"Shortening" 3/4" plywood cabinets

[Greg Guarino]

I have to check the maximum cut width, or whatever it's called. My sense is that it might not be wide enough

That's exactly what I was worried about. Sounds like a good idea.

[dpb]

On 2/14/2012 3:42 PM, John Grossbohlin wrote: ...

I'd either do that or just get out the handsaw and be done...

[Greg Guarino]

require some "feel", feel I may not have yet.

There are three sides to cut on each of two boxes, so six repetitions of clamping on a guide, etc.

3" was just an approximate number I threw out for brevity, but thanks for the reminder anyway; I am capable of any number of silly mistakes.

be dangerous", LISTEN.

Thank you for amplifying that "little voice"

the blade, so that the

The boxes are pretty tall, possibly too tall to fit between the blade and the furthest possible position of the fence (even at their cut-down, "finished" height). I'll have to check when I get a chance.

Thanks for the warnings. That's why I post here.

[Richard]

Sometimes my fingers don't pay attention to the keyboard...

[Leon]

That is just one of my problems, then the spell checker wants to change the story... ;~)

[Greg Guarino]

It's bigger than that; a seventies-era Craftsman, on legs, with wings.

If it is a real table saw with off feed and side

There's a separate table that looks to be exactly the same height. It could be put to use as either, but not both.

It sounds to me that you may be

I've got an edge guide. It consists of two 4' pieces of aluminum extrusion. I've used it a fair amount and I'm comfortable with it. But reclamping the guide 6 times, especially as the box shpe doesn't lend itself to clamping, sounds like a pain.

I think I will measure the table saw capacity first. If it is too small, I may buy one of those guides with a built-in clamping system and use it with my circular saw.

[Doug Miller]

Greg Guarino wrote in news:jhgioe$er7$ [e-mail]:

You're right, it does take some "feel" but (a) not a lot, and (b) it's easily acquired. Practice on a few pieces of scrap, and you'll get the hang of it pretty quickly. The longer the guide surface, the easier it is to do.

Oh, right, duh. You did say two boxes. [...]

YW.

[Swingman]

Picture worth a dozen or so words:

[John Grossbohlin]

In your situation yes, set the fence to the desired finished height of 24". Come to think of it, I think my boxes were 24" too! If you put the waste to the right of the blade against the fence don't forget to adjust the fence to take the kerf into account, i.e., if the blade removes 1/8" of material set the fence to 2 7/8" to remove 3".

Practice is a good idea if you haven't used the rip guide previously. I've used rip guides on inexpensive saws that were horrible compared to my PC rip guides... You may find that your guide works great or it may be terrible in regards to how well it lets you maintain a good cut... test cuts is the best way to find that out.

John

[SteveA]

Having to do this same task once or twice I elected to do it opposite way that most are saying, having an extension table in my TS, I pull the fence back to the needed height, and let the waste side fall free. I have found when cutting a larger piece the final can close the on the cut and the blade can remove material. Of course I was hand feeding because using a miter was not an opeion due to the size.

[Swingman]

Agreed. and almost every one who has replied with a suggestion to use the table saw has indicated that is the safest method, I

That's the beauty of using the glue blocks to stabilize the offcut.

Most of those beautiful wooden boxes and chests you see with the perfect fitting lids are made with all six sides glued up _before_ the lid is cut off.

In order to get that perfect fit, you need a perfect cut, meaning you don't want to run even the slightest risk of an accidental bind ruining all your previous work .. generally meaning the top will no longer fit perfectly.

Enter the hot melt glue blocks, glued in the appropriate places before the top is glued on, and the box is closed up.

You can now run the whole shooting match through the table saw at the proper depth of cut, and the box retains its shape and integrity, with no danger whatsoever of a bind ... none.

It is an easy matter to use a small hand saw to saw through what's left of the hot melt glue blocks, and they come off with no damage to the box or top whatsoever.

[Greg Guarino]

I finally got around to measuring the maximum distance between the rip fenc= e and the blade. It's about 24". But the intended height of the cabinets is= more like 27". So I took your advice and ordered one of those self-clampin= g guides, at what looks like an attractive price:

can only assume that no one was buying the 50" model.=20

[John Grossbohlin]

I wouldn't be surprised to hear that is the most popular size... cross cutting sheet goods is a common use for this type of clamp. Though I have a

50" fence on my cabinet saw I find that it helps to break down sheet goods by making an initial rough dimension cross-cut with a clamp straight edge and a PC trim saw. This as no matter how many times I've done it, sliding an 8 foot sheet across the table saw for a cross cut doesn't always give perfect cuts. This is especially true if the sheet good is relatively rough as it doesn't slide smoothly.

Out of curiosity I looked at the reviews to see why it got a 4 rather than a

5 star rating. I saw an obvious (well it's obvious now) solution to one of my major issues with the clamp I have... use spring clamps to keep the bar from moving while setting it up. Duh! LOL

John

[-MIKE-]

Those rod style clamps also develop a "memory." I took a few back to Woodcraft because of this. After clamping in the same place several times... like at 48" for cutting a sheet of plywood in half... the rod will get an indent at that spot that makes it very difficult for it to hold adjacent to that point without slipping into the indent.

So if you've just cut a bunch of 4' shelves using the 50" clamp, then you try to clamp it at a little more or less than 48" exactly, it slips back to 48" or doesn't hold tight enough at the new position. This can be frustrating and renders to tool useless in my book.

I don't know if it's just a problem with the Woodcraft clamps and all clamps made by E. Emerson Tool Co., or if it happens with any rod style clamp. But it happened enough to me that I just started buying the ones from Harbor Freight so I could just swap them at store when it happened, or consider it a disposable tool at that price.

[John Grossbohlin]

I haven't had a problem with the one I got at Woodworker's Warehouse. I've had it for quite a while (they went out of business in January 2004).

It differs in design from the Rockler item in that the dumb end is fixed and the clamp mechanism end slides. There is a cam lever that releases and locks the clutch plates.

The only problem I've had is a spot of rust formed at about the mid-point of the rod that I had to polish off. I typically wipe my tools down with WD-40 after use but I apparently either forgot or missed a spot...

Mine was made in Taiwan.

John

[Swingman]

Do these these look familiar? IIRC, that's where I bought these back about ten years ago:

handy for using an adjustable reference edge/guide for lots of things.

[John Grossbohlin]

> Very handy for using an adjustable reference edge/guide for lots of > things.

The ones in the last photo look like mine... they've been perfectly serviceable though I suspect the Festool gizmo is a finer tool!

John

[Swingman]

Festool gizmo?

[Dave]

Think he's referring to Festool guide rails. To me, the best comparison might be 'distant' cousins.

[John Grossbohlin]

Yeah.... that thing. ;~)

John