After a few years of using a quarter sheet vibrating sander, I wanted to step up to a random orbital sander.  After evaluating the various random orbital sanders I settled on the DeWalt DW421.  The DeWalt DW421 uses 5”, eight hole hook and loop sanding disks.

Overall the sander is solidly built with a good fit and finish.  It provides a very smooth operation with minimal noise level and vibration.  The sander weights in, by my scale, around 3 pounds.  The palm grip of the sander has a good comfortable feel to it.  The motor is strong and durable.  The orbiting sanding pad is made of thick high quality rubber with hook and loop facing.  It comes with a 6 foot long, 18 AWG double insulated electric cord that is securely attached to the sander.  I have accidentally tested this more than once.

The real test of a random orbital sander is how well does it work and how hard is it on me?  The sander is balanced very well.  When running it feels comfortable in my hand with minimal vibration.  The sander is heavy enough to sand with its own weight, all that is necessary is to guide it to where you want it to sand.

Tip:  Random orbital sanders work best with minimal pressure.  If you press down too hard it can cause the orbiting pad to slow down or stop orbiting.  So, use as little pressure as needed to get the sander to sand.

I have found that I was able to work on horizontal, vertical and overhead surfaces with equal ease and minimal fatigue.

The biggest disadvantage is the dust collection system.  It is designed with a highly touted ‘Controlled Finishing System’ which is basically a small dust collection bag attached to the rear of the sander.  The bag works ok in collecting dust.  However, the sander still kicks out a fair amount of dust while sanding.  So be cautioned, always wear safety goggles and a respirator when operating this tool! 

Removing the dust collection bag exposes a dust collection port that you can hook up to a shop vac or dust collector.  The design is for the hose to slip over the dust collection port.  There is no locking feature to keep the hose connected, so there is a pretty good chance that the hose will slip off during use.

My other frustration is the CFS gasket.  This is a large gasket that fits between the sander’s orbital pad and the body.  Gasket tends to wear out rather easily, why did they choose to skimp on this component I don’t know.  The easiest way to determine if the gasket is worn out, besides a larger that normal cloud of dust when sanding, is orbiting pad’s rotation would accelerate dramatically when not in contact with any surface.  An addendum to the owner’s manual attests to this being due to the gasket being worn out. 

Replacing the gasket is a fairly straight forward procedure: remove the orbiting pad (held in place with three screws), remove the old gasket and put in the new one, reinstall the orbiting pad.  The whole procedure took about fifteen minutes.  The gaskets are fairly pricey at $7 each!

Even with these issues, I am very pleased with the DeWalt Random Orbital Palm Sander DW421 and recommend anyone looking to add a random orbital sander to consider this one.

Table saw blades; I never gave them too much thought other than number of teeth, sharpness, and intended application. I have a couple of 10” carbide tipped 40 tooth blades that I use on a regular basis. They cut fairly well with the typical amount of vibration marks on the cut face.

I finally decided to try out the Freud 10” 50 tooth perma-shielded thin kerf saw blade. The blade is coded in the perma-shield coating to reduce the friction on the material as it is being cut. The thin kerf reduces the amount of material the saw blade has to cut out. And the blade has laser cut anti vibration slots. I am wondering how well it will cut and how smooth of a cut it will make.

Wow! What a difference it makes in cutting. When using it in my ryobi BT-3000 table saw, it made the saw perform so much better! I ran a 3/4” red oak through the table saw and the little ryobi felt like I was cutting on a contractor saw.

The Freud TKR906 strikes a nice balance between a cross cut and rip saw blades. It provides a nice smooth cut with very little chatter or vibration marks.

The Freud combination 50 tooth blade is not the ultimate in saw blades; however, for the home woodworker, this saw blade will meet most all of your cutting needs. It is always good practice to keep at least one old crappy, but relatively sharp saw blade, around for the times that you need to cut stock that is impregnated with sand or dirt.

In a previous post about picture frames I mentioned that I had built a set of picture frames for my wife’s birthday with a close up picture of each of our children.  Fast forward a year later and I am looking at the pictures and want to give her an updated set of pictures of the kids.  The problem is the original set of picture frames where constructed from purple heart and it will not be easy to replaced the pictures.

I could continue to make picture frames, but eventually I will run out of wall space in our bedroom!  So what to do?

I recently purchased raised panel door router bit set.  The grove where the raised panel fits in is 1/4” wide, just the right width for the glass, mat, picture and backer.  Using mahogany I routed a set of rails and stiles for each frame.  I glued and nailed two stiles and the top rail together.  The bottom rail I fastened with flat bar strip of metal that I picked up at the local home improvement store.

Anytime I want to replace the pictures all I need to do is remove four screws add slide out the bottom rail!

And by the way, my wife loves the second set of pictures of the kids.  With both sets of the pictures next to each other it is neat to see how the kids have changed over the past year.

Dove tails, they are a beautiful strong joint.  In the old days, it was a test of skill to cut them by hand.  Now days with a dove tail jig and a router has a simplified the task of cutting dove tail.  But not all dove tail jigs are made the same nor full fill the same needs. There are a few dove tail jigs that I am considering for my home wood shop.

Keller Dovetail System 135-1500 Journeyman DoveTail Jig

This dovetail jig is an economical choice for the beginner or hobbyists doing small to midsize projects. The back-to-back model handles wood 1/8 to 3/4 inches thick of any width with a single template precision-milled from phenolic plate.  You have to mill a support board that the jig sits on.  The instruction manual details the dimensions of the board.

Rockler Dovetail Jig with Half Blind Dovetail Template

This jig supports cutting half bind and through dove tails.  Comes with the plastic dove tail guide, 1/4” shank 14 degree dove tail bit, 7/16” guide bushing.  I am not sure for which router bases it will work with.  Most likely it will not fit my 2 hp Craftsman router.  The jig has easy to use lock down handles and adjustment knobs.

It is Friday afternoon and you have planned a woodworking project this weekend.  As soon as you get home you are going to get the trailer and head over to the local home improvement store / hard wood lumber yard. But do you know what you are doing when you are dragging all that weight around behind you?

According to recent studies, if you are like most drivers who use their vehicles to tow, you don’t.  You are putting yourself and everyone else on the road at risk.

In 2004, the last year complete figures were available; there were 65,000 trailer accidents that resulted in thousands of injuries and deaths.  The most eye opening observation from the study was that most drivers who towed trailers did not know how to properly setup or handle a trailer.  Most felt that they did not need to learn critical safety basics such as the proper way to distribute a load on a trailer and how to drive it.  About three fourths of all drivers learned via trial and error!

How to properly set up to tow a trailer?

Do a walk around inspection of the trailer and the towing vehicle.  Look at and inspect:

·        Vehicle hitch

·        Trailer attachment points

·        Safety chains

·        Operation of lights

·        Brake controls

·        Tires inflated

·        Load distribution on the trailer

·        Tarp covers

·        Tie down straps

How much can I tow with my vehicle and trailer?

Check your vehicle and trailer’s owners manual for the recommended towing capacities.  Most manufactures provide specs for recommended gross trailer weights (GTW) that should not be exceeded.  Tongue weight should typically be 10% to 15% of GTW.  For most home use trailers you can use a bathroom scale to measure the tongue weight.

Loads should be evenly distributed from side to side and about 60% of the total weight should be forward of the axel.  Use tie down straps to secure the load and prevent it from shifting or flying off.

Backing up a trailer is a pain in the rear to do.  It takes a fair amount of practice to get it down. Assign a helper to help guide and watch out for obstacles.

Tip: Put one hand at the bottom of the wheel and move your hand in the direction that you want the trailer to turn.

Resources

National Association of Trailer Manufactures has a great search feature on their site.

Boat US and Recreational vehicle industry keeps up to date on trailer news, safety, security, and critical issues.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has a comprehensive trailer towing guide.

Every wood project results in some amount of saw dust.  What to do with it?  When I first started my hobby I would through it out in my trash.  I knew I could do something better with it than put it in a land fill somewhere.