ShopNotes_025.pdf

Issue 25

I . Table Saw Safety Switch . Lighting in the Shop

; 4

for your Table Saw

Donald B. Peschke

WtmR Richard S Peters

-rrmm~mlls Tim Robertson

Phil Totten

IRT DIRECTOR Cary Christensen

SENIOR ILLUIIIRITOR. Kurt SehultZ

Roger Reiland

Mark Eigdon

CREATIVE IILSeUREES

CreaCive BT&I Ted I(ralicek -E- Edilolt-

~uglasL.Hieks~Asst.Editor:Qm~entS.Amna

-hoj,dDenisnL%z:KenMmkel-Sr.PmPmjDe

+:ht Welsh.Shop Manager: Stem Cmtis

Shop Cr&man: Steve Johnson .Senim Pho-

tographe: Crayola England. Elec. hblishing:

Dougl~sM.Lidster~Elsehon~Cbnzmu~icatim

Cd:Gordon C. Gape -Assoc. Graphie De-

signLhr:SusieRider.Smi~r Graphto DM1gne.r:

ChlisGlowadd-Girrphj,E&gm:ChezylL.Cy

EIREUUThOII

Cimdatlan Uireetw: Susan DuBois .Arsistant

Cire. Uir. Troy DowdI.Szbb8crip~n Managers:

Sandy Baum, Paige Rogers .Asst. Sub. MR.:

J& Gdee

Cutoffs

vi. al\\.uy; li;1(1 :I problem enllitg lily ~~rakin):>ul.r

my to~~lsal'r

])crt'nimiiig;lt

Thc tlictic,i~ary tht:ir pc,ak. H'h(:tIit:~. it's ;~rljnstinga fa-

define' a workshop as "an area, room,

or establishment in which manual or

industrial world is done." Well, they're

not talking about my shop - I can't

remember the last time I worked while

I was there. It's just too enjoyable to

callwork. Sure, I can accomplish a lot in

a day. Maybe build aproject or two. But

work? I don't think so.

ATHEORY. I have a theory about this.

I think it's an unspoken agreement be-

tween woodworkers. We call it a work-

shop so it soundslike a place where it's all

work and no play. After all, if fiends or

familyrealized what agood time we were

having, they'd want to join us. And this

could disturb the solitude so many of us

look forward to.

That's not to say an occasional visitor

isn't welcome. It's always a pleasure to

talk to a fellow enthusiast about "work-

ing" with wood. But for me, the best

time in the shop is when I'm alone.

There's nothing quite as comforting as

the quiet "sl~ushing"of a plane as it

glides across a panel. Or that satisfying

feel of a tight joint as it snaps together.

MAINTENANCE. Sometifnes, 1 don't

build anything. Instead, I spend time

vorite plane, or giving my table saw a

good "once-over," it's very rewarding.

And the tools run smoother and with

greater accuracy. (For an article on how

to tune up your table saw, see page 6.)

SPECIAL ISSUE. With the amount of

time most of us spend at a table saw, we

decided to devote most of this issue to

projects and techniques tohelp you get

the most out of this "workhome."Besides

the tune-up article mentioned above,

there's a knee switch that belongs in

everyshop(page4), amobilecabinetwith

some nfiy features (page 161, and even a

look at popular saw blades (page 24).

INDEX. We've also been "tuning up"

things here at ShopNotes. We've just

finished an index of projects and infor-

mation for issues 1-23, and issues 1-100

of Woodsmith. The price of the index is

$4.95 and includes shipping and hana.

dling. To order, you can call us at 800-

444-7002,faxusat 515-28PM7, orwrite

to us at P.O. Box 842, Des Moines, IA

50304. We'll send it right out to you. &

.Nms&nd MR.: Kent A. Bnckton

....................

lk'. i*s<kd,r'k*,< ,,,g 822<1F >m,., J," \k. .at,l,y

. ('n.ir,;im R<br Hu:clrn.ut. .

Scott, Julia Bbh - Recepima J-e

Johnson.

mino Ma: I(en GrEEth

WL ORDER

Cpm6iom Dire&?: Bob Baker .A?? Divedw:

Cindy Jackson. Matrink Mgr: Mark Mattussi

.cwtowmSeruiceMgr:Jennie Enos- Warnhe

&@w: Nw

. Syst..@m&:Tammp Aldinidini IPamLadm:

KmlaCronin. IPch Suppk'Da~dStone-Czlrt.

S&CB Reps.: Jennifer Murphy, Joy Krause,

Sara Kono. Anna Cox. Adam Bed. Kristi An-

STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION

(~e~uiredby

39 U.S.C. 3685)

1995.4.1esueFrequen~:Bimonth1yY

5.No.oElssues published annually 6(six). 6.Annual subsmiptionpriee: $19.95.1. Completemailingaddressofknown ofSee of

pubIiiation:22WGrandAvenue,DesMoinea,(Po&County),IowaS03125306.8.Gomplete~gad&essofthc headquarters

or general business offies of the publisher 2200 Grsnd Avenue, Des Moines (Polk County), Iowa 503125306.9. Fullnames

andeompieiemailingsddressesof pubiisher, editor,andmanaylgeditor P"bBher DonaldB.Pesehke, 2200 Grand Avenue.

Des Moines, Iowa50312, Editor: Riehsrd S. Peten. a00Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50312.10. Owner August Home

Publshing Company,2m0 Grand Avenue, Des Momes, Iowa5a?lZ; Donald B. Pesehke, 2ZOOGrsnd Avenue. Des Moines, Iowa

50312.11. Known bondholders, momgees, and other secanty holdvs owning 1 percent or more of total amount dbonds,

mortgages or other aecities: None. 12. (Does not spply.1 13. Publication Name: ShopNotes 14. Ime Date far Circulation

Data Belaw: September 1995 15. Extent and nature of circalatitin:

1062-Yfi96.3.FllingDate:September6,

A"mgeno.mpies Adualnoopies

aachissoemg oismgleimepnbliihed

pro~edng12months noaresttorhgdate

A Totalno. copies prhted (net pressrun) ...................................

.250,335

2&5,857

B. Paid andlor requested nredultiii:

1. Sales throughd&em, street vendors and mmtersales ..................

2. Mail subscriptions (paid andlorrequested). ............................. 181,774

.23,W7

50,631

177,270

C. Total paid andlor requested circulation

227,901

D. Free distribution by -1,sam

E. Freedutnbutionout

F.Totalfree distrlbutio

G. Totrldistributio

227,957

14,018

3,852

245,857

9998%

16.This statement of oamershipwillbeyrintedinNo. 25, tSe January 1996 issue of tbk publication.

17. I cerbfy that the statementsmade by me above are correct and complete.

(signed) Donald B. Pesehke, Pubhaher

ShopNotes

No. 25

~usnsw~~

S~IIJI, a 'v~trlc~hop."

.S;,,.h .lm.

Lnum 'lh,rnas. BAur I10tl.v I..:.ru. Pxd,<tn.,,.

"~ ~

;?dn: Nick meieri. ~dnz". AS&&.: cheryl

Johnson. wer: Lids Jon-

1.PubB~lianTitle:ShopNotes.Z.PublicationNo.:

Projects & Techniques

Table 5aw Knee 5Wh 4

With this knee-operatedswitch, you'll never again have

to grope blindly for the power sw~tchon your saw

Table Saw Tune-up 6

A finely-tuned table saw not only does a better lob of

cutting wood lt's safer and more enjoyable to use too

UtiIEty Ladder 10

Herek a foldfng step ladder that won't wobble, is strong

enough for two people, and has a tray for holdrng tools

Angled Dadoes 12

Cut perfectly-aligned angled dadoes on the table saw

ueng our simple techn~queand a shop-made jig

Table 5aw Cabinet 16

Extra Storage A bin to collect dust And an outfeed

support Three reasons to build thls sturdy saw cabinet

Departments

Knee Switch

Utility Ladder

The Small Shop

Lighting in theShop

Practical solutions for shedding light in your shop

~a&are lips 14

A collection of five trouble-free tips to make your next

hardware mstallation go quickly and easily

SelectingT0ol.s

Combination Blades 24

Looking for the best saw blade? Our three-man team tests

six combination blades and two general-purpose blades

Readers' Tips

Shop 5olutions 28

Eve of our readers offer their own shop-testedsolutionsto

everyday woodworkingproblems

Finish Room

Rubbing out a Finish

Isn't how you apply ~t lt's

what you do after the finish dries

LUmbeIYard

Specialty P@oods

The secret to a perfect fin~sh

Three unique plywood products for special projects

Combination Blades

No. 25

ShopNotes

GreatTi

Table Saw

Youcan turn off power safely

and still keep both hands on

yowworkpiece.

Y ou're in the middle of a rip

dangerous) to control the work-

piece with one hand while grop-

ing for the switch with the other.

Recently I faced this very situ-

ation. Fortunately, someone else

was in the shop to turn off the

motor for me. Once the dust set-

tled, I decided right then and

there that I didn't want this to

ever happen again. The result is

this simple knee-operated shut-

off switch, see photo above.

LARGE =The shut-off switch

is basically a large bar that rests

against the OFF button of the

saw's ONIOFF switch. (If your saw

doesn't have a switch like this, see

the box on the opposite page.) The

bar hangs from a pair of arms an

cut when the motor starts

to bog down. The wood begins to

smoke. Then the blade hinds up.

Sound familiar?

Your firstreadionk to reachfor

the power switch. But then you

realize it could be difficult (and

DRILL HOLES 7

51DES OF SAW

TO MOUNT SUP

support brackets on the sides o

the saw cabinet like a swing.

To use the shut-off switch, just

kick or lean a knee into the bar. A

plunger on the bar presses the

OFF button to kill power to the

motor. Or if you prefer, you can

even use your hands, see bottom

left photo on page 5.

SUPPORT BRACKETS

Because the knee switch is de-

signed to fit your saw, the first

thing you'll need to do is deter-

mine the size of the two support

brackets (A) the bar hangs from.

(They're just lengths of 2x4.)

To do this, measure from the

back of your saw cabinet to the

front edge of thebox the ONIOFF

switch is housed in, see Figs. 1

and la. Then subtract 3/4" to allow

for the arms added later.

Once the support brackets are

cut to length,they can be mounte

to the cabinet. To do this,

three holes through the cabinet

to fit #8 x 1W woodscrews and

screw them in place, see Fig. 1.

dne

ShopNotes

No. 25

With the brackets in place, the

next step is to screw a butt hinge

to the end of each support, see

Fig. 1. These hinges allow the

knee switchto swing.

ARMS

Now you're ready to move on to

the U-shapedknee bar that'smade

up of two arms and a bar.

To determine the length of the

arm - one allows clearance for

the hinge knuckle, the other ac-

cepts the bar, see Fig. 2a.

When screwing the hinges to

the arms, leave a !4" clearance on

top so the arms can swing freely,

ee Fig. 2a. After you've screwed

hem in place, all that's left is to

add the bar.

BAR

The bar (C) hangs &om the arms

and runs across the full width of

the table saw. The bar is just a

length of 11/4"-dia.dowel with a

plunger (a 1/2"-dia.dowel) gluedin

it to make contact with the OFF

button, refer to Fig. 4.

To determine the length of

your bar (C), measure from the

outside edgesof thearms and add

8" for a 4" overhang at each end,

see Fig. 3a.

Then to locate the hole for the

plungm (D), temporarily clamp

the bar to the arms, see Fig. 3.

And make a mark on the bar

where it's directly over the OFF

button, see Figs. 3 and 3a. Now

drill a hole and add the plunger.

Finally, to mount the bar, I

again clamped it in place with the

plunger positioned over the OFF

button, then screwed the arms to

the bar, see Fig. 4 and 4a. &

is designed to be knee operated,

but you can also use your hand.

Many table saws come with tog-

gle-type power switches. If your

saw has one, you71 have to re-

-'ace itwith apush-button switch

rfore you can build and use the

lee switch, see photo.

Push-button switches are

railable through most electrical

mulv dealers. Some tool manu-

~acturerseven cany them. But Push-Button. 10 uuna me

check around. We found prices knee bar, you'll need a

ranging from $30 to $130.

pushbutton sw~tch

No. 25

ShopNotes

(B), just measure from the

bottomofthe table top to the cen-

ter of the OFF button, see Fig. 2.

Then add 5h" for a dado that's

added next.

Once the arms are cut to size

(I used 34"-thick hard maple), a

dado is cut on each side of the

Itke th~s

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