Teaching People

Last month, I had the opportunity to help teach a carving club about the scroll saw and how to use one.  There were several members of my club there also assisting.  It was interesting to interact and help people with their questions.  It was an open forum and there was some practice pieces to cut.  I learned a lot and re-evaluated the woodworking class I would like to do next year.  My wife got to learn a little on the scroll saw and may even take it up.

Since I got a Hand Plane

Last year, I decided to purchase a couple of hand planes to help me understand how they worked and to allow me a little more flexibility.  I purchased Lie-Nielson low angle jack plane.  I honestly did not think I would use it as much as I do.  I built a storage cabinet and put it, with my sharpening tools, in the back.  It is a rolling cart, so it is not a big deal to get back there, but it is an extra step.

I am amazed how much I use it and how much easier it has made certain tasks.  Just recently, with making a smaller version of a train, I needed to add a flat to the boiler.  Last time I did this I mounted the dowel to a board and cut it on the table saw.  This time I mounted to the table saw and used the fence as a guide.  With a few passes I had a nice flat on the dowel to glue to.

I was making several cars to donate and I had some re-sawn board that had a warp and twist to it.  I did not think much of it because I was cutting them down to about 2” wide by 8” long.  After roughing out the parts I realized I did not run the board through the planer to clean up the band saw marks.  It probably would not have done well because of the warp and twist in the board.  The parts were now too small to run through the planer.  With a couple of passes on the plane and the boards were flat and ready to be cut out on the scroll saw. 

One of the best things that I did was go to a show and get hands on experience with the planes.  I was shown how to set them up and how to take care of them.  I was shown how to sharpen and what the edge of the blade should look like.  I learned some tricks and what to look for.  Best of all, I felt what a tuned plane should feel like and what to expect when using the tools.

 

Triton Work Center Table Saw TWX7 Contractor Saw Module

Part of my son’s winnings was the table saw module for the work center.  This was the first piece that I tried out. Overall, not bad.  I have my opinions and I was comparing it to my 20 year old Dewalt contractor’s saw.  I will start out with my issues and move on to the things that I really liked about it.

This saw is meant to be a portable contractor saw.  Triton does a good job on the specs on their website, so I am not going to give all the specs.

Disappointment: The only thing that I really had a problem with was using the riving knife making blind cuts or narrow rips.  The blade guard and anti-kickback pieces can be removed and the riving knife can be lowered.  However the riving knife interferes with the dust port so the blade sticks out about 2” at the interference point.  So I have to take the entire assembly if I want to rip thin stock with my gripper push block.

Concerns: I was ripping a lot of poplar for toys and noticed the quality of cut was getting worse or down right awful.  One reason was the set screw on the fence became loose.  In general, the quality off the saw was worse than what I experience off the Dewalt.  It took more than a few passes with a plane to clean up the saw marks on the edges.  I am still going to remain optimistic and try a new blade rather than the one that came with the saw.  I will continue to adjust to see if I can get a better cut off the saw.

The saw was also a little tricky to install the first time.  It is not a big deal but I thought it was put the pins in the groove and the lower the saw down onto the table.  The motor needs to go in first and then put the pins in the groove.  From a design standpoint, I get it.  It was a “oh the saw doesn’t fit” moment to the realization on how it is supposed to go in.

The fence has two sets of marks on the plastic sight.  One red and one black.  This is because the saw can be set up for both right and left handed users and there is no reduction in capacity depending on how the saw is set up.  That being said,  I had to be very careful that I made sure the same color mark lined up to the mark on the other side.  I did screw that up once.  The other minor concern is the default setting for the sight is all at one end instead of centered.  Not a big deal but could become a problem if I need to adjust.  The fence system is also problematic if slight adjustments need to be made

The throat plate on the saw is beveled into the saw.  This does not great a problem if cutting larger pieces.  It will be a problem doing dust cuts and veneers.  The taper can make small pieces wedge into the blade and get stuck.

Limitations:  This saw does not accommodate for a dado stack and blind cuts are out of the question.  Most contractor saws do not accommodate a dado stack.

Surprises: The fence system was a surprise to me.  I went in very apprehensive to it.  I did not think it was a very good idea to have a fence that can be installed very crooked.  I even cut out strips to the size I was going to cut so that I did not have to measure front and back of the blade.  I stopped using them after two sizes.  The fence system was accurate and worked well.

It was easy to set up and most of the parts came assembled.  It wasn’t awkward to move around and was lighter than I expected.  Adjusting the blade and angle were less cumbersome than I thought.  The handles are a little deeper then I was accustomed to. 

The miter gauge was the best one that I have seen come with a piece of equipment.  I currently own an incra miter gauge and was excited to use it in a t-slot.  The Dewalt does not have a t-slot (at least 20 years ago it did not).  When I saw the miter gauge that came with the saw I was equally excited to try it out.

The assembly instructions are bad.  They are wordless and have multiple steps in one picture.  However their YouTube instructions are amazing and thorough.  They even go through and show adjustments and fine tuning of the product.  Customer service is also very helpful with questions.

Overall Performance: The saw has good power and solid design.  I was please how it worked and for a contractor saw.  I was able to cut several linear feet of both 4/4 and 6/4 poplar.  The setup and changing of rips went smoothly once I trusted the fence system.

I do like the ease of removing the guard and anti-kickback system when it interferes with a cut.  I told my wife that I will leave these on when I can.  The Dewalt guard was a pain to take on and off and ended up in the recycle pile.