And they all seem to miss the blade guard. Here they would be prohibited to use until all guards were put back.
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Table Saw Safety
- Thread starter Lonnybass
- Start date
Yep, that's exactly my complaint about the Saw Stop saws. Companies and shops buy them because they are told that they are reduced legal liability. The users take the guards off because they are Safe, right? Then someone gets hurt, and they still sue the shop. Who then tries to sue Saw Stop. But Saw Stop never said that you don't need the guard. Legal hilarity ensues. And then the Gov't steps in, requiring a professional license to own or operate a tool with a spinning blade......
Next time I go there, I'll have to ask about the lack of blade guards and riving knives. I've cut pieces of wood before, especially hard maple, that caused issues even with the riving knife. The two halves wanted to bond back together as I cut through them, causing smoke and noise from the blade.
There is a lot here but I will add my two cents. Your table saw isn't your friend. It must be cared for and you must use more than care using them. One thing I don't see here is the use of quality, even home built jigs. These can be cross cut, angle cut, even rip at an angle taper jigs (those simple angle parts are not safe for most). My "standard" cross cut sled has the blade basically completely enclosed. The part is clamped to the cross cut "jig" and pushed through the blade. You can even cover the whole blade with shatter resistant lexan. Never let your cut offs bind. Here is an example with stops. The blade can not "appear" out the back due to a slide stop.
Yes, that's beautiful. A well-designed table saw sled. The key things are:
- The wood workpiece is clamped down solidly in the sled
- The whole sled moves solidly in the table slot, in a controlled straight-line path
- A physical guard plate over the top of the blade's path, and you used some clear Lexan so you can see through it.
- A catch box on the front to surround the blade as it comes out the front of the sled.
A normal tablesaw with a sliding sled like this is safer than a SawStop.
I've got two tablesaw sleds that are similar in function to this one, but much cruder in construction. I need to up my game! This is a nice sled.
Beautiful! Would you mind posting some additional photos of the jig, taken from different angles?
If you're like me, and like getting multi-uses out of my tools.
I've always wanted an edge sander for the main purpose of smooth/flattening edges of my neck blanks (laminates), but footprint size has been the issue.
Anyone use one of these type Table Saw Calibration / Sanding discs?
Safety is my #1 priority of course.
Freud and CMT make these Discs as well in 8 1/4 & 10" my saw is a Dewalt 8/14.
I've always wanted an edge sander for the main purpose of smooth/flattening edges of my neck blanks (laminates), but footprint size has been the issue.
Anyone use one of these type Table Saw Calibration / Sanding discs?
Safety is my #1 priority of course.
Freud and CMT make these Discs as well in 8 1/4 & 10" my saw is a Dewalt 8/14.
I got one of those years ago, haven’t used it much. It seemed like the tablesaw RPM was too high and it tended to burn the wood. That’s how I remember it anyway. I have to drag it out soon to do a blade alignment anyway, maybe I’ll try it again.
It does seem like a possible option if only taking a little bit at a time (1/32, or 1/16). Other videos of people making a disc recessed fence. I kind of like the regular fence, and the disc on the left side option better.
I have a nice Grizzly belt/disc sander. It has a strong 12" disc and runs at 1750 rpm, rather than the usual 3450 rpm that most go. I bought it, thinking that it would be great for squaring up maple blocks. Both on the 6 x 48 belt and on the disc.
That's it on the right, on the metal cabinet. A good strong machine, and it does a great job.....grinding metal.
But sanding hardwood like maple blocks on a hard disc like that doesn't work. The sanding disc heats up and clogs up and burns the maple almost instantly. Even a 12" disc, running at 1750 rpm, with good 80 grit paper. The paper won't clear; too much heat. It's useless for grinding wood. Anything thicker than 1/4".
A 10" disk of finer paper running at 3450 rpm on a table saw? I can't imagine how that would be useful for much of anything. You'd get a better, cleaner end surface running the board across the normal saw blade. I wouldn't spend your money on a disk sanding adapter for a tablesaw.
Or any disk sander for woodworking, unless it's 20" dia or larger. You need the large circumference of sandpaper, for it to stay cool and throw off the dust as it goes around. That's why edge sanders have long belts; the length of the belt keeps the paper cool.
In boatyards, you'll sometimes see 36" or 48" (!!) disk sanders. Big horsepower, turning fairly slow, like 60-100 rpm? The burly dudes wrestle big timbers up against them to square off ends.
In an oar-making shop, I remember seeing a huge custom sanding drum machine. The drum was about 8' dia x 12" wide, made of wood with a rubber surface. It was about a 12" x 25' sanding belt around the outside. The axis was horizontal and the bottom 2' of the drum was in a pit in the floor. Probably going around 60 rpm. The guy was standing in front of it, freehand shaping the blades of his oars.
That's it on the right, on the metal cabinet. A good strong machine, and it does a great job.....grinding metal.
But sanding hardwood like maple blocks on a hard disc like that doesn't work. The sanding disc heats up and clogs up and burns the maple almost instantly. Even a 12" disc, running at 1750 rpm, with good 80 grit paper. The paper won't clear; too much heat. It's useless for grinding wood. Anything thicker than 1/4".
A 10" disk of finer paper running at 3450 rpm on a table saw? I can't imagine how that would be useful for much of anything. You'd get a better, cleaner end surface running the board across the normal saw blade. I wouldn't spend your money on a disk sanding adapter for a tablesaw.
Or any disk sander for woodworking, unless it's 20" dia or larger. You need the large circumference of sandpaper, for it to stay cool and throw off the dust as it goes around. That's why edge sanders have long belts; the length of the belt keeps the paper cool.
In boatyards, you'll sometimes see 36" or 48" (!!) disk sanders. Big horsepower, turning fairly slow, like 60-100 rpm? The burly dudes wrestle big timbers up against them to square off ends.
In an oar-making shop, I remember seeing a huge custom sanding drum machine. The drum was about 8' dia x 12" wide, made of wood with a rubber surface. It was about a 12" x 25' sanding belt around the outside. The axis was horizontal and the bottom 2' of the drum was in a pit in the floor. Probably going around 60 rpm. The guy was standing in front of it, freehand shaping the blades of his oars.
Thanks Bruce, great advise
For this I’ll stick with a good saw blade instead until I get into a bigger space.
Sounds like my exact experience with the sanding disc on my tablesaw, burned the wood and gummed up. I guess it’s still good as a true surface to align the blade to the miter gauge, but is it actually better than just aligning to the blade I use all the time?
Does an Oscillating Spindle Sander work better on wood? Does the oscillation help with heat dissipation? I see some luthiers use them for sanding the sides of bodies.
I covet an oscillating sander, I use a Robosander in my drill press for tearout -free template work, but it clogs up pretty quick. Harbor Freight makes a cheaper version that actually gets decent reviews for $160. I shoulda bought one years ago when they were around $100.
https://www.harborfreight.com/14-in-oscillating-spindle-sander-58546.html
https://www.harborfreight.com/14-in-oscillating-spindle-sander-58546.html
Yes, oscillating spindle sanders work pretty well for smoothing out the perimeters of bodies. The oscillating motion is key to keeping the abrasive cool. But, you have to be careful not to push too hard or expect it to take off wood very fast. It's a sander, not a wood grinder.
If you've ever tried a non-oscillating sanding drum in a drill press, you'll see that they are almost useless for wood of any thickness. Same reason; the abrasive heats up and the sawdust melts into it. With any kind of wood sanding machine, you have to keep the abrasive cool and cleared of dust.
I made a disc sanding attachment for my lathe which works pretty well, as I can slow it down to the kind of speeds Bruce was talking about.