Wood workers..... table saws and other equipment....

So I went to the office/shop in Hartsville Friday to check mail and weld the shield on the tiller. While there I dug in the scrap bin and found a temp solution. Needs to be slightly longer but it works.
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So it has become very clear that I needed a planer. I have a source for cheap/free white oak and I have this old oak floor to learn with.
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You will probably never need another saw, had mine and abused the hell out of it for over 20 years and still going strong.

X2. I bought a fancy Bosch slider last year. Still throw the old dewalt compound in the truck if I'm going somewhere to do a project. Lighter, smaller, cuts great, and bombproof.
 
New from Bosch....

About the dumbest tool I have seen. Would not have been as surprised to find this at Harbor Freight.

 
Transgender saw? Not sure what it is.....but the little tabs and gadgets, levers and a lot of plastic....this is what really turned me off on all the Lowe's and Home Depot offerings I looked at. I get the whole portable lighter gig. But they just don't look like a saw that will last 5 to 10 years in that use.
I bought a Bosch hammer drill that came with a grinder. Both have been used. Neither abused. Both already are showing weakness. The bearings in the grinder are getting noisey, it does not have the power of a much older dewalt, and older then that craftsman I stumbled on. The drill is worse. The SDS Chuck works good, adapting to standard chuck is great.....neither will pull a bit at the drills rated capacity without slipping. This tells me the main clutch is failing or not properly seating. Hammer mode acts fine.
My Bosch router, fairly happy. Build has some finicky plastic that still bugs me.
 
So....I've been looking at track saws for a couple of months. Got to use a Dewalt for a few cuts, and later borrowed a Festool for a couple of weeks. I was leaning towards the Makita or Dewalt corded saws (I didn't want to get into yet another different battery system).

Long story short, I got a universal track (www.truetracsaw.com) and mounted the plate to a left-bladed skilsaw that I had. Put a new 60T Freud ultra-finish blade on it. Only done some test cuts with it so far, but right now, I like it as good as the two true plunge track saw that I tried out.

Not at all bad for the money, especially if you have a spare saw sitting around to dedicate to it. $289 for a set of 48" and 57" tracks and the adapter plate.
 
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We are working on trim in the Mother in Laws house and the old 10” would not cut the shoe molding so of course I had to get a 12”.


I just upgraded to this same saw yesterday. Replaced my old 10” B&D that has been going strong for the last 15 years. Unfortunately it had to be replaced because someone stole it (and other tools) last week at the job site.

used it for a good portion of the day today. Seems to be a decent saw and out performs my old 10” saw. Simple, easy to use, and no stupid gadgets to get in the way.
 
I've got the basics. A table saw, jigsaw, miter saw, circular saw, and a plunge router. The way I see wood working tools is a lot like mechanic-ing in the garage. You can loosen lug nuts with a tire iron or breaker bar and socket but upgrade to the ugga dugga and life gets easier.

You don't have to have a dado blade set. Just use the table saw to make a shit ton of cuts to make your finger joints. It's doable. I've got a hand planer but I would really like a big electric unit. As that my woodworking is hit and miss. I'll more than likely wait until I get more serious before ponying up for more specialized equipment. I think you'd be surprised the results you can achieve with a little patience and proper measuring.
 
I have been decades without a nice table saw sled. Everyone I have had has been something cobbled up in a hurry because the old one fell apart, couldn't find it, cut it up for something else, etc.

So today, this happened:

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36 wide, 24 deep front to back. T tracks on the base for clamping down small/odd pieces, t-track rails on the front fence for length stops, etc. Wood part of the fence is screwed and glued in place. The t-track extrusion will be shimmed to square with the blade.

Still got to glue/screw the back piece on, and cut the slot. Pencil line down the center, between the clamps, is the centerline of the kerf. Clamps will stay clear it by 1/4" each side.

That one t-track is shorter because I used some leftover pieces that I had laying around.
 
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Nice sled. I like the t track


I just took apart a 30 year old sled that was heavy and no sure if it was square.

used a runner to construct a miter sled.
 
I have no idea what a sled is or why it's needed. I guess I'll have to send google some ad money.....
 
I have no idea what a sled is or why it's needed. I guess I'll have to send google some ad money.....

A sled do a few things for you.

You can cross-cut wider boards that won't fit on a miter saw. The sled I made here can cross-cut up to 21" wide boards, cabinet doors, etc.

You can also cut very small pieces, since you can clamp parts in place. Try shaving a 1/16 off a 1"x1"x1" cube any other way.

The kerf works as a zero-clearance insert, reducing tear-out.

With length stops, it's easy to make multiple parts that are exactly the same length (which is just as easy with a stop on a miter saw, but probably less chance of workpiece binding between blade and stop.

Properly made and setup, it will always be dead-nuts square to the blade. Hard to always return a miter saw to *exactly* 90 degrees without some checking and double-checking.
 
A sled do a few things for you.

You can cross-cut wider boards that won't fit on a miter saw. The sled I made here can cross-cut up to 21" wide boards, cabinet doors, etc.

You can also cut very small pieces, since you can clamp parts in place. Try shaving a 1/16 off a 1"x1"x1" cube any other way.

The kerf works as a zero-clearance insert, reducing tear-out.

With length stops, it's easy to make multiple parts that are exactly the same length (which is just as easy with a stop on a miter saw, but probably less chance of workpiece binding between blade and stop.

Properly made and setup, it will always be dead-nuts square to the blade. Hard to always return a miter saw to *exactly* 90 degrees without some checking and double-checking.
I just purchased a table saw and have plans to build a sled similar to yours.
What did you use for your base? 3/4 ply?
Saw people use a few different things.
Did you add the measuring tape to the track?

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I just purchased a table saw and have plans to build a sled similar to yours.
What did you use for your base? 3/4 ply?
Saw people use a few different things.
Did you add the measuring tape to the track?

Sent from my SM-G981V using Tapatal
Was going to put on a measuring tape, but after reading the online reviews of even the "good" sticky tapes like the Starrett, they tend to either not be accurate out of the box, or shrink over time after installed. I tried finding a nice aluminum laser etched rule I could inset, but didn't find one I liked that was cheap enough.

I used some 3/4 chineseum plywood from lowes. They call it "Top Choice 3/4-in Whitewood". #520360 MDF would have been good, but knew in my shop it would go thru temperature and humidity swings. I think it will stay flat -- with the aluminum t-tracks going the short direction, and layered/glued 3/4 ply for the front fence and back support.
 
I am actually using this on my jobsite-size table saw. So I don't dump it on the floor at either end of the travel, I used an aluminum track that keys into the t-slot on the saw table.

Amazon link: Amazon product ASIN B07JYD4H52
 
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The saw I bought is a job site as well.
Had not read up on the the tapes just saw them on YouTube. I could see them being junky. Mines in the garage so temp swings as well. One day I pan to move to the basement and wall off an area. Maybe then.

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Was going to put on a measuring tape, but after reading the online reviews of even the "good" sticky tapes like the Starrett, they tend to either not be accurate out of the box, or shrink over time after installed. I tried finding a nice aluminum laser etched rule I could inset, but didn't find one I liked that was cheap enough.

 
A nice/fancy sled is great, but fast/cheap/disposable ones are great as well. You won't care as much if you need to cut a 20* miter and effectively ruin a sled.

In either case, a table saw with a sled will be a lot more accurate and flexible than anything else.
 
I didn't know I needed any of those, and here I am with 3 in my cart. 👍

Plus these are slick:
 
I think SKIL 3410-02 10-Inch Table Saw is best for hobbyist and beginners. It comes with the blade of carbide and not much costly.
One important thing that i got to know from an article(read) on different table saw is that The cutting capability of a table saw will let you know how much size of the wooden piece you can cut by using this saw.
So choose accordingly.


I love a blade of carbide, Ana Smith from The USA. Those are the best.
 
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