I ordered 2 carbide cutters for a turning tool from Crafts Supply.. Each cutter is in a plastic box about an inch square and maybe 3/4" thick..
They came today in a 7" x 7" x 4" box, filled with inflatable bladders.. Seems like a padded envelope or MUCH smaller box would be cheaper to buy and cost less to mail, besides killing less trees..
I know.. picky, picky, picky... but I hate to see waste like this, especially from a place that ships thousands of packages a month..
Being larger may make it harder for the USPS to loose... Over the past four years the number of items that haven't made it to me numbers well into the hundreds. The carrier brings something every day so they can obviously find me. The automation is sending my stuff off into the ether... never makes it to the regional distribution center. Bring back the mules... more reliable!
The little DeWalt box (3/4x5x12) is a modern marvel of packing efficiency, floating in a box (14x18x7) that would hold a dozen plus of the little ones, and with more cardboard/paper than I recycle in a week.
tracksaw? The last woodworking show I went to, I specifically paid attention to dealers with Festool and DeWalt tracksaws. They both appeared to work quite well.
What I'm interested in most is the kind of cut you get when using the tracksaw on veneered plywood. The show I went to appeared to crosscut splinter free, but I couldn't get close enough to the demonstrations to closely inspect or actually feel the edges for smoothness. With a decent work table, would you say that the tracksaw could permanently replace a decent tablesaw?
Actually, I have a Festool FS75 plunge saw ... it just so happens that the DeWalt T-square fits the Festool guide rails, and would be cheaper than Festool, if Festool actually had one. :)
The Festool FS75, or 55, plywood cut?
Out of the box, rivals a brand new Forrest WWII on my Unisaw, and with the little splinter guard installed on the top side, there is no discernable tearout on either side IME.
Whether either will replace a table saw?
While either Festool or DeWalt will do much of what a table saw will do for rips, less so than for crosscuts, particularly if you need "batch cut" precision, but with Festool's parallel guide system, you can do batch cuts ... with the proviso that by the time you buy all the ash and trash it takes, you've probably most of the way to paying for a good, used cabinet saw.
That said, for the average woodworker doing one off projects, out of a small shop, and with little room for a cabinet saw, I would say 'go for it!', as the current track saws come close enough, in both cut quality and precision to a table saw, to certainly do most jobs without compromise.
I forgot to mention one important fact ... the number of top notch trim carpenters and cabinet makers in the building industry who have replaced their 'job site' table saws with Festool plunge saws, guide rails, and tables and accoutrement, is increasing by leaps and bounds due to the increased "precision and portability".
That should be good enough rationale to realistically consider one over a table saw, if it's one or the other.
Also, you will notice that Tommy Silva and crew are hot onto Festool plunge saws on TOH and ATOH.
Well, certainly a tracksaw is extremely convenient for the contractor going out to jobsites. I'd suggest that's its greatest benefit.
Guess I'd have to work with one for awhile before I might be able to say that it mostly could replace a tablesaw. Considering that my tablesaw experience is almost forty years worth, it would have to be one hell of an effective tool though.
Obviously if you have a table saw already it will never be a comfortable total transition, but now having extensive experience with both, I can safely say, without question, that the Festool plunge saw can "mostly" replace a table saw.
And one thing it does more quickly, safely, efficiently and accurately than ANY table saw made is non 90 degree/angled cuts in sheet goods and panels ... for some reason an increasing necessity with each project I do these past few years.
Also, it is damn nice to have options other than a table saw when dealing with the combination of age AND 4 x 8 sheets of plywood/mdf. ;)
I get packages in all the time that are packed in much larger boxes than required. I asked about this a couple of times and was told that in addition to the standardized shipping boxes, they had a sweetheart shipping rate.
So they pack everything into a few standard sizes and only have about four rates to ship everything. A quantity discout for shipping. And the inflatble bladders limit the weight.
I should mention that I recieve all my packages at a private post ofice/mailbox. I recycle most of my shipping materials, the foam peanuts and inflated plastic bags, not the paper. I take it into them and they reuse everything. It saves waste, they get some shipping materials for free.
And I am on their good guys list. So, if I get a big package or a bunch of boxes in a short time, I am forgiven. I help them out. The help me out.
Are you saying that houses aren't being built square any more? Say it ain't so! LOL
My honey says that I am not getting older. I am getting better. But if feels older to me.
Most of my adult life, I never shied away from lifting or carrying anything heavy. I grew up that way and always did it that way.
Not so much any more. And ANYTHING that can reduce the need to wrestle with large, unweildy and/or heavy objects is a good thing.
Remember, old age and cunning will win over youth and enthusiasm. Although I have always tried to work smart, a strong body allows you to get away with things. That strength factor/edge just isn't there any more. I understand completely.
Some of the newer solid surface products now come in 120" x 30" x
1.125". Formica InDepth being one of the more common ones. Nice in the sense that I don't have to have the edges built up, nice to be able to show the full thickness around a undermounted sink. But HEAVY! Close to 300 # per sheet. I CAN get one off the truck and onto the CNC, but even with 2 guys it is heavy stuff. To get one out of stock and onto the benches really is a 3-man job. Then to cut to manageable chunks, the track saw approach really shines.
LOL, I intimately know the feeling of having an 18 year old view point on getting something done, and a 67 year old body to get it done with! :)
And it kills my soul to _not_ grab one end of anything being moved within my view, and feel a nagging sense of guilt for not pitching in, like I am an old man or something.
I mean, who needs spinach when 375 mg of Naproxen can make you superman for another ten hours or so ...
That's my rehearsal rig ... although lately it's slowly getting to be a "bring what's easy to carry and let the sound guys do the rest" kind of lifestyle. :)
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