Question on making a cut

[Steven Kamp]

I am in the early process of building an easel for my 15 month old daughter. I am using the plan from NYW. I have a concern on one of the cuts. This cut is for a chalkboard frame that also allows paper from a roll to be fed through the frame. This requires a cut through the frame at the top and the bottom. The plans call for making the cut after the frame is assembled. I have a few concerns:

It seems unsafe to do it the way it is shown the plans.
It seems very easy to scratch the chalkboard from the blade.
The plans say the cut would be 1/16" wide but a thin kerf blade is 3/32" wide. I am guessing this is just an oversight in the plans?I have attached the two pages that talk about making these cuts. I was wondering if anyone can give me some guidance on this. I am pretty new to woodworking and do not want to do something dangerous. Thanks in advance!

Steve

[Brett Baldwin]

You are absolutely correct, that is a dangerous way to cut. The kickback potential is huge.

If I were going to make that frame, I'd make the two frame sides with the slot in the center by gluing up two long strips with a spacer at each end to make the slot. The spacers would determine the width of the slot and you could make both sides up ahead of time and miter them as needed. Of course careful measurements would be required but nothing too hard. Hope that gives you an idea to work with.

[Steven Kamp]

You are absolutely correct, that is a dangerous way to cut. The kickback potential is huge.

If I were going to make that frame, I'd make the two frame sides with the slot in the center by gluing up two long strips with a spacer at each end to make the slot. The spacers would determine the width of the slot and you could make both sides up ahead of time and miter them as needed. Of course careful measurements would be required but nothing too hard. Hope that gives you an idea to work with.

Brett,
Thanks for the response. So are you saying to make 1/2"W x 7/8"H piece with the 1/4"W x 3/8"D rabbit and then glue it to a 3/4W x 7/8"H piece with 1/16" spacers and then after it dries, rip that side so the total width is 3/4"W? It sounds like that would work even though I have never done anything like that. Like I said I am a new woodworker so I hope my questions are not too basic. Thanks!

Steve

[Bart Sharp]

I'm building my daughter an easel for Christmas as well, without the NYW plans. What I am planning on doing is putting two clips off of clipboards on the top rail, bearing against the panel. That way we can hang whatever kind of paper she wants to draw on. Just another way you might think about.

I haven't seen Nahm's plans so he might have already thought of this, but the other thing I'm doing is making one side of the easel a chalkboard and making the other side dry-erase. Gives her a little more variety!

[Steven Kamp]

I'm building my daughter an easel for Christmas as well, without the NYW plans. What I am planning on doing is putting two clips off of clipboards on the top rail, bearing against the panel. That way we can hang whatever kind of paper she wants to draw on. Just another way you might think about.

I haven't seen Nahm's plans so he might have already thought of this, but the other thing I'm going is making one side of the easel a chalkboard and making the other side dry-erase. Gives her a little more variety!

It has a roll of paper up top and allowing the paper through the chalkboard is nice touch. I think I may do what you said and just make some kind of clip system. I have not yet decided if I want to make one side dry erase. If you look at some of the ones people made on the link below, one guy did one with a dry erase as well. Thanks for the input.

http://www.newyankee.com/getproduct3.cgi?601

Steve

[Brett Baldwin]

Steve, I hadn't looked at the drawing carefully so the way I was thinking needs a modification. I'd suggest three 1/4" strips. Two at 7/8" by 1/4" and one 1/2" by 1/4". Mark off the 1/16" recess in the 1/2" strip that you need for the paper and remove that with a block plane and chisel or a sander if you don't have a block plane yet (I'd highly recommend one though, great for these little shaving jobs). Once you have the recess set, glue the three 1/4" pieces together for the 3/4" overall thickness and miter according to the plan. I'm sorry I can't show you exactly what I mean but I'm posting from work. If you need more clarification, I'll try to put something together tonight. Happy shavings.

[Steven Kamp]

Steve, I hadn't looked at the drawing carefully so the way I was thinking needs a modification. I'd suggest three 1/4" strips. Two at 7/8" by 1/4" and one 1/2" by 1/4". Mark off the 1/16" recess in the 1/2" strip that you need for the paper and remove that with a block plane and chisel or a sander if you don't have a block plane yet (I'd highly recommend one though, great for these little shaving jobs). Once you have the recess set, glue the three 1/4" pieces together for the 3/4" overall thickness and miter according to the plan. I'm sorry I can't show you exactly what I mean but I'm posting from work. If you need more clarification, I'll try to put something together tonight. Happy shavings.

Brett,
That makes perfect sense. The only concern I have now is ripping 1/4" wide strips with my table saw. I thought ripping pieces that thin were risky on a table saw. Thanks!

Steve

[Charles McCracken]

Steve,

If you choose to follow those plans there are blades available with 1/16" kerf. The Diablo 7-1/4" blades are an example. Both the D0724 (7-1/4 X 24t) and D0740 (7-1/4 X 40t) are .059" kerf and the smaller diameter will leave less to square up with the hand saw.

Charles M
Freud America, Inc.

[Steven Kamp]

Steve,

If you choose to follow those plans there are blades available with 1/16" kerf. The Diablo 7-1/4" blades are an example. Both the D0724 (7-1/4 X 24t) and D0740 (7-1/4 X 40t) are .059" kerf and the smaller diameter will leave less to square up with the hand saw.

Charles M
Freud America, Inc.

Charles,
So with that said are saying to just go for it and make the cut? :D I am not completly scared to do it I just wanted to get a feeling how dangerous it was. If I did it I would stand on the side so even if it kicked back it should not hit me. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the most risky) I figured this was about a 3 or 4. Any thoughts on that? Also thanks for the blade info!

Steve

[Brian Jarnell]

Brett,
That makes perfect sense. The only concern I have now is ripping 1/4" wide strips with my table saw. I thought ripping pieces that thin were risky on a table saw. Thanks!

Steve
Not if you are careful,just don't include your fingers.:)

[Steven Kamp]

Steve,

If you choose to follow those plans there are blades available with 1/16" kerf. The Diablo 7-1/4" blades are an example. Both the D0724 (7-1/4 X 24t) and D0740 (7-1/4 X 40t) are .059" kerf and the smaller diameter will leave less to square up with the hand saw.

Charles M
Freud America, Inc.

Charles,
I also wanted to ask if there are any problems using that blade on my table saw? I have a DeWalt DW744 10" saw which has a 5/8" arbor. Thanks!

Steve

[Vaughn McMillan]

Steve, I concur with Brett's idea of making it up from multiple pieces instead of risking a cut like that. (I can just picture the whole assembly getting shot across your shop at a couple hundred miles an hour.)

As far as ripping 1/4" thin strips, there are two safe ways I do it. I rip a LOT of 1/4" wide strips and thinner, and have learned by my mistakes. (There's still a foot-long strip of 3/4" x 1/8" walnut lost somewhere in my shop as the result doing everything the wrong way, before I got smart.) One way is to rip a wide board, and let the 1/4" piece be on the "waste" side of the blade -- the side away from the fence. That way you're dealing with a 2" or 3" or 4" wide board between the blade and the fence. The other way, and better if you need multiple pieces and don't have a very accurate, repeatable fence (like an Incra) is to set the blade 1/4" from the fence, then use the Grrripper to guide the wood through the blade. The Grrripper seems a bit pricy on first glance, but it's the best $50 I've spent for the shop in a long time. I also strongly recommend using a splitter. I use the MicroJig splitter, from the same company that makes the Grrripper.

However you do it, I'd recommend against the method described in the book, especially if you're new to the sport of wood flinging. ;) I hope this helps.

- Vaughn

[Doug Shepard]

I too have a problem with the safety issue the way the plans describe it. I DO think it can be cut safely on the TS though (assuming you get a 1/16" blade). I would push the fence back from the blade so that the frame just fits between it and the blade. Then with the blade raised up line up the frame for the start of the cut and mark the fence with a pencil or piece of tape. Then do the same thing for the end of the cut. Remove the frame, position the fence to get the slot in the right location, then LOWER the blade beneath the top. Line up the back edge of the frame with the end-of-cut mark and clamp a stop block to the fence to stop the frame at that point. Then back the frame up to the starting mark and clamp it to the fence (a couple of Quik-Grips would work best). Then power up the saw and raise the blade up through the frame. With both hands on the frame, have a helper pop the clamps, then slowly push the frame through until you hit the stop block. Firmly hold the frame while your helper kills the power and the blade comes to a stop.

[Steven Kamp]

I too have a problem with the safety issue the way the plans describe it. I DO think it can be cut safely on the TS though (assuming you get a 1/16" blade). I would push the fence back from the blade so that the frame just fits between it and the blade. Then with the blade raised up line up the frame for the start of the cut and mark the fence with a pencil or piece of tape. Then do the same thing for the end of the cut. Remove the frame, position the fence to get the slot in the right location, then LOWER the blade beneath the top. Line up the back edge of the frame with the end-of-cut mark and clamp a stop block to the fence to stop the frame at that point. Then back the frame up to the starting mark and clamp it to the fence (a couple of Quik-Grips would work best). Then power up the saw and raise the blade up through the frame. With both hands on the frame, have a helper pop the clamps, then slowly push the frame through until you hit the stop block. Firmly hold the frame while your helper kills the power and the blade comes to a stop.

Doug,
I appreciate the feedback and this seems like a very good and safe way to do this. The one question I have is would you make this cut with chalkboard out or in from the fence. If I did it in, I would only have 3/16" between the fence and the blade. Doing it with the chalkboard side out seems easier to setup. Any thoughts on that? Thanks!

Steve

[Steven Kamp]

Steve, I concur with Brett's idea of making it up from multiple pieces instead of risking a cut like that. (I can just picture the whole assembly getting shot across your shop at a couple hundred miles an hour.)

As far as ripping 1/4" thin strips, there are two safe ways I do it. I rip a LOT of 1/4" wide strips and thinner, and have learned by my mistakes. (There's still a foot-long strip of 3/4" x 1/8" walnut lost somewhere in my shop as the result doing everything the wrong way, before I got smart.) One way is to rip a wide board, and let the 1/4" piece be on the "waste" side of the blade -- the side away from the fence. That way you're dealing with a 2" or 3" or 4" wide board between the blade and the fence. The other way, and better if you need multiple pieces and don't have a very accurate, repeatable fence (like an Incra) is to set the blade 1/4" from the fence, then use the Grrripper to guide the wood through the blade. The Grrripper seems a bit pricy on first glance, but it's the best $50 I've spent for the shop in a long time. I also strongly recommend using a splitter. I use the MicroJig splitter, from the same company that makes the Grrripper.

However you do it, I'd recommend against the method described in the book, especially if you're new to the sport of wood flinging. ;) I hope this helps.

- Vaughn

Vaughn,
Thanks for the advice. It is funny you mentioned the Grrriper. I was looking at that yesterday at Woodcraft online. I plan on getting one of these regardless of how I decide to do that cut. Thanks!

Steve

[Frank Hagan]

As far as ripping 1/4" thin strips, there are two safe ways I do it. I rip a LOT of 1/4" wide strips and thinner, and have learned by my mistakes. (There's still a foot-long strip of 3/4" x 1/8" walnut lost somewhere in my shop as the result doing everything the wrong way, before I got smart.) One way is to rip a wide board, and let the 1/4" piece be on the "waste" side of the blade -- the side away from the fence. That way you're dealing with a 2" or 3" or 4" wide board between the blade and the fence. The other way, and better if you need multiple pieces and don't have a very accurate, repeatable fence (like an Incra) is to set the blade 1/4" from the fence, then use the Grrripper to guide the wood through the blade. The Grrripper seems a bit pricy on first glance, but it's the best $50 I've spent for the shop in a long time. I also strongly recommend using a splitter. I use the MicroJig splitter, from the same company that makes the Grrripper.


There's a third way that allows you to repeatedly rip thin pieces without moving the fence using a homemade jig. Use a 3" wide piece of stock with a strip on the end of it that is at least 3 1/4" wide (but you can make it much more of a "L" shape at first and just cut off the excess with the first cut). Position the fence at 3 1/4". Place your stock so that the back of it is resting on the L-strip stop. As you rip the piece from the stock, you clear the table and then reposition the stock against the jig, and run it through again. You get a bit faster operation but most importantly, all the strips are the same size.

[Doug Shepard]

Doug,
I appreciate the feedback and this seems like a very good and safe way to do this. The one question I have is would you make this cut with chalkboard out or in from the fence. If I did it in, I would only have 3/16" between the fence and the blade. Doing it with the chalkboard side out seems easier to setup. Any thoughts on that? Thanks!

Steve

Well since you'd not actually end up with a narrow cutoff piece trapped between the blade and the fence it might not make a lot of difference. The "cutoff" would still be attached to the frame so shooting back isn't really possible. But it might just feel a little saner going with the fence further out from the blade. I did forgot to mention that if you go this route you should probably attach a taller temporary fence to your TS fence for support. A piece of scrap ply or MDF would work well as long as it's flat. The easel frame would be rather tall and you don't want the chance of having it be tippy as you're making the cut. The back end of the aux fence could be held with the same clamp that's holding the stop block. The closer end I leave up to you. You might just be able to put another clamp on it if that doesn't interfere with the size of the frame and how much it has to travel. Otherwise you might need to countersink and bolt it through one of the holes on your fence. Featherboards to keep it snug to the aux fence also isn't a bad idea.

[Steven Kamp]

Well since you'd not actually end up with a narrow cutoff piece trapped between the blade and the fence it might not make a lot of difference. The "cutoff" would still be attached to the frame so shooting back isn't really possible. But it might just feel a little saner going with the fence further out from the blade. I did forgot to mention that if you go this route you should probably attach a taller temporary fence to your TS fence for support. A piece of scrap ply or MDF would work well as long as it's flat. The easel frame would be rather tall and you don't want the chance of having it be tippy as you're making the cut. The back end of the aux fence could be held with the same clamp that's holding the stop block. The closer end I leave up to you. You might just be able to put another clamp on it if that doesn't interfere with the size of the frame and how much it has to travel. Otherwise you might need to countersink and bolt it through one of the holes on your fence. Featherboards to keep it snug to the aux fence also isn't a bad idea.

Sounds like great advice. I really appreciate the help!

Steve

[Dan Stuewe]

When I made this for my kids I made the cut per the directions. As I recall the biggest concern I had was damaging the part. Now, I have a low powered table saw and have not used one with a lot of umph, so that may have deluded me into feeling I had control.

One problem I've had with the easel over the 4 or so years we've had it is it's weight! We like to move it out of the playroom when lots of kids com over just to keep the potential mess down, as well as giving them a bit more room to play in. Like any flat surface in your (my) shop, the storage space is great for collecting markers and crayons, so it really doesn't get folded up very often.

oh, btw, we went with the white board instead of chalk board for that side of it.

[Steven Kamp]

When I made this for my kids I made the cut per the directions. As I recall the biggest concern I had was damaging the part. Now, I have a low powered table saw and have not used one with a lot of umph, so that may have deluded me into feeling I had control.

One problem I've had with the easel over the 4 or so years we've had it is it's weight! We like to move it out of the playroom when lots of kids com over just to keep the potential mess down, as well as giving them a bit more room to play in. Like any flat surface in your (my) shop, the storage space is great for collecting markers and crayons, so it really doesn't get folded up very often.

oh, btw, we went with the white board instead of chalk board for that side of it.

I am glad to hear someone else built it. I am excited to see my daughter play with something I built. It is just not the same as buying something from a store. I just hope she likes it!

Steve