I love teaching woodworking, and wish I could come into each of your shops to help you out. I recently did, sort of. We ran our first WWGOA LIVE session, in which folks could ask questions that I answered live. Did you miss it? No problem. We’ve archived the entire hour, and you can watch it at your leisure. Watch for our next session in the near future. I can’t wait for another chance to help you out in your shop.
Also, as a gift of appreciation for the great turnout for our first show, use code WWGOALIVE to receive 50% off a Premium subscription to our site. Just go to wwgoa.com/join to sign up.
How do I make a zero clearance for a skil 3305 table saw.
Hi, Scott!
Essentially what you do to make a zero clearance insert for most table saws is:
– remove the stock insert from the table saw- measure the thickness that the insert needs to be- prepare some material to that thickness. Plywood works great for this if you have some of the right thickness. Otherwise, plane some hardwood to the necessary thickness.- trace the existing insert onto the material, including any holes for removal, and slots necessary for guard clearance.- use a band saw to cut the shape, and also drill out any holes necessary- place the new insert in the saw- slide the table saw fence over the top of the new insert, making sure that it is not too close to where the blade will be when it is raised up.- With the fence in position (this will hold down the insert) start the table saw, and slowly raise the blade so that it cuts through the insert
That’s it. This new insert should only be used for 90 degree cuts. If you require a zero clearance insert for angle cuts, make a new one specific for each angle that you need to cut.
Enjoyed your large cabinet video. However if you use an impact driver for driving screws don’t you run the risk of snapping the heads off?
I use the impact driver to drill the holes and he driver with an appropriate torque setting to drive the screws to prevent snapping he heads off. And, yes, the two units do make the job go much aster.
Don
During this video you mentioned letting your hardwoods “acclimate” to your shop. I’ve read (or heard somewhere) that after cutting your wood you should place it in a large “trash bag” to have it maintain its moisture content. Would you agree that is a proper suggestion?
I’ve put green (wet) wood in plastic bags in order to keep it wet, but I’ve never heard of doing that with kiln dried wood. I think it would be best to let the wood continue to “breathe” in your shop, not in a bag.
Thanks for the quick reply. I’ll keep my cut wood on my bench.
For green turned bowls and such, you’ll want to let them slowly dry over time after you’ve done the rough turning. You’ll want to keep the wood shavings that you just made (as they have similar moisture content) and pack the bowl with them into a paper bag (to allow moisture to escape over time). After a few months, the bowl should be about as dry as it’s going to get (use a moisture meter or keep weighing the bowl every week till it doesn’t drop any more weight from week to week).
Once it’s dry, finish turning the bowl (re-turn the tenon and chuck it up and re-turn the bowl … it’ll be oval shaped otherwise), and then complete sanding and finishing.
Some types of woods just cut or turn better when wet, but as it dries out it will shrink more in one direction than in another, and so it will warp a bit.
If you are milling your own boards from fresh cut trees, you’ll want to air-dry the wood by stacking it in the corner of your shop with spacer boards in between each layer to allow for full air circulation, and put some decent weight on top to keep the boards straight while they dry.
Boards and lumber are generally used after dry, so as to minimize any possibility of warping after the end product is finished.
Turning on a lathe … wet is ok, but you need it dry before you finish it up.
Milling your wood from trees … wet is essential for milling, but you need it to dry before you can use it in your projects or it will warp all over.
Getting lumber from the store …. it’s already dry, keep it dry, use it dry so that it can’t warp on you.
Great first live show George – well done and many thanks to the team for a brilliant start to a great format!
Nice to have the family involved – my wife loved Shelia the Shop Dog, and now thinks my spending on “must-have” tools (power and hand) might have some validity, so special big thanks for that!
I thought the team had done a great job in selecting questions, although the rather lame “how much space do I need behind my table saw” was probably below the standard I expect from WWGoA, as this is an impossible question to answer: someone may be making jewelry boxes, another may be making an ocean going yacht, but you have to appeal to a wide audience with a range of skills and expectations: so a comment not a criticism. Your piece on the risks of using a thicknesser to flatten a board with a slight bow was well said.
Whilst your knowledge and presentation style is strong: apart from the 2 board glue-up, the rest was passive – I did not see any chips flying! I appreciate real live demos are a big challenge, and yours was a live event, but maybe you could cut-in some pre-recorded footage to illustrate a point and also give your stars a few minutes breather!
Anyhow, I enjoyed the event and look forward to the next one.
Kind regards
Charlie
Thanks, Charlie. I thought about doing some live cutting, but I don’t want things to get too focused on a single task. When we shoot video we have the benefit of being able to compress the actual time of the operation into a more reasonable watch time. Not so on a live feed. But maybe I can get a few chips flying if we do this again.
great job George keep up great work
Thanks!
Very cool–sorry I wasn’t able to attend live. Would love to see another live event happen in the future.
Great forum, one I would watch again. Good use of technology and great selection on the questions.
How often do you sharpen router bits?
It depends. Some bits are used frequently, others not so much. If a bit is used a lot in an abrasive material it might have to be sharpened often. You’ll just have to gauge the performance of the cutter and sharpen as needed.
Is it possible to cut dovetails on a dovetail jig longer than the jig allows?
Thanks
Joe Tennessee
Well Joe, no and yes. Clamping is critical for any jig – no less for dovetail jigs – so jointing a board wider than the jig would compromise clamping, so you would have to provide additional support – Bessey, G-Clamps etc – depending on your board.
I guess (I have an 18 inch Leigh jig, wide enough for my current needs) you could joint 2 x the jig width fairly easily by flipping the board. Pin and tail alignment would then be down to you, and not the jig. You could make a wide(er) centre pin maybe, which would visually mask any set-up errors.
You might also be able to use a close fitting spacer to index the next dovetail space fro the last one.
Basically, you need to have the right tools for the job – if you really…..really…..really…..need dovetails in really….really….really….really….wide board – buy a Lie Nielsen dovetail saw and a set of Ashley Iles dovetail chisels and you are good to go. They are modern English chisels, hand forged from Sheffield steel by a family business and take a “scary-sharp” cutting edge, something which the more modern A2 steel will not match – OK you have to hone more often, but the finish is “primo”
Buy the saw
Charliue
I am making a baby cradle and the sides have a 10 degree angle with dovetails. Is it possible to cut those on a dovetail jig?
Yes you can
Have a look on the Leigh jigs website – they have a Technical Bulletin which explains this in detail. The technique is not just for the Leigh range of jigs and should work with other makes too. One of the examples is a baby cradle- do you should be good to go!
Not that I’ve figured out yet.
On my 15 year old Powermatic cabinet saw with a 3/4″ dado set I cannot ger a full arbor nut. What is safe.
Not an expert but always used 3 full rotations as a safe starting point.
you probably are trying to use your arbor washer. It’s not needed for dado sets.
I want the arbor nut fully threaded. Sometimes, with a dado head, that means leaving the arbor washer off.