Andy Guss
10-09-2010, 10:17 AM
I have some time over the next few weekends to try to throw together a workbench and get started on a router table. After that I will turn to the extension and outfeed tables for my Unisaw. But I would like to get started with the bench. The bench design I like is the "Rock-Solid Plywood Bench" From Fine Woodworking ( http://www.finewoodworking.com/PlansAndProjects/PlansAndProjectsArticle.aspx?id=29507 (http://www.finewoodworking.com/PlansAndProjects/PlansAndProjectsArticle.aspx?id=29507) )- no membership required.
The bench is a laminate design built by ripping ~3 1/2" strips pf plywood and then laminating them together in various lengths to make a frame with mortise and tenons built into the laminated pieces. My only problem is that I don't currently have a working table saw to do all of this ripping. A table saw is called on again after gluing up all of the frame pieces to trim the edges and bring them to theit final dimensions.
What I do have is a perfectly good circular saw, several routers, a Delta 580 benchtop planer, some sanders, and planes. Well, I actually have more than that, but those are the tools I have that seem the most relevant to this project. OK, truth be told, I do have a shopsmith, but I don't really trust the table saw or the jointer on it, but if that seems like the best solution, then I guess this would be the time to try it. I just don't have any type of blade guard for the table saw part of it, the plywood sheets I would be cutting are pretty large, the blade is of questionable sharpness, and I have never even set up the jointer on it. So, I'd like to think of the shopsmith as option z a this point.
What I had in mind was making some kind of jig for ripping to precise widths for my circular saw and then making a cutting table. What I imagined was making a custom sled with a little fence off the bottom of the right edge that would act as a guide spaced exactly 3 9/16" from the right side of my blade. I could even go buy a different circular saw blade if needed.
What I wanted to know was, does this seem safe if the plywood sheed and the piece to be ripped are both clamped to a cutting table? Also, once I have the plywood strips glued up, could I turn them on edge and run them through my planer, or is it a bad idea to run the edges of plywood through a planer no matter how many pieces are glued together?
Thanks,
Andy
The bench is a laminate design built by ripping ~3 1/2" strips pf plywood and then laminating them together in various lengths to make a frame with mortise and tenons built into the laminated pieces. My only problem is that I don't currently have a working table saw to do all of this ripping. A table saw is called on again after gluing up all of the frame pieces to trim the edges and bring them to theit final dimensions.
What I do have is a perfectly good circular saw, several routers, a Delta 580 benchtop planer, some sanders, and planes. Well, I actually have more than that, but those are the tools I have that seem the most relevant to this project. OK, truth be told, I do have a shopsmith, but I don't really trust the table saw or the jointer on it, but if that seems like the best solution, then I guess this would be the time to try it. I just don't have any type of blade guard for the table saw part of it, the plywood sheets I would be cutting are pretty large, the blade is of questionable sharpness, and I have never even set up the jointer on it. So, I'd like to think of the shopsmith as option z a this point.
What I had in mind was making some kind of jig for ripping to precise widths for my circular saw and then making a cutting table. What I imagined was making a custom sled with a little fence off the bottom of the right edge that would act as a guide spaced exactly 3 9/16" from the right side of my blade. I could even go buy a different circular saw blade if needed.
What I wanted to know was, does this seem safe if the plywood sheed and the piece to be ripped are both clamped to a cutting table? Also, once I have the plywood strips glued up, could I turn them on edge and run them through my planer, or is it a bad idea to run the edges of plywood through a planer no matter how many pieces are glued together?
Thanks,
Andy