A 'Safe' Investment: A Foot Operated Tablesaw Switch

It's not easy to find a 'safe' investment in this economic climate, but here's one. Lately, there has been some discussion on one of the newsgroups I belong to regarding table saw safety and new products related to that issue. Tablesaws are inherently dangerous, but one product we installed a couple of years ago has proven to be both well liked and extremely useful. I think it has contributed to safety in our workshop. It's a small switch you can screw to the floor that allows you to turn the saw off (only) with your foot. The ones we have for our 3HP, single phase table saws are by Clipper .... Alan, in his comment below points out that the link I had previously posted here was not for the correct switch. I got mine through my tool supplier, Akins Machinery, in New Hampshire. They are also available directly from Linemaster and you may want to talk with your supplier to make sure that the switch you're buying is correct for your saw motor and does 'off only'. Lateley, I've been wishing I had one on every tool ... A great investment and a relatively simple do-it-yourself hookup .... I wish I had about 7 or 8 thousand to buy a couple of Sawstops for the shop, but I don't just right now ........

I left the post below this one up for a week undisturbed, hoping to get some traffic to our new Guild Of Vermont Furniture Makers Blog .... It's up and running now and it seems we have daily new posts happening ... Check it out if you have a minute ...

The switch is right there where you need it

Click to enlarge

The Guild of Vermont Furniture Makers Blog

Ok all you woodworker readers ... here comes something new. The Guild of Vermont Furniture Makers is in the process of launching a blog. There are 29 members and we'll all get our own day to write a post so there (hopefully) will be some new content every day. It will take a minute to get it under way but once we get the hang of it, it should be pretty interesting. you can check out their blog here now and if there isn't much up yet, sign up for the rss feed and actually watch it as it happens ... 29 furnituremakers, 29 styles, 29 viewpoints, tips and techniques ... look out Fine Woodworking ....

A Pair of Coffee Tables

Quick update .. end of day 2.6.09 Abit of detailing to the bases and we're ready to start finishing

Table edge detail

We're underway on a new commission to build a pair of coffee tables and some small end tables.

They are based on this table we made a few years ago and will have distressed maple tops and antique style, painted and glazed bases. Here's the table we started from ... Click to enlarge the photos

Original table ... 46 x 72

We started to scale down the handmade patterns for the new table sizes and then realized that we would have to do it twice and that it would be easier to draw it once in our cad program and let the computer scale it down. Once we had the drawing, it was a simple matter for Trevor to cut cardboard patterns on the router for the glue ups.

'ghost' of the cardboard pattern cut out

new version at 36 x 40

scaled down end for the smaller table

smaller round end table 30 w x 32 long

small tables ... design ready to go, but yet to be started

Spring ! Robins !

He's in there ... CLick the photos to enlarge them

2/3/09

Kit alerted me to the robins in the apple tree this morning ... By the time I got the camera, there was only one, but he looked happy .... This would be one of our earlier robin sitings and the deer are starting to come in to the birdseed ... The days are longer, the light is definietely different, the air seems warmer even though I know it isn't ... and I don't think the groundhog saw his shadow here yesterday ... I'm sure we're not done with winter, but we're heading up the hill and out for sure ....

Bob, the cat, and the deer ....

Concertina Hinge Game Table Update

We have recently added a quick amateur video of the opening and closing of the table, showing the action of the concertina hinge .... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWhu2KOcNXg
Close up of the inlaid leather checkerboard

12/20/08 ... Long process, but the top finally arrived yesterday and we're all done. It has been a challenging and mentally rewarding project on a lot of different levels ... Click the photos to enlarge them ... Happy Holidays ...

Open .... I plan to make a short video of the opening and closing process for my clients and will eventually post a link here. It's simple, but there is a certain order to the smooth open/close process. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWhu2KOcNXg


Closed, awaiting players

Showing the bottom view with the sliding stiffener and the little spring loaded clip that keeps the table base shut when the top is folded ..

Update 11 30 08 ... Just waiting for the folding top with the leather checkerboard inside to return ... We should be all finished by the end of the week. Looking good ...

Finish is on ... brass is in .. waiting for polish

Waiting for the top
10/23/08 We're moving along on the game table posted below on 10/17, This week, Will turned the legs and is working on the inlays and the joinery, Trevor made a jig for the shaper and fluted the legs and tomorrow, Jim will be fitting up the brass moldings . Next, we'll turn the brass feet, sand and hinge the top, rout the top for the leather, apply the stain and finish to it and then send it off to Connecticut for Russ to inlay the chess board. In the meantime, Will will complete the hinging mechanisms and the brass feet. Progress .... Click photos to enarge ...

Sample board of finishes, leather and brass samples .. the client has selected the burl and the darker red for the checkerboard

The cad drawing of the table, dimensioned and not

Fluting the legs on the shaper

The legs, plus another view of the fluting jig

Fitting the top brass break molding. The brass will be antiqued later and the stain and finish will be complete before the brass is installed for final. There will be burl and quarter inch, quarter round brass in the pockets at the top of the legs ...

Some Quickie Trade Show Signs

The finished signs ...love the colors

Fooling with fonts, layouts and offsets in a scrap

Side view

Front view finished sign

A friend of ours, Lucy Bergamini, owner of Vitriesse Glass Studio in West Pawlet, Vermont, (check out her stuff) .. asked us to make some quick signs for her new show booth set up ... We brainstormed a bit, fooled around with the fonts and type sizes on the various pieces and cut the letter holes out of 1/4 Baltic birch plywood. Jim sanded the letters and then Lucy and Jim painted the panels and the backing luann ply. My man Jim works blowing glass with Lucy two days a week and works here with us three so he started out last Friday getting started on the signs here, went to Lucy's yesterday to prime and paint and then came here this morning to glue the parts together with our favorite contact glue ... Spray 90 tm from 3M. Spray, let it sit for a minute and press for a permanent bond. Handy stuff .. stinks though ... We popped them in the vacuum bag for about 10 minutes each and they flattened right out. Great colors ... Jim'll be back here tomorrow for some woodworking ... Click the photos to enlarge them ...

Update on the Recycled Chestnut Table

11/30/09 ... We recently went back to visit this table and do some remedial work on a new light fixture that hangs over it now ... Lookin good if I do say so myself ....

home stretch ... delivery Friday ....

hand applying the varnish finish

Update on the new custom dining table coming up here. This post is getting to be a long one, but tomorrow we're ready to start the finishing ... Click the photos to enlarge them ..

Will glued up the base yesterday. First, he put the first coat of water stain on so he could sand the legs on the lathe before gluing them up. The runners went on today and it was kind of interesting. Because of the 30" inside dimension of the aprons we couldn't use our normal 2.5" high extension runners so we ordered some extra section, short, 2" high ones from Moin Hardware. These folks are very knowedgeable and when I described my problem, she suggested I use a set with extra length which is kind of counterintuitive I admit, but she explained that the sections would not then be fully extended and thus more rigid, and, with the extra sections, we could add a center leg if we needed it to one of the non moving sections.

There are no aprons becuase we wanted to be able to push the arm chairs under so we have added thin stiffeners to prevent warping.

Jeremy is putting all the screws in the runners before....

Trevor does the 'dancing (or meditating) on the table' test...impressively, negligible, very slight sag .... it should hold the turkey OK ...

As is usual with recycled wood, we had a crack or two to stablize with butterfly keys

glued up the panels yesterday ... 1/23

Scraped and cut them to shape today (funky late afternoon color above)

Pins and leaf cuts Monday

The legs and the lumber .... 1/22 ... The two on the left are hand turned and sanded and the two on the right are as they come off the Vega duplicator if both the cutter and the operator are nice and sharp.

Will, cleaning up the turnings by hand

1/15 New custom dining table coming up here. We finalized the designs early last week and the wood arrived today from my friends at Appalachian Woods "a premier provider of reclaimed antique lumber" in Stuarts Draft, Virginia, and, I might add, especially speedy on this order ... I have been getting recycled chestnut from them off and on for several years now and this latest load did not disappoint ... We just got it today and haven't milled any of it yet, but it appears bright and clean with just the 'right' amount of worminess. It's stacked in the finish room to acclimate for a while until we finish the projects were working on ... won't be long though before we get started on it ...

The table is a 64" diameter expanding round with leaves and it's loosely based on a rectangular expanding farm style table we made for another client a few years ago ....

Plan view closed

Plan view with leaves

The chestnut including turning stock for the legs ... The inspection dog is checking the lumber for edibles...

Inspiration table ... Half of a 23'6" table we made for another client ... This table 36" wide, hooks onto this table, also " 36 " wide