Tag Archives: table saw

Woodworking: End Grain Cutting Board from Scratch Project (Part 1)

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I had two cutting boards under my belt to this point. The first, a simple edge grain that was maple and walnut. The second, a more complicated edge grain that was entirely cherry and had an offset. I had done some planning for each, but the planning factored in the cutting depth of the Proxxon table saw that only makes through cuts. I had gotten my DeWalt table saw in the middle of the cherry cutting board project, and this would be the first one without limits for cutting depth.

I had some desires for this cutting board project:
1. I wanted very little waste. The amount I had to cut off the edges for the offset bothered me. I would have to build that in to preserve as much wood as I could.
2. I wanted the contrast of the light and dark woods. The cherry was fine, and I’d do it again with cherry, but I like the contrast more.
3. I wanted to play around with thicknesses. The prior projects had uniform thicknesses of pieces of wood that I glued together, but the increased cutting depth would allow me to play around with a mix of thicknesses.

I was still at the mercy of whatever the guys at House of Hardwood decided to put in the scrap area.

When I went shopping for this project, I found a lot of poplar. But poplar is bad for cutting boards. I also found ash. Ash can be good for cutting boards.

I found no walnut.

But I had a little bit of walnut left over from my first cutting board project!

I had enough of an idea to start up.

I set up my table saw with my makeshift outfeed table of a board attached to a folding table and set up my fence to rip the walnut. I have since become aware that the fence flips down for closer cuts with the blade guard.

I liked the uniformity of these cuts and the variety of colors. I was off to a good start. I’d have more play with the ash.

Again, the fence flips down for closer cuts. I know that now.

With more uniform pieces, I’d cut some thinner ones.

I had it almost all lined up perfectly. It was those thin piece that threw off the height. But I was sure it’d be worth it.

The glue-up starts next week!

Woodworking: Cherry Cutting Board from Scratch Project (Part 1)

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While I was and still am proud of my first cutting board project, the idea was to build on the first project to create more complex cutting board designs.

So back I went to House of Hardwood and came across many scraps of cherry. Now, I had seen cherry used as an accent within a larger cutting board. Nobody seems to want to make an overwhelmingly pink board.

Due to the limited cutting depth of the table saw, they helped me at House of Hardwood with planing the thickness of the cherry down to about 0.7″.

That meant all I had to do was set the rip fence to 1.5″ and I would be ready to go.

I set up my table saw and my outfeed table that I’d made out of an Amazon box, connected the vacuum, set the fence, connected to power, and then I was actually ready.

I was pretty excited about the varying colors of the cherry and that I’d have pretty consistently cut pieces to glue together.

I crosscut them to about even length. Without a crosscut sled (and without the ability to make one without giving up precious blade cutting depth, close was as good as I was going to get.

In order to arrange the pieces properly for gluing, I wet them down to get a better feel of the colors.

That sure made sorting easier!

And I had my layout ready for the glue-up.

More next week!

Woodworking: First Cutting Board from Scratch Project (Part 2)

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I left off last week ready to make my first cuts with my table saw.

I had purchased maple and walnut that I was ready to crosscut because the table saw is small, and my confidence in ripping (cutting with the grain) was lower than my confidence in crosscutting (against the grain). I figured that ripping smaller pieces would be better in the even of drift.

Should I have practiced with wood I didn’t care about so I could preserve the wood I needed? Probably! Did I? No.

And how could I not use the 3D printed crosscut pusher my cousin printed for me?

I went with the maple first. It was thinner than the walnut, so it would just be smooth going. I practiced a few times with the table saw unplugged to adjust the blade and make sure the pusher moved easily. Then it was time to plug it in and cut.

And then I sustained my first injuries. I knew they were happening, but there was little I could do before it was too late.

Of course, this picture is from later when the mosquito bites became clearly visible.

I was out for vengeance.

I got my vengeance and some of my blood back.

With that mosquito eliminated, it was on to the cutting.

Hooboy was that fun! My first two cuts were smooth and easy with the pusher. Of course, without a crosscut sled, the small table is better suited for smaller pieces for crosscutting.

Crosscutting walnut was more challenging.

The walnut boards were slightly thicker than the cutting depth of the blade. No matter, I had figured. I would just cut through all the way one way and then flip over and cut off the other side.

But I ran into an issue pretty quickly: The riving knife-cover assembly doesn’t provide clearance for a board to pass over it only partially cut. I hadn’t foreseen this. I don’t know how I hadn’t, but I hadn’t.

So it was an exercise in flipping.

When I ran out of room to cut through a board, I flipped it over back and forth and back and forth to cut the newly accessible parts. Absolutely it was sketchy. Using this small setup and the blade guard and everything, it was lower risk of big injury.

While I was proud of myself for the success I’d had, after crosscutting the two boards, I didn’t want to go through that process again.

So I moved to one of my favorite tools.

I took a little bit of material off with the plane at a time, and that took a while. But the alternative was trying to rip and flip and rip and flip. I had zero interest in that.

Finally I got the boards to proper thickness, and I ripped away.

I was proud of the consistency of my ripping work as a first-time solo user of a table saw.

More next week.

Woodworking: First Cutting Board from Scratch Project (Part 1)

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When Calah and I were choosing things to put on our wedding registry, Calah and I debated the legitimacy of adding a table saw. I was in favor of putting it on, as evidenced by me having done so. Calah was opposed.

So I broke down why the table saw (and other tools) were not just reasonable and appropriate.

First I asked what she had against the table saw. She took the position that the gifts on the registry are intended for both the bride and groom. I agreed and said that that’s why the table saw should be on there. She disagreed and said that that’s why it shouldn’t be on there.

So I brought up that kitchenware and cooking appliances are standard items.

I understood that I was at a slight disadvantage with this point because both Calah and I cook, so kitchen items would benefit both of us directly. I had to go the conceptual route: Generally it isn’t the case that both members of the couple are involved in baking and cooking, and that just because we’re nonstandard in that doesn’t change the fact that people are totally cool with that inequity.

“But cookware benefits both of them because food is made for both.”

Well, my woodworking projects benefit both of us. Whether it’s turning junk furniture into something good or making something from scratch, it’s not just for one of us after all.

The table saw stayed on the registry.

Woohoo!

Now, I hadn’t owned a table saw before, so I watched a lot of videos on YouTube to make sure I didn’t slice my fingers off. The chance was lower because the table saw has less than a 3/4″ cutting depth, and I was certainly going to install the riving knife assembly with the shield, but I still didn’t want to play it wrong.

What I saw over and over was that it’s beneficial to have a sled for crosscutting. Essentially, you build a tray with skis that fit into the slots on the table so you can push the piece of wood through while never putting your fingers in harm’s way.

That sounded great to me, except that with such a low cutting depth, how could I take up any of that space? I turned to reddit, and I got advice to use hard plastic or 1/8″ high-density fiberboard.

Ultimately, I turned to the world of 3D printing and asked my cousin to print a thing I had found specifically for this table saw:

Proxxon FET Guide by USG on Thingiverse.

Rather than having the board underneath, I’d just have the pusher.

Unfortunately for me, my cousin was prepping to be out of town for a month, so I’d have to wait until his return.

I went to my local hardwood supplier, House of Hardwood in West LA, and I picked up some walnut and maple from the scrap area.

Finally my cousin got back.

He printed out the pusher, and it fit right on. I mean, I had to knock off a little bit of excess plastic, but once I did that, it was perfect.

I set up the my dust collection system (aka my vacmaster), attached the table saw to my coffee table workbench, made sure all moving parts were clear of obstruction, and then I plugged everything in. I was ready to make my first cuts.

More next week.