Uh Oh. INCOMING....Originally Posted by Mark Bolton
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Uh Oh. INCOMING....
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
“If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”
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Thats a good one. I think I could actually get a few parts to wring together if a drop or two of sweat landed between the parts lol.. But that could be blamed on the lignin... hahah
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It's like BowClamps. You either see the value or you don't.
Weaver arch panels jigs is another. Why buy when you can make.
Last edited by jack duren; 10-12-2019 at 3:49 PM.
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I think cnc probably drives a lot of people in that direction. Woodworkers are surprisingly resistant to the idea of precision but from my perspective it makes things much quicker. In the machine shop dialing in a machine and using accurate setups means reliable results which means a better product faster. Same applies here, I hate throwing hours away fitting especially so when accurate setups mean I don’t have to.
Ive not yet had accuracy slow me down. I test fit one part of a run, the rest I don’t touch until assembly.
Ive
Last edited by Brian Holcombe; 10-12-2019 at 4:02 PM.
Bumbling forward into the unknown.
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No disagreement. But the level of precision it speaks to is that of one person making a part on one side of the planet in fixed setups that must perfectly mate with a part made across town or across the planet. It's great to shoot for the moon but when the end product is coming from completely in-house and had to interface with nothing but you. It gets a bit over the top.
Couldn't agree more that accuracy is always a win. But applying the YouTube home machinist turned aerospace philosophy to making a finger jointed box or cutting board gets a bit whacky... fast.
On the other hand it makes a bunch of money for some folks so I guess it works.
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I like using the blocks as my eyesight is whacky from a muscle disease. I can verify measurements by touch quickly vs using a ruler and squinting. Doesn’t work for everything but sure helps me. As was said the blocks are great for router bit height settings. I have the brass bars as well as the Lee Valley ones. Both see a fair amount of use.
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Not a dumb question at all.
Primarily they would be used for machine setup.
If you were making multiple pieces, during multiple sequenced operations, maintains accuracy, or repeatability, can be critical.
The species of wood can have an impact also. Soft American hardwoods are much more forgiving than the tropical hardwoods that are above 2000 on the Janka scale. Some of those woods are like machining soft aluminum. There is very little forgiveness in grain compression.
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Thanks guys!
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
“If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”
Moderator
I think it comes down to the individual worker. I do agree with Brian that getting the machine setup really accurate can have a positive impact on the quality and precision of joinery...and that's been reinforced to me because I've had the opportunity to see and touch Brian's work. I had a client come by awhile ago with some CNC work who was referred to me by Brian. When I saw the pieces that the client brought with him to explain what he wanted me to do, I immediately recognized Brian's work for the existing mortise and tenons. It's that noticeable. I've become a lot more careful in my own setups now that I've been occasionally hanging with Brian...it's a good habit.
That all said, for most folks, a reasonable assortment of setup blocks can be handy to have in the shop but even though I like "really nice things", I'd never consider opting for the $400+ version mentioned in the OP, at least for my shop operation!
--
The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
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What you will be missing is a lot of money!
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See this link
https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop...-set-up-blocks
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Huh, interesting thread. Woodpeckers and overpriced boutique tools aside, I can honestly say so far I have yet to feel a need for setup blocks with respect to woodworking. I honestly can’t think of where they’d actually be more useful than the normal tool bag of options most woodworkers probably already have several of.
If at first you don't succeed, redefine success!
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Ben - for the most part I agree with you. I know that some of the very high end wood workers work to vary close tolerances to facilitate the fitment of mating parts. I am not one of them. I use gauge blocks for machining steel/aluminum parts - but for me that is a whole other ball game.
David
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I don’t use them very often for woodworking, but when you need one they’re nice to have.
95% of the mortises I cut are square, but that last 5% require either time to be spent making jigs, a lot of hand work or both. Finally I have decided to take a machinist approach and add a mini pallet and sine plate (which is adjusted with setup blocks) to my mortiser.
I completed a compound splay leg table recently and the mortises were hugely time consuming. I’d rather them accurately cutout in a few hours of careful planning and cutout.
Option B is to make a wedge for every job, which just seems like a waste of time.
Bumbling forward into the unknown.
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I don’t have them but like the looks of them compared to the little brass set I have from Rockler. The size appeals to me as the brass ones are very small. But I won’t be buying them at that price either. The Veritas set looks like a nice alternative.
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