36 – Interview with Anatole Burkin

Video - January 3, 2008

Many folks expressed an interest in seeing the full interviews from our trip to Fine Woodworking. Only about 5% of the interview actually made it into the show, so there is plenty of good information here. Anatole Burkin is the Publisher of Fine WoodWorking Magazine. The interview took place in is cozy two-car garage workshop. Enjoy!

Anatole wanted me to include the following information on shop-made splitters since there has been some interest.

Adding a splitter to a new tablesaw throat insert is an excellent safely practice. Once installed, neglecting it requires a conscious effort, so the odds are that it will see everyday, real-life use. I’ve found, though, that the usually recommended procedure of extending the kerf behind the blade and gluing in a wooden tongue is hard to pull off without introducing minuscule errors. And the slightest error will result in a device that snags the workpiece. This method solves those problems. Raise the sawblade through the new insert. Then place the insert against a fence on a drill-press table. Align things by lowering a drill bit of a diameter that is equal to the blade thickness (usually 1/8 in.) into the kerf. When the bit is centered in the kerf, lock the fence, change to a drill bit 1/32 in. smaller, switch on the drill press and bore a hole near the outfeed end of the kerf. Now push that same drill bit into the hole, shank up, along with a dab of cyanoacrylate glue. The drill bit will now serve as the splitter pin. It will be aligned perfectly with the sawkerf and should have about 1/64 in. of clearance on each side.

Michael Standish, Roxbury, Mass.

Fine Woodworking Magazine, October 2001 No. 151

Discussion

Kip from Nothern Illinois January 3, 2008 2:03 pm

That was nice. I kept trying to see his bandsaw, did I miss it? Does he have one?

Again thanks for sharing

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Tomcat1066 January 3, 2008 3:00 pm

Very cool. Thanks for sharing that Marc. It’s kind of nice to see that the publisher of FWW doesn’t have a shop THAT much bigger than I do ;)

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Ace HoleInOne January 3, 2008 6:42 pm

My first impression, the folks at Fine Woodworking has their eyes wide open and seems very accessible. Really wanting to reach out and take a chance with any fine woodworker. Just good folks who care about their product and do get their hands dirty. I donâ

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Ron January 3, 2008 7:15 pm

Ha! My shop is half that size! He reminds me so much of our old neighbor that is an architect. The likeness is amazing.

The comment about the splitter on the tablesaw is very interesting. Perhaps a quick little video on how to make our own should be on your list – when your camera is fixed. It’s a feature I’ve been toying with buying. Building my own was not even considered I’m ashamed to say.

Thanks!

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Norman January 4, 2008 7:59 am

It’s cool to be able to visit with such influential people in the woodworking industry and get to see their personal side.
We’re all in this together, trying to further woodworking.

A man and his tools – It’s a powerful force

Thanks for the visit with Anatole.

Norman

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Anatole January 4, 2008 8:02 am

I do have a bandsaw — it’s a 14-in. Delta with a riser block. For big jobs, like the pile of shedua I recently resawed, I take my lumber in to work and use our shop’s 18-in. machine. One of the perks of working for FWW!

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Jeremy (Bama5150) January 4, 2008 11:17 am

Anatole, thanks for letting Marc and us (the wood whisperer collective) into your shop. Very cool interview indeed. Marc, keep em coming :)

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Kip from Nothern Illinois January 4, 2008 12:34 pm

Anatole,

Thank you for taking the time to answer me, I was aiming at Marc with my question, but pleasently suprised to here from you.

My situation is the opposite from you, I have only a 20″ band saw in my basement shop and have no acces to a 14″. I find myself using a jig saw when I cut tight curves. The 20″ onlly allows a min. blade width of 3/6″.

The jig saw leaves a little more hand work than I suspect a good 14″ bandsaw would. I have been looking at several makes and again appreciate knowing your preference.

Have a properous year Anatole

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Ace HoleInOne January 4, 2008 1:02 pm

I knew it!!! I knew it!!!

I just had that feeling…Anatole is a closet Wood Whisperer viewer. LOL

-Ace-

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Robert Romeo January 4, 2008 5:05 pm

Nice job Mark ,I realy like .your site and the way you teach. Thanks

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William January 5, 2008 8:14 am

Thanks for posting this extended interview. I too appreciate the fact that the editor of FWW has a humble garage shop that looks as crammed as my own, though I’m sure the work is a lot better.

As a newbie to WoodWhisperer, I’ve been inspired to put my after-market splitter to more consistent use, including cuts on sheet goods and also cross cuts. I have the same one as Marc’s which came with my Unisaw that I purchased used.

I’ve never been completely satisfied with my rip cuts using the splitter, until a recent cut of 1/4 inch plywood revealed that it was off slightly to left, pulling the piece away from the fence and causing the cut edge to graze the back of the blade (precisely what a splitter designed to prevent!). Loosening one bolt and a slight tweak to the right resulted in easy action and glue line quality rips.

I like Anatole’s idea for a pin splitter and plan to give it a try on one of my zero clearance inserts.

Thanks again, Marc.

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JohnC January 17, 2008 9:16 pm

I like the idea of that shopmade splitter.

My question: is it really important to reduce the drill bit by 1/32, or can you just use the same size as the kerf?
I have a Forrest WW2 thin kerf (3/32″) blade, and I have a stash of 3/32 drill bits. Dropping it to a 1/16″ drill bit seems like it could be too thin and flimsy.

Thanks for any advice!

-John

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36 – Interview with Anatole Burkin

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