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The Woodworking Channel — Woodworking Online

Do you like to watch woodworking shows on your television?

How about on your computer?

Now you can do both. And I’m not talking about the “the Green Button.” I’m talking about internet television at the “The Woodworking Channel,” an online web site billing itself as The World’s Workshop.

Currently featuring shows that we’re all familiar with, like Scott Phillips’, “The American Woodshop” and the Rosendahl’s “Router Workshop,” the Woodworking Channel has a regular schedule, just like broadcast television. But what makes it different is that it’s all woodworking, all the time. Other current program listings include: “The Great British Workshop,” “Woodworking at Home” magazine, “American Association of Woodturners,” “The Woodworkers Edge with Glenn Huey,” “Turning Point Studios: A Woodworking Experience with Sam Maloof,” and “Lie-Nielsen Toolworks, Inc.”

A quick look through the program guide shows a new program typically starting every half-hour. And since most programs produced for commercial television are actually only 22 minutes long (to allow for commercials), they fill out the half hour with short snippets of video from other sources. A few of the shows though are longer than 1/2 hour.

According to the folks at the Woodworking Channel, that’s what’s so great about having a channel on the internet. They’re able to focus on the process rather than the payoff when it comes to new production. Another great thing about internet television is how quickly they can develop new shows. Instead of waiting for the next season to produce a new show, they claim they‘re able to shoot, edit, and get it playing on the channel immediately.

As you may have guessed, only a couple of the Woodworking Channel’s online content is derived from an actual TV show. Most of the programming is high quality, especially a short program about Gary Lacey, a bamboo fly rod builder, but some of it looks pretty fuzzy. Several of the short segments used as filler between shows are video snippets taken at a turning convention. It’s not well lit, the focus is bad, and it’s kind of irritating the way they cut to and away from these segments without any warning.

All in all, if you like the woodworking shows you see on television, you’ll like those found on the Woodworking Channel. I do have a few complaints though. First of all, you need high-speed internet access to take full advantage of the streaming video. Which is fine. I understand the limitations and can live with them. But there are a lot of us who have dial-up at home and DSL at work. I don’t know about you, but my bosses probably would frown on me watching TV while I’m supposed to be working!

Another drawback is the viewer used to show the streaming video. Since they don’t have commercials per se, the Woodworking Channel depends on sponsorship and flash ads that run next to the viewer. Again, I understand the reasoning for this and can live with it, except that it limits the convenience of using it. I tried to resize the viewer and ended up with a rather large rectangular screen that included the ads. And as far as I could tell, there is no way to create a default setting so that the viewer is “always on top.” This would make it possible to drag the viewer to a corner of the desktop, allowing me to work on other programs while watching if I wanted to. Plus, there are forward, reverse, and stop or pause toggles below the viewer that don’t seem to control anything, so I’m not sure why they’re there.

The site does include a separate navigation toolbar that actually allows you to surf other web sites while watching if you want to. Finally, if you’re able to visit the Woodworking Channel, and have a broadband or DSL connection, make sure you start your viewer several minutes before the program starts, because it does take a while to fully buffer the feed and avoid video streaming stoppages.

Joel

Posted on Tuesday, June 13th, 2006 at 9:45 am. Filed under Woodworking.
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- Houston Woodworking Show

Day 2 was much more worthwhile than yesterday. I invested the time to watchseveral demos. This was an opportunity to get a close hand look at some ofthose fancy gadgets and understand their worth (or not).

The Jointech and Incra fence systems were quite impressive. The guys givingdemos were also very, very good. They made a compelling case for how a fencesystem with a precise repeatable micro adjustment can be an asset. I wasalso wooed by the 90 day money back guarantee that Jointech offered.

The company that developed Gripper was there. They had a product which theguy claimed just came into production for this show. It was a simple plasticdevice that mounted in a zero tolerance throat plate to act as a splitter.It somes with a jig to precisely drill three aligned mounting holes with thesaw kerf. The mounting jig was clever and worked well. The jig andsplitter piece sold for $14. The splitter could be removed and mounted inanother throat plate. They also had precut throat plate blanks for $9 each -not bad if you don’t want to hassle making your own.

The Gripper is a good product, but the demo lacked integrity. The guy had atwo piece router fence with the outfeed side set back about 1/32″. You hadto look closely but it was there. Of course he didn’t point this out to theaudience. He showed routing using a push block. He guided using the infeedside of the fence, then would imperceptibly and quickly move the wood intothe offset outfeed side the last half inch. It created a gross example ofsnipe – a simple slight of hand on his part. He blamed it on the pushblock. Then he ran a piece through with the Gripper and magically the snipedisappeared. It was totally dishonest. He could have demod the productwithout creating this “feature”. I was about to buy the splitter and maybe aGripper until I saw this demo and left in disgust.

I watched a routing demo showing three bits for making various lockingjoints. I’ve read about these, but never actually seen them used. Thespeed and quality with which the host made these joints was awesome. Thesethree bits (Oldham) were sold in a boxed set for $139. I was reaching formy wallet but decided to go home and check the internet first.

Bob

“Bob Davis” wrote in messagenews:bF5Vb.17640$uM2.8132@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net…> I just attended the first day of the Houston Woodworking Show.

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Tpa Woodworking Show-We were there and I can prove it. [Archive]

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e278/apache3/tpawwshow1.jpg

This photo was taken on the 24th of March, 2007 at the Tampa Woodworking Show in Tampa Florida. On the left is Jay Knoll from Vero Beach, in the middle is yours truly from Punta Gorda and on the right is Tony Falotico from Lake City. Julio Navarro of Tampa was going to try to show up in the afternoon but did not make as far as we know. Tony tried calling him to no avail. We hope that nothing happened except for some sort of tie up.

A couple of things about the guys in the picture. Jay, as you can see, is a lot bigger than you might imagine so try not to tick him off. His good friend who he brought with him is even larger in stature and is a very nice guy to boot. I am sure glad that I was on friendly terms with them. Tony was his normal good looking self but also able to take care of himself. His friend was a delight also. All four guys were just great and made me feel at home right away and made me feel that the drive up there was well worth the effort just to meet them if nothing else. The picture of myself in the middle has some problems. I think that it was a lighting anomaly that created a wrinkled like appearance to my face. Oh well–can’t have perfection all of the time.

I think that Tony may have a new tool post soon. I could see the gleam in his eyes.

A short note about the show: Last year I went and it was lousy but this year I thought that it was very good– A lot of products and demos.

And for the grand finish to the story. I had read so much about Mini Max and was happy to see their booth come into sight. You could see that their tools were quality through and through but that is not the best part of the story. Running the Mini Max booth was our own Sam Blasco of Austin, Texas. I was a little leary as to what to expect as Sam’s avitar seems a bit stern but nothing could be further from the truth. He’s a terrific guy with a great personality — A perfect match of personality and quality tools. Here is a photo of Sam and Tony wondering why I do not have my checkbook out.

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My Workbench By Bob Hamilton

My Workbench By Bob Hamilton

The time had finally come when the frustration of chasing my Workmate around the shop while trying to hand plane a board had built up to the point that I was ready to put all other projects on hold until I finally had myself a decent workbench. I had been intending to build myself a workbench all along, but never seemed to find the time before. Now I had determined to MAKE the time.

I had a picture inside my head of what my bench would look like, sort of a distillation of ideas I had seen in magazines, catalogs, and books. I knew I wanted a very solid, well supported laminated top with bench dog holes for use in conjunction with the front and end vise. My material of choice for the bench top was either hard maple or beech. I already had a front vise that I had picked up at a woodworking show several years back but had never installed anywhere because I didn’t have a bench to install it on. I had also decided to go with the Veritas twin-screw vise as my end vise. Due to the small size of my workshop, I felt that the largest I would be able to go was about five and a half feet in length and 2 and a half feet in depth.

My available tools were also a factor in my final design. I have a Delta 12″ thickness planer, so I decided to make the slabs for the benchtop 12″ wide with a 4″ tool trough between them. This way, I would be able to do the initial surfacing of the slabs after glue-up by running them through the planer. I do not have any power tools that would allow me to make large section mortises in heavy timbers accurately, so I decided to simplify things by laminating the material for the supporting structure of the bench from three layers, leaving gaps in the middle layer of the lamination wherever I needed a mortise.

With all this in mind, I drew a rough sketch and penciled in enough dimensions to allow me to roughly calculate how much material I would need, with a generous allowance for error and waste. I decided to get between 50 and 60 board feet of material for the top slabs, and about 50 board feet for the supporting structure. Off I went to the local sawmill, fully intending to buy 8/4 hard maple or beech for the top, and whatever was available for the understructure.

My luck was running true to form, however, and I arrived at the mill the day after they had shipped almost all the dry wood that they had. They had absolutely nothing suitable for a bench top in 8/4 thickness, so I wound up scratching through a very short stack of already picked over birch in 4/4 thickness to find enough for my top. I was able to get some very nice soft maple in 5/4 thickness for the understructure. I picked out the boards I wanted from the two piles and stood them up against one wall to be measured. When they had been measured, I loaded them in my truck while the manager was making up my bill. I had 64 board feet of birch and 50 board feet of soft maple, for which, due to the slim pickings I presume, I was charged just $1.00 per board foot. (That’s $1.00 Canadian, about $ .72 U.S.) The total bill including taxes was $131.10.

My original plan had been to plane the 8/4 wood to 1 3/4″ thickness, rip it to 2 1/4″, and rotate each piece 90 degrees before gluing up. I figured this would give me two slabs 2 1/4″ thick each made up of 7 pieces laminated together. The only thing that my inability to obtain 8/4 material changed was the number of pieces in each lamination. Once I had surfaced the 4/4 birch I found that I needed 15 pieces for each slab. This is a major glue up! I used biscuits to help keep the pieces aligned while the clamps were applied. Let’s see, now, that’s 8 biscuits per joint, with 14 joints means 112 biscuits or 224 biscuit slots per slab, or 448 slots all together. I hadn’t realized before just how heavy that DeWalt plate joiner is!

I had laid out the pieces for each slab and arranged them as much as possible so that the best edge was up, any crown alternated, the grain was arranged to minimize chip out when planing, and the outer pieces were the best ones of the lot. Then I drew triangles across the upper edges to maintain the order. While I still had them together, I laid out for the biscuit slots, staggered so that no two slots were back to back in the same piece of wood. I then cut the slots. Did I mention how heavy my plate joiner is?

I was now ready to glue up the slabs. I stood two straight pieces of 2×4 on edge on top of my table saw to serve as a gluing bench. It did not take long after I started spreading glue before I realized that there was no way I was going to be able to glue all 15 pieces together in one go, given the 20 minute open assembly time of the PVA glue I was using. I managed 7 pieces the first time, and was probably pushing my luck. I used the outside piece from the far edge to protect the gluing face of the 7th piece and applied almost every clamp I own to the assembly. I then left it to cure for about 4 hours, came back, removed the clamps and scraped off the squeeze out. I glued up the other 8 pieces to this assembly and again applied clamps and left it overnight.

The next day, I repeated the process for the second slab. This left me with two slabs about 12 1/2″ wide, 2 1/4″ thick, and a little over 6 feet long. I tacknailed a straight rip from a piece of plywood to the top overhanging one edge to give me a straight reference to run along the table saw fence and ripped the opposite edge straight. I could then run this newly straightened edge along the fence to straighten the remaining edge. I removed the saw marks with my Makita 3 1/4″ power hand planer with the bevel fence set to 90 degrees.

This left the slabs narrow enough to fit through my 12″ thickness planer. I planed each face of both slabs just enough to level all the joints and have both slabs equal. I was pleased to find that the slabs were still a full 2 1/8″ thick after this operation. I first squared the ends using a portable circular saw, but was not pleased with the finish of the cut surface. I went out and bought a 3/4″ flush trimming bit with 1/2″ shank for my router, but it only had 2″ of cutting edge. I used a 1/2″ straight cutting bit in the router to make a trimming cut 1/4″ deep across the bottom edge of both ends of the slabs, then used this flat surface to run the bearing guide of the flush trimming bit against as I cut from the top of the slabs. This left a much better finished surface.

With the slabs complete, I turned my attention to the supporting trestles. I planed the soft maple to 1 1/8″ thickness and ripped it 3″ wide. I then carefully measured and cut the individual pieces for the laminations. Each trestle consists of two horizontal members at the extreme top and bottom, and two vertical members spaced in from the ends of the horizontal members about 6″. The vertical members were easy, since each one consisted of only one long piece with a shorter piece on each side. The short pieces form the shoulders of the tenons, and the overhanging ends of the middle long piece become the tenons.

The horizontal members are a little trickier, since spaces must be left in the middle layer of the lamination to form the mortises for the tenons. I initially glued up the outer full length pieces with one short length between them centered on the length. This established the inner end of the mortises. (I used glue and counterbored screws for all of these laminations to avoid problems with parts sliding as the clamps were tightened. I later plugged all the screw holes.) Once the glue was dry and all squeezeout removed, I inserted the tenons of the vertical members in these open ended mortises and used them to index the short piece that forms the outer end of the mortise. I bored pilot holes and screwed these into place without glue. Then I removed the tenons from the mortises, backed the screws out and applied glue to the end pieces. I put them back in position and re-drove the screws.

Once the glue was dry and the squeezeout removed, I marked out for a relief cut in the bottom horizontal pieces so that only the end 6″ would be touching the floor. This was not really necessary, since I was planning on installing levelers in them anyway, but I felt they didn’t look right without it. I cut this on the band saw, and also made a 45 degree cut from about half way up the ends of each piece to take off the top corner and give them more of a finished look.

Assembling the trestles was more difficult than I had anticipated. The mortises were a very snug fit during the dry run, and with the addition of glue it required a lot of effort, clamps and swearing to get them to draw home. I did succeed eventually, and used a bar gauge to ensure the diagonals were equal before I set them aside to dry. When they were dry I cut the tenons off flush and hand planed the top and bottom surfaces straight and true.

I wanted to use a sliding dovetail joint to attach the slabs to the trestles so that I could use a single lag screw up through the end of the top horizontal member to attach the slabs. This way they would be free to move towards the middle of the bench with the changing seasons. I clamped the two trestles together with the tops flush to give me a broad surface to support the router. I used an edge guide and many passes to machine a dovetail tongue about 1″ wide the length of each top member, centered on its width.

Now I had to make the final decisions about dog hole spacing so that I would not wind up with a trestle right under a row of dog holes. I wanted the trestles to be spaced as far apart as possible to provide as much room between them for a storage cabinet as I could. Using trial and error I determined that a spacing of 7″ between dog holes gave the best compromise. (More on this later) Laying out the dog hole locations allowed me to determine the best positions for the trestles and lay out the dovetail dado.

At this point I made a serious error in judgment that should have cost me dearly. That it did not was pure, blind luck. The PROPER technique for cutting these dovetail dados would have been to clamp the slabs together side by side and machine the slots in one continuous pass across both slabs to ensure proper alignment. This, of course, never even occurred to me until after I had measured and machined each slot individually, despite the fact that I have used this technique in the past with good results. In this one specific case, however, my mistake actually turned out better than the proper method would have.

I was using a jig I built from one of Patrick Spielman’s router books that allows cutting dados with the router and is micro-adjustable for dado width. It took me three tries before I finally got it set to cut the perfect width of dovetail dado, by which I mean that the fourth and final dado cut into the bottom of the second slab was the only one that was exactly right. The first three were close, but still allowed the trestle to rock slightly from side to side when it was inserted into the dado. I resigned myself to having to use two lags into each slab to attach the trestle, and decided to try a full assembly. As it turned out, the slight measuring errors made while locating the dados and cutting them individually actually canceled out the slop from cutting the dados a hair too wide! With the slabs assembled to the trestles, the bench was quite solid even without stretchers between the trestles.

While I had the bench assembled, I measured for the stretchers. Then I took the bench apart and made the stretchers 1″ longer than the measurement between the trestles. I chopped out mortises 1/2″ deep on the inside face of the trestles, and machined tenons on the end of the stretchers to fit. The stretchers are 6″ wide and 1 1/8″ thick soft maple. The hardware I wanted to use to attach the stretchers is something that I know by the name of cross dowel nuts, but I don’t know if that is the proper name for them. They consist of a short section of round bar with a tapped hole crosswise through it. The only place I knew of to get them was over an hour’s drive away, so I decided to make my own.

I bought a couple of 1″ x 6″ bolts at a local hardware store and cut the heads off them with a hacksaw. I then made 4 center punch dimples along the unthreaded portion of the shank of the bolts. With a “V” block centered under my drill press chuck, I bored holes at each of the dimples completely through the bolt. I then tapped the holes to receive 1/2″ bolts. When all the holes were tapped, I cut the bolts into 4 cross dowel nuts, then used a hacksaw to cut a slot in one end of each in line with the bored hole to allow inserting a slot screwdriver to turn them for alignment. I estimate that I saved $40 from what it would have cost me to buy these parts, but it took me an entire day to make them.

I carefully laid out the hole locations and used my drill press to counterbore the outside of the trestles and then drill a 1/2″ hole through into the mortises for the stretchers. I also bored 1″ holes through the stretchers centered on the same line. I then inserted the stretcher tenons into their mortises and used the 1/2″ hole through the trestle leg to align the bit while I bored through to intersect the 1″ holes and a little beyond. This worked amazingly well and very little tweaking was required to get the bolts to engage the nuts. I have two bolts into each end of each stretcher, for a total of 8 bolts.

Now it was time to bore the dog holes in the slabs. At the last moment I decided to alter the dog hole spacing and found that 4″ centers would still work with the trestle spacing. I attempted to set up an indexing jig to space the holes, but after a couple of fruitless attempts decided to eyeball them. I had a fence set up to ensure a consistent distance in from the edge of the slabs, and with a forstner bit the center spur gave a fairly good reference to a pencil mark on the slab. It may not be perfect, but it is done.

I also routed a 1/4″ groove along the edge of each slab for the tool tray bottom to slip into. I made this deep enough that with the bottom in place there is still room at the bottom of the grooves to allow for the slabs to move. Before final assembly I also bored through the bottom members of the trestles for installation of the levelers. The levelers are simply 3/4″ x 6″ threaded studs with a nut welded on one end. I counterbored the bottom of each trestle with a forstner bit to allow me to recess a nut and washer flush with the bottom surface of the trestle. The cavity around the nut was filled with epoxy bulked up with microballoons to fix this nut in place. A second shallow counterbore in the top surface of the trestle bottom member allows a washer to be recessed as a bearing surface for the locking nut. In use the top nut is backed off, the entire stud is screwed in or out as necessary by using a wrench on the welded nut on the bottom, and the top nut is re-tightened to lock the stud in place.

I then assembled the bench for the last time. I marked stop points on the trestle tops, mounted one slab and clamped it in position on its marks, then used alternating clamp pressure to pull the second slab into position. With the slabs in position, I bored up through the bottom of the top member of the trestles and installed a single 1/2″x4 1/2″ lag screw into each slab. I then cut a piece of 1/4″ tempered hardboard and slid it into position in the slots between the slabs as the tool trough bottom. The tool trough is 4″ wide.

My front vise is a 7″ woodworking vise with a quick release lever and pop-up dog. I mounted it on the front edge of the bench just inboard of the trestle and with the pop-up dog aligned with a row of dog holes. I used spacers under the bolt holes so that the top edges of the metal jaws were recessed about 1/16″ below the bench surface. I mounted it using lag screws up into the bottom of the bench slab and two wood screw through the rear jaw into the slab edge.

Now I milled enough soft maple 5″ wide and 1 1/8″ thick to make an apron all the way around the bench top. I hand cut dovetails at the corners to lock everything together. The end where the twin-screw vise was to be mounted was attached using the bolts and cross dowel nuts supplied in the vise installation hardware kit. The other end was attached using 5/16″ x 5″ long lag screws. The front and back aprons were attached by simply screwing them to the edges of the slabs. All aprons were installed slightly proud of the bench surface and then hand planed flush after installation. Since I also wanted dog holes in the front of the aprons, I also installed a second 1 1/8″ thick piece of maple on the back of the long aprons to double their thickness. This piece was attached using glue and biscuits.

The front apron piece was notched on both its back surface and bottom edge to fit around the front vise before installation. This makes the entire apron the rear jaw of the vise. I installed a piece of ash that I had around on the front jaw of the vise, making it slightly proud along the top and planing it flush after installation. I bored a row of dog holes along the front apron, in line with the dog holes in the bench top and the same height as the guide rods of the front vise. These will provide support for long boards on edge in the front vise.

The Veritas twin-screw vise comes with a complete hardware kit and a very detailed installation manual. When I bought it, along with the box containing the vise hardware I was also handed a sheet of paper containing a stern warning to suppress my innovative nature and follow the installation instructions to the letter. It also detailed the 5 easiest ways to screw up the installation. The entire letter is repeated as the first page of the instruction booklet, so I am forced to assume that they have had problems with people having already proceeded too far and made mistakes before they ever opened the box. The installation is not particularly difficult if the instructions are followed carefully.

On my bench, I had installed the trestle on the vise end of the bench too close to the end to allow clearance for the screws of the end vise. I had done this deliberately, planning to bore holes through the trestle to allow the vise screws to pass through. My mistake was in not boring these clearance holes sufficiently large enough to provide any margin for error in measuring and alignment. One of the holes proved to be out of alignment enough to cause severe binding when the vise was installed. I used a rotary rasp chucked in a drill to enlarge the hole enough to provide clearance for the vise screw. This was the only major snag I encountered during the installation. Since the instruction manual is 10 pages long, I won’t go into any more detail here on installing the vise.

The bench proper was now complete, and I decided to apply finish to it before continuing with the underbench storage cabinet. I waffled for quite a while before deciding on what type of finish to use. I requested advice on the woodworking listserve, scoured my woodworking magazines, and finally broke down and bought Flexner’s Finishing Bible. My final decision, based on the rationale that no finish on earth is going to stand up to the abuse a workbench will be subject to, was to use several coats of Danish Oil, more for ease of restoring the finish than for durability of the finish. The results were spectacular, enough so that my wife was chiding me for keeping the “good” stuff for my shop instead of for the living room.

I wanted to use the space underneath the bench for storage, so I built a simple cabinet to fit between the trestles and rest on top of the stretchers. This is a completely separate piece that is held in place only by friction and gravity, but adds considerable mass and stability to the bench, especially when full of tools. The carcass of the cabinet is made of 3/4″ plywood, rabbeted, glued and nailed at the corners. The back of the cabinet is 1/4″ tempered hardboard set into a rabbet and glued and nailed. There is a single vertical divider set into dados in the top and bottom separating the drawer section from the cupboard section, and a shelf in the cupboard section supported by dados in the divider and end panel, a horizontal cleat attached to the back panel, and a vertical cleat on the inside face of the face frame. The face frame was made from some of the leftover birch, as were the drawer boxes. I installed the face frame with its inner edge flush with the inside of the case so that its outer edge provides a lip that goes up against the front edge of the trestles. I elected to go with 8 shallow drawers rather than 4 deep ones, because I find that deep drawers tend to get cluttered and things get lost in the bottom. I used some ash that I had around for the drawer fronts and paneled doors.

The drawers are side hung on runners, and I let the drawer sides extend 5″ or 6″ beyond the drawer back so that they are sort of low tech full extension drawers. The drawer bottoms are 1/4″ tempered hardboard in a groove in the sides and front, and nailed to the bottom of the drawer back. The sides and front are connected using half blind dovetails cut with my router and Sears dovetail jig. The drawer fronts are flush with the sides on the top and bottom, but overlap the drawer openings by 3/8″ on each side for a semi-lipped effect. The cabinet doors are also lipped 3/8″ all the way around. I used Danish Oil as a finish on the cabinet as well.

The cabinet was a snug fit between the trestles, so that I had to back off the bolts into the stretchers to slide it into place. Once the bolts were tightened back up, the cabinet was firmly held in position. I installed small porcelain knobs as drawer and door pulls, because they were the cheapest thing I could find, but I very much like the finished look. I have suffered through numerous digs about why my kitchen cabinets don’t look this good!

This bench is very heavy and stable. I have placed it in its final position in my shop (unfortunately, up against the wall) and although I have not had enough time to actually use it much yet, I already know that is going to be one of the most valuable additions to my arsenal of tools. It transforms a frustrating operation involving awkward body positions attempting to keep one foot on the base of my Workmate to keep it anchored in place while I push the hand plane into a pleasure. I expect it will also contribute to shop safety, since my most serious injuries to date have all been the result of having a hand chisel slip and hit the hand I was using to hold the workpiece from moving.

I am as proud of this project as I have ever been of anything I have made, and extremely pleased with the way it turned out. I even managed to overcome my tendencies towards procrastination long enough to take pictures and actually get them developed! If nothing else, they prove that I am not much of a photographer.

My costs for this project, in Canadian dollars:

-wood – $131.10 plus a little wood that I already had on hand. -Plywood and tempered hardboard for cabinet – ~$50.00 -assorted hardware purchases(hinges, pulls, bolts, etc.) – ~$30.00 -Veritas Twin-screw Vise kit – $155.00 plus taxes -Veritas Bench Dogs – $42.00 plus taxes for two pairs -Veritas Bench Pups – $16.95 plus taxes for one pair -Lee Valley Danish Oil – $40.50 plus taxes for 3 quarts -assorted shop supplies (screws, nails, biscuits, sandpaper, etc.) – ~$25.00

Grand total – $490.55 plus the taxes on those items listed above.

I feel that this bench is easily the equivalent of benches or bench kits that sell for $1000.00 plus, and the experience derived from constructing it myself is priceless. The project took me about 2 months to complete, but then I never claimed to be fast.

I would like to take this opportunity to offer my heartfelt thanks to the members of the woodworking listserve at theoak.com who were so generous with their advice and encouragement, and especially to Kip Yeager for providing the forum who made it all possible. Three cheers for Kip!

Bob Hamilton

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Going Nationwide: The Woodsmith Shop TV Show — Woodworking Online

If you’re a subscriber to Woodsmith or ShopNotes magazine, or live in the state of Iowa, you probably already know that we’ve been busy around here. We’ve been working hard on a new TV show that has been airing on public television (PBS) stations in Iowa and will soon be available nationally in December.

The Woodsmith Shop is unlike any other woodworking show you’ve seen. It’s the first one to be filmed and produced (by Iowa Public Television) in High Definition. That means the picture quality is unsurpassed. You’ll see all the details of the tips and techniques we talk about on the show.

Second, The Woodsmith Shop isn’t a project-based show. What I mean is we’ll spend an entire episode talking about a particular woodworking joint, tool, or technique instead of building a project. That means you’ll get more detail about woodworking than you’ll find on any other show. And you’ll have the opportunity to download project plans and articles from our web site that are related to the show’s content.

We’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback so far from those that have seen the show. And a lot of folks nationwide are anxious to take a look. Now is the time to take a minute to email or call your local public television station and tell them you heard about The Woodsmith Shop and want to see it in your area. This link will take you to the show’s web site where you can find out if the show is airing in your area. You’ll also get a list of PBS stations in your area and a contact link for each station.

Let us know what you think of the show.

Posted on Thursday, November 29th, 2007 at 3:33 pm. Filed under Video, Woodsmith, Woodworking.
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The Woodworking Shows 2010

I’ve been getting a fair number of PM’s asking which shows I’ll be attending this year. Somewhat in advance of each show I’ll ask who’s going to be coming to the show. I really enjoy meeting Lumberjocks at the shows. For me it’s like finding familar faces greeting me as I travel far from home. Since I’ve been getting questions regarding my appearances at the shows, I thought I’d use a single post to give a list of all the shows I’ll be doing this season. I’ll keep doing the individual show announcements but this might give some folks a chance to do a little preplanning.

Here’s a link to my website calendar which has all the shows I’ll be doing listed each month with links directly to The Woodworking Shows web page for that show.

If you’d rather just read a running list of the shows I’ll be attending, here it is:

January 8 – 10, 2010 in Baltimore, Maryland at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, MD

January 15 – 17, 2010 in Columbus, Ohio at the Ohio Expo Center in Columbus, Ohio

January 29 – 31, 2010 in Atlanta, GA at the North Atlanta Trade Center in Norcross, GA

February 19 – 21, 2010 in Somerset, NJ at the Garden State Exhibit Center in Somerset, NJ

March 5 – 7, 2010 in Reading, PA at the Greater Reading Expo Center, in Reading, PA

March 12 – 14, 2010 in Fredericksburg, VA at the Fredericksburg Expo & Conference Center in Fredericksburg, VA

April 9 – 11, 2010 in Chantilly, VA at the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly, VA

I may also be doing more of the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool events later this year. It depends entirely on scheduling and how far I am willing to travel. If you know LN is coming toI’ll update everyone on those appearances as they get scheduled.

If you live anywhere near any of the shows listed, please make sure you let me know you’re coming. Over the last two years of doing the shows, meeting Lumberjocks has been the best experience. I truly look forward to meeting fellow Lumberjocks at the shows. This is by far the best woodworking community with which I have been involved.

– Chuck Bender, period furniture maker, www.acanthus.com

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The Woodworking Show in Somerset, NJ was a flop – Woodworking Talk

I think first we have to answer, why do we go to these shows? To save money, right?

Well, in the last 8 or 10 years the business model has changed. The Internet has become a MAJOR retail space. The Internet has changed the retail model for the brick and mortar stores also.

Today, most brick and mortar stores are matching (or durn close) the prices found on the Internet. If they aren’t, all you have to do is ask.

If you look at the show model, you have to rent exhibit space. You can probably rent an exhibit space 150 square feet for about twice the rent of a full store. Next you have to staff the booth and usually with people from out of town. There are transportation, living and meal costs. Five nights in a decent hotel cost probably as much as an apartment for a month. A cost saving for you and I just isn’t the model any longer. (Sorry, but that’s just the way that it is.)

I had a long talk with a vendor that would bring the kids to the show as a vacation. Before or after the show they would take in the local attractions. The vendor told me that the money isn’t there any more. The vendor said that if they broke even by selling at the show they were happy. The reason that they attend the show is to get their product into the hands of a few woodworkers. Then those woodworkers talk up the product and they sell more through the web. (The Internet rears its ugly head again.) They are a very small vendor and trying to build their business.

Another vendor that I have observed is Micro Jig. They used the show circuit to build their business. Now Rockler and Lee Valley carry their product. However it was the show circuit that built their business.

There are other vendors who have exhibited with little enthusiasm and as a result, their business is about to die. Their product is a good one, but how many people can stand there and watch another picture frame demonstration? It doesn’t matter how good the picture frames are, the demo is just boring. (It doesn’t matter much which vendor is doing a picture frame demo, the demo is boring.) When people walk, they don’t buy.

As a woodworker, you have to adjust your mentality about today’s woodworking shows. It’s time to get away from home maintenance, etc. It is time to enjoy woodworking demos and try to learn something. You may see something that you can’t live without. You may see something that you didn’t know existed.

Finally, I know of people that go to these shows with the same attitude that I have when I go to a NASCAR race weekend. It’s fun! Adopt that attitude and you’ll have fun. (Isn’t that what it is all about?)

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- Bandsaws at the Houston Woodworking show.

All Laguna bandsaws are impressive. They all use cast iron flywheels andthe same Laguna designed ceramic guides. The 14SE is “only” a 14″ saw, butit has 2 hp motor, handles 1″ blades and has 12″ resaw capacity. Insearching the archives, I read lots of praise for their performance andcustomer service. But there’s nothing like seeing one perform in person.

Check their February special and compare to the Bridgewood you mentioned.You said its $900 + shipping. The Laguna is $1145. But that includes amobile kit, shipping, and three blades. It sounds roughly comparable to me.

Laguna band saws are made in Italy and Bulgaria. Their smaller saws(including 14SE) are made in Bulgaria. In the Laguna video, Torben talksabout the manufacturing. The Italian factory (ACM) and Laguna collaborate ondesigns. The Bulgarian factory “does what we tell them to and they do itwell -its a good arrangement”.

All of the engineering design is done by Laguna tools. The only difference Isaw between the 14 and 18 Laguna’s was that the larger had a rack and pinionupper guide adjustment. The 14 simply had a lock knob that you released,then moved the guide up and down with your hand. It moved very easily anddid not seem like a disadvantage to me.

It seems to me that band saws are very, very competitive in the sizes aserious hobbyist or small shop might use. You get what you paid for. Ilooked at all the Grizzly line last night and found you had to move up theirline to get an apples to apples comparison. After shipping, the Grizzly linewas slightly cheaper.

When I talked with Torben yesterday, he indicated all his bandsaws wereequivalent in cutting performance and features – its a matter of choosingcapacity and horsepower. The only saw which he called out as different wasone especially designed to do nothing but resaw. It uses a 2″ wide blade.

Keeping in mind that Laguna is designed to be as good as it can be, itsinteresting to note that the bandsaw tires are glued on and they appear tobe thicker than other machines I looked at. Torben says they glue thembecause its the best way to ensure their stability with higher poweredmachines.

Bob

“Jswee” wrote in messagenews:102cdj02jstcce@corp.supernews.com…

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#1 Shop Tool: Your Table Saw | Article

absolutebasics:
#1 Shop tool: your table saw

Forripping on a table saw, besides good quality features,like belt drive, cast iron top, etc., the most importantis a good fence. You want a fence that is solid andconsistently true, without constantly adjusting it.I’d try to get a good contractor’s saw for a coupleof hundred less than your top end budget—good, namebrand. Then, if time proves the fence a pain, use yourextra money towards a good after-market fence. Biesemeyer,Unifence, Incra are probably the three most popular.A good fence can make even a marginal saw a great tool.
If you do some exploring at a good woodworkers/toolstore, you can certainly test out the fences on varioussaws. However, for a fair comparison, someone will havehad to set the thing up right. This is more likely tohave happened where the store personnel know somethingabout tools. Good luck.
- daveferg

Youwill find that a tablesaw is the most useful tool youcould ever have in your shop. The amount of work itdoes is phenomenal. There are a good number of quiteadequate saws that fall under the $800 mark. You mightalso want to consider a used or reconditioned saw. It’sa good way to get a lot more bang for your buck.
- Chris Moore

Abouta year age I purchased a Dewalt DW 746 TS with a mobilebase for around $900. Have been very satisfied withit so far. It is better than a contractor’s saw in thatthe motor is under the table, not hanging off the back.This allows for storage closer to the wall. It is alsonot as expensive as a cabinet model.
- Monty

I’mnot advocating anyone buy a benchtop, but… (there’salways a but)…
Many years ago, I had no saw and a very restricted budget.After several months of moaning and complaining, LOMLfinally approved the (limited) funding for a saw. Ipurchased a Makita with stand. I still have that saw,and I’ve made some wonderful things with it over thelast 17 years. Yes, it does restrict what you can do,so you learn to do things in other ways. For example,you can’t cut sheet goods with a benchtop, so you learnhow to do it well using a skill saw and straight edge.You can’t get a really keen edge when ripping, so youlearn how to use a hand plane to dress the edge.
The point is, you make due as best you can with whatyou’ve got. If its gotta be a benchtop, then take yourtime, shop around and find the best benchtop saw foryour money. Then enjoy what you have, work safe, andbuild.
- Jules,

AlthoughI would not recommend a bench saw, it’s your money anddecision. If I were to buy a bench saw, I would notpay much more than $200. (I never have figured out whyanybody would buy the Dewalt or Bosch table tops for$500. The kicker is, the Dewalt only uses 13 amps.)
Here’s my advice: Don’t buy any saw that runs on lessthan 15 amps. I believe the Delta is 15. If the standfor that saw costs more than $50,pass on it. You woulddo best either building your own,with extensions orbuy one of those aftermarket jobs that have extensiontables. Make sure you have a heavy-duty extension cord,anythingsmaller than 12 gauge will not give full power. If youcan,keep the extension cord to 25 feet.
Now a word of warning: I agree with every other commentabout saving your money to buy a contractor saw, later,or if you can find a deal on a used one, go for it.You have to remember,contractor saws use induction motors,drive belts and are heavier-duty. It’s not that hardto repair a contractor saw, a new motor can be gottenfor $200 or less. On a benchtop, they use direct driveuniversal motors. Once you blow the motor, and you will,it will be cheaper to replace the whole machine thanthe motor. A good quality contractor saw will last alifetime. You will be lucky if you get five years outof the benchtop saw.
- woodchuck1954

MyBosch sabre saw, a straight edge, some clamps, and aplane got me a long way until I was able to buy a contractorsaw. Just remember that this is a tool that you willhave for a long time, and this is one tool that youdon’t want to skimp on. If you need to wait another6 months to one year or more until you can buy a contractorssaw, I would do it. If you need the portability or don’thave the room for a full size saw, then that changesthings a little.
- Wables

Irecently purchased a Jet saw and I’m very happy withit.
As a guide to any saw purchase you need to considerthe following. (This is aimed at old methane gas likemyself where money is of little consequence.):
Do you have 230 Volt single phase or 208 Volt threephase available where you are going to use the saw?If not, skip the cabinet saws. They all (except oneGrizzly) require either 3 phase (3 and 5 HP motors)or 230 Volts (3 HP motors). The Grizzly needs a 30 Amp115 Volt circuit. (I’ve never seen one and it will haveto be wired using at least 10 gauge wire.)
Typically the next level of saw is called a ‘Contractor’s'saw. The professional usually takes this saw to long-termjob sites. These saws are usually wired for 115 Volts,single phase, by the factory although they may be rewiredfor 230 Volts. These saws are usually 1 or 1-1/2 HP.The vast majority of these saws are very similar exceptfor fences and table extensions. You can get almostany fence system on these saws which may increase thecost by as much as 66%. (Don’t worry, you receive valuefor your money.) There are two types of table extensionsfor these saws, stamped steel or cast iron. (The Rigdidhas an aluminum system for the wings. You can see whatI’m talking about at Home Depot.)
The next level of saw is also a contractor’s saw butit is a bench saw. This model is usually placed on abench for use. This saw is different from the abovesaws in that the saw blade is usually attached directlyto the motor shaft. (The others use an induction motor,<$$$> belt drive and pulleys.) This motor is usuallya “Universal” motor and uses brushes. This type of sawis usually found in the back of a contractor’s pickuptruck and used at every job site. These saws are frequentlyabused both while cutting and while bouncing in thetruck.
What I think that you should look for is the middlegroup of saws. These saws are usually used by the homewoodworker and some professionals. Usually, the decisionfactor is the voltage available. (Mine would have beena cabinet saw except that to put 230 Volts in my garagewould have been an $8000 bill! A very long story.)
My personal path to selecting a saw was to decide uponthe fence system first. Then buy the saw that wouldaccept the fence system. Another requirement of minewas cast iron table extensions. (More weight and morestability.) That narrowed the field down considerably.
Between the Delta and the Jet contractor’s saws, thereis little difference other than the paint color.
My advice to anybody planning a table saw purchase isto select the fence system that you really like. Thenpurchase the saw that fits the fence system. Lou Williams(a frequent Forums participant) has had a Biesemeyerfor 15 years or so. Others love their Unifence or XactaFence and I’m happy with my Incra. There are other fencesystems that I’ve no experience with and you may wantto investigate those systems. The point is to selectthe fence that fits your style of work and then thesaw. I think that if you follow this path you’ll bemuch happier with your final selection.
- Rich

BothJet, Delta, Powermatic, General make very similar contractorsaws. They are all based on a design that was a Deltasaw in the first place. The difference is what option/model/costis right for the user.
Brand names don’t have much real value. Some companieshave better service than others, some companies offerbetter sales but that is about the only difference betweenthis class of saw. Buy whatever one you like. Once youfind the model option that is right for you then findthe best deal. For some people that would be to spendmore money and buy from a local store that will supportyou and get the parts accessories or advice when youwant it. For others that will be the lowest price fromsome internet supplier on the other side of the country.It is up to you.
- Lou_williams

Youneed to make a career of going to garage sales untilyou find an $800 saw for $200. I missed (by 15 minutes)getting a 1940 something Delta Unisaw for $75 last week.Ever heard a grown man whimper?
- John in Chicago

Therecomes a time in everyone’s life, when he/she must backthe family car out of the driveway, and begin the slow,careful drive through the neighbourhood, learning tosafely navigate a somewhat intimidating piece of machinery.
The table saw isn’t much different. It can be very intimidatingat first, but as you use it more and more, you becomeconfident in your abilities and more comfortable.
Most table saw accidents don’t happen with beginners.More often than not, it’s complacency that sets in overtime and experience, over confidence (I done this thousandsof times) and thus, a lack of attention to safety anddetail.
Before you make each and every cut, both now, and 20years from now, stop, take a second to speak the words’Safety First’ and give it one more quick visual survey.If you practice this now, it will become habit.
Don’t try to do it all at once, from the beginning.Only after you’ve had a chance to learn (and do) thebasics with your new saw, to increase your confidenceand comfort level, should you go back to the books,learn additional ways to improve on those skills, buildjigs to get even more from your saw, etc. One step ata time.
- Jules

Ifyou have never used a tablesaw before, I would suggestyou find someone that will show you. A lot of issuesyou simply can not read about in books.
- woodchuck1954

Thefence is more important than saw. Buy a good, middlegrade contractors saw and upgrade the fence to an IncraTS-III. You won’t regret it.
- MadMark

There’sonly so much reading you can do before it just becomesa mass of jumbled irrelevant information.
If you can’t find someone who has a TS who can helpyou out and you still desire to read more then here’sa few titles. Two different books with the same name,but different authors: “The Table Saw Book.” One author’sname is Cristoforo. I can’t remember the other author’sname, but the book is published by Taunton Press. Anothergood one is called, “Table Saw Basics.” The last onehas plans for pushsticks, feather boards, outfeed tables,etc.
All three of these should be available at your locallibrary. I suggest you buy at least one TS book forfuture reference. You will find that once you have theTS set up and in use that is when you will want to referback to instructional books.
Loose Screw

Startwith a good table saw…as you can’t get by withoutone. Make sure that the fence is accurate… meaningthat all you need to do is slide it to 24″ and lockit down… without worrying about the measurement orwhether it’s parallel to the blade. Make sure that youcan rip 24″ using the fence. Get some board buddiesor a similar device for holding down stock and get afeatherboard[used to keep smaller pieces ofstock (board) pressed firmly against your table sawor router's fence] or two and a push stick (geta kit that has all).
- Robert Walker

Theheart of every good wood working shop is a good tablesaw. Buying used one is a viable choice. A well-madesaw is going to last for YEARS. Shop wisely. Good handtools are also important so don’t cheap those out either.
- Jerry

Spenda lot of money for a solid cabinet table saw: minimum3hp and 220V. Make sure it has a rock solid fence withZERO flex and ZERO deflection. Buy the very best carbideblades…at least 2 with 40-60 tooth, which competitivetests have shown produce the smoothest cuts. (Forgetthe combo blades that usually come with the table saw…onlyuse those for cutting 2×4′s, or scrap.)
- C. Scott

Thekey areas in a table saw is the fence. Can it be setaccurately. What’s the motor size?. Can you cut 8/4oak? Take your time and look around.
- Lou

Yourtable saw is the cornerstone of your shop. Any seriouswoodworker will tell you to avoid a bench saw, you cannever be as accurate as you need to be. If you havebeen pricing wood, as well as tools, you know how importantit is to have a powerful, accurate saw. Power and accessoriesare certainly important factors to keep in mind. Benchsaws are very limited. Think long term; dado sets, upgradedmiter gauge, extension tables, outfeed tables, etc.
- Bob

Agood table saw is a must. And if you have time to searchthere are a lot of good buys in the used department.There are a lot of older Unisaws and Powermatics outthere for the right price providing you have some knowledgeabout machinery. For advice, the woodworking Forumsat woodworking.comand the woodweb.comare both good places to start.
- windstu

Whileat a woodworking show, I realized that a saw purchaseis really two purchases; the table saw and the fence system.And in reality the fence system is really the first decision…withthe table saw second. While wandering about this woodworkingshow, the importance for the largest cast iron table topbecame obvious. Also, I don’t expect to be cutting sheetmaterial exactly and precisely in half at 48″ so a 32″fence system is good for now. What is important to meis the ability to perform cuts that are repeatable andvery precisely repeatable.
- rrich

Your tablesaw is the core of your shop. Bench saws aretoys. Save your pennies and get a better saw. If you’reserious about woodworking you won’t regret it. Mostwoodworkers also invest in a “better” fence somewherealong the line. If not when they buy the tablesaw initiallythen when they outgrow ‘em. I was a carpenter as a youngman and after about a 12 year lapse got a bench saw.Couldn’t understand why nothing seemed to come out right.Figured I’d lost my “touch”. Gave it away to a friendwhen I moved. About 15 years after *THAT* I got a contractorssaw and suddenly discovered my “touch” was better thanever! With the addition of my new fence, I’m doing whatI think is very good work. Others must think so tooas they’re paying me to do it!
- MadMark

I don’t think everyone has to buy a contractor saw tobe a happy woodworker. Not knowing your financial situation,my advice would be to buy as good a saw as you can afford.Given, a $100 to $300 benchtop saw isn’t as powerfulor even as durable as a $400 to $800 contractor saw,but if I had to wait until I could afford to throw $400or $500 into a saw plus all the other stuff needed toget started, I might not ever have gotten into woodworking.Start with what you can afford, and move up when youget a little more experience and feel for what kindof tool you need. Heck, I still have my first benchtopsaw to use when my primary tablesaw is set up for aspecific cut and I don’t want to change it, so I don’tthink that first hundred bucks was wasted at all.
- Rod

To help you select the right tablesaw, woodworking.com recommends the following articles: Choosing A Tablesaw Contractor Or Cabinet?

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Woodworking show moves to Pennsylvania.

The fourth Mid-Atlantic Woodworking & Furniture Supply Show hasmoved to the largest suburban exhibition center along the Mid-Atlanticcorridor.

The fourth annual Mid-Atlantic Woodworking & Furniture SupplyShow, April 7 and 8, 1995, will be held at the Fort Washington ExpoCenter, located 30 minutes outside Philadelphia. Formerly held inAtlantic City, the regional trade show serving furniture, cabinet andindustrial wood products suppliers and manufacturers in the Mid-Atlanticwas moved for two reasons according to show producer Trade Shows Inc.(TSI) of Conover, N.C.

“The new Fort Washington location is more conveniently locatedfor attendees,” explains TSI vice-president Keith Eidson. “Themove brings the show in the heart of this heavy woodworking, cabinet,and furniture region.”

Centered in the Mid-Atlantic corridor, the Fort Washington ExpoCenter is located 1 mile from the Pennsylvania Turnpike offering directhighway access from New York and Washington.

The move to Fort Washington also offers better services and moreoptions for show exhibitors, Eidson explains. “Exhibitors can nowhand-unload, hand-assemble, and hand-load their own displays,” hesays, “or they can use labor provided by show producers. Theexhibitor now has a choice, and the facility and services areoutstanding.”

The 166,000-square-foot exhibit hall offers free-flowing exhibitspace located on one floor, 8-inch reinforced concrete floors, 20-footceiling heights, overhead compressed air lines, and 480/277 and 120/208volt three-phase electrical service throughout. Move-in and move-out areaccommodated by five undercover adjustable loading docks and threedrive-in doors.

The area is geared for large regional expositions, with 600 hotelrooms in the immediate vicinity and another 1,500 rooms within 10 milesof the Fort Washington Expo Center. The center has 2,700 on-site parkingplaces.

Eidson said he predicts a strong showing of attendees from the NewEngland and Mid-Atlantic states. According to Eidson, the State ofPennsylvania is encouraging industry support and attendance at the show,and the Wood Products Manufacturers Association (WPMA) is encouragingmember participation through a special WPMA Pavilion.

For information on attending the exposition, contact Trade ShowsInc., P.O. Box 609, Conover, N.C. 28613; phone (704) 459-9894; FAX (704)459-1312.

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