Comments on: Report Card: 6 Months Without a Chop Saw

By: cbf123

cbf123 — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 23:35:51 +0000

Not the lone one. It’s hard to rip sheets of MDF with hand tools or on a bandsaw, and I wouldn’t want to profile all the baseboards in my house with a molding plane.

By: Clay Dowling

Clay Dowling — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 17:43:06 +0000

I actually prefer to cut trim with my hand-powered miter saw, rather than my chop saw. I did it for my bathroom, and I’ll do it again for my kitchen. They’re both full of lots of funky angles and short pieces, making the muscle powered solution a faster and easier choice for me.

By: rcoles

rcoles — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 15:53:30 +0000

This is a beautiful bench !

By: BenfromTenn

BenfromTenn — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 17:10:43 +0000

That’s a neat idea and thanks for the tip. Maybe I’ll sell my table saw to fund some more hand tools!

By: mjdinsmore

mjdinsmore — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 12:07:45 +0000

This seems all well and good, but I feel like I must speak out as the lone woodworker who also has to do home repairs. For example, this weekend I’m busy taking down some rotted wooden gutters on my Victorian home and replacing fascia boards. I am definitely using my chop saw to cut all the trimwork/boards for this project and need to keep it. I don’t mind using a hand saw, but for house projects like this, I’m just trying to get it done — and not make fine furniture.

So my hats off to all of you woodworkers who can manage to just do the woodworking but avoid getting involved in all the house projects around the home!

By: andrewr79

andrewr79 — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 06:45:38 +0000

Chris,

Nice to see you are living by what you write about.

I’ve just finished restoring some nice old handsaws myself and I’m about to build a pair of saw benches to use them with. I haven’t managed to read all your books yet, does one of them cover a good design for a set?

Cheers
Andrew

By: Jim Tolpin

Jim Tolpin — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 02:34:26 +0000

I never cut plywood on a standard (i.e. not a sliding table-type) table saw anymore. Instead I simply lay the plywood down on a sheet of 2-in. foam (which sits on a piece of 3/4-in. plywood set on sawhorses) and cut it with a circular saw guided by a clamped-on fence. You can make any angle cut you want with this method and you never have to worry about the offcuts falling to the floor. Oh, there’s one more thing: I never cut plywood anymore period!

By: BenfomTenn

BenfomTenn — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 21:00:48 +0000

What about sheet goods (plywood/mdf/OSB)? Shouldn’t you keep the tablesaw for those?

By: shadowfax001

shadowfax001 — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 00:18:28 +0000

I know enough about saw sharpening to be dangerous. I recently purchased a custom Lie Nielsen 28×5 miter saw. I figured, since Lie Nielsen will sharpen their own saws for a nominal fee, the $195 price tag was a solid deal. It arrived this past week and I am very pleased with the saw.

Best,
Christopher

By: alegr

alegr — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 21:17:58 +0000

I hope you don’t commit an unforgivable sin of using the impact wrench instead of torque wrench (and for tightening, in general).