From cuemaking to full fledge wood working

Facundus Cues

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have been a woodworker for years and here is my top 3
-After many table saw blades, the Forrest ww2 is worth every penny.
-The festool tracksaw and and a couple of guide rails ar more awesome that you could ever imagine unless you have used one for any period of time. I hardly ever use my tablesaw other than to rip hardwood and if you have the vacuum you can rip plywood in your living room with almost no evidence
-The Mirka sander or festool with the mirka abranet pad and abrasive will make your sanding experience at least 4 billion times better
 
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Chris Abaya Cues

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I think one of your first projects should be a pair of saw horses; they come in handy as infeed/outfeed supports when cutting plywood and other long boards.

Some tips for your table saw...

Make a zero clearance insert. I use a high-density fiberboard such as Masonite (preferably smooth both sides) in 1/4". It really helps with keeping clean cuts on the top and bottom. Also, it helps when cutting thin stock, as it won't fall into or get stuck on the rather large slot that comes with the stock insert.

If you need super-fine wood cuts, try Freud's Diablo 7-1/4" circular saw blades in 40 and 60 teeth. They have an .063" kerf, so they never bind. They also leave an incredibly smooth surface. I actually use these to cut veneers for guitar bindings and purflings, even up to .035" thickness, with a contractor's saw... on the fence side!

Get to know the different blade types - triple chip grind, tri grind, alternate top bevel, high angle alternate top bevel, flat grind... each one has a material and purpose. When you start lusting over saw blades from Forrest, Leitz, Amana, Inifnity... you've gone off the deep end... I've never tried the variable pitch stuff yet, but they work great in endmills....

Back in the day they used copper plugs to suppress noise and vibration in blades. Now they have laser cut slots shaped to mitigate noise and relieve stress in the plate. The multi-purpose blades with the large slots and open holes are a lot noisier, and will vibrate more, which you'll see in the cut edge.

Make sure your dado set has a set of shims too. Most all plywood goods come undersized. Most composite stuff usually are pretty close. Baltic birch comes in metric. This way you'll always have tight joints when doing case work, drawer bottoms, etc...

Thanks for the tip... very helpful. I will difinitely get a diablo blade.

My next project is a small workbench that can double as an outfeed table. I plan to put my planer underneath with the sides covered with soundproofing to minimize the noise. Hopefully it helps. I even plan on wrapping the table saw sides and bottom with soundproofing material to lessen the noise also.
 
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Chris Abaya Cues

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have been a woodworker for years and here is my top 3
-After many table saw blades, the Forrest ww2 is worth every penny.
-The festool tracksaw and and a couple of guide rails ar more awesome that you could ever imagine unless you have used one for any period of time. I hardly ever use my tablesaw other than to rip hardwood and if you have the vacuum you can rip plywood in your living room with almost no evidence
-The Mirka sander or festool with the mirka abranet pad and abrasive will make your sanding experience at least 4 billion times better

One of the reasons I purchased a tracksaw was because they have great dust collection. I cannot afford a Festool yet but it's the brand that I want... maybe in the future when I am a famous and successful cuemaker. :rolleyes:

I've read that track saws are widely used in Europe. I saw a video of this English woodworker who uses a festool tracksaw to make precise and accurate cuts... pretty awesone setup.
 

greyghost

Coast to Coast
Silver Member
I can't make cues... to busy building benches with drawers and other stuff. :D



Right....I needed more wood space and place to put the garden stuff too so I shedded it
ca77fdc817b65c064e108fd46db6877c.jpg
. I even mitered my windows I'm making instead of stacking lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

JC

Coos Cues
I think one of your first projects should be a pair of saw horses; they come in handy as infeed/outfeed supports when cutting plywood and other long boards.

I have never wanted to dedicate enough space to my table saw to cut large sheets of plywood on it with big in and out tables since I'm not a cabinet maker..

I build something like this out of scraps years ago and have never looked back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiSz7kPwFY0

JC
 

Chris Abaya Cues

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I just tried my makita track saw yesterday and it did a very smooth crosscut on cheap plywood and the dust collection is near perfect... circular saw just can't compare to this awesome tool... it is my new favorite tool!
 
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