, on the subject of jointers. I had identified a couple of prospects on craigslist (6" Jet with stand for $250), but then I saw Woodcraft is offering Jet jointer/planer combos in 8" ($329) and 10" ($420) varities for what seems like a pretty good deal. The surprising part is that on Amazon, these have pretty good reviews: http://www.amazon.com/Jet-JJP-10BTOS-10-Inch-Jointer-Planer/dp/B001O0D6OC http://www.amazon.com/Jet-JJP-8BT-8-Inch-Jointer-Planer/dp/B001O0D6NS One would imagine that getting jointers that are greater than 6" for such low prices would result in crappy quality, but I am encouraged by the reviews. The downside as far as I can tell is that the tables aren't as long as on a traditional 6" jointer. I do already have a 12" Grizzly planer, so it is not as though I really NEED a combo machine, I just thought that for the price, getting an 8" or 10" jointer would not be the worst idea ever. What do you guys think, are one of these actually worth getting, or am I better off with something more traditional? The $250 one on craigslist is certainly more within the budget, but I am willing to splurge a bit more for if I am just going to regret not getting something bigger than 6" later on.
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Apr 11, 2009 17:27
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ChaoticSeven posted:This Dewalt has the best plunge action around, last I checked. Also decent dust collection, you can plug a shop vac hose right in the top. Thanks; this looks really solid. Does this top the Triton? That was also on my short-list. It's pretty much down to those two, as theyre similarly priced and all. edit: Though the triton does have a number of items with it that are nice to have; however I'd still rather pay for quality and buy the jigs as I need them. Walked fucked around with this message at 19:39 on Apr 11, 2009 |
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Apr 11, 2009 19:35
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PMan_ posted:This guy right here is also pretty awesome as both a plunge and table-mounted router: I haven't heard anything terrible about them. The main knock I've heard is no matter how sure you are that you won't mind switching back and forth, you will mind. Eventually. That and the short bed length. If you go with a wider jointer, your likely thinking about jointer bigger and longer boards. The longer the bed the easier that is to do. I wish mine was a foot or two longer sometimes and it's pretty long. They are a space saver if that's important to you. Walked posted:Thanks; this looks really solid. Does this top the Triton? That was also on my short-list. Well, I'd personally rather have the dual base Dewalt, and I do. You can go check it out at Lowes, they usually have a 618 on display. The Triton would probably be nice for a permanent under the table router, since it has the height adjustment thing built in. What I ended up with for my table is the 7518 Porter Cable 3 HP and the Bench Dog cast iron lift. These two combined are loving beastly. http://www.amazon.com/Porter-Cable-7518-Speedmatic-5-Speed-Router/dp/B0000222V3/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1239481395&sr=8-2 http://www.amazon.com/Bench-Dog-40-016-ProLift-Top-Adjustment/dp/B00005RKNW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1239481419&sr=1-2
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Apr 11, 2009 21:27
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ChaoticSeven posted:What I ended up with for my table is the 7518 Porter Cable 3 HP and the Bench Dog cast iron lift. These two combined are loving beastly. I don't have a fancy cast iron lift, but I also use the 7518 in my little home built router table and I will agree - it is a loving beast.  Someday, I would like to build a real pretty router table like this one: Holy poo poo! wormil posted:Some woodworkers get so involved making stuff for their shop that they rarely make anything else. I'm kind of guilty of this. When I make things for the shop, I like them to be nice, so I don't have a problem with using nicer lumber and experimenting with different aesthetic techniques. I learn a lot this way and make my share of mistakes. Fortunately, the only person that sees those mistakes is me. A prime example would be this box I made to hold my screws. It's mostly walnut with curly maple trim, ziricote handles, and ebony splines in the corners. The finish is tinted shellac. The learning experience here is that a wide top made of two edge glued boards tends to bow quite a bit.   I don't remember what kind of a jig I cobbled together to hold that screw box at 45deg to route those splined miter cuts, but it must have been a lovely one. You can see some gaps (white areas) in there where the box moved while I was routing the slots. I decided to remedy this problem by building a good jig. This one is made from ash with cherry trim and finished with tinted shellac. As you turn the handle, the threaded rod moves in and out pressing on the triangular piece and acts as a vice to hold the box I am cutting in place. The triangle piece is cherry, but I added a bloodwood strip to act as sort of a strike plate because the acorn nut on the end of the threaded rod would have dented the hell out of the cherry when I tightened the "vice" down. You can see by the three (visible) plugged holes that don't seem to serve any purpose that I had plenty of learning opportunities on this one.  The face of the "vice" piece is claro walnut veneer with curly maple trim. I haven't made another box since then with splined miters, so I have never actually used this jig, but it was fun to build.  If you're a bit confused on what this jig is supposed to do, check this out. Skunkduster fucked around with this message at 00:42 on Apr 12, 2009 |
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Apr 12, 2009 00:35
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ChaoticSeven posted:So has anyone been making anything at all? I haven't been able to do anything much due to moving to another state and setting up the new house and shop. Still don't have my dust collection set up. Only thing I've made since Christmas is this box I started keeping seeds in. Meh. Not yet. I've been busy, but the first thing I plan to build (when I get a moment) is a side table. I want something simple and sturdy to put beside my chair. I know what I want; basically, a better version of the one I have now.* I got an idea for the top, too, that I want to try. Couple years ago on Garage Takeover I saw them make a worktable where they embedded screws and such in epoxy for the worktable's surface. I want to do the same with bottle caps. Basically, it's like concrete in a way. You build up a form around the top of the table, lay the caps down in a single layer, then fill your form with clear epoxy. It's pretty simple, I think. I'll be testing it out here in a couple weeks. *I bought it at Hobby Lobby. It's nice, but prone to tipping over.
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Apr 12, 2009 07:46
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PMan_ posted:I saw Woodcraft is offering Jet jointer/planer combos in 8" ($329) and 10" ($420) varities for what seems like a pretty good deal. The surprising part is that on Amazon, these have pretty good reviews: Even if I got a larger planer, I would still keep my INCA 10.25" jointer/planer combo to use as a jointer. The extra jointer width is worth it, and you can make extension arms for the bed if you regularly joint things over 8' These new small J/P combos are essentially knock offs of the one Rikon made, which was a knock off of Metabo and INCA machines. If the reviews are good it may be worth chancing it, I certainly love my 10" j/p combo.
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Apr 12, 2009 15:25
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GEMorris posted:Even if I got a larger planer, I would still keep my INCA 10.25" jointer/planer combo to use as a jointer. The extra jointer width is worth it, and you can make extension arms for the bed if you regularly joint things over 8' That is kind of what I was thinking, that the extra width may be worth it, and that I could whip-up some extensions if need be. I did get tentative wife clearance for such a purchase today, so we shall see...
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Apr 12, 2009 20:41
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ChaoticSeven posted:I haven't heard anything terrible about them. The main knock I've heard is no matter how sure you are that you won't mind switching back and forth, you will mind. Eventually. That and the short bed length. If you go with a wider jointer, your likely thinking about jointer bigger and longer boards. The longer the bed the easier that is to do. I wish mine was a foot or two longer sometimes and it's pretty long. They are a space saver if that's important to you. And back to my router questioning. Is the Festool OF 1010 worth the price bump to $370? It seems to get the best reviews possible, have much better micro adjustments (not vital, but would be nice for my primary uses), and seems to be oriented towards freehand work the best (my primary purpose). Or would I be better off with the DeWalt still, and possibly picking up a router table to accompany it? Sorry to be asking so much; but I'm pretty anal about buying the right product the first time, than re-buying to correct a mistake.
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Apr 13, 2009 01:33
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Walked posted:And back to my router questioning. Is the Festool OF 1010 worth the price bump to $370? It seems to get the best reviews possible, have much better micro adjustments (not vital, but would be nice for my primary uses), and seems to be oriented towards freehand work the best (my primary purpose). Festool stuff is worth the money if you have the money to spend. If I couldn't buy the 1010 and the big guy, I would go for the 1040, as the 1010 can't take a 1/2" collet. I'd love to have some of their tools, but alas I do not. To put my current situation into perspective, last week I bough a montgomery ward radial arm saw for $35.
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Apr 13, 2009 03:47
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Festool is the Mercedes of home woodworking. Like GE said, if you have the money to spend you won't be disappointed. You would be better off getting the Dewalt if you can't afford to get the larger router from Festool, though. You definitely want a 1/2 collet. The bits with 1/2" shanks tend to have less chatter and so take smoother cuts. One of the big selling points of Festool is the system they've developed. Everything they make works better with something else they make, and seeing some of the videos they put out is really neat. Dust collection with any of their tools and one of the vacuums they sell is unmatched as far as I'm aware. If I had the cash to blow I'd have one of everything they make, just because I love gadgets, and holy gently caress is Festool gadgety.
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Apr 13, 2009 04:18
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SkunkDuster posted:Fancy tools I would be too scared I would scratch it to actually use them in my shop. For me its all function over form for the shop.
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Apr 13, 2009 19:01
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Noting the big planter box tree, has anyone else built containers/planters? My wife and I are moving soon and I'm planning a container garden for our front porch. It's an apartment so assume that level of hand tools. Work area will be the front porch. I do have access to Home Depot or similar stores to get major cuts done. I don't think I'll do anything fancy, just screwed in corner braces and the like. Now, if I go hog-wild and build an all wood planter box, what do I do about moisture? Seems like untreated wood would rot pretty quickly, treated wood might be bad for foodstuffs. I'm thinking line it in plastic and work the plastic out the drainage holes so no water gets in the layer in between. My basic idea however is to take a cheap-as-I-can-get outdoors Rubbermaid type container and build a wooden frame for it to sit in as support (a few of these in differing sizes) and put it on casters so I can move it around. Based on experience these things don't hold up well to the pressure of soil and water on their own. I'm thinking two rectangular ones and at least one square one, the rectangular ones may need additional support with a rod bolted across the middle. I'd totally love some suggestions and feedback.
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Apr 16, 2009 16:39
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Rubbermaid liner sounds like a good idea. Cypress even unfinished will hold up for several years in direct contact with soil. Finally got out in the shop and had time to do something. Box, cedar and maple. One coat of sanding sealer. Don't have any hinges yet. I think I may use this as a small tackle box for crappie and other sunfish, it's big enough. It'll give me a reason to finally practice making divider trays. 
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Apr 20, 2009 20:36
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Just a "broad" question, if I were to build up a fairly small shop of power tools. If I was looking for the following items, by priority, is it possible to be "brand loyal," meaning could I basically find a good brand a stick to it for ALL these items, without being stupid or losing out somehow? Priority 1: Router, Table Saw, Drill Press, RO Sander P2: Jointer, Planer, Laminate Trimmer, Chop Saw, etc. If a single-brand is a reasonable way to go, what brands really fit the bill? Seems like Porter-Cable/Delta are solid? Festool are good but expensive? I'm pretty comfortable with hand-tools, less so with actually buying power tools, so thanks for any input.
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Apr 20, 2009 21:41
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ChaoticSeven posted:Rubbermaid liner sounds like a good idea. Cypress even unfinished will hold up for several years in direct contact with soil.
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Apr 20, 2009 21:43
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Cobalt60 posted:brands You are a marketer's wet dream.
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Apr 21, 2009 03:15
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Cobalt60 posted:Just a "broad" question, if I were to build up a fairly small shop of power tools. If I was looking for the following items, by priority, is it possible to be "brand loyal," meaning could I basically find a good brand a stick to it for ALL these items, without being stupid or losing out somehow? You'd be better served picking and choosing amongst brands. Virtually no brand does everything perfectly, they all have an all star. The Bosch jigsaw and pocket drivers. The Makita drivers. Steel City has a nice drill press with a 6" quill travel. Festool pretty much makes the best sanders hands down, but Bosch also has strong contenders. Routers are a mixed bag. Dewalt has a loving tight plunge and fixed base package, Porter Cable 690's are awesome and cheap fixed base routers. Festool pretty much prices itself out of feasibility versus utility with the routers but they are, once again, fantastic. For my large tools I went with Grizzly because of price and the excellent reviews they get in general. I was able to get a spiral head planer and jointer for less than the normal bladed versions of something like Powermatic. Haven't had a problem out of any of them so far. Would I rather have a $6000 Northfield 10" Jointer? Yep, but won't be able to get one short of winning the non-existant lottery in my state. So yeah, shop around and research. Don't worry about color coordinating the shop.
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Apr 21, 2009 03:36
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Cobalt60 posted:Just a "broad" question, if I were to build up a fairly small shop of power tools. If I was looking for the following items, by priority, is it possible to be "brand loyal," meaning could I basically find a good brand a stick to it for ALL these items, without being stupid or losing out somehow? You can. Most of my power tools are Porter Cable with a smattering of other brands. I'm not really super loyal to Porter Cable but in my experience they make quality tools. In some cases there are good reasons to pick one over another. I wanted a good, fixed base router: Porter Cable; good circular saw: PC again; biscuit joiner: PC hands down. My PC ROS was a gift. I have two PC chop saws, one was a gift, the second one I bought at an auction. I have a Bosch jig saw because that's what Bosch does: make great jigsaws (also I got a good deal on it). I have a Makita cordless drill and I forget the brand of my corded drill, it was a gift also. My tablesaw is a Delta. That was the one I agonized over the longest but after reading a billion reviews it came down to Jet vs Delta; there is a Delta dealer not far from my house and he offered me a good price so I took it. Grizzly and Powermatic were my other options but the Powermatic was much more expensive and Grizzlys weren't as popular back then and I was a little worried about fit and finish. I haven't regretted any of my purchases. The PC random orbital sander flew apart one day while my wife was using it but she tends to use extreme amounts of pressure on things (she deformed the steering wheel in my truck) so I don't know what the gently caress really happened.
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Apr 21, 2009 13:47
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ChaoticSeven posted:You'd be better served picking and choosing amongst brands. Virtually no brand does everything perfectly, they all have an all star. Awesome, this is exactly what I was wondering. Thanks! Also thanks wormil, I'll consider these points when I start my shopping process. GEMorris posted:You are a marketer's wet dream. As a marketer myself, I guess I'm self-sufficient.
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Apr 21, 2009 17:20
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wormil posted:The PC random orbital sander flew apart one day while my wife was using it but she tends to use extreme amounts of pressure on things (she deformed the steering wheel in my truck) so I don't know what the gently caress really happened. I didn't click the woodworking thread expecting a good laugh, but this certainly did it for me. Do you have a picture of that steering wheel?
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Apr 22, 2009 06:24
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SkunkDuster posted:I didn't click the woodworking thread expecting a good laugh, but this certainly did it for me. Do you have a picture of that steering wheel? It's not as exciting as it sounds. Apparently she is a nervous driver and squeezes the wheel with a death grip, she squeezed it so tightly that over time she deformed the plastic. I put a steering wheel cover over it to stop her (hopefully) from making it worse. Her dad, my father-in-law, is the same way. He's always breaking poo poo because he must use maximum force on everything but he can't open a jar of pickles.
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Apr 22, 2009 06:38
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I've got an antique wooden desk with a large surface that comes off by itself. This surface is veneered and in recent months has started peeling and cracking in places (partly due to bad coaster management). A couple weeks ago I spilled some water on it and some of it dripped down through one of the cracks and bubbled out the veneer on the bottom, which made the one leaf start scraping against it. I saw some rolls of veneer in Lowe's the other day, how practical would it be to re-surface the entire top? The top is 5' by 3' and I'd like to re-surface the leaves as well. From googling around it seems the hardest part is getting the old veneer off, but I'd like to re-do the entire surface since I want it to match and it's not exactly in the best of shape everywhere else either.  (Crappy webcam shot) You can't see the bubbles in the picture but they are fairly pronounced (and one has "burst" which is where the water got in from that spill), about 1/8 to 1/4 inch high and 6-8 inches long each.
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Apr 22, 2009 09:38
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If it is antique it will have no value after you re-veneer it, not that it probably has much in the condition it's in. A furniture restorer may be able to repair it and help retain any value the piece one had. If you don't care about that... since it's peeling when wet, it may be hide glue, meaning you can steam the old veneer off or you may try heating the old veneer with a heat gun and see if you can peel it.
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Apr 22, 2009 19:12
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Yeah it doesn't really have much value besides sentimental that I'm worried about. I just want to make it look nice again.
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Apr 22, 2009 21:06
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Cobalt60 posted:Just a "broad" question, if I were to build up a fairly small shop of power tools. If I was looking for the following items, by priority, is it possible to be "brand loyal," meaning could I basically find a good brand a stick to it for ALL these items, without being stupid or losing out somehow? Buy nonmatching machines, debadge, get a gallon of rust-o-leum and a sprayer and then download whichever of these wets your whistle: http://wiki.owwm.com/Default.aspx?Page=Decals&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1 and then make matching decals. Instant matched woodshop.
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Apr 23, 2009 00:55
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I made a box for mah pokemons.   It's my first box, so it got a little hosed up with the partitions. Making the world's most unnecessarily complex butcher block with 1/4 pieces of cherry, maple, and walnut was pretty fun though. I spent a lot of time cutting the 700+ pieces. I'm working on screen-printing a play mat and making brass damage counters to go with it. I don't even really play, I just thought it would be funny to contrast such a childish game with such an adult presentation. Sorry for the crappy photos, some rear end in a top hat stole my camera.
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Apr 23, 2009 17:38
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Now that is awesome.
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Apr 23, 2009 22:13
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I guess this is the best thread for it. I need to get some plywood cut -- I could cut it myself, but I'm sure Home Depot will do a better job. The thing is, the dimensions I need don't really leave any slack room in the 8'x4' sheet. About how much would I lose from Home Depot's cuts on the panel saw? I figure I can lose up to about 1/8" before it will start to matter.
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Apr 26, 2009 13:00
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more falafel please posted:I guess this is the best thread for it. I need to get some plywood cut -- I could cut it myself, but I'm sure Home Depot will do a better job. The thing is, the dimensions I need don't really leave any slack room in the 8'x4' sheet. About how much would I lose from Home Depot's cuts on the panel saw? I figure I can lose up to about 1/8" before it will start to matter. Home Depot won't ever do 'precise' cuts. You're going to lose 1/8" no matter what, as that's the width of the blade itself. If you have a circular saw, it's easy to make precise cuts. You just need a backing board clamped to the board you want to cut. This will keep the blade straight for you. I also usually replace the blade in the saw with one with a higher tooth count. This will reduce the board's want to splinter.
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Apr 26, 2009 17:50
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Alright woodworking goons lets talk DIY CNC machines I have seen some pretty neat homemade CNC machines that are inexpensive. Anyone have any experience making these? How did it go?
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Apr 26, 2009 18:33
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optikalus posted:Home Depot won't ever do 'precise' cuts. You're going to lose 1/8" no matter what, as that's the width of the blade itself. If you have a circular saw, it's easy to make precise cuts. You just need a backing board clamped to the board you want to cut. This will keep the blade straight for you. I also usually replace the blade in the saw with one with a higher tooth count. This will reduce the board's want to splinter. They had 24x48 boards, which is basically what I needed. I also got a Ryobi circular saw on sale for $38, but I think it's too loud to use in my apartment except in the middle of the day, so this will have to wait.
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Apr 27, 2009 01:48
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more falafel please posted:They had 24x48 boards, which is basically what I needed. I also got a Ryobi circular saw on sale for $38, but I think it's too loud to use in my apartment except in the middle of the day, so this will have to wait. Even with a bag to catch dust, if your saw even has one, it will still throw sawdust everywhere. I would recommend cutting in the parking lot or balcony/deck.
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Apr 27, 2009 13:50
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Demolisher posted:Alright woodworking goons lets talk DIY CNC machines I have seen some pretty neat homemade CNC machines that are inexpensive. Anyone have any experience making these? How did it go? I was just reading a bunch about this, but in a forum for guitar builders. http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=10106&sid=aad62bf8effcc4e825580b670f8f4417 Maybe a niche, but there's a few guys who have built their own CNCs from scratch or kits. It looks insane and amazing.
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Apr 27, 2009 17:08
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