2 SawStop questions?

[Michael Costa]

1) What are you guys using to clean the top?

2) The owners manual shows plans to make feather boards. How are these feather boards attached to the table?

I'm extremely discouraged with woodworking today. I had to put a 1/4" groove into the edge of two 64" pieces of 3/4" cherry and since (of course) the boards were bowed a little I ended up making total hack grooves since I couldn't keep the stock flat against the fence. Wood costs way too much to be making this kind of firepit kindling.

[Alan Lightstone]

1.) CRC 3-36 (Available on Amazon). FWW magazine rated it their favorite a few years ago as a lubricant, but I find that it cleans pretty well too. WD-40 another good cleaner, but not the best rust preventer.

2.) I use Magswitch magnetic featherboards. Every once and a while I'll use some Kreg non-magnetic ones that fit in the miter slots, but the magnetic ones are just so quick and easy to use.

[Brian Holcombe]

Woodworking is 75% planing, the more I plan the better my product. I did a cutout today that required about 15 setups to complete. I missed one slight detail where I could have gained bearing surface but removed it, so I have something to improve upon next time I do the same cutout.

Point is that whenever we rush to do, we learn where we failed. In some weird way, it should be cherished as that is where we learn to improve.

[Matt Day]

Sorry to hear you’re discouraged but as Brian said planning is key, and so is properly dried/stickered wood and proper stock preparation. You need to know the MC is low enough. Boards need to be flat and parallel, so jointed and planed - but do a rough milling, then sticker for a week or so, the final mill.

Otherwise the example you gave happens, then you struggle with the glueup and the you pull your hair out and end up making expensive firewood that burns really well.

What I’m getting at is there are a lot of things to know how to do before you’ll get that 1/4 groove right. Take it a lesson learned. Maybe work with ply or secondary woods for a few projects first.

[Michael Costa]

If I need 3/4" stock there really is no room for milling when I'm using 3/4" stock. It would be a shame and a waste to be forced to buy already expensive stock at 8/4 just to have the ability to mill it flat and parallel to 3/4"

[Mike Henderson]

I always use a handheld router to make long grooves and dados because of the bow that might be in the wood. The router will follow the board, while trying to cut it on the table saw leads to variations in depth, as you discovered.

Mike

[Matt Day]

If you need 3/4” stock then buy 4/4 or 5/4 stock, that is, assuming you are milling your own lumber and not buying S4S.

[Jack Frederick]

I use the typical plywood feather boards as SS show in their manual. I had some difficulty mounting them so they would just stay put. I solved it by making a long 2” wide stiff leg with a dovetail cut at 90* into the FB. I have blocks that sit on the fence and allow secure clamping of the FB on both rails of the fence. It is simple and has worked out quite well for me. Oh, and I’m with you all the way on material costs. My mistakes are not mechanical. My mistakes are always mental. The machines always do what they are supposed to do. Life is a humbling experience👍

[glenn bradley]

I always use a handheld router to make long grooves and dados because of the bow that might be in the wood. The router will follow the board, while trying to cut it on the table saw leads to variations in depth, as you discovered.

Mike

Ding, ding, ding! My answer to these problems as well.

410815

[Brian Holcombe]

I never groove with a handheld router if I can avoid it. I prefer the router table with feather boards/Jessem wheels.

[Bill Dufour]

I would do that groove on the shaper with the bow up so the ends are floating high. Rock the stock around so it is flat on the table near the cutter as it moves by. You can do the same on a tablesaw but it risks kickback and you can not use feather boards except one right over the arbor.
Bill D

[Scott Bernstein]

I use Boeshield "Rust Free" and a scotch-brite pad to remove stubborn rust spots. If the rust is light a little Boeshield T9 can be used to scrub it out with the scotch-brite pad. The T9 is also good for general cleaning of cast iron surfaces. If you spray on a heavy coating and allow it to dry, it will form a protective layer - useful if you wont be using a particular machine for a long time. My general sequence is first use the rust free and pad for individual spots of rust, then I spray and wipe down the whole surface with T9. I then clean off the T9 with an aerosol degreaser like White Lightning Clean Streak (I use this on my bikes, and it's available in most bike shops). I finish up with a paste floor wax or Renaissance tool wax.

I also like the magswitch feather boards - can be used on any machine with a cast iron surface. You can also make your own feather boards and I use some miter bar hardware available from the various woodworking suppliers. These bars are available in short or long version and have a mechanism to lock them into position in the miter slot. Very handy.

[Joe Jensen]

When I stopped buying lumber already surfaced to 3/4" my frustration dropped a ton and the quality of my work improved greatly. I now only buy rough-sawn lumber and it's usually 15/16" thick. I cut to rough width and length and then surface so I get perfectly straight and flat boards. WOW what a change.

[ChrisA Edwards]

It also pays to search around for commercial lumber suppliers. They often have much better board size choices at better prices than the big box stores.

Some will sell you just what you need and others have a minimum purchase, but it usually doesn't take very much, from a project requirement standpoint, to reach that minimum.

Also, do a search for local woodworking clubs in your area, they usually have plenty of folk with knowledge where to buy good lumber.

I don't see a location in your profile. It helps having that as others who read this forum and are fairly local to you can often chime in with good locations for resources.

I also use the Magswitch feather boards on my SawStop, they are cheap, have great strength and can be positioned pretty much anywhere on the table top.

[johnny means]

I clamp a board to the saw's top. Feather boards get screwed top that.

[Jim Dwight]

I have some feather boards that have aluminum tracks that go into the miter slots and expand out to hold the feather boards in place. I haven't used them yet, however. I did try them in the slots to be sure they work.

Hard to say what the issue was. I would check the alignment of the blade to the rip fence to be sure they are parallel. If that is not the issue, then maybe the boards were not straight. I have a joiner but it is an old Inca and relatively short. My skill level is not so great with it so I usually use my track saw and long guide to get a straight edge. But some wood moves again when I rip to width. But usually that does not happen. With a correctly tuned saw and a straight edge on the board, I don't have a problem putting a rabbet in the edge. I almost always use my table saw for this. I do not love screaming routers (but I have 4 good ones). It is safer to put a sacrificial surface on the rip fence and cut the rabbet on the rip fence side of the board. You cannot go too deep that way. I usually don't do this but if I was having trouble I would. I usually only do this with a dado blade.

[Matt Day]

Do you guys all really work around the fact that the board isn’t flat/straight? That seems like the first thing to fix in the future.

[Brian Holcombe]

I make it flat and accurate, but you still need a way to hold it tight to the fence. They are separate issues which are occasionally related.

[Ted Reischl]

Do you guys all really work around the fact that the board isn’t flat/straight? That seems like the first thing to fix in the future.

Sometimes it is unavoidable. Long stock is a good example of that. If the piece finishes at a long length then a person better have a plan B or have a really good technique on a jointer.

I have seen so called "wood workers" on YouTube who are making something that has 24 inch long parts, so they take an 8 foot piece of lumber and rip it to final width. Sometimes the God's smile on them. But if that piece starts to move while going through the saw they will not have pieces of the same width when they are done.

In other words, I break all my stuff down into rough sizes and then see about getting it flat and square, like we are told to do.

[johnny means]

Do you guys all really work around the fact that the board isn’t flat/straight? That seems like the first thing to fix in the future.

Sounds like you haven't done much of this stuff.

[Matt Day]

Sounds like you haven't done much of this stuff.

Wrong. First thing in any project is proper stock prep. Not saying it has to be perfect, but my feeling from the OP is that he’s frustrated about his stock not being flat.

[Ted Reischl]

A while back I needed to do a custom porch using tongue and groove boards. I had a large quantity of lumber I wanted to use up but it was not tongue and groove. It was not nice and flat either. BTW, I do not like the look of "decking" on a victorian house that is over 120 years old. So that is why it needed to be tongue and grooved.

Someone above boldly stated he would never use a router. Uh huh, then he would have never got those boards tongue and grooved so they matched up correctly. On an average table saw a person cannot get enough pressure on a 2X6 to force it flat to the table and still be able to push it through the saw.

I set up my bench to be able to clamp the boards quickly so they did not slide around. As far as I am concerned it did not take longer than it would have taken on a table saw. Maybe even easier to do because I was not slinging and flipping 8 foot long boards around.

[Rod Sheridan]

1) What are you guys using to clean the top?

2) The owners manual shows plans to make feather boards. How are these feather boards attached to the table?

I'm extremely discouraged with woodworking today. I had to put a 1/4" groove into the edge of two 64" pieces of 3/4" cherry and since (of course) the boards were bowed a little I ended up making total hack grooves since I couldn't keep the stock flat against the fence. Wood costs way too much to be making this kind of firepit kindling.

Yes, it’s no fun when that happens.

You’ve discovered that machines need flat, straight wood, which means good jointing and planing.

I doubt a feather board will take a bow out, a stock feeder can in many situations.....
Regards, Rod