Woodworking 101--Tools and Tips

[topcok88]

Git I had looked at the veritas jig but thought Bosch, an up cut spiral bit, dust shroud and the Woodpeckers Jig would be a pretty solid combination. The jig was around $75 - though it was fair but kind of disappointed it is phenolic and not aluminum. I will have to let y’all know my experience with it. My apprehension with the jigs that use drill bits is the drill point. I liked the idea of having both SAE and Metric on one jig and all the offsets. No doubt the veritas is quality though and I’m guessing quick once it’s set up to batch sides out. [emoji481]


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[rrich1]

Git I had looked at the veritas jig but thought Bosch, an up cut spiral bit, dust shroud and the Woodpeckers Jig would be a pretty solid combination. The jig was around $75 - though it was fair but kind of disappointed it is phenolic and not aluminum. I will have to let y’all know my experience with it. My apprehension with the jigs that use drill bits is the drill point. I liked the idea of having both SAE and Metric on one jig and all the offsets. No doubt the veritas is quality though and I’m guessing quick once it’s set up to batch sides out. [emoji481]


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you will like the jig. I have it and it works well. if it was aluminum you can bet it would be 3x as much.

 

[rrich1]

fyi, for those needing a long track saw rail, the 118" rail is $225 shipped from toolnut after $25 makita discount. https://www.toolnut.com/makita-194367-7-118-guide-rail-for-track-saws.html

the festool 118" rail is $385 https://www.toolnut.com/festool-491501-fs-3000-118-guide-rail.html

a lot of places like acme charge for truck freight of that length of rail but toolnut didnt when i got mine a few months ago

 

[jar944]

Was planning on having my new to me jointer in my garage yesterday but it only made it as far as getting on the trailer.

View media item 98493

 

[jar944]

Have you had a chance to use a lipped, brad point drill bit like this one?

The bits out of the hinge/ pin hole machines are carbide tipped brad point bits

Most are 8/10mm shank, but ive seen some with 1/4" shanks

 

[jimreed2160]

Was planning on having my new to me jointer in my garage yesterday but it only made it as far as getting on the trailer.

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Jar -- Get that thing indoors before a plane lands on it. Looks just like an aircraft carrier. Great score.

 

[Duker]

Jar -- Get that thing indoors before a plane lands on it. Looks just like an aircraft carrier. Great score.

Is that a Newman ? Looks like the one my father has in his shop. The head on that machine is so balanced it will run for minutes after the power is off. I joke with him that it will be in my shop before his body is cold! Nice score!


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[ez-duzit]

...The head on that machine is so balanced it will run for minutes after the power is off...

That is due, not to balance, but to the inertia of the large mass.

 

[Duker]

Definitely could be due to some of that. We removed the head to pour new Babbitt bearings and went to balance the head and it was dead on. The head surprising was just a bit smaller than my 16” Moak and my jointer is nowhere as smooth as the Newman even after replacing bearings.

I’m in the midst of looking to replace my jointer with a spiral head. Hoping that solves some vibration issues.


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[ez-duzit]

D--I have the spiral head in my 10" General International.

 

[jar944]

Jar -- Get that thing indoors before a plane lands on it. Looks just like an aircraft carrier. Great score.

8' long with 24"~ wide tables. You can land something on it.

 

[jar944]

Is that a Newman ? Looks like the one my father has in his shop. The head on that machine is so balanced it will run for minutes after the power is off. I joke with him that it will be in my shop before his body is cold! Nice score!


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Yep it's a 1946 newman #60 16" jointer. The heads on these are 5" in diameter and have a lot of inertia.

 

[jar944]

Definitely could be due to some of that. We removed the head to pour new Babbitt bearings and went to balance the head and it was dead on. The head surprising was just a bit smaller than my 16” Moak and my jointer is nowhere as smooth as the Newman even after replacing bearings.

I’m in the midst of looking to replace my jointer with a spiral head. Hoping that solves some vibration issues.


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Didnt realize there were Newman's that were babbitt. This one being later is oil bath ball bearings.

I just found a 24" crescent as well....

 

[jar944]

5 hours to get it off the trailer and in to position.
View media item 98520

 

[acer66]

Congrats, that jointer looks great.

 

[acer66]

I need to build some raised panel cabinet doors and need to get the needed router bits.

Any recommendations for a set?

Thank you.

 

[Toolfool]

Haven't looked at their sets, but I've been buying all my router bits from toolstoday.com for a few years now.

 

[acer66]

Haven't looked at their sets, but I've been buying all my router bits from toolstoday.com for a few years now.

I will check them out, wanted to with whiteside since they are NC based but they are bit to pricey for a small job like this.

 

[RKA]

Infinity tools maybe?

 

[jar944]

If its a one off small job, ive used no name import bits with good results.

 

[jar944]

Congrats, that jointer looks great.

Thanks. It had a good life.

This was from two owners previous to my purchase:

"I acquired this machine in the Spring of 2005 in a GSA surplus sale. The sale liquidated the tools in the woodworking shop at the U.S. Soldiers & Airmens Home in Washington, DC. The home is a retirement facility for enlisted members of the military who served in active campaigns. The shop being closed was part of the maintenance facility (there is a separate recreational wood shop for the residents). The retirement home was opened in 1851 to receive retiring servicemen from the Mexican War. As such there is a lot of old door and sash work that must be matched during renovations. This wood shop produced that custom work. They also made various cabinetry and furniture throughout the facility. A woodshop has been on site since the late 1800s and this specific building was erected in the 1940s. Much of the machinery in the shop dates to that time (the 40s). (One exception is the Leland & Faulconer trimmer I also acquired which dates to the late 1800s. See this entry: http://www.owwm.com/PhotoIndex/detail.asp?ID=2570 )

The Newman jointer is all original with factory supplied fence and cutterhead guard. It is also equipped with the optional outfeed table eccentric shaft. The machine is direct-motor-drive with a 5HP, 3PH motor running at 3600 RPM. The cutterhead has three knives, thus producing 10,800 cuts per minute. The motor/cutterhead/bearing assembly is mounted in a massive, single-piece casting that can be easily aligned to the table. The base also contains an integral dust chute (all cast iron) that completely enshrouds the cutterhead opening, providing exceptional dust/shavings handling. Also cast into the base on the "two-toed" side is a box to house the motor controls, making further drilling/tapping of the castings unneccesary.

From end-to-end the jointer measures 96". The fence is very impressive at 55" long and is ALL cast iron (it's a bear to pick up). The infeed table is raised and lowered using the large 19" dia handwheel. Moving the table is nearly effortless!

While removing the machine from the facility, I was greeted by the former foreman of the shop. He rummaged through some cabinets and produced a cloth satchel that had three factory-fresh blades for the jointer! They appear to have been originally supplied with the jointer as they are engraved "Balanced" with the corresponding slot number.

I've placed the jointer in my shop and given it a quick "Test-drive". The bearings run smooth. I'm also pleasantly surprised at how quiet it is. With a 5" dia cutterhead, I expected slightly more wind noise. The spin down is also quite impressive as it takes well over a minute for the cutterhead to come to a complete stop! All in all, it's quite a step up from the Delta 8" it replaces.

I'm thrilled with my purchase and very proud to have a machine in my shop that spent its "working years" helping to maintain the final home of so many of our country's heroes!"

 

[topcok88]

Spent a little time this morning modeling up a under table saw extension wing storage cabinet. I have the casters and hardware in my possession. The drawer slides and edge banding should be here in the early part of next week. And I plan to go get some plywood tomorrow after I get a cut list together and if the weather is fair. I haven’t been the best at planning my week off when I wanted to get a few projects done. I was kind of hoping to get a new table saw out feed table made but I don’t know if that will be happening.


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[acer66]

I always look to see what Whiteside has to offer first. I have purchased a lot of tooling from Carbide Processors and they used to offer a 10% discount with the promo code 'creekers' (not sure if they still do or not). But there a lot of good manufacturers - Freud, Infinity, etc

http://www.carbideprocessors.com/whiteside/cabinet-making-router-bits/raised-panel-router-bits/

Keep in mind, with raised panel doors, you have two options with the actual raised panel. Do you want the panel to be the same thickness as the rails and styles or are you going to go with a thinner panel that will only be flush on the front? (It's a personal preference sort of thing and probably most people go with the thinner panel and the back is completely flat.)

If you do want a thicker panel, you need to get a bit with a back cutter (you can also do it with a separate bit in a later operation, but a back cutter makes it easier). Again, most people don't go this route, just be aware of it when you make your choice

Here is a pretty good video that shows the back cutter

Thank you.

 

[HenryAZ]

5 hours to get it off the trailer and in to position.
View media item 98520

Great size for a jointer. The shop where I worked for 25 years had an 8", a 12", and a 24". The 12" was the real workhorse, for jointing and facing rough hardwood lumber mostly. The one thing that was easier on the 8" was rabbeting.

 

[topcok88]

Got some time to test out some new tools and work on my under table saw extension wing storage. First time using the TS55 - honestly don’t know what took me so long to buy a track saw. Breaking down the sheet goods was a breeze and much safer that using my cabinet saw. The cut is near finish quality and most certainly could be edge banded immediately following the cut. Very pleased to say the least.



Here is what I like to do for casters on ply cases - elevator bolts and a little drilling template to get them even all around. The elevator bolts are thin so they don’t hinder drawers.


And here it is nested nicely under the extension wing. The 28” drawer slides were just delivered, I need to add some ply to the top to keep the sled in place, build the drawers and throw some wipe on finish. I plan on finishing it soon so I can get the out feed table built. The current out feed table isn’t in casters and is a pain to work around.



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[jar944]

Great size for a jointer. The shop where I worked for 25 years had an 8", a 12", and a 24". The 12" was the real workhorse, for jointing and facing rough hardwood lumber mostly. The one thing that was easier on the 8" was rabbeting.

I'd like a 24, but really barely have extra space for this 16".

I got tired of waiting for the vfd to be delivered so I pulled one off another machine and powered it up.

 

[txlonghorn1989]

...

I got tired of waiting for the vfd to be delivered so I pulled one off another machine and powered it up.
...

Wow! What a machine! Purrs like a kitten or maybe a badass tiger! Very nice!

 

[topcok88]

top - that is coming right along. I will have to say that Incra is one company that has never let me down. (I have never had a better table saw fence then their TS-LS system)

ps - when that clear splinter guard starts to fall off of your Festool Track, and they are notorious for it, consider replacing it with the Makita one

Thank you Git. Between Incremental Tools and Woodpeckers Precision I don’t know if there are better woodworking specific companies out there. They both have excellent products albeit expensive but I never feel like I didn’t get what I paid for. I’m really hoping to get the rest of my shop projects done soon so I can move onto a entertainment console for my living room. And I will keep the Makita Edge in mind. I ordered a FastCap storage solution for the rail. I need to go buy the FS3000 rail and some of those Woodpeckers rail guides. It would have been nice doing everything with the track saw today.


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[acer66]

I saw this posting on the Festool Owners Group yesterday and this is one of the main reasons that turned me into a Festool hater/bigot

So this guy is selling his Kapex miter saw for $150. The back story is that these saws sell currently sell for $1,460 brand new, although this guy bought his several years ago and probably paid around $1,300.

The problem is the Kapex had a known problem with the motor burning out and Festool totally ignored it - much like the guy who ruined his Festool Jigsaw I posted about because he hit a metal screw.

The cost to repair these saws, and there were dozens of complaints, is close to $600! Well you can buy just about any non-Festool Miter saw for that much money and that is what a lot of people ended up doing.

Now, I will say that Festool did help some people with the cost of repairs, but they still had to pay for shipping which isn't cheap on a miter saw. But, they never did what a lot of people felt they should have done (me included). Recall all the saws and upgrade the motors with the new parts that Festool released in the last year or two or offer an extended warranty for free.

Yes, Festool now has a 'new' Kapex where they have upgraded the motor and made some cosmetic type changes to the base, leaving their existing customers who bought the old one blowing in the wind... Not how a 'designer' tool brand should be operating

If you go to Amazon and look at the reviews, here is one of the first ones that shows up:

Shame on Festool...

I am not making a case for Festool, afaik they dropped the ball on this one.
I just do not understand why you put all this energy into this.
I myself have quite a list of never ever again companies and I will chime in if the topic would arise
but besides that I am done with them.
It is just not worth my time, gets me in a bad mood and spoils things for others.
I do not know if you are active in the “how to put it behind you” thread,
I think there are some good pointers in there.
Just to make sure, I am not telling you what to do just sharing some thoughts.

 

[acer66]

I ordered a FastCap storage solution for the rail. I need to go buy the FS3000 rail and some of those Woodpeckers rail guides.


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Are these the ones you are talking about?
https://www.fastcap.com/product/track-rack

If so please post how good they are.

 

[topcok88]

Are these the ones you are talking about?

https://www.fastcap.com/product/track-rack



If so please post how good they are.

Yes those are the ones! I will post some pictures and let everyone know if they are worth the $20. It’s gotta be better than leaning it against the wall or laying on the bench haha.

I also ordered the FastEdge kit and 250’ of black FastEdge 15/16”. Looking forward to trying out the system. If it works well it will be a lot better than ironing..

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[ez-duzit]

...That pork chop guard has to be annoying as far out as it rotates- I wonder if you could fit a 'euro style' type guard instead?

That "pork chop" guard is much easier to use than the euro.

...when that clear splinter guard starts to fall off of your Festool Track, and they are notorious for it, consider replacing it with the Makita one...

Don't know about a clear one, but the original black one is still working fine on the TS55 I bought used ~7 years ago.

 

[ez-duzit]

...On the Euro, you simply set the height of the guard with the black knob...

With the standard guard there's nothing to adjust. Just push the board through.

 

[HenryAZ]

I got tired of waiting for the vfd to be delivered so I pulled one off another machine and powered it up.

Very nice machine. I didn't catch that it was a 16".

You face lumber differently than the way I always did. We would get our hardwoods into the shop with 4/4" being about 1 1/16" in the rough, and I would face them with the cupped side down (as long as you have a jointer wide enough to take the entire width of the board). This would give me two flat edges to run through the planer, which would then make a nice flat surface on the round side of the board, sometimes for the whole width, sometimes most of the width. Then flip it over and run the cupped side up, and so on until I had a finished thickness that was flat on both sides. I always aimed for 13/16" finished thickness.

Facing the edges minimizes loss of thickness in the middle, I always found. Working with a rough width piece, more often than not the outside edges could later be ripped off, if they got too thin.

 

[topcok88]

Yea I got the email this morning. That’s actually how I bought my LS positions a few years back. Good deal seeing as they don’t run sales for the larger package items except for the December sale.


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[jonshonda]

We are looking to replace our boring flat hollow core interior doors with some raised panel style solid core doors. My question is, do I need to match wood species for the existing wood trim to look good with the new wood doors. If I have oak trim, do I need to order oak doors? I do plan on staining the doors myself, just don't know if mixing species would look odd.

 

[ez-duzit]

j--mixing species is a poor choice.

 

[topcok88]

So I started working on drawers today. Went with 3/4” PureBond Maple ply sides with 1/2” PureBond Birch ply bottom. For those of you who don’t know or haven’t used WhiteSides undersized ply router bits I suggest you do. Partnered with the Incra positioner and router lift it is a quick and easy combination. It easier and faster for me to set the router up as opposed to the table saw.
Next up I used a couple dominos for alignment, Titebond 3 and one or two pocket holes for some clamping pressure. I had typically used the WhiteSide locking drawer joint bit but wanted to use my new tools instead. Very impressed so far with the fit and finish. And the two drawers are secured with 28” K&V full extension drawer slides. Went for a 1/2” reveal to match the sides. Just need to finish the drawer fronts and pick up a couple of handles.


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[jar944]

Very nice machine. I didn't catch that it was a 16".

You face lumber differently than the way I always did. We would get our hardwoods into the shop with 4/4" being about 1 1/16" in the rough, and I would face them with the cupped side down (as long as you have a jointer wide enough to take the entire width of the board). This would give me two flat edges to run through the planer, which would then make a nice flat surface on the round side of the board, sometimes for the whole width, sometimes most of the width. Then flip it over and run the cupped side up, and so on until I had a finished thickness that was flat on both sides. I always aimed for 13/16" finished thickness.

Facing the edges minimizes loss of thickness in the middle, I always found. Working with a rough width piece, more often than not the outside edges could later be ripped off, if they got too thin.

Sometimes i do it that way, just depends on what i started with and the end goal.

 

[topcok88]

Got the drawer fronts installed with pulls and the poplar edging dry fit.


I used the DF500 to put one 13+ mortise in the center of the plywood top and two additional on each side for alignment at 19+. The center provides locating side to side locating. Then I made a line on the back of the edging to show where to sneak up to with the miter. I used my Miter5000 and it made it a breeze fitting the miter corner. The dominos made sure I was always in the right spot alignment wise without the use of clamps - makes it a really fast process.


I will glue it up a little bit later. I contemplating a wipe on poly finish and I still need to route a few slots on the top for the sled runners to drop into. That way the sled will sit in the same place every time and be somewhat secured when moving it around.


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