Alexander writes…

“I was browsing through your wood working site and I’m in a bit of a dilemma.

I do nunchuck seminars for kids and I’m trying to produce a few sets of nunchucks myself to keep their costs down, but my issue is the octagonal shaping. I was wondering whats the best way to cut the octagonal shape on a 1 inch piece diameter wood. Say I had a square 1×1 inch x 12 inches long (so thin but long piece) . Im not looking for any tapered or bent pieces. Just straight across same diameter throughout the whole length.

I thought I could run it through the table saw at 45 degree tilted blade 4 times to cut each corner off, but is there a better method with other tools since my piece of wood is thin? Router? Shaper? What tools would you say are the best to get this job done quickly, effectively, and precisely.

Also is the drill press the best way to put like a 5/8’s hole through the top?

Any help would be appreciated…”

Nunchuck seminars… cool. As an a side my wife and girls are in Tae Kown Do, they have not yet progressed to weapons, but I wouldn’t be surprised if one of them shows an interest.

Ok, back to your question on how to make an octangle out of a square.

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A very versatile and functional tool, it is a table saw, horizontal boring machine, drill press, disk sander, and lathe.  There are several additional attachments available for the system: band saw, scroll saw, planer, etc.

Several years ago my father-in-law purchased a ShopSmith from his brother-in-law.  At the time he did not have space to store it so he allowed me to keep it for the winter, this discussion was in the fall, and in the following spring he would take it back.  Well, that has been a few years now.

This ShopSmith was built back around 1978.  The tool came with band saw and scroll saw attachments.

You can read more about the history of the ShopSmith tool system. 

The beauty of this system is that the system is that they have kept the interface to the attachments and the motor the same.  So, you can use attachments that were built twenty or thirty years ago with your system!

The Mark V model 500’s table was very small and the fence left much to be desired.  I built a bathroom vanity with it and I felt I was reaching the maximum of what the table saw could handle (stock wise).  My father-in-law and I decided to purchase the upgrade kit to bring it up to the Mark V model 520.  The 520’s table and extension tables make it so much easier to use and handle larger stock.

The biggest draw back to the Shop Smith design is cutting 45 degree bevels.  In order to cut the bevel the table tilts to a 45 degree.  Ok.  Now try ripping a 12” wide cut down the length of a 4×8 sheet of plywood.  Not fun.  I have contemplated it and altered my project’s design.

The project in question was kitchen cabinets.  One of the projects that I built with the ShopSmith was an entire set of replacement kitchen cabinets.  More on this in a future post.

The unit is solidly built with retractable wheels.  This makes so much easier to move around the shop.  The wheels are deployed and retracted via foot levers.  Interestingly enough the designers chose to have two different heights that you can raise the ShopSmith up by.

Tip: To make the stock slide easier across the table, wax the table with a good quality floor wax.  Follow the instructions on the container.  It makes the stock slide much easier.

The motor is powerful enough to cut through a variety of hardwoods.  The quality and type of saw blade will significantly impact the cutting performance.  I have cut red oak, white oak, mahogany, birch, and other hard woods quite easily using a 30 teeth 10” carbide tipped saw blade.

For the home wood worker, this is a good tool that gives you a wide variety of tools with a relatively small foot print.