04-07-2020, 01:01 PM
Although I'm not truly in quarantine (still working, although in an isolated office), I've gotten more shop time the last 2 or 3 weeks than I usually get in 2 or 3 months. Gotten a few things done that I've meant to do for ages.
First, I collected all the various clamps that were sitting in boxes and on shelves and under tables, etc. etc. , and got them into one place. The casters are old and don't work very well, so it doesn't roll about freely, but at least we know where to go to get clamps now!
Second, I discarded my old table saw sled - it was so beaten and out of whack that I couldn't get anything nearing an accurate cut from it. It had just become a space waster and when I did try to use it, I just ended up aggravated and frustrated. So, I made a small one. I have a couple of miter gauges, so I got one locked exactly on to 90 degrees, and made the sled to run off of it. I may add a permanent runner later, but for now, I like it this way. In any event, my little sled is, to quote the lovely Marisa Tormei from My Cousin Vinnie, "dead on balls accurate." I'm getting perfectly square cuts with it -- it works so well that even I though I haven't actually used it for a project yet, I keep randomly cutting pieces of scrap wood just to admire the results when I put the square to them. The stop block is made from a little device that I carried off from my dad's old shop when he passed away. I have 2 of them. I have no idea what their original use was - there's a place in the top for a rod of some sort to go through, and a set screw to lock it in place, but I don't know what its actual purpose was. Regardless, I couldn't have found anything more perfect to make a cheap, quick, accurate stop block from. I super-glued a washer onto a nut to put on the end of the thumbscrew so it wouldn't dig holes in the back of the fence, and it works great. One quick turn and it locks down tightly.
Third, I've dabbled with making picture frames, and my son sometimes makes chess boards that he uses wooden borders for, and we have never had great luck cutting 45s with much accuracy. Problem is now solved! This miter sled nails them every time. I added the faces to the center triangle, thinking it would make using a stop block easier, but for whatever reason, I never could get the triangle sides exactly 90 degrees to the base, so I had to add the blocks at the top so I could pull the top of the fences back a little. Now they are dead on. I added some fine grit sandpaper to the fence faces to keep work pieces from slipping, and it works great.
That's all I've accomplished so far, but more coming soon, I hope!
First, I collected all the various clamps that were sitting in boxes and on shelves and under tables, etc. etc. , and got them into one place. The casters are old and don't work very well, so it doesn't roll about freely, but at least we know where to go to get clamps now!
Second, I discarded my old table saw sled - it was so beaten and out of whack that I couldn't get anything nearing an accurate cut from it. It had just become a space waster and when I did try to use it, I just ended up aggravated and frustrated. So, I made a small one. I have a couple of miter gauges, so I got one locked exactly on to 90 degrees, and made the sled to run off of it. I may add a permanent runner later, but for now, I like it this way. In any event, my little sled is, to quote the lovely Marisa Tormei from My Cousin Vinnie, "dead on balls accurate." I'm getting perfectly square cuts with it -- it works so well that even I though I haven't actually used it for a project yet, I keep randomly cutting pieces of scrap wood just to admire the results when I put the square to them. The stop block is made from a little device that I carried off from my dad's old shop when he passed away. I have 2 of them. I have no idea what their original use was - there's a place in the top for a rod of some sort to go through, and a set screw to lock it in place, but I don't know what its actual purpose was. Regardless, I couldn't have found anything more perfect to make a cheap, quick, accurate stop block from. I super-glued a washer onto a nut to put on the end of the thumbscrew so it wouldn't dig holes in the back of the fence, and it works great. One quick turn and it locks down tightly.
Third, I've dabbled with making picture frames, and my son sometimes makes chess boards that he uses wooden borders for, and we have never had great luck cutting 45s with much accuracy. Problem is now solved! This miter sled nails them every time. I added the faces to the center triangle, thinking it would make using a stop block easier, but for whatever reason, I never could get the triangle sides exactly 90 degrees to the base, so I had to add the blocks at the top so I could pull the top of the fences back a little. Now they are dead on. I added some fine grit sandpaper to the fence faces to keep work pieces from slipping, and it works great.
That's all I've accomplished so far, but more coming soon, I hope!
But i don't have a TS sled for miters and always though I should build one....now might be the time.
