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[sudsmaster]

Like Buttah

First test rip, the shop vac was much louder than the saw. That's a first ;-). Cut went well enough, probably need to make a real feather board and a push block of some sort to help the 2x4 stay centered on the blade. But there was no binding or catching and I was happy with the result.

 

[sudsmaster]

Bettah foto

here

 

[tolivac]

wax on tablesaw tabletops-does two things-prevents corrosion-gives a "slick" surface for the wood to slide more easily on.Use Paste wax-Beleive its a type of furniture wax.Use it on the Shopsmiths.also used on other woodworking tool tables that are metal.Use a light coat of the stuff-otherwise the wax can get into your wood and interfere with painting or finishing.Use a rag and dab a little on the surface and work it in by rubbing with the rag.You want to work the wax into the pores of the metal.I was able to get past wax at the grocery store-beleive its Johnson or something.the can is in the drawer of my Shopsmith.glad the saw works and the setup you have looks very good.Reminds me when I had to rip a pile of 2x4's for the school prom in high school-used the big tablesaw they had-7hp-16" blade.You could shove the boards in as hard as you wanted-no stalling.Beleive that old saw they had was a Mattisson or something.the motor was direct drive-no belts.when you tilted the arbor-you tilted the motor and trunnion-was quite something.It was quite a machine--the largest saw I ever used.Now I have the shopsmith-like your saw a more modest motor.The shopsmith is like 1 and a quarter hp.works though.

 

[jamiel]

I waxed my dad's tablesaw once and cut myself badly on the miter slot...was concentrating on getting an even coating on the miter slot...had a single layer of t-shirt around my finger and was rubbing it back and forth...didn't notice until i pulled my finger out that I was bloody...yuk.

jl

 

[sudsmaster]

Ouch! I guess the underside of the T slot could be sharp edged - although a good piece of metal work would have had the sharp edge "deburred" so as not to cause any inadvertant injury. I'll double check the slots on this one and if there is a sharp edge I'll take a file to it. I figure a table saw is dangerous enough for fingers when it's on, let alone when it's off.

 

[tolivac]

Oh man-forgot about the poor metal finish jobs on some tools-esp the imported ones.a note-before waxing take a file or sandpaper to those miter guage T-slot edges.May save fingers-yes a tablesaw should only be hazardous when its running-NOT when its off.OOPS-got my tool brands mixed up--Tannowitz was that big tablesaw in that high school shop--Matteson is a maker of power fed ripsaws-Now THAT would of been nice with that pile of lumber-was like a CORD!!On the power feed ripsaws-its a tablesaw with a power feed mechansim.You set the width of cut and the feed speed-then feed in the lumber.Furniture factories and millworks liked these.Also these tools called straightline ripsaws.Have pictures of them in some of my tool books.A power ripsaw will cost like a min of $14,000!!And you need three phase 480V to run it.Those have BIG motors!Beleive Tannowitz is still around-they also make VERY large bandsaws-that school shop had one of those as well.On newer Tannowitz tablesaws-the arbor tilt machanism was motorized-no more cranking for bevel cuts.Hope you don't cut yourself on your Rigid saw while cleaning and waxing it.Good Luck.I haven't had a chance to make some sawdust and projects for a long time-time and the price of lumber-esp the shrink wrapped "designer" peices of oak lumber at Home Depot!Since the prices of furniture in this area are pretty competetive-it can be cheaper to buy the furniture than build it.Kinda sad -building it is sorta fun.Guess thats one reason woodworking isn't so popular in my area.

 

[sudsmaster]

Well, I checked the T-slots and the upper edge is very well chamfered, so no danger there. The lower edge - where the "T" is crossed, is not chamfered but it's also not sharp. Also, it's only about 1/8" of a gap so it would be very difficult to get a finger around the edge. So no worries, and no need to break out the file.

Know anything about routers? I'd like to duplicate the milled radius on the cut edges of the ripped 1.5 x 1.7 pieces I'll be generating from this lumber. I assume I'll need some sort of wood shaping contraption, probably a router. I'm leaning towards a hand held plunge router, because of the length of the pieces, but perhaps a table router would be easier if I can manage to keep the lumber tight against the cutter. Ideally the same power tool would rip and route at the same time, but that would probably be an industrial production line setup.

The next major hurdle will be to prep the pergola above the fish pond to receive the ripped and routed 1.5" x 1.7" x 16' strips. That alone will be a major task, as it will involve removing stainless steel strips that are holding down the current reed fencing horizontally. The challenge is getting around up there to do the job without falling into the pond ;-). Fell in once and have no interest in repeating the stunt. Once I have the ripped redwood up there, it will be a lot safer to maintain.

 

[tolivac]

Glad the T-slots on your saw were not sharp and finger slicers.
Routers and shapers(shaper is a router mounted in a table-with T-slots and fence to guide the work fed into it)A router mounted on a router table is a shaper.That is what you would need for shaping the edges of your cut peices.You would need to save a peice of the old stock at take it with you to the tool store when you get your router and table so you can find a router bit or cutter to match your woods profile.If its rounded over-a round over bit should work.It you get the router table and use it for this-would suggest the 2-3Hp router-shaping is a pretty big job and requires a router of higher horsepower.sounds like you also have to make many cuts-the router and table is best for this.Your results will be more precise and consistant than a hand held router.Just remember that routers mounted on shaper tables can be dangerous-its easy for a hand or fingers to get too close to the cutter-you don't want a "manicure" from this!Kickback can happen with these-so get work holddowns with your setup-its worth it-can save hands and fingers.Industrial shapers are available-but these are too big and expensive-and heavy for what you are doing.Millwork and furniture shops use these-they have high horsepower in duction motors in them connected to an invertor(increases the speed of the motor)so they can be used for all shift industrial use.Router shaper tables are more practical for home use-you can remove the router from the table for hand held routing and carving jobs-you can also picture the router as a very large and powerful "Dremel tool"In fact minature router tables are availabe for these-ideal for dollhouse"lumber" My Mom was into that-somewhere she has her Dremel tool router table.It worked nicely for the minature work.Model Railroaders like these too.

 

[sudsmaster]

I already have a set of router bits - bought them years ago because they looked cool (in nice wooden box, too). I'll have to check to see if any of them will give the radius I'm looking for. The finished pieces will be above the fish pond, about 8 ft off the ground, so the exact appearance isn't all that important, as long as the sharp edges are rounded a bit. They don't even have to match the rounded edges on the other side, since that probably won't be visible from below.

 

[sudsmaster]

Turns out the bits I thought were router bits are really forstner type bits. Good for making nice holes with flat bottoms.

I've decided against trying to radius the cut edges of the lumber. I'm just going to put the fresh cut side down. I may run a file down the edge just to remove any nascent splinters and take a little of the sharpness off, but since the existing 2x4 stringers have sharp corners it won't make much difference.

Spent the day (after window shopping for routers) tearing off the old covering. Tommorrow (Sunday) I'll be up there installing the heart redwood 2x2 slats.

 

[tolivac]

Good-putting the wood up after cutting-with just the filing or sanding edges would save time,work,and the cost of another tool.Router tables and the router with bits adds up quickly in cost esp if it was going to be used on just that project.Forstner bits are well liked by furniture builders-not only holes with flat bottoms,but less splintering if the hole is drilled completely thru.Forstner bits work best in a drill press.They are not designed for hand drills.

 

[sudsmaster]

The hand filing of the edges turned out to be the easiest thing I did today.

Gathering up the old reed fencing (used as the "roofing", and cutting it up to fit into the green waste took time. Gathering up the stainless steel sheet metal strips that held down the fencing on the "roof" and putting them into a rack took time. Splitting about six 12 foot 2x4's took time, but didn't present any problem, other than big knots turning a couple of them into six foot 2x2's.

I was more than a little stiff after yesterday's tear-off of the old "roofing". Actually fastening the 2x2's to the stringers turned out to take longer than I anticipated. After a while I got the speed up but only got about 1/10th of the 2x2's up there. Did some counting of remaining lumber and realized I'll need to go back to the Depot or Lowe's and pick up another few hundred bucks' worth of 16 ft heart redwood 2x4's. They ain't cheap! And it can be difficult to find clear heartwood lumber without big knots that make the 2x2's fall apart. Maybe with the housing slump, however, the pickings will be better at the Depot.

The little I managed to get up there today looks pretty good, though. I think it will be nice to sit under, and it will also be nice to have something more permanent up there that I won't have to renew every five years, and something that will be safer to navigate as needed. Plus, the reed fencing shed a lot of cellulosic dust and that problem will be gone, too.

I got to use one of the forstner bits, though. There are carriage bolts holding the stringers to metal support colums/beams. They tend to stick up a bit, so I used a small forstner bit (on a hand drill, worked fine) to create a little flat bottom hole for the bolt head to sit under.

 

[sudsmaster]

They don't grow them like they used to...

Well, it's like this: I cruised by the local HOme Depot after work and saw they had a new pallet of 16 ft heart redwood 2x4's stashed up high. I came back later with my pickup and got the help to forklift the new pallet down on top of the rejects in the rack. As much as I could paw through the new stack, I got a grand total of seven pieces that I thought had the fewest knots to be structurally sound when split into 2x2's. I needed 15. And when I got home and unloaded the lumber, I noticed that one piece had a big scallop taken out of one side, so it will have to go back. And this stuff isn't cheap: each 16 ft piece costs $20.

I also needed some 12 ft pieces but couldn't find any that were acceptable, and I wasn't going to ask the staff to bring down a new pallet of those as well.

I'll be visiting a local lumber yard tomorrow to see if they have anything of better quality at a reasonable price. If that fails, there's always Lowe's.

 

[tolivac]

I can agree-scragglely lumber is a problem these days-lumber providers are being forced to use trees that would have been rejected in past times.since the demand for wood has gone upthey are forced to use the reject trees rather than wait for other trees to mature.Weyerhauser has tree farms all around the site where I work.Now they cut and chip the trees-than the chips and shreds go to a mill out near New Bern.Goes into fiberboard and paper.the trees out here aren't used for lumber anymore-they don't want to wait for the trees to grow enough for lumber.Its interesting to see the operations-in the areas where the trees have been cut-plantings are put there and allowed to grow.the tree farms also provide good hunting grounds for deer hunters in the fall.The deer like the larger trees for cover and the plantings for food.

 

[sudsmaster]

Hmm. I called the local lumber yard to see if they have better grade redwood. They sure do... clear, free of knots. Only $3.20/ft. That works out to about $55 for a 16 ft piece. I guess I'll be returning to Home Depot/Lowes to cherry pick out the most knot-free pieces for this project. $20/stick is bad enough... $55 each (need a total of about 40) and I might as well put a real roof over the pond!

Some smallish knots won't be a problem... I don't plan on walking up there much, just to maintain it from time to time. And while beautifully clear wood will look better, a few knots won't disturb the fish ;-).

I think it was easier to find quality wood for a reasonable price a few years ago. I was hoping that the housing slump would have freed up supplies, which it might have, but the quality simply isn't there any more.

It briefly crossed my mind to use one of the new plastic composite types of deck lumber for this project - but they are nearly as expensive as clear redwood and don't have the structural strength.

 

[sudsmaster]

Found some heartwood 2x6x16 at a local Lowe's, for a reasonable price. Cut up a 12 footer yesterday after work, into thirds, and that might work out ok. Actually got 2 clear 2x2's out of it. But that was the least knot-ridden piece I could find in the pile. Probably will try to pick up some of the 16 foot 2x6's today. It will mean more cutting and some sanding to get the edges rounded, but I guess my time is cheaper than $50 planks.

Then I get to climb ladders and crawl around on top of the pond pergola installing the stuff.

Found another neat gadget at the Depot the other night. It's a magnetic feather board. Two very strong magnets hold the board to the cast iron table. They are activated by simple twists of two big knobs. After having to change the position of the wooden feather board twice to rip one 2x6 into thirds, I figure this gadget is well worth the cost ($40). No more awkward clamps to fuss with.

 

[tolivac]

Magnetic featherboard-GREAT-remember in the school shop when you had to make your own.A special plastic feather board came with one of my shopsmiths-fastens to the T-slot on the table-the shopsmith table is aluminum.Yes with other featherboards remember fussing with the clamps-and they could damage the saw table if not carefully used.Glad you found some better wood.Only thing I hate is the climb up on ladders to on the roof-getting too old for that-and HATE the idea of falling.Now I hire someone to do the ladder work on the house.Esp the roof.Really HATE roof work.

 

[drmitch]

Nice saw! Ive been using a small Delta since we bought this old house and I really miss my dads craftsman belt drive. Oh to have a nice clean shop full of new tools. I`m storing so much old wood that I can hardly get the door closed, and my radial aerm saw is sitting in the open carport. What kind of projects do you have going on? I like to see what other people create. : )

 

[sudsmaster]

Tolivac,

Well, a primary reason for this pond pergola project is that about four years ago I actually fell through the pergola into the pond below. About 8 feet. Luckily no damage other than a severly bruised inner thigh, and a stomach full of pond water. After that I decided the next time the "roofing" needed replacing (about every four years) I'd put in something more permanent, and something I could walk on safely.

I made some definite progress today. After spending an hour or so reinforcing one the of the extra beams I added to the structure (just sistered on another redwood 2x4), and filling in some odd gaps (nothing is really square on the pergola), got going on laying down the 2x2's and I have to say it looks kind of cool. I've got about 1/3 of them installed now, and have a certain rhythm and know how long it takes to position and fasten down each 2x2. Meanwhile the seagulls are getting curious so I'm motivated to finish the project to resume the camoflage of the pond from predating sea birds.

The magnetic feather board is cool. I had cause to use it a lot today, as I'm working on reducing 2x6 planks to 2x2 strips, which involves frequent repositioning of the feather board. I'd already made a feather board out of some nice used clear redwood 1x6 I found in the shop, but the magnetic one is a lot quicker to position.

I'd post some before and after photos but I'm so behind on this project I haven't wanted to take time to get the camera out and then deal with transfering the photos to the web. But maybe when it's all done I'll snap some shots.

Mitch,

If you read through the thread you'll see the project I'm currently working on. It's basically replacing some flimsy reed fencing laid horizontally on top of a pergola over a fish pond with redwood 2x2's. Because the pergola is about 16 feet wide, and 2x2's are not available in that length, I decided to purchase 2x4's, and then 2x6's, and rip them into halves or thirds and create my own 2x2's for the project. For that I figured I'd need a sturdy table saw that didn't try to walk or tip over during the ripping, hence the Ridgid purchase. I'm using redwood heartwood for the 2x2's because I don't want to paint or stain it as anything that would kill bugs/rot would probably also kill the fish below the pergola. I have another saw project in the hopper but for the life of me I can't recall what it is at the moment!

 

[sudsmaster]

Well I snapped some photos

Here's the miserable reed fencing that needed replacing every four or five years. It's a remnant: