Help choosing the right tool

[John Pilhoefer]

I am building a bunch of stave tubes, something like this:

cheap table saw is very inexact when it comes to exact angled cuts and precise ripping.

I thought about using a router or a shaper but finding some of the needed angles might be hard and with use the bits will lose their precision.

I am on the verge of purchasing a Delta Unisaw. I am guessing this stable saw will give me the precision and consistency that I am looking for.

Anyone have any suggested tools that might help with my quest for perfection.

Thanks for any and all suggestions.

John

[Dan Oelke]

Even with a cheap table saw you can do something like this - it just takes a little more setup work.

The link below is for just a lot of staves glued together, but it's not a compound miter cut - just ripping with a bevel. With that you only have to worry about one angle and can ignore your probably pain-in-the-ass miter gauge (I *hate* my miter guage).

If the diameter is not absolutely critical, then it becomes a little easier as you don't need to worry as much about the width of your pieces.

First - get some cheap but square 2x4's. Cut into short ends (1' or so). Then adjust the angle until you think you have it about right. Make some test cuts using one of 2x4's. Then chop that 2x4 into short (1-2") ends. If you can arrange those ends into a half-circle that sits flat against a straight edge your bevel is correct. If not - then adjust the bevel on your table saw and repeat with a new end of 2x4.

You will make a bunch of kindling and take a lot of time, but it does work. (been there and done that!)

Google around and read up on tuning up your table saw. Make sure your blade is parallel to your miter slots, and then when setting your fence in place measure 3 times to make sure that the fence is the same distance from the miter slot on both the front and back end.

Good luck! Dan

[f/256]

Couple of formulas to reduce the trial and error:

N = number of staves D = drum's diameter W = width of the staves measured on the outer side of the drum A = angle in degrees of the cut with respect to the vertical SQRT stands for "square root of" Tan stands for the function Tangent of the angle D and W must be in the same units of measure

If number of staves "N" and the diameter "D" are known:

A = 180 / N

W = D / [ SQRT ( [1 / (Tan A x Tan A) ] + 1 ) ]

For instance: If N = 10 and D = 20"

** A = 180 / 10 = 18 degrees

Tan 18 = 0.3249

W = 20 / [ SQRT ( [1 / ( 0.3249 x 0.3249 ) ] + 1 ) ] W = 20 / [ SQRT ( [1 / ( 0.10557 ) ] + 1 ) ] W = 20 / [ SQRT ( 9.4721 + 1 ) ] W = 20 / [ SQRT ( 10.4721 ) ] W = 20 / 3.236 W = 6.18

.18 x 128 = 23.04 then:

** W = 6 23/128"

Guillermo

[Fred the Red Shirt]

If you have not done so already, perhaps you should research the cooper's (barrel maker's) trade and tools. In particular, you might find a cooper's jointer to be useful. It would not be hard to make one yourself.

Also a Stanley #6 foreplane with a # 386 jointer fence might prove useful. They were popular with boatrights.

[Andy Dingley]

I traded my old cooper's tools for a couple of Stanley #2's and a chute board plane. Have you seen the _price_ of these things ?!

Similarly, bookbinding tools seem to be making crazy money these days.

[brian lanning]

There are router bits made especially for this. Just look around a bit (ha ha). Another thing to consider is a bird's mouth bit like this:

that, you would only need to cut one side of each board. Glueup would probably be a lot easier also... the boards would be less likely to slide around.

The down side to using a router bit is that you're forced to use a certain number of boards, although the diameter of the barrel could be controled by adjusting the width of the boards. With a good table saw and some math, you could make them however you wanted.

Don't let me get in the way of a perfecty good excuse to buy a unisaw. :-) FWIW, i wouldn't hesitate to attempt this on my delta contractor's saw.

brian

[Jay]

I haven't used them, but Pricecutter has bits for edge joining for 8 -

16 side polygons:

be worth the $28 gamble to save the couple of thousand on a new saw. Not that the saw wouldn't be cool.

[Fred the Red Shirt]

I have a couple of #2s bought at auction, one with the lateral adjustment lever broken off and an improper chipbreaker that is _almost the right size. Oh, and the totes on both are cracked. That's about the best I could afford. Even the #2 sized Fultons are outrageous and chuting board planes are out of my league.

But a cooper's jointer would be easy and fun to make and it is hard to enjoy woodworking more than with tools made in one's own shop. A cooper's jointer is a stationary jointer, turned upside down and usually set at an angle. The cooper slides the board over the jointer, rather than vice-versa. I've neve seen one with a fence for precision beveling, but it woudl not be too hard to incorporate one.

Besides, the OP has some dynamite honduras rosewood he can use for the jointer.

[John Pilhoefer]

Thanks for all the help. Please don't convince me out of a cool new table saw ;) In all seriousness, I would cut 24 staves with my table saw, measure them all and take the best cuts. I would always be pretty close, but I would always end up with gaps. After measuring the pieces it was obvious that the saw cuts had some serious deviations. That's why I wanted to look at a more stable saw.

John