Table saw access?
 

I'm doing a bit of a woodcraft project (the details of which are to remain a secret to CP). I just spent several hours getting started, doing some proof of concept preliminary stuff. What I've learned is that I need a freaking table saw.

With a table saw, I'd probably be done with the 16 cuts I need in an hour. With a circular saw it just took me two hours to get 4 cuts right. And I'm still not convinced I can get all of the other 12 right.

So, anyone have, or know how I can get an hour's time on, a table saw (with an adjustable bevel blade and a miter sled of some sort)? Sometime between now and, say end of March would be good.

Purchasing one myself isn't an option both for budgetary and storage space reasons.

ETA: I should say, 1-2 hour driving radius from home would be a requirement.

I start my woodworking class next week and can make the cuts for you (you can't use the equipment unless you are in the class).

Stand by. Someone just gave me permission to shop for a portable saw on craigslist. If I can't find something there I might take you up on that.

Would a radial arm, or chop saw work?

I've also got a portable table saw.

Radial arm and chop saws are for cross cuts (cutting the short side of a board, generally across the grain). Chop saws tend to be more accurate and are better for angles (miters, etc.). Table saws are for ripping (cutting the longer length of a board, generally with the grain). Though a table saw can cut cross cuts and miters, a decent chop saw would be better for this unless it is a longer cut, generally limited to 6" to 10", depending on the model..

Hand-held circular saws are better for courser cuts requiring less accuracy of measurement, straightness, and angles. Usually, a circular saw is used in construction whereas chop and table saws are used more for carpentry.

Fine. Don't come and use mine, then.

Haw haw. I didn't know I was the lynchpin. You know I totally appreciate power tools. :cool:

I need 14" rips, so the radial/chop saws probably aren't an option.

Some of the 12" sliding miter saws can cut 14" (90° cuts), but I don't remember if the one at the school is that large.

I used to work at a lumber yard. We would do custom cuts if the wood was purchased there. The only hitch was that they weren't responsible if the cuts were wrong (ie you gave them the wrong measurements).

I had a portable table saw but I lost it in the divorce, along with all my other nifty power tools.

Kevy: tell me more about this class! I've been dying to take a woodworking class again (last taken in junior high)

One of the key things to note is the class that used to be free/very cheap is now $122 per 8-week class. There are both beginner and intermediate classes each on Saturdays and Sundays (four classes total each weekend). Other than basic training of the tools, it is basically a three-hour block of time with access to the woodworking shop (and all the supervision and guidance you need). There is also a Cabinetmaking class on Thursdays, but I am not familiar with that instructor.

Go to this link and search by "woodworking."

BTW: the class I take is at Mt. SAC in Walnut, which would be quite a drive for you from Irvine. You may want to check local community colleges for something similar: I believe that Fullerton College has an extensive shop.

Mount Sac

"Kevy's on his way to Mount Sac to work some wood."

Table Saw for sale for $45

Table saw what you did last summer.

I heard that movie got a lot of buzz.

Cutting edge filmmaking.

I'd give my left hand to see it again.

Who knew a table saw thread could be so funny! You guys are a cut up!

Yeah, this thread's definitely a cut above the rest.

It's got some real teeth to it

Without all the jokes, this thread mitre died off...

Where's that "Close Thread" button? I need to cut this off.

Now now - don't get your cord in a tangle. Measure twice, cut once.

But you're baby is a printer!


Crap, still suck at this game.

People you really need to be kerful with this kind of thing. I wouldn't suggest using this kind of language in dado day conversation. It could really dovetail into some plane dangerous territory that you miter might not recover from. You wouldn't want to get banned...sorry for being so dramatic (banned...sorry. band sawry, band saw...hmm). And I can't believe my own wife got involved. Apparently shellacs better judgement.

So I'd like to call a tenonuous truce. I hope this kind of behavior varnishes from this forum. I wouldn't want to have to rip into you all again.

I think GD wins

You've all started a war from which no one will emerge a winner.

I suggest that if you can get him involved, Andy Zaltzman will win.

I concede. GD wins. No need to beat a dead sawhorse.

Zaltor, my muse.

Okay, the project is done, and the gift has been given so I can finally post it.

First and foremost, MASSIVE THANKS TO KEVY. I roped him into one bizarro project and he delivered an absolutely perfect result. As he said when he gave me the finished pieces, "There isn't a 90 degree angle left on these!" and he was exactly right.

Some quick back story, we may be Disneyland addicts now, but CP and I began our love affair (with each other and) with theme parks at Magic Mountain. The 2nd time I met here she suckered me into convinced me to buy a season pass, and we spent any free time we had there over the next few years.

One result of our seeming residency at Magic Mountain was befriending a lead a the souvenir photo booth near the front gate. To this day I'm not sure if she just really liked our group of nutballs dressed in clashing plaid, or hated her employer. But whatever the reason, we got constant supplies of those souvenir keychain photo viewer things. They are, in my mind, synonymous with our early relationship. They look like this (spoilered for size):


Not long before I started this thread, I was lying in bed, failing to fall asleep, running through the kind of mental tangents one runs through when that happens. Into my mind sprang an idea for a birthday gift for CP. A scaled up hardwood replica of one of these viewers fashioned to be a photo frame.

I do not understand my brain.

But the idea was there, fully formed, and I HAD to do it. So I did. And I finished it today. It's a little early for her birthday, but I couldn't wait to give it to her.

So here it is.



And, the bonus feature - it's a back-lit photo frame.



The photo in there is a blown up scan of the photo from either the first or second one of the two of us we got (we couldn't quite remember which was which, they happened a week apart and were from our first and 2nd date respectively).

I was giddy througout this project, and it elicited a spontaneous dance of joy when I pulled the masking tape off after doing the white detail painting. That was the moment I knew that I had pulled it off. It was a fun project to do, I was thrilled to be doing it for CP, and had continual excuses to spend time visiting some of the happiest memories of my life.

Hedons replenished.

That is amazing!

Great fun !! :cool:

Absolutely awesome! :cheers:

Sooooo, who's making one for me, then ? :p

Amazing, wonderful, heartwarming. Kudos!

:snap: :snap: :snap:

That is so freaking cool!

:snap:

Excellent!

He is the BEST. :D :D :D

This gift is beyond perfect. It's sentimental, silly, unique, romantic, whimsical, specialized, personal, and just amazing. I love that he tackled such a crazy project, I love that Kevy helped make it a spot-on replica, I love that it's unlike anything anyone else has, I love that it pulls our history into the present, that it's not frilly or girly....LOVE.

Throughout the process I did not dig through his stuff in the garage but I did see a few things left around....small boards of various angles, ok, it's a shelving thing....blue paint, um, where would that blue work in our house? A glow in the dark LED flashlight, huh? If he wanted to do lighting in cabinetry he'd at least use something that plugged in. Weather stripping? Outdoor?? I really had no way of knowing until he showed it to me.

It just proves that he knows me better than anyone else does.








LOVE!

Cool, and sweet!

Now we want to see the photo that was scanned.

There's some high-powered heartwarming fuel right there. I can't suppress a well deserved AWWWW!

I'm glad to see it came out so well and I can't wait to see it in person.

And those angles were not fun to cut.

So, Kevy, was it an hour? :evil:

It was creative, it was thoughtful, and a lot of effort went into it. What a fabulous gift!

nice!