Bandsaw throat plates and tables saw inserts, both play a significant role in determining how much tear-out is created during the sawing process, but bandsaw throat plates receive very little lip service compared to their more common brethren. I assume this is because bandsaws aren’t as common in home shops, and in my opinion aren’t used as extensively by your average weekend worrier as they could be. I use my bandsaw almost as much as I use my table saw, and thus have put a decent amount of effort into extracting every last bit of performance from it. Continue Reading…
A co-worker of mine, recently commissioned me to make her a simple side table out or ribbon stripe Sapele. I knew going into the project that I needed to keep the cost down, but I still wanted the piece to have some flair. After some quick modeling in sketchup, I came up with the design shown below.
A significant amount of the piece’s presence comes from the legs, they have a gentle curve on two sides that thins them at the bottom to half their width. Two other details that add to the piece, are the under chamfer on the top, and the apron set back. The Chamfer makes the 3/4″ top look thinner, and helps keep the piece light and airy feeling. Setting the aprons 1/4″ back from flush with the legs, creates shadow lines that catch your eye and act as a focal point.
Perspective
Front
Top & leg detail
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Work has been keeping me really busy lately, but this weekend I was able to get into the shop and have a little fun. I didn’t have a lot of time to spare, so I decided a dedicated stop block would be quick and fun. I decided to make it pretty, so I garbed a little chunk of Spalted Maple, and started milling it. It’s 3″ high by 5″ long and a little under 3/4″ thick. Both ends and the back have a 3/16″ square rabett to prevent saw dust build up form hindering part registration.
The other night I was preparing a cutting board blank, and while walking from the out-feed side of the planer to the in-feed side is slipped out of my hands. Instinctively I reached to catch it, and got reminded how sharp would can be. As I grabbed it, the freshly milled 90 degree corner sliced off 3 or 4 layers of skin about 1/4″ wide by 2″ long on my right index finger.
I didn’t even realize what happened at first, then 20 or 30 seconds later I felt what I thought was water or sweet running across my palm. When i looked, I realized it was blood and that the edge had cut me like a razor blade. This isn’t the first time I’ve been cut by a chunk of wood, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. If you Learn anything from my blog, I hope that its to always be safe, because even something that seems benign can hurt you.
I’ve wanted an out-feed table ever since I got my first table saw 10 years ago, but for one reason or another I never made one. Now That I’m on my second saw, I made having an out-feed table mandatory. Over the last 3 weeks I put other projects aside, and even skipped mowing the yard one weekend so that I had time to build a table.
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