Archive for category Reviews

Some Assembly Required

Sep 1

Posted by TheInquisitiveWoodworker in Reviews, Tools | 2 Comments

This last weekend was a red-letter day for me, I upgraded to a cabinet saw! I’ve been looking to get a new saw for a while now. I looked at just about every saw out there. I knew I wanted a cabinet saw and at least a 3HP motor. I also wanted a useable blade guard, riving knife and a decent mobile base.

I had narrowed my search to either the new Delta Unisaw or Powermatic PM2000. SawStop was always on the list, but at the time I was doing my research they only had the Industrial Cabinet Saw and the Contractor model available. So, I had decided on the new Unisaw. The PM2000 was nice machine, but I really didn’t like the built-in casters system it had. I wanted to love the PM2000, but the new Unisaw won me over. I was just about ready to pull the trigger on buying the Unisaw, but then the economy took a nosedive. With jobs hanging in the balance I decided to wait.

In some ways I’m glad I waited. During that time SawStop came out with their Professional Cabinet Saw (PCS). This new saw competes directly with the new Unisaw and PM2000, in price and features. I took a long hard look at the PCS. For about the same amount of money, I could get the PCS with similar features and the SawStop safety feature. It really didn’t take me long to decide on the SawStop.

There are those who “criticize” the SawStop feature, saying it will give people a false sense of security. I’ll only say one thing about the SawStop feature. When has any new safety feature every caused more accidents? This excludes the complete moron factor, which there is no protection for or from.

I had planned to take pictures as I assembled the saw, but that just didn’t happen. Once past the initial box opening, the camera was forgotten.

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Assembly of the saw was pretty easy and straightforward. The manual and other documents that come with saw were excellent. There are some great thinkers at SawStop, because they think about the small stuff. How they packaged their nuts and bolts is brilliant.

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You can see in the picture, that each group color-coded and each item in the group is numbered. The instructions tell you, you need so many #5 bolts from the Blue section. I can’t tell you how many tools I have bought, that just some with a bag of stuff and you have to figure out which screw or bolt you need. How may times have you put something together and discovered you used the wrong bolt and have to take the whole thing apart! This didn’t happen with the SawStop.

I only encountered on problem while putting the saw together. When attaching the cast-iron extension wings, I couldn’t get a perfect alignment. The front and back of the wing would line up flush with the top, but center “dipped” down a small amount. My brother said you can “flex” that into alignment, with a jack or clamps. I looked at him with some disbelief. I never saw cast-iron as being “flexible”. I wasn’t too concern at that time, I thought I would just call SawStop and see what they had to say. Today I shot SawStop an email, and within 20 minutes I had my response. They sent me instructions on how to “flex” the wings into alignment. I sent my brother an apologetic email, saying I will never doubt him again. They aren’t off by much, I’ll try the alignment procedure this weekend. I also need to check the alignment of the blade and fence, then it will be ready for action. I did a few test cuts and the saw is smoooooth. I don’t think I could be more pleased.

After I get a chance to use the saw on some real projects, I’ll post an update on how I think the saw performs. Below are some pictures of the saw, for your enjoyment.

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Tool Test – Smashing Planes

Feb 25

Posted by TheInquisitiveWoodworker in General, Reviews, Tools | No Comments

Some of the nicer newer planes made by Lie-Nielsen and Veritas are made from Ductile Iron. They say Ductile Iron is much stronger, and can withstand a drop to a concrete floor without major damage. The problem is I would never want to test that claim! Well leave it to Chris Schwarz to take a hammer to a couple planes, to test these claims. It’s a little hard to watch but very impressive. Have a look at his video as he hammers away.

DVD Review – The Workbench

Jan 1

Posted by TheInquisitiveWoodworker in Benches, Reviews | 2 Comments

The newest DVD from Christopher Schwarz and Lie-Neilsen is: The Workbench “How to Design or Modify a Bench for Efficient Use”. The DVDs produced by Lie-Nielsen are always of high quality and full of good information. This new DVD featuring Christopher Schwarz talking about one of his favorite subjects (workbenches) is no exception.

If you have read Chris’s book “Workbenches: From Design And Theory To Construction And Use” or fallow his blog, you know Chris views the workbench as a tool for the woodworker, especially the hand tool woodworker.

When working a piece of lumber on a bench, you need to effectively hold your lumber so that you can work: the faces, edges and end grain of a board. Chris points out that many bench designs fail at one or even two of these requirements. He gives suggestions on how to work around these issues, if your bench is deficient in one of these areas.

Chris demonstrates how you work each surface of a board, on a verity of bench styles. He also shows several jigs and fixtures you will use with your bench. He show and explains how a holdfast is used. The holdfast I feel is the most useful tool you can have on your workbench. I have a couple of the Gramercy holdfasts. They might not be the prettiest, but they work great and are not that expensive.

Much of the information in this DVD will not be new to some people, but the DVD does have a lot of good information. Also included on the DVD are a couple reprints of workbench articles from Popular Woodworking Magazine.

One last thing I will share with you is a quote Chris made, that struck home with me. I believe he said it was a Japanese saying: “Don’t fear slow, only fear stop”. He was referring to his journey in workbench design, but it really applies to a lot of areas. Being somewhat new to woodworking, the journey can seem long and slow at times. As long as I never feel like I’ve stopped learning, my journey should be a long and rewarding one.