http://www.sawmillcreek.org/blog.php Sawmill Creek Woodworkers Forums en Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:35:52 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.sawmillcreek.org/blog.php http://www.sawmillcreek.org/blog.php?b=108 Mon, 01 Mar 2010 18:10:42 GMT Last Tuesday my new Grizzly G0691 arrived to much fanfare (at least by me) as this was going to be a massive upgrade for me. My previous saw was a Craftsman 315.228390, which was actually a pretty decent saw, but I was ready for something a bit bigger and a little more stable. Anyways - on to the... Last Tuesday my new Grizzly G0691 arrived to much fanfare (at least by me) as this was going to be a massive upgrade for me. My previous saw was a Craftsman 315.228390, which was actually a pretty decent saw, but I was ready for something a bit bigger and a little more stable. Anyways - on to the whole reviewing process.

To the point: Reviews that don't get to the point annoy me; so in a nutshell... This is a great saw for the price. Minor issues like the fence face not being flat, the extension table being a little flimsy, the above table dust collection not being great, and the stamped steel arbor wrenches sucking are just that... Minor issues; and not issues that are worth an additional $700-1000 of my money. If you're in the market for a quality cabinet saw that has a solid t-square fence on 7' rails, with a riving knife... and only have $1500 to spend, then this saw should make your list for review.


Ordering / Shipping / Delivery: Three complaints here; and only one of them would be major (and not against Grizzly).

The ordering process hit the same snag others have hit. Internet site allowed me to order something they apparently didn't have, or didn't have ready at the time. We got it sorted out at the end of the day, but this caused me some grief as I had a project coming up and had already sold my saw.

I'm not sure what happened here but the invoices clearly showed what number I wanted to be contacted at. Unfortunately UPS got a number other than that; and I missed the appointment confirmation call. I would never have known I needed to setup an appointment either. We only figured this out when I called UPS trying to figure out when my saw was showing up...

Delivery was the major complaint. The damage to the main crate was pretty brutal. It looked like the crates were drug behind a train all the way from Springfield. The delivery guy even asked me if I thought it would be OK if it had tipped... Not sure what that means but the angle adjust shaft had a big chunk of cardboard in it, like it was a giant hole puncher! I'm really impressed there was no damage to the saw itself. My dust collector didn't fare as well, unfortunately. I believe Grizzly is working on getting me a replacement part for that now.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/picture....pictureid=3026

Assembly:

When the saw arrived we pulled everything out and made sure everything was OK, and that we had everything. The first thing I noticed was the arbor wrenches. They were stamped steel and very cheap looking. Nothing like the ones pictured in the online user manual... Speaking of the manual, this was missing from my stack of goodies. Searched high and low, but it was nowhere to be found. Funny because I was told this was the reason why the saw was originally listed as a back ordered product.

Assembly took about 4-5hrs with my brother helping me out. He's not the most mechanically inclined person and basic tool precision is completely lost on him. He couldn't figure out why I was so adamant about the extension wings being flush and level with the top... Apparently in his world it is ok for the wings to hang 1/8 lower than the main top. lol. Once the saw was assembled we called it a night. I'd save tuning/calibrating for the weekend.


Tuning/Calibrating:

This past Friday I began to tune the saw up, and calibrate it as best I could. The first thing I checked was the miter slot. It was actually off by about 1/16" going towards the back of the blade. Looking at it now I believe this probably happened with the saw was tipped by the delivery guy. This was easily adjusted; but I didn't have a good way of testing it with my dial indicator so I just used my combination square. I to build a jig for my dial indicator this week though and really hone this in.

The riving knife required no adjusting on my part; except for loosening the center screw so that it slides in and out without a lot of work. I don't recall if the manual states this or not - but they should definitely mention loosening this screw and then tightening it to taste. I could easily see someone hurting themselves by trying to install this with the screw torqued down, slipping and running a hand across a very sharp saw blade (which probably shouldn't even be on the saw yet, but you know how people are...)

The required some adjusting but overall seemed to be pretty close. The face wasn't dead flat, but based on reviews... I wasn't expecting as much. I contacted Grizzly regardless, and I believe they are shipping me replacements when they arrive.


Operating:

Once I got everything tuned up I ran a piece of 3/4 ply through the machine to make sure nothing was going to explode or destroy a decent piece of wood. It chewed through it with no problem at all, just as I expected. I ran a 48x12 piece of 8/4 rock maple through the saw and it never once bogged down. Not even the slightest groan, I was totally impressed by this. I got some burning but I believe this was because I didn't feed the board fast enough. The first couple of runs I was being really cautious; as I wanted to listen/watch for any potential problems.

The pulley to move the blade up and down runs really smooth, and only takes about 8 cranks to fully raise or lower the blade. On my old saw I measured this in time, rather than rotations... if that tells you anything. :)

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/picture....pictureid=3027

The dust collection seems to be adequate enough for my needs, but the collection at the throat plate is a bit lacking. The saw tends to send dust up at an arch towards the operator, which was a little distracting at first. I don't know if my using a ZCI with it is part of the reason or not. I can see myself investing in an overhead DC system at some point though.

I haven't really tested out the cabinet collection much yet though. I ran it several times without the DC unit engaged, so I'll need to clean it out to be fair. Right now I'm just happy to see dust in one central area, rather than all over my garage.

So far I'm quite happy with my purchase and I'm really looking forward to how much a difference this saw will make in all of my projects. I have some cabinets to make for the garage soon - so I'll have to follow up with this post at that time.


Additional Gloat: To accompany this saw I also picked up a Forrest Woodworker II blade, and a Forrest Dado King. The WWII has lived up to its hype, and I can't wait till I can put the dado king to use. ]]> Rob Hough http://www.sawmillcreek.org/blog.php?b=108 http://www.sawmillcreek.org/blog.php?b=107 Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:55:47 GMT Hello to anyone that may be reading this. My name is Rob Hough and I'm a woodworking beginner. During the day I work in the I.T. field at a desk, I also enjoy playing World of Warcraft, smoking good cigars, and playing guitar in the band Devil To Pay

To say I am green would be an understatement. I really have no experience, at all... I took shop class in like 7th or 8th grade, that was over 20yrs ago now (yikes, I can't believe I'm able to say that), but little beyond that.

A couple of years ago I fell into the same trap I'm sure a lot of guys fall into... The old "I'm not going to pay that amount of money for something I can make myself for an eighth of the cost!"

Yup - those fateful words are what got me started. I bought myself a Ryobi mitersaw, a horribly pathetic B&D drill, some 2x4's and wood glue. My checking account has been declining ever since.

I now own a Grizzly 6" jointer, a 15" Grizzly Bandsaw, a Ridgid 13" planer, a couple of routers, a stationary belt sand, and a brand new Grizzly G0691 tablesaw.

With all that said, let the adventures begin! ]]> Rob Hough http://www.sawmillcreek.org/blog.php?b=107 http://www.sawmillcreek.org/blog.php?b=106 Sun, 21 Feb 2010 23:09:43 GMT http://www.plantasymaderasgardenbenches.com/1/post/2009/10/post-title-click-and-type-to-edit3.html Thanks for looking Gene Crain plantasymaderas.com http://www.plantasymaderasgardenbenc...-to-edit3.html

Thanks for looking


Gene Crain
plantasymaderas.com ]]> Gene Crain http://www.sawmillcreek.org/blog.php?b=106 http://www.sawmillcreek.org/blog.php?b=105 Tue, 02 Feb 2010 03:57:02 GMT In my day job I handle trim and built-ins. I do a lot of different stuff and this weekend was no different. During a complex 3 piece crown (another story about ceilings 6” off plane, major scribing and spring angle changes every piece it seemed) the Architect remarked that matching the existing... In my day job I handle trim and built-ins. I do a lot of different stuff and this weekend was no different. During a complex 3 piece crown (another story about ceilings 6” off plane, major scribing and spring angle changes every piece it seemed) the Architect remarked that matching the existing railing (Made around the turn of the century) was going to cost x amount and take a huge amount of time. Not being one to miss a cash income I offered to match the rail for 200 bucks less and beat the lead-time by 3 weeks. Yes I whined about the rail when hand scraping but after mounting the rail I thought I was headed down hill. The pickets were ¾” x 1 1/8” and I was ripping them from rough sawn oak air dried for a zillion years. I had these off cuts from a pile I bought a few months ago that were longer then my storage so I cut a few down to size and stacked the off cuts (roughly 42” long)

Now to take rough stock down the plan was to cut a straight line, use that to cut the wide pieces down to size some more (most of this stuff is from 10 ½” to 14”) and work around the any bad wood. So I cut and cut and cut and cut and cut some more until I had a good sized pile of wood that was a little over 7/8” thick and ranged from 2” to 2 1/8” thick. The next step was to cut one side down with another straight side. Not a bad task with a 40” strip of oak against an 8 ft straight fence. In the course of doing this I usually have someone help catching as I feed wood through the table saw. During this I was alone and had to reach over the saw to grab the cut piece while the scrap fell to the floor. Now I’m the first to admit that even as old as I am I scared of my power tools and yes I’m ok with that. I use custom push sticks, think before each cut and generally keep my hands, fingers and body the hell away from moving parts when operating machinery. That so far has kept all my parts attached to me and allowed me to return home to the wife at the end of the day without a side trip to have parts sewn back on.

I’m being of so careful at the jobsite by myself even killing the saw when I start ripping a new piece of wood while I study the piece looking for issues or such that might offer a nasty surprise in the middle of a cut. I figure an on/off switch is cheaper then finding a problem in the middle of a cut. I even remind myself that repetitive cuts are the ones that cause problems as you relax in the middle of something like cutting 50 zillion pickets. So every cut is approached just like it’s the first one. Of course even with all your careful planning you can’t just account for Murphy. Like when he showed up and I dropped one of those pieces of oak 40” long 7/8” of an inch thick and 1 ¾” wide into the running table saw blade.

Now in ones life there are life changing events and then there are life changing events and dropping that chunk of wood into a spinning 10” saw blade was a life changing events. I don’t think the human mind can follow the progress as a chunk of matter is accelerated past the speed of light and using some sort of string theory god partial science to just materialize suddenly sticking out of a door. Ok so it was a hollow core door but a piece of wood just appearing, sticking out of a door is pretty mind blowing event in my world. But the cause and its effect was one and same as one moment in time the wood is falling from my hand and the exact same moment it appears in the door. Of course when one drops a chuck of wood into a spinning blade one just doesn’t stand still. No, it’s sort of a dance as your middle aged body attempts to leap back while raising your hands over your head. During this of course your heart jumps into your throat and your body’s responding to age old conditioning produces huge amount of drugs that it dumps into your body as you prepare to kill a saber tooth tiger or in this case dodge a speeding chuck of wood. Of course a little voice somewhere in the back of your head is telling that it’s all to late and someone, sometime, might find your body pinned to the wall by said chunk of wood. With this little voice are pictures of your impaled body hanging from the wall being plastered all over the net as a warning to all about just how stupid people can be by allowing themselves to be impaled by a piece of wood. On the up side my 15 minutes of fame in death could become a great urban myth and no greater source then the mighty Myth Busters could someday attempt to recreate the accident and my fate is placed on the shelf as being busted.

So let recap for a minute, I have dropped a chunk of hardwood into the running table saw blade. The blade caught the chunk and sent it traveling a zillion miles an hour into a hollow core door. During the drop and shoot I perform a sort of funky chicken dance. Yup that about covers up to the point of where the homeowners and architect walk through the door as I’m reaching down to switch off the saw. I’m sure the story is different from their point of view but we all agree that a chuck of wood suddenly showing up in the door isn’t a good thing. So anybody got a good deal on a 30” slab so I can replace a door?

















]]> Bill HammerII http://www.sawmillcreek.org/blog.php?b=105 http://www.sawmillcreek.org/blog.php?b=104 Sat, 30 Jan 2010 22:40:38 GMT i contacted steel city to inquire as to thier shaper #48120, the catalog states "includes 3/4 & 1 inch spindles and 1/4 & 1/2 ROUTER collet standard" i asked if the shaper , since it has the ability to use router blades, could be used as a router table, the answer was YES ! the only referrence i was able to find was fine woodworking #66 page 16,there is an equation i really dont understand,the two people in my area of brooklyn said they didn't have a shaper due to the cost of the blades, therefore had never tried it or didn't know. comments please. GRUNT ]]> dan gelling http://www.sawmillcreek.org/blog.php?b=104 http://www.sawmillcreek.org/blog.php?b=103 Sat, 09 Jan 2010 16:38:55 GMT is there a lumber yard left in brooklyn ny i do not consider home depot or lowes lumber yards the following is not a joke " do you carry any hardwoods ?" " we have some woods in the lumber section i guess they are mostly hard " ; are there any wood workers in marine park brooklyn ? are there any woodworkers left in brooklyn period ? i would like to here from you. finally i plan on purchasing a cabinet saw in the spring torn between the new delta unisaw,sawstop,powermatic ? anyone have an opion based on use, experiance, not just its a nice saw thank you GRUNT ]]> dan gelling http://www.sawmillcreek.org/blog.php?b=103 http://www.sawmillcreek.org/blog.php?b=102 Sun, 03 Jan 2010 20:18:37 GMT I wish I had more tiime to post to this blog. Having a 6 month old and being at a new school that needs my attention all my free time is gone. Right now I am on my Christmas break that was extended by a week because of snow. Like all schools my new school has good and bad. The good is that the... I wish I had more tiime to post to this blog. Having a 6 month old and being at a new school that needs my attention all my free time is gone. Right now I am on my Christmas break that was extended by a week because of snow. Like all schools my new school has good and bad. The good is that the admin realize the importance of hands on classes and the admin put up alot of money to buy new hand tools and improve my lab. My lab is large with alot of benches and a full compliment of powermatic wood machines. The bad is that my lab was in terrible shape. Every tool was in need of repair, hand tools missing, and graffiti everywhere. I replaced a guy that was retiring after 30 years at the school. I hate to say this but he was a coach first and a teacher second and in the last 5 to 10 years of his career he just stopped caring. Its apparent he just let the kids run wild, if a machine broke it got a broken sign and thats it. For example a full pringles can went through the planer last year and stayed there until I removed it in September. The tablesaw a PM66's blade would no longer rise or sink into the table. Prior to retiring I asked the old teacher what was broken or needed to be fixed. His response was"I just use the blade full up" and thats what he did for 8 years. I tore down the saw and began to diagnose the problem I worked on the saw for about a week and then a colleague gave me a box of parts he found. It was a rack gear and all the parts I needed to fix the saw. The retiree had ordered them in 2000 directly from powermatic, all the info for the repair was with the reicept that powermatic sent. I was baffled, the retiree knew what had to be fixed, he ordered the parts, and had them on hand. Why not fix the saw? I guess this guy was burned out or in a rut. Either way it is extremely frustrating for me, the repairs are endless. I fix a bandsaw and a drill press loses breaks a pulley. What has suffered is my personal projects, I have a list of things I wanted to have completed by now. But my activities with the students. I would have like to done 1 or 2 more projects that what we have completed thus far, it just did not work out.
But here is the silver lining in my cloud. I make this repairs, track down the parts and get things running like new, add new tools, paint over graffiti, re-surface benches. The kids are using the machines again and are creating, learning, doing hands on work. That gives me a huge sense of accomplishment. I know that I am probably 1 or the 2 or 3 guys in my county that has the skill and knowledge to make these machines and this lab new again. I tell myself I am the guy that needs to be here, any one else would have given up or let the school turn this room into storage or a jrotc room or a computer lab. I do not know if the admin has noticed the improvements i have made. I think they have they are always supportive. The kids notice and appreciate having 2 working bandsaws or drill presses and that is what is important to me. ]]> Paul Steiner http://www.sawmillcreek.org/blog.php?b=102 http://www.sawmillcreek.org/blog.php?b=101 Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:50:59 GMT I have a Stanley #8 Jointer plane. The plane iron is a "Sweetheart Canada" model.

It is quite unusual. First, it is painted with the John Deere Yellow (tote and knob and lever cap) and green (bed). Also, it is stamped "imperfect on the side.

Does anybody know of similar planes. I did a google search and found a John Deere emblazoned block plane for sale on eBay. I found nothing else.

This is only a guess; Could this have been an old marketing or promotional item used to inform of a Deere-Stanley affiliation, particularly since a seldom seen "imperfect" model was used (you know, Stanley would find a place to use the "imperfect" planes). ]]> Ron Baird http://www.sawmillcreek.org/blog.php?b=101 http://www.sawmillcreek.org/blog.php?b=100 Fri, 04 Dec 2009 02:06:44 GMT Hello everyone, My question is: Is powermatic still making the powermatic 66 tablesaw? I am new to blogging and getting to know other folks that like to work with wood. Give me time to get used to the site and make some friends. I build Windsor Chairs as a hobby among other things and the 18th... Hello everyone,
My question is: Is powermatic still making the powermatic 66 tablesaw?

I am new to blogging and getting to know other folks that like to work with wood. Give me time to get used to the site and make some friends. I build Windsor Chairs as a hobby among other things and the 18th century is a time I like to study.:) ]]> Pete Paris http://www.sawmillcreek.org/blog.php?b=100 http://www.sawmillcreek.org/blog.php?b=99 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 02:13:22 GMT For all woodworkers, the day comes that you are asked to make something that you have either never made before, or, the thought of making it sends chills up your spine. My day and my never made before project came about a month after my mother passed away. A former employee came to our shop... For all woodworkers, the day comes that you are asked to make something that you have either never made before, or, the thought of making it sends chills up your spine.

My day and my never made before project came about a month after my mother passed away.

A former employee came to our shop and asked us if we could make a cremation urn. His father had passed away the day before and he wanted us to make the urn rather than buying one from somewhere else.

The only requirements for the urn were it had to be 220 cubic inches in volume to hold the remains, and he wanted us to make it. Design, wood, finish, these choices were all mine.

I went to work on the urn immediately. I decided that since my turning skills were limited, I would only use the lathe for finish detail that you would normally find on a lathe turned piece. The hollowing of the urn, the rough turning and the carving detail, I would entrust to my design skills, my computer and my CNC machines.

The first step was to design the urn in the computer. After designing the urn, I calculated the inside volume and then scaled the model to ensure that I had at least 220 cubic inches.

The next step was to split the computer model in half and position it in a bounding box. The bounding box was equal in size to the piece of 16/4 maple that I had another person prep while I was working on the model. The position of any 3D model in relation to the stock you are working with, will dictate the success or failure on any CNC project. This is especially true when you have to move the stock from one machine to another.

After completion of the tool paths, it was time to get the wood mounted to the machine and get the code loaded for cutting.


Click on the photo to view full size.

After the stock is positioned and mounted correctly, meaning in relation to the Work Piece Home Position, the program is loaded and the chips start to fly.


Click on the photo to view full size.

This project is a good example of one that you do not make a test piece for. Of course it was not without problems. You either know it is going to work because of your experience and the knowledge of your machines and your software, or you waste a lot of wood trying to figure it out.

Fortunately, I only had one problem while making the urn. A dull bit was the culprit on this particular project. High spindle speed, 16,000 RPM's combined with long lag times in the direction changes caused burning on the inside walls of the urn. I could have stopped the program, changed the settings and resumed, I simply opted to let the program run since the rough out process had chewed up 20 minutes of machine time already. I also knew the burn marks could be sanded out so I was not concerned.


Click on the photo to view full size.

A bad joke needs to be inserted at this point so here it goes. "BURN MARKS!!! He's not gonna see em. Especially with the lid on!!!"

Actually, there were many other jokes that day and in the days that followed. Most of them made by me. The jokes were a defense mechanism that kept me from tearing up as every hour spent on this project kept reminding me of my own mother and her recent passing.

Anyway, I will try to bring some civility back to this blog.

After the infamous burn marks were sanded the stock was cut in half. Each half of the urn had four, 1/8 inch holes drilled during the CNC carving. These holes are symmetrically positioned in what would become the bottom rim and the lid of the urn.


Click on the photo to view full size.

The holes act as registration marks to align the two halves for glue up. 1/8 inch dowels are inserted prior to glue up. When the two halves go together. the inside walls match up to become virtually seamless. You can get an idea of just how good these holes work later on in the blog when the lid comes off.

With the halves glued up and the glue cured, the urn is ready for the outside carving detail on our 10 spindle machine.


Click on the photo to view full size.

The majority of the work now takes place on the 4th Axis of the CNC machine. Roughing out the large hollow block of wood is expedited with a 3/4 inch ball mill.


Click on the photo to view full size.

In just under 10 minutes, the 3/4 inch ball mill removes enough material to allow for the next bit change. With the removal of most of the wood that does not look like a cremation urn, a cremation urn starts to emerge.


Click on the photo to view full size.

With 1/2 inch ball mill cleaning up the urn, the final shape and the detail of the urn start to come through. The fluting is starting to show and some of the carving detail is emerging. There is still an eighth of an inch of material that needs to be removed with the smaller bits that are still to come.


Click on the photo to view full size.

The 1/2 inch ball operation took less then 20 minutes to complete. After completing the 1/2 inch ball mill carving, the urn is finished with a 1/4 inch ball mill. The small prismatic diamond band is completed using a 1/16 inch ball mill.

More to follow... ]]> Guy Mathews http://www.sawmillcreek.org/blog.php?b=99 http://www.sawmillcreek.org/blog.php?b=97 Fri, 02 Oct 2009 23:09:09 GMT Over the last few days I was thinking about a statement a fellow made to me in regards to the Smart Motors from Animatics. A company in my area is working with us on some other projects within our company for automating a few processes and they are a reseller for these Smart Motors. The comment... Over the last few days I was thinking about a statement a fellow made to me in regards to the Smart Motors from Animatics. A company in my area is working with us on some other projects within our company for automating a few processes and they are a reseller for these Smart Motors.

The comment that got me thinking about other options was in relation to the proprietary aspect of the Smart Motors. If a Smart Motor goes bad, you are forced to deal with them and pay their price. If a stepper motor goes bad, you can pretty much find a replacement anywhere. He made a good point.

As a result, I started looking around to see what the guys that have built Joe's CNC and a few others are using. There were a few companies out there and I have opted to go with Probotix.

I called the company today and was on the phone with a fellow named Chris. When I explained what I was making I could here the disbelief and the excitement in his voice. I directed him to our website and to You tube so he could watch some of my videos and learn more about our company and the machines we are currently running.. The disbelief in his voice went away very quickly.

He discussed the project with me for about 20 minutes. I pretty much knew what I was going to buy from them and fed him slowly to see if he agreed or tried to push me in another direction. Of course I went for the highest priced stuff they had. In talking with me, he actually suggested that I could get away with smaller steppers and save a few dollars. That statement from him, made me an instant customer. I am going with the 400 ounce steppers anyway. I am also going to install a relay so the spindles can be turned on using the M3 command in the code. Chris also suggested that I make my hardware cabinet out of plastic instead of metal to avoid any conductive catastrophes. I was not even a customer yet and he was offering wiring tips and suggestions. He also pointed me to the tutorials that they have on their website for setting everything up. I was quite impressed with this measure of customer service to a person who at the time, was only a potential customer. AAA+++ to Probotix.

I will post photos as soon as I order everything and it is delivered. In the meantime, I will be wrapping the base, ordering the linear rails and guide blocks and installing them when they come in. I was able to source some real nice aluminum to make the uprights for the gantry and I will be cutting them using either the ShopBot or the CAMaster in our shop. The price on the aluminum was great. 2 cups of coffee and 20 minutes talking with the guys at our local machine shop and they gave me access to there scrap pile of aluminum cutoffs. They normally sell the pieces on eBay when they have time, but lately, no one has been buying the blanks and the pile is getting bigger!

More to come, stay tuned. :D ]]> Guy Mathews http://www.sawmillcreek.org/blog.php?b=97 http://www.sawmillcreek.org/blog.php?b=96 Sat, 26 Sep 2009 03:07:37 GMT Well it had to happen. Although, I did not expect it to happen on the first day.

Let me explain. In my over-ambitious lust for a new project, I ignored the first rule of carpentry. "Measure twice, cut once." While I never got as far as the cutting stage before I realized a potentiel disaster, I will admit, for a couple of hours, I was at a loss on how to solve the dilema that unfolded as I drifted off to sleep.

In my rush to get the MDF base glued up, I neglected to relize that 6 layers of MDF when glued up, become a solid mass that weighs in excess of 100 pounds and measures just under 4 and a half inches thick.

My original plan was to glue up the panels and then square off the base on our panel saw. It was a great plan until I realized as I was falling asleep that night, our panel saw can only cut a thickness of just over 3 inches.

The first solution came to me as I was driving to work this morning. I would stand the base up on one side and use the jointer to square up that side. I would then use the panel saw to cut as high as it could into the base. At that point, I would break off the MDF and then use a flush trim router bit to work my way around the base.

Did I mention that this thing already weighs well over 100 pounds?

I knew it could be done, but I also knew there had to be an easier and safer way.

Well, ironically, I used a CNC Machine to help me build my first CNC Machine.



Setting the base on my CAMaster, I created a vector that measured 31 by 48 inches. Using a 5 inch long 1/2 inch ball mill, there was just enough Z height to just squeeze over the top of the base by 3/8ths of an inch. With this bit, I was able to easily square up the base and cut the MDF to a depth of 3 and 3/8ths of an inch. When finished, I flipped the piece over, and proceeded to use a 1 and a half inch long flush trim bit with a 3 HP router.



The day started on a bad note but ended on a good one. I will begin to wrap the perimeter of the base next week. After that, the linear glide rails for the gantry will be installed.



Suggestions from others are welcome on this blog. If you have a tip or trick that will enable someone to square off a thick panel, please do not hesitate to post. I offered two solutions, one of which is potentiely dangerous and I do not endorse anyone trying it on something this heavy. The other is not an option for some, because not everyone has a CNC Machine at their disposal. ]]> Guy Mathews http://www.sawmillcreek.org/blog.php?b=96 http://www.sawmillcreek.org/blog.php?b=94 Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:40:40 GMT I realize that not everyone is fortunate enough to work in a shop where you have just about anything you could want tool-wise. That being said, I felt it was important to outline the steps that I will be using to make this project. As each step is completed, I will, with the help of other... I realize that not everyone is fortunate enough to work in a shop where you have just about anything you could want tool-wise.

That being said, I felt it was important to outline the steps that I will be using to make this project. As each step is completed, I will, with the help of other Creekers offer tips and suggestions to achieve the same results with different tools and skill levels.

Since the base is about the most important aspect of any CNC machine I have started there.

Using 2 pieces of 3/4 MDF I cut the sheets into thirds, applied an even layer of yellow wood glue to each layer with the exception of the top, taped them at the corners and in the middle to keep them from slipping and let them cure in a 5 by 10 vacuum press.



Tomorrow, I will trim the base on a panel saw to size. ]]> Guy Mathews http://www.sawmillcreek.org/blog.php?b=94 http://www.sawmillcreek.org/blog.php?b=93 Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:06:56 GMT Well here we go boys and girls. I have decided to take the plunge and build my own CNC Router. Bare with me through the coming months as I post my successes and my failures here. My plans are to adapt the best features from the 3 existing machines that we have in our shop to custom build a small... Well here we go boys and girls. I have decided to take the plunge and build my own CNC Router. Bare with me through the coming months as I post my successes and my failures here.

My plans are to adapt the best features from the 3 existing machines that we have in our shop to custom build a small CNC Router to cut custom small pieces in wood and plastic. ]]> Guy Mathews http://www.sawmillcreek.org/blog.php?b=93 http://www.sawmillcreek.org/blog.php?b=92 Mon, 14 Sep 2009 19:45:42 GMT RE: Ridgid 6 1/8 Jointer Model JP0101 I am in need of replacing the cutter blades on the above Jointer, and have heard that this model has been dropped by Home Depot. I have also heard that the replacement blades from HD have not received rave reviews because of chipping. Does anyone have... RE: Ridgid 6 1/8 Jointer Model JP0101

I am in need of replacing the cutter blades on the above Jointer, and have heard that this model has been dropped by Home Depot. I have also heard that the replacement blades from HD have not received rave reviews because of chipping.
Does anyone have a good suggestion for replacement blades. I have seen some sources on the net, and they all ask for exact size. As a novice, I hate to take the blades out for measurement, and be out of service waiting new ones.
Any help on size and source of replacement blades would be greatly appreciated.

Don Kilgore ]]> Don Kilgore http://www.sawmillcreek.org/blog.php?b=92