Since its invention by Raymond DeWalt back in 1923, the radial arm saw has had quite an interesting history. Once held as the ultimate home woodworking machine, the saw could crosscut, rip, dado, cut joints and do other tasks with specialized attachments.
While the saw was enjoying its reputation, questions about its accuracy, space utilization and – most importantly – safety were being raised.
With the invention of the power miter saw in the 1970′s, radial arm saw use declined precipitously. While radial arm saws are still produced today, table saws far outsell these machines.
There are many tools that started off in general carpentry that were later adopted by the woodworking community. Table saws. Nail guns. And, the powered miter saw.
Originally identified as the chop saw, manufacturers have added more features to their tools – sliding heads, compound miter cuts, laser guides and the like. As these saws became more powerful and capable, woodworkers have moved these saws into their shops for the mundane tasks (cutting boards to length) all the way to the trickiest (cutting joinery, making complex miters, etc.)
Today, tell us what you think about these powered miter saws. Are they critical in your shop, or just a waste of time?
There are some things that woodworkers always seem to not have enough of: Time for projects, space to work and clamps.
After all, the common refrain of woodworkers is there are never enough clamps in your shop when you need them. Those complicated glue-ups seem to require just about every clamp in your collection – and in your neighbors’ collections as well.
So, today, tell us about your clamp situation. Do you have enough, or, well, do you need more?
Woodworking has been practiced in one form or another for the past hundreds of thousands of years. Throughout the ages, there have been many important inventions and discoveries that have helped to make the craft what it is today.
Lately, the pace of these inventions seems to be accelerating. In the secret testing rooms and laboratories, companies are inventing devices that can help you do everything from ensuring your bead of glue is laid dead center on a board you are working with to bench dogs with sophisticated pop-up mechanisms to innovative devices to lift your work off the surface of your bench while gripping it tightly.
In this week’s poll, let us know what you think about these devices. Must-have tools for your shop, or gadgets that leave you scratching your head wondering what they would be used for…
Most woodworking tools do their jobs through the use of very sharp edges. Woodworkers can spend countless hours grinding and honing their tools to a razor sharp edge. Manufacturers can get a keen edge on carbide router bit cutters or table saw blades…
And, then there are rasps and files. These oddballs don’t slice the wood they are cutting – they grate the wood off much in the same way you might grate some parmigiano reggiano onto your pasta or into your risotto.
There are times when the only tool that can do the job is a rasp or a file, yet they aren’t normally the first tools a woodworker will purchase.
This week, we want to know what you think about files and rasps…
In most shops, there are remote corners of your shop where little takes place. You know, you might chuck a few seldom-used tools there, or pile your lumber into there that you are reserving for future projects.
That’s nice to have. But, there is also that one area that is just mission-critical to your woodworking. Maybe it’s your workbench. Maybe a table saw or a band saw. Maybe a multi-function router table. Whatever it is, it’s the area frequently referred to as the heart of the shop.
In this week’s poll, let us know what that area is in your shop.
Regrets. I’ve had a few, but then again, too few to mention…
Right. You can tell that Sinatra was not a woodworker. I know, because I have a bunch of tools in my shop that I regret buying. Whether it was the spring-loaded corner chisel thingamabob that Norm used all the time, or the Freud router with the proprietary base that I can’t use standard guide bushings on, I have my share of mutts out the shop that should have never gotten there in the first place.
For today’s poll, give us an idea of how many tool purchases you have regretted over the years. Maybe you are batting 1.000 and have never picked up a dog, or you should start consulting with more seasoned tool purchasers to ensure you get usable items, we want to know. And, if you have a great story about some tool that you regret with your entire being, be sure to put that into the comments. We would love to commiserate with you…
While the saw was enjoying its reputation, questions about its accuracy, space utilization and – most importantly – safety were being raised.
