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A hassle-free method for setting up a dado blade with no measuring! All it takes is a flat surface and one of the most sensitive measuring devices in your shop: your fingers! Most folks don’t realize that your finger tips can detect surface irregularities down to thousandths of an inch! So wh...
had much time with a dado stack, you might not have a clue which one to purchase for your saw. Before answering the question, lets review what a dado blade is, just in case you have no idea what I’m talking about. A dado blade is a special collection of blades designed to be stacked together...
dedicated ripping blade should have a relatively low tooth number, because most rips are long and the cut is with the grain. So tearout is kept to a minimum and we can afford to use a more aggressive blade here. Cross-cuts, on the other hand, are usually shorter in duration and because you are cu...
UPDATE: I am happy to report that Tenryu did indeed develop a true full-kerf Gold Medal blade (see my issues with this below) and I’ve been happily using it in my saw for the last year. They are now available as part number GM-25540-2. The easiest way to get one at this point is to head to th...
started the cross-cuts and experienced tearout on the top layer of the plywood face. I stopped this by doing all my cuts with a skill saw and plywood blade. But when cutting the dados, I still got quite a bit of tearout. I like using this plywood because its inexpensive. So my question is: how ...
ng an alignment tool that I borrowed from the Charlotte Woodworkers Association I have been able to measure the alignment of the saw’s 10″ blade to the miter slot. According to the dial indicator, the back of the blade is 0.011″ further away from the miter slot than the front of t...
This viewer question comes from Jed who asks: “I am trying to make a cutting board with 2 different species of wood. The problem is, when I cut the strips (with the grain) I get chips and the different strips don’t match up perfectly. Do I need a special table saw blade to do this? I am...
that. It was really against the law not to store them laying sideways! So I find this funny to see a professional wood craftsman to store them on the blade. And here was my reply: Hello Andreas. Believe it or not, that is an antiquated misconception about planes. Lets review the facts. A plane b...
Why a Cyclone Separator A cyclone separator is essentially a bucket with a fancy lid. When connected to a vacuum source, the lid creates a cyclonic suction that collects large dust particles minimally, and the small dust particles at best. By adding one of these to a standard shop vac or dust extra...
olks who don’t want to fuss around with dial indicators since the magnet does all the work. And it is fast and easy to use (about 3 minutes per blade). But since jointer blades tend to raise up when you tighten them in place, you have no way of knowing if your blades truly are level with the...
This week’s question comes from Gatorbait. He writes: “I value your opinion on tool recommendations. I am very new to bandsaws. I just snagged the 14″ Powermatic (as you know from a previous email) and am looking for a few new blades (only because I heard the ones that come wit...
ime I was not using the riving knife because the mount had slipped out of adjustment and tended to bind piece of wood between it and the rip fence. My blade was set about 1/4″ above the wood. After pushing this long, flexible piece of wood through the saw, I left the saw running with the 18...