I don't much like ripping sheets of thin stock, quarter inch ply for drawer bottoms for example with a circular saw but heavier and stiffer sheets are a real bear to wrestle about even on a good sized cabinet saw.
This time of year is a bit more trouble but in the summer I have a table out on the patio which is just a sheet of 3/4ths plywood on folding legs. It is getting a fair bit warped now but I don't mind a little shallow neck or two in it if necessary. Just now there is about a foot of snow on it and enough around it that there will be a bit of work preparing the area to work on it and besides it is minus 20C, not conducive to setting and clamping guides. I do it if I must but frequently discover reasons why I must not. Dale Leavens, Cochrane Ontario Canada [EMAIL PROTECTED] Skype DaleLeavens Come and meet Aurora, Nakita and Nanook at our polar bear habitat. ----- Original Message ----- From: Bob Kennedy To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com Sent: Sunday, December 16, 2007 10:50 AM Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] tips, tricks, and knowledge When I got cut with a friend's chain saw, everyone in the emergency room wanted to put in their 2 cents worth about how I shouldn't be running a chain saw. After about the third person, and I was in a good bit of pain so I didn't care much about politeness I asked if I had forgotten and asked for their opinion... I told the one doctor I wasn't running the saw, a person that can see was running it and bumped me with the chain. Any lectures for him? Of course that causes them to back up because someone else caused the problem. When I need something to catch the wood on the outfeed side, I drag my bench there. I built the bench about a half inch shorter than the saw and the wood slides right on the bench. I know for some this will sound like a lot of work but space is limited and I can't see a shop without a bench. I can see a shop without roller stands though. The bench won't move or tip over when the wood is sliding on the top. I don't care much for ripping sheets of ply wood on the saw anyway. I have a 40 tooth blade on the circular saw and that makes as smooth an edge as I could want. Of course that will start the whole topic of guides again and that is something each has to make work in their own way. ----- Original Message ----- From: Matt To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com Sent: Sunday, December 16, 2007 10:08 AM Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] tips, tricks, and knowledge Hi dale. You use the fence, and the pusher, which most sighted people will throw aside. I am not great with large sheets of wood, but they have roller stands, saw horses and all that which you can try as props for the wood. I have two roller stands which someone gave me. I haven't used them enough yet to tell you if they are good, but the man who gave them to me is an experienced wood turner and he gave them to me because he didn't like them. If that's any help. You use your fence, and pusher, and you learn to keep your hand away from the blade. Set up your wood, and bring it up to the blade and figure out where you are going to cut and all that before you hit the power button. Of course, don't have the wood against the blade when you power on. I am on my second table saw now and it has a nice fence which clamps onto a moving piece, so that you can roll it or push it up to where you want it, then lock it down. My first saw had a clamp on piece which was really lousy! You can experiment with the blade height. I read a good message on here about that already. I took my blade guard off, it kept flopping around, and getting pushed up, then dropping and things like that while I was cutting and it got on my nerves. I cut a hole in the first one, because it fell down over the blade in the middle of a cut. I find it easier to gage my cuts when I am setting them up if that thing is not in the way. If this is wrong of me, I am open to discussion and slapping it back on there though. My band saw was more dangerous for me, because the big table saw demands respect and the little band saw looks so easy to deal with. hahahahah, Always respect all power tools I guess! Emergency room desk people are not at all funny when you are sitting there with a cut finger trying to explain what happened. What do they know? hahahahah Matt [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
