HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
Newsgroups: rec.woodworking

I'm biased because I own an older Sears TS, but here are my thoughts.
Sears makes basically the same table saw today that they always have, but the
cost-cutting pressure must be tremendous.  Some non-critical parts are plastic
now, though.  Still a price/performance leader in my opinion.

It's not so much how old the saw is, but which type and what model/features.
There are two types of Craftsman 10" table saws in stores today, so-called
belt driven and direct.  Don't buy the direct driven.  It has an aluminum
table, instead of cast iron, which is more prone to warp.  It also has a 
very cheap motor.  Save your money and get the belt drive instead.  

The belt driven models are similar in main table, rip fence, miter guage but
differ in some features.  The main differences:  extension table material,
rip fence, length of rip fence supports, motor power. 

I'll summarize each:

Extension table:  two kinds, cast iron grid or stamped steel.   Some people say
the cast iron stays flatter, others say it could catch an arm in a kickback.
The stamped steel can bend but is lighter and cheaper.

Rip fence:  Either a screw-lock or a lever lock.  Neither is much good, but can
be made to work.  The fence doesn't slide parallel to the blade but can be 
set parallel if you measure each time.  I generally do, don't mind much 
(Measure twice...).  No professional shop would tolerate that, however.

Rip fence supports:  either angle iron on one side or on both.  Both is handier.

Motor power:  Sears puts a smaller motor on its low-end saws.  The low end is
rated 2 horse and the high end is rated 2.5 horse.  My saw has the same motor
but it's rated 1 horse!  You will wish you had more.  I occasionally trip the
overload protection on long rips or thick crosscuts, which is a nuisance.  But
I would need to run 220 to the saw for a 3 HP motor, so its on hold until I 
rewire.

The basic mechanism (table, arbor, tilt mechanism) seems built to last (mine 
was built in '78 and is all original).  The rip fence is lousy. 
The miter guage is OK with the hold down clamp.  The stand and
wheels are terrible - you have to brace them.  The plastic handwheels on the
height and tilt mechanism are a joke, but can be upgraded for $20.

Generally people suggest a bigger motor (2-3 real HP), after-market rip fence,
sliding table for long crosscuts.  If I bought today, I would definately buy
a Delta Unisaw if budget was no issue.  For limited $, the belt- driven 
Sears 10" saw is a reasonable bargain.  I don't think it has changed
too much, unlike the band saw.  (Sears used to make a reasonable band saw,
but went to a tilting head design which has problems).  Hope they don't lose
this recipe too.
From: gerryk@nyxplant.East.Sun.COM (/export/apps/bin/name)
Newsgroups: rec.woodworking
Subject: Re: Want to get started in woodworking
Date: 9 Apr 92 12:15:04 GMT
Reply-To: gerryk@nyxplant.East.Sun.COM
Organization: Sun Microsystems
NNTP-Posting-Host: nyxplant.east.sun.com

I have seen a couple of postings about getting started in woodworking. Are you
talking about fine woodworking or just the normal things you do with wood
like bookshelfs, etc.. The big reason is the quality of the tools you buy.
I think you should buy a good woodworking book to give you ideas of how
something go together and what you need to make them go together..

>From: colaluca@cs.utexas.edu (Mark Colaluca) writes:
it appears to me (by watching shows like
the New Yankee Workshop and others) that a significant monetary investment
in tools and equipment must be made to produce any appreciable woodworking
project (that is, produce it efficiently, rather than hand-sawing, etc.).

If you are going to be making a career of working with wood, then you
need to invest a far amount of money and it will make the projests you 
do, EARIER to do... But there is nothing wrong with a good hand-saw,
you can do almost anything with a hand saw that you can do on a table saw, 
not as fast but still.I guess what I'm saying is you do need some good handtools
hammer,punch,pliers,screwdrivers ect.. and still make a very nice bookshelf.
And remember that you can build the samething 100 different way....

Gerry
From: leisner@johnker.henr801@xerox.com (Marty Leisner x76704 siena)
Newsgroups: rec.woodworking
Subject: Re: My new Ryobi BT-3000
Date: 16 Apr 92 20:03:59 GMT
Organization: Xerox

I putting together a shop and recently bought a Ryobi BT-3000 (I thought it was well designed).

I haven't built much stuff yet, but I know (from writing software) tools make the craftsman...

I need to make a better stand for the table.   I bought:	
	1) The router/jigsaw kit (it works best with the Ryobi RE600 router,
	   which I luckily bought.  It didn't say anything about it until
	   after I read the instruction manual.
	2) A long table kit (Harbor Frieght has a good price on this, it varies from  90-150 dollars.
	3) I just bought a bunch of Freud Blades (haven't use them yet), and an 8 inch dado blade...

I'll comment on it in a few weeks...


marty
leisner.henr801c@xerox.com
Member of the League for Programming Freedom
(You get what you pay for -- except in software)
Newsgroups: rec.woodworking

I am always on the lookout for new scroll saw patterns.  I have found
that advertisements in magazines such as Good Housekeeping, Better
Homes and Gardens, and the various craft magazines (they mostly
deal with cross-stitching) can yield fairly good patterns.  If
you go to your public library and browse through some books on
line drawings, you can also find patterns.  You might also find
patterns that can be adapted in clip art for the various desktop
publishing packages that are available for the PC.

Another place is to browse at the local craft shows, keeping
your eyes open for ideas that can be adapted to what you need.  RBI
(the makers of the Hawk saw) publish a bi-monthly? magazine called
RB Ideas that is focused on the scroll saw.  It is about 20 pages,
and there is usually one or two patterns that you can use as is or
adapt to your own style.  If you call them (I don't have the number
here today) and ask for a sample issue, they will probably send you one.
This will allow you to decide if you like the magazine before you
put your money down.

If you are near Sacramento, Ca., Joanne Lockwood has a place called
3 Bears Workshop that deals with scroll saws.  Joanne is a rep for
Advanced Machinery Inc. who sells the Hegner scroll saw.  She is
usually manning their booths at the local home and wood shows.
She also gives day long classes on using scroll saws and you
can get some good ideas from her.  On the east coast, you could
call AMI and ask them who their rep is.  I understand that they
also have someone on that coast who runs the same sort of seminars
that Joanne does on the west coast.

As I mentioned in the preceding paragraph, home shows and woodworking
shows are other excellent sources.  They usually have a booth for
AMI, RBI, Delta, and several othere vendors of scroll saws.  The
people that man the booths are usually willing to talk to you if
they aren't busy.  Of course, they are there to sell, so be aware
that they might not have the time to do so.

Of course, there are always the Spielman books that are available
in most larger bookstores.  I get tired of the simpler patterns fairly
quickly, but some of the patterns in their fret books are pretty
challenging.  These books are also usually available at the wood 
and home shows.

Oh yes, there is another magazine that is fairly new.  They have only
published about 4 issues so far.  It is Decorative Woodcrafts and it
is published by Better Homes and Gardens.  It deals with small 
projects that are easily done with a scroll saw.  In fact, one
of the issues featured Joanne Lockwood and showed several of her
projects.  Each issue contains full size patterns for the items that
are featured in the articles.

Wood Magazine also usually has at least one pattern for scroll saws
in each issue.

Hope this gets you started on the right track, and if you have any
ideas that I haven't thought of, send them to me!


Newsgroups: rec.woodworking
From: wentzel@hplabsz.hpl.hp.com (Kevin Wentzel)
Subject: Re: Good stores or other WW attractions in SF Bay area (?)
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1992 14:56:47 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Laboratories Palo Alto,CA

------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'll be in San Franscisco next week and would appreciate any suggestions
of good stores or other wood working attractions to visit.  I suppose
I might get over to Oakland and/or Berkeley for half a day, so east bay
suggestions are also welcome.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

I don't know about San Francisco or Oakland, but I've always found
Southern Lumber in San Jose to be a great source of almost any kind of
wood you could want.  They used to have a little museum of tools etc.
upstairs too, I haven't looked for it lately.

Southern Lumber, San Jose, Alma St. and Montery Highway.

Enjoy your visit,
Kevin
From: stuart@rennet.cs.wisc.edu (Stuart Friedberg)
Newsgroups: rec.woodworking
Subject: Re: Sharpening Plane Irons
Keywords: plane iron, sharpening
Date: 8 Apr 92 00:29:02 GMT
Organization: University of Wisconsin, Madison -- Computer Sciences Dept.

In article <4594@atlas.cs.nps.navy.mil> David Erickson writes:
>Jack, fore and jointer planes get progressively more curvature - i.e. a
>jointer plane should have a curved cutting edge, with the center of the
>blade about 1/16" - 1/8" ahead of the sides.

I have to respond to this one publically.

With the exception of the very corners (the initial topic of this
discussion), jointer plane blades should be *flat* across, especially
when they are used to prepare joinery (glue joints).  The rougher the
work, the more convexity is useful and acceptable.  Jack planes for
rough work and especially scrub plans can use lots of convexity.  (I've
got a wood scrub plane with about a 1/3 circle cutting edge.)  If you
use planes for final surface preparation, their cutting edges should
be *flat* except for the very corners.

Obviously this is my opinion, but it's based on experience.

Stu Friedberg (stuart@cs.wisc.edu)
From: johna@hpcvra.cv.hp.com (John Allen)
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1992 19:37:53 GMT
Subject: Re: Picket Fence
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Co., Corvallis, OR, USA
Newsgroups: rec.woodworking

I used pressure treated fir, primed and painted.

Newsgroups: rec.woodworking
From: chrisb@hubcap.clemson.edu (Chris Behrens)
Subject: Re: SCROLL SAW PATTERNS
Organization: Greenville Tech, Greenville, SC
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1992 20:31:40 GMT

>Hope this gets you started on the right track, and if you have any
>ideas that I haven't thought of, send them to me!

What about Children's coloring books.  Some of them have bigger pictures
that are perfect for this.

Newsgroups: rec.woodworking
From: djenkins@wang.com (Dave Jenkins)
Subject: A quote suitable for a .sig
Organization: Wang Labs, Lowell MA, USA
Date: Wed, 08 Apr 92 17:25:50 GMT
Keywords: quote .sig wood

I'm not into cute quotes in my .sig, but if I were, I think this would be it...
I found this in my Dave Barry page-a-day calendar.

"Wood has been the preferred building material for thousands of years,
because it is one of the few materials that will rot as well as burn."
Newsgroups: rec.woodworking
From: baud@kepler.eedsp.gatech.edu (Kurt Baudendistel)
Subject: Re: What about Built-in Bookcases
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1992 13:44:35 GMT

In article <1992Apr16.191329.3370@walter.bellcore.com> marc@bellcore.com (Marc F Pucci) writes:
>I don't really want to build a series of independent pieces and tie
>them together.  I want the wall (about 10 ft long) to be one large
>bookcase.  

Building permanent cases is good idea if you're not in an apartment---
they look nice and increase the value of the property. They also take
less material than stand-alone units, since you can use the wall(s)
as a structural part of your case. You can even leave off the back and
use the wall for it.

However, they are permanent. Once you dado the shelves in place, they
are there forever, even if your wife comes up with an oversize book
or a trinket or a piece of pottery or a figurine or (you get the picture)
and then says ``why didn't you space these shelves a little further
apart here and closer here ...''.

You can easily overcome this problem by putting in only a few structural
shelves that are permanent and making the rest adjustable. You can groove
the wood and put in the metal strips for brackets, or (as I prefer)
drill lots of holes and then use little metal brackets to mount the
shelves into the holes. 

In fact, Home Depot carries a pretty good
looking melamine (veneered particle board) line that comes in various
lengths with holes already drilled, cross pieces cut, and head and 
foot boards. Of course, you wouldn't think of buying what you can 
make, but the cost is competitive! Also, you may want the real wood
look instead of painted.

-- 
Kurt Baudendistel ---                                           --- GRA
Georgia Tech, School of Electrical Engineering, Atlanta, GA  30332-0250
internet: baud@eedsp.gatech.edu              uucp: gatech!gt-eedsp!baud
From: doshay@ursa.arc.nasa.gov (David Doshay)
Newsgroups: rec.woodworking
Subject: Re: Want to get started in woodworking...
Date: 9 Apr 92 00:43:03 GMT
Article-I.D.: news.1992Apr9.004303.15715
Organization: NASA-Ames Biocomputation Center

try high school night classes for adults, and classes at a local community
college. They will have lots of tools, and you can learn before sinking
a bundle into tools you do not know how to use.

David		doshay@ursa.arc.nasa.gov
From: erickson@atlas.cs.nps.navy.mil (David Erickson)
Newsgroups: rec.woodworking
Subject: Re: Sharpening Plane Irons
Keywords: plane iron, sharpening
Date: 7 Apr 92 19:23:56 GMT
Reply-To: erickson@taurus.cs.nps.navy.mil (David Erickson)
Organization: Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey CA

In article <1992Apr7.165355.20134@crl.dec.com> wojcik@crl.dec.com writes:
>In article <19286@sybase.sybase.com>, hsc@stroid.sybase.com (Howard Cohen) writes:
>> 
>> 
>> That is, the corners are a bit curved.  This is not a huge affect, but it is
>> noticable.  
 
>> Comments anyone?
 
>> 	Howard

>An instructor in handtool woodworking I once had taught me to knock the corners off
>the plane blades with a couple of swipes on the fine stone once sharpening was done.

>/Ted

I've heard the same, and generally sharpen my block planes as described.
Jack, fore and jointer planes get progressively more curvature - i.e. a
jointer plane should have a curved cutting edge, with the center of the
blade about 1/16" - 1/8" ahead of the sides.

-Dave Erickson
From: brianw@writer.yorku.ca (Brian Whittaker)
Newsgroups: rec.woodworking
Subject: Re: Sharpening Plane Irons
Summary: Curved blade edge for scrub plane
Keywords: plane iron, sharpening, curved edge, scrub plane
Date: 9 Apr 92 22:33:15 GMT
Organization: Computer Assisted Writing Centre, York University, Toronto, Canada

I believe that grinding a continuous arc across the end (cutting edge)
of the plane blade is traditional for the scrub plane, which is
used for rapidly flattening a board. The plane is used initially at
about a 30-45 degree angle to the length of the board, and the curved
edge, combined with a wide mouth opening (wide front to back), makes
it possible to take very agressive cuts without tearing up
the grain. This action flattens the board across the grain. The long
jointer plane is then used to flatten the board with the grain. I
believe Ulmia still makes a wooden scrub plane, about the length of a
smooth plane but narrower. I have also heard of using a jack plane
with curved blade as a scrub plane. The choice might depend in part on
the width of the boards being flattened and the fatigue threshold of
the worker.

I have also heard that old joiners used to use a jack plane with a
curved blade to square the edge of a board to the face. The centre of
the blade would cut deeper, so planing with the centre over the high
corner would square up the edge, without either the nuissance of
adjusting the angle of the blade or the need for care in maintaining a
constant angle in tilting the plane for an 8' run. The jointer plane
would then be used to flatten the edge lengthwise.

I suspect that if we could go back a century or two and spend a few
days working with a cabinetmaker or a joiner we would be surprised as
much by the speed and economy of motion as by the quality.

Brian

---------------------------------------------------
Brian Whittaker
Dept. of English, Atkinson College, York University
----------------------------------------------------
From: smb@ulysses.att.com (Steven Bellovin)
Newsgroups: rec.woodworking
Subject: Re: What to look for when buying a used Table Saw?
Date: 8 Apr 92 01:28:55 GMT
Distribution: usa

In article <ktp9hgINNilb@news.bbn.com>, tlaughli@star-trek.bbn.com (Tom Laughlin) writes:

In most situations, direct drive is probably better.  You get increased
depth of cut, and probably less wobble.  Direct drive probably gives
a bit more effective power, which is useful mostly if the saw is
underpowered.  Check the amperage on the motors' data plates; it's
a lot more useful than ``horsepower'', especially when dealing with
Sears equipment.

The Delta saw might be a bit better if you ever want to upgrade to
a Unifence; it's more likely to fit without major surgery.  For
the other fence vendors, it probably doesn't matter much; Sears
is a common enough make that they'll have the appropriate instructions.

One oddball factor to consider if you think you might want an
after-market miter gauge:  the miter slots on the Sears saws seem
to be very slightly narrower than on the Delta saws.  I base this
on a sample of two Sears saws, one ~15 years old, and one ~38 years
old.  One accessory I have (a featherboard/hold-down clamp that
fits into the miter gauge slot) does not fit on either Sears saw,
and does fit on my Delta.  Also, at least one vendor (AMT) sells
a different miter bar for Sears than for other saws.
Newsgroups: rec.woodworking
From: brianw@writer.yorku.ca (Brian Whittaker)
Subject: Re: What happened to Roy?
Summary: better than ever
Organization: Computer Assisted Writing Centre, York University, Toronto, Canada
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1992 06:55:26 GMT

Roy Underhill's The Woodwright's Shop is still carried by channel 17
Buffalo, the nearest PBS affiliate. After some months of historically
interesting but primitive work (how to chew a chair from a tree sort
of thing) he has been showing some more sophisticated work lately. One
episode dealt with colonial shutter making, with Roy chopping mortises
by hand more rapidly than Norm could set up his router, planing rabets
and, best of all planing the corresponding edges and ends of the rails
and stiles to get a fit that would not open as the wood expanded and
contracted with the humidity. In another episode he visited Monticello
and examined the methods of work in the house and the furniture,
including bookcases made entirely as modular one shelf packing boxes,
dovetailed at the corners, with miters at the front. He then returned
to his own workshop and demonstrated cutting dovetails by hand, again
faster than you could with power tools. This is all textbook stuff,
but its fascinating to watch how fast and how accurately a skilled
person can do it with fairly simple hand tools.

Brian

------------------------------------------------
Brian Whittaker
English Dept., Atkinson College, York University
------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.woodworking
From: joes@jpl-devvax.jpl.nasa.gov (Joseph Stoltzfus)
Subject: Re: Good stores or other WW attractions in SF Bay area (?)
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA)
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1992 22:37:58 GMT

In article <12176@ns-mx.uiowa.edu> trocklin@umaxc.weeg.uiowa.edu (Tom Rocklin) writes:
>I'll be in San Franscisco next week and would appreciate any suggestions
>of good stores or other wood working attractions to visit.  I suppose
>I might get over to Oakland and/or Berkeley for half a day, so east bay
>suggestions are also welcome.
>

Go to Hida Tool Company in Berkeley. Japanese tools in quantity, good
selection, knowledgeable people. The tools are so beautiful and fit
your hand so well it's amazing. Near REI, in case you're a hiker, too.

Go to Whole Earth Access (Berkeley). One of the major tool sellers, and
quite a few books. Decent prices, although Cal sales tax is high.

Go to Orchard Hardware (across the road from WHA). Huge, and I found
things I didn't know existed.

There's also a hardwood store near WHA (across another street). I have not
been in it, but the windows looked interesting.

I have no connection with any of these, I'm just a satisfied customer 
of the first three.

joes@devvax.jpl.nasa.gov
Newsgroups: rec.woodworking
From: john@jbean.b29.ingr.com (John Bean)
Subject: Re: Need advice on a Rockwell 10" Table Saw
Reply-To: b29!jbean!john@ingr.com
Organization: Intergraph Corporation
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1992 13:42:33 GMT

In article <1992Apr5.070408.18588@cabezon.uucp>, kapila@cabezon.uucp (Kapila Ranasinghe) writes:
|> I looked at a used Rockwell 10" table saw today.
|> Model No 34-345.  The current owner bought it
|> used and doesn't know how old the saw is.  It
|> is yellow and has '10" Motorized Saw' written
|> in the front.  There weren't any indications as
|> to the power or amperage. Can anybody help me
|> figure out what sort of a table saw this is pl. ?
|> A major concern that I have is regarding accessories
|> and replacement parts.  I also noticed that the
|> blade has a play when you push it side ways. (Yes!
|> I did remember to switch off the saw before I did it :-)
|> Does this indicate a bearing problem ? How can I find
|> out for sure?
|> 
|> Thanks,
|> 
|> Kapila 

    I have a Rockwell/Delta 34-335 that I bought used for $250. The 
    manual has a date of 1972 on it. It has the same '10" Motorized Saw'
    label on it, but it is grey/green.

    Just recently, I bought some replacement parts for it from the
    Delta order line (1-800-332-PART, I think), and they did not have
    any problem finding parts such as the handwheel and rear fence
    clamp block. 

    I really like the cast-iron table, and the fence seems to stay square
    nicely. I don't know the amperage either, but it doesn't seem to have any
    problems cutting.

======================================================================
= John Bean							     =
= Intergraph Corp, Huntsville AL	john@jbean.b29.ingr.com	     =
======================================================================
From: jrohlf@surreal.asd.sgi.com (John Rohlf)
Newsgroups: rec.woodworking
Subject: Swedish floor finishes
Date: 9 Apr 92 03:03:15 GMT
Distribution: rec
Organization: Home for Degenerate Physicists


        Has anybody had any experience with 'Swedish' finishes for
hardwood floors? Some product names are Bacca, Glitsa and Futura.
I read an article in Fine Homebuilding which described them as a cross
between a penetrating and film finish. How glossy can they get and
how well would they stand up to a large claw-endowed dog?

jrohlf@sgi.com