Beginner Advice

I wanted to thank you so much for all the replies. I was quite surprised at the number of responses.

Scott Woodstock GA

Thanks for the advice. I am reading a book called Table Saw Magic by Jim Tolpins. He has a section on Table Saw Maintenance. I am very concerned with safety. He has general safety guides, but not a lot of specifics. Any suggestions.

Michael,

I am getting conflicting advice about the band saw. Can you cut curves effectively with a band saw. I was also told it was a safer machine than the table saw.

Hard to beat watching someone to whom safety is nearly automatic. Exception might be having them watch you for a while.

Josie

Scott, look at Duginske's Bandsaw Handbook (esp page 244) if you want to see what curves a bandsaw can cut.

Re safety, both with cut you - bad - there is no substitute for knowledge about the equipment and being careful but, having said that, the bandsaw may stall if you jam a piece in it but it will never throw things at you at a hundred miles an hour like a good table saw can.

TWS

yes, blades go down to 1/8". The smaller, the easier it is to cut curves. There's a demo that I see at all the woodworking shows. I think it's the guy pushing carter guides. He cuts a reindeer out of a small block of wood. He was cutting 180 degree curves with a 1/4" diameter.

Yeah, no kickback. And if you do hit the blade, it's less catastrophic. You can still cut things off easily though. I'm always reminded by this when I look at bandsaw catalogs. There's nearly always a model designed to cut meat.

brian

Excellent for your trim work and general framing- this, along with a Skil saw is probably the best thing you can have for trim carpentry.

A Woodworking class would be my suggestion. Short of that, a book about using the table saw wouldn't be a bad idea before upgrading. Sounds like you're on your way anyhow. Your next tool purchases should depend on just what it is you're going to be doing- if you're going to continue doing trim carpentry, a brad nailer is not a bad idea (though not necessary) but if you're looking at something else, a bandsaw is always useful as well- but I'd advise staying away from the really cheap ones, since they're a real PITA to set up.

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A lot of folks have suggested the voc. school courses, and they are good, and usually not too expensive- but you can also get a few free 1 hour classes at Home Depot. They're unlikely to go into the finer points of chair making, but it's a good bet they'll have something related to crown moulding and other trim work. Aut inveniam viam aut faciam

Sure can- the radius of the curve is limited by the width of the blade (narrower blade = tighter radius) You can free-hand them without risk of kickback, or use a jig.

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If you get a big enough one, then they're really impressive. The two I've got at work (.056" x 1.25" x 16' blades) could lop a person in half in about 5 seconds (depending on how the feed rate is set) That being said, I've never even come close to getting hit by it, or anything that it's cutting.

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