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Smitty

JAN/FEB 2003
Volume 46/Issue 1


IN THIS ISSUE
Project Articles
• Classic Rolltop Desk
• 16-Drawer Apothecary Chest
• First Class Letter Box

DEPARTMENTS
• Ask Smitty
• Owner’s Gallery
• Letters from Owners
 
Academy Notes
Should you have a Thickness Planer in your shop?
 
Service Pointers
MARK V Service Pointers
 
Safety Tips
Hearing Protection

What's New
When accuracy counts Incra Rules

EDUCATION
• Find A Shopsmith Woodworking Academy Near You

• National Woodworking Academy in Dayton, OH

ONLINE CATALOGS
• Online Accessory Catalog
• Request Printed Accessory Catalog
• Online Replacement Parts Catalog

MARK V INFORMATION
• Find A Shopsmith
MARK V Demo Near You

• Request MARK V Information Package

LINKS
• Links Worth Visiting
• Free Woodworking Tips

FEEDBACK
Contacting Shopsmith

Copyright 2003.
Shopsmith, Inc.
All Rights Reserved

Ask SmittyASK SMITTY!
Here are the questions . . .
and SMITTY’S answers for this issue!

Resawing on the Bandsaw
 
From Bob Myer, via email:
 
What accessories are recommended for resawing ? I have an earlier model Shopsmith Bandsaw with a cast iron table.

First.....be sure to use a 1/2" or 5/8" wide blade . Thinner blades won't track properly.

Second.....you'll need a resawing fence. The best ones are shop-made from wood. Cut an L-shaped piece of stock from a 3/4" piece of oak or other hardwood. Make the “foot” about 8" long x 3/4" wide x 3/4" high...and the vertical member about 5" high x 3/4" thick x 1-1/2" to 2" wide. You can either radius the inside of the 90-degree angle or insert a steel angle bracket at this point for reinforcement. Round-over the outside of the vertical member (into a half-round shape) using a router bit or belt sander.

Set the fence on your bandsaw table with its “foot” in the table surface and projecting inward toward the bandsaw's throat and its vertical member next to the blade. Make the distance between the vertical member and the blade the same as the resawn thickness you desire. Clamp the fence firmly to the table.

Draw a line down the full length of the top edge of your workpiece, indicating your cut thickness. Start cutting. Feed the wood very slowly, allowing the blade to do the cutting. Don't rush. If the blade begins to wander off the line, swing the infeed side of your stock left or right to compensate for this “lead”.

You could also use a high wooden face attached to your Miter Gauge as a resawing fence...but you will NOT be able to compensate for blade “lead” as you go. The rounded edge of the shop-made fence is what allows this compensation.

 

Hollowing-out chair seats
 
From Harlan Spiller, via e-mail:
 
I'm building a child's rocking chair - The plan requires the top of the seat to be slightly hollowed out - Do you have any suggestions ? I have a Shopsmith Model 510

Unfortunately, this can be a tough job. You could start with your drill press.....drilling a series of different depth holes at different locations on your seat blank to establish the differing depths of the various locations on the seat.

From this point, there are a number of ways to finish everything off... Old line craftsmen used an inshave -- a U-shaped tool with a sharp blade and a handle at each open end to scoop-out the scrap.

Some have used a router (instead of a drill press) to get it close, then “feathered” the relief in with sandpaper.

An auto body (portable disc-type) sander with coarse paper also works, as does a rasp, a random orbit sander with very coarse paper or a sculptor's gouge.

This is one job that takes a lot of patience.

Continue . . .