Wow,  Seems like we hit the jackpot with the table saw issue.  Everyone has something to say about it.  Nice post.  That tidbit on the extension cord is a good idea.  That would effect the motor.  I also did not realize that turning on and off the motor frequently would have motor issues, but now I realize that it does.  I burn up switches faster that way, but never considered what it does to a motor.

When using dado blades, I try to do all of my cuts at one time, just because the stress caused by getting that much metal going.  It will wear out your belts too, so I try not to turn off the machine unless utterly necessary.

Also, now that you mention that extension cord thing, I also realize that different sockets in a house have differnt frequencies.  Have you ever noticed that one light socket will burn out a bulb in a month, while another never seems to need changing..

A few more tip that I use on a table saw are:  If you raise the blade about 1/2 inch above the minimum cut height, you get less chance of tear out on the back end of the piece (even with proper backing, you can occationally get some).  Still it is not quite as safe since more of the blade is exposed.  Also, you can sharpen your blades with the cotton tip dremmel attachment without having to undo your jig setups or removing your blade from the table (mainly for working with really hard woods where the blades get dull before the cuts are all made..

Robert
 

Ok Guys,  I have tried using a fan, and it works a little bit, but there is just not enough surface area on the motor to be effetive.  What I need is a heat sink connected to a fan, and perhaps that is as good an idea as any. 

I do have a cabinet system, but have opened up the entire back of it to change blades and allow air flow, but still have this heat problem.  Air conditioning is a good idea also, but that requires a closed workshop, and then you have problems with fine dust in the air that I prefer to vent.  I had a swamp cooler (left over from my greenhouse) which works pretty good as long as the humidity is low outside.  They don't work well when the humidity is high, and also it has the tendancy to warp wood in the shop.

I will probably try a heat sink and let you know how that goes.

On a side note, when using your table saw for dado cuts, sometimes the cut requires so many blade sections that they are sitting on the actually threading of the post.  This minutely misalignes the blades and you can see the slighly deeper grooves that it cuts.  To get past this, I take teflon tape and wrap around the post threads to bring the threads up to exactly the same level as the main post.  It works really great, but you have to take it off when you change back to a regular blade.

Robert

Thanks for the info.  I just was talking to Eric the other day about table saws.  Perhaps he is correct that I just need a higher quality table saw, but the only problem I have ever had with it, I have also had with all of my equipment.  I sometimes run my equipment for up to 5 hours at a time and this tends to burn out motors after only 1 year or so of use.  The heat produced by such long runs(especially in the summer)causes them to operate above thier intended temp rating, and this burns motors out. 

This last summer, I froze 2-liter bottles of water and placed them in the table saw cavity to reduce the heat (exchanging them with another one when the ice inside melted.)  Perhaps this was ingenious because it worked very well at keeping the temps in range, but there has just got to be a better way.  Let me know the systems you all use.  Keep in mind that here in the summer the temp outside can get above 105.

Also, it does not good to simply let the system rest for a while.  It takes about 2 hours for a motor to reduce temperature 40 degrees if just left turned off.  Aside from that, I must agree that you have to have a belt between the motor and the blade.

I know that all of you will disagree, but when cutting items with my table saw, I usually offset a perfectly straight cut by .005 degrees so that the teeth at the front of the blade are the only ones that contact the wood.  For me, this reduces vibrations produced from the teeth on the back side of the blade making contact with the wood as they come back up from the table.  Yes, I know that the best way is to have it perfectly aligned, but perfect alignments change ever so slightly as the blades heat up and as you hit different wood grain densities.  But still, let me know what you think and if you have another approach to elimiating this vibration.

Robert

This is a portion of a recent e-mail response I gave to Scott.  You guys let me know what you think.

______

Scott,

   I noticed in the reponses going back and forth about gluing that special attention should be given to areas where glue pools because this indicates an area where the wood pieces do not touch flush.  I understand the concept, but was surprised because I never really had a problem with this.  I realize that the best cut you can possibly make with a table saw will still leave an microscopically uneven surface due to vibrations and the sort.  However, once that same piece goes through a sanding jig, the side has no choice to but to be perfectly level, (with the exception of pores in the wood).  Perhaps that is why I do not bother with expensive blades.  Everything I cut is roughly 1/100" oversized and goes through a sanding jig to produce the exact dimension in need, so a poor initial cut does not really matter for me in the end. It seems to me that with the time taken to glue a piece, take it apart to see where the side is not touching flushly, then addressing the situation, a person could have already sanded 3 or 4 parts with a perfectly even surface and fit using a sanding jig.  (By the way, all of my sanding jigs are designed for manual hand sanding, as opposed to mechanical means. - One stroke can take off 1/200" and sometimes that is all that you need and a machine set up will frequenly take too much.)  

Eric,

Sounds good, but let us know if there is a space between first and last names - or last name first - ect.  Just so I can know how to exactly spell my own name to get on.

Robert

Eric,

Excelent,

Thanks for the tips.  I knew if I added some imput, some one else would point out even better ways.

Robert

Tis too cold to laquer for a while, so I thought I would add a few tidbits that have worked out well for me.  Perhaps they will become useful to one of you as well.  Some of them are probably a given, so don't let me insult your intelegence.

Making scrathces in butt to butt wood gluings will hold better if you make scratches in both sides of the wood with a razor, then rub glue in both sides before sticking together.  It gets glue back behin the wood fibers instead of just in the pores.

Line gluing jigs with aluminum foil before applying the project, as glue will not stick to it.

Lacquer ond days with higher humidity to get a smoother finish.

An excellent finishing trick (told to me by eric) is to rub steel wool on parafin wax and then rub on the project.  It gives a wonderful finsih.  However, to get the leftover flakes of wax off, the best way I have found is to place all items in the oven and set to 120 (or the lowest degree to where it will kick on).  In 5 minutes, all wax residue is absorbed or evaproates, and you just wipe the pice off with a cloth.

Sandpaper lasts 10 times longer if it is glued to a hard wood surface.  I cut wood pieces / sticks to specific dimensions I need for a project and then apply the paper with spray glue.  When the paper is worn, placing the stick in the oven as 120 for 5 minutes will also soften the glue so that it can be pulled right off and a new piece can be applied. 

Using this above technique over and over again with same purpleheard sanding stick, I also discovered that purpleheart will turn a neon almost glow in the dark color when it is heated.  If left for a bit longer, it will also turn completely black and resembles ebony in appearance.  You have to do this only to finished pieces, as sanding it will revert it back to the same original color.

Use a razor instead of sandpaper to smooth out any inlays you might use.  Hold the razor perpendicular to the wood surface and gently drag it along.  It will shave off a minute amount and make it smooth, but unlike sandpaper dust from one wood type will not embed into other woods and discolor it.

If it is necessary to drill a hole in an exact spot (down to 1/100 of an inch), it is sometimes necessary to predrill the hole with a smaller bit, then replace it a larger bit without moving the project.  Smalll variations in wood grain can push a drill bit off to one side, sometimes by up to 1/64".  Also, I put my drill press on its slowest speed setting.

Well that is all I can think of at the moment.

Robert

It would be nice if we could add pictures to our text.  A picture of a technique saves 5 paragraphs of explaining sometimes.

Robert

Eric,

Is there a way to add pictures to the fourm.  It would be handy when I get the time to add items to the "techniques catagory".  Also, it would be nice if there could be a section on the home page that just details all projects that are currenly under production.  It is not a big deal for me, as I don't really make coffin puzzles, but it would show everyone at a glance what is under production or planned for the future.

Just a thought.  I have a robotic carving machine.  Eric has a milling machine (that can also cut metal).  Possibly Eric will get a lazer cutter in the near future.  John (of course) has a lathe.  I just wanted to offer my carving machine for any projects you might need in the future, and hope that I can also count on use of other machines that you guys have when considering future projects.

Robert

Don't know if I am doing this right.  Never used a forum before.  Hopefully this will post

Robert