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.

(more…)

Allen writes, “hi what is the best way to convert my hand held circular saw into a saw bench?”

About twenty years ago I saw an advertisement for a multi function folding work bench where a hand held circular saw could be mounted into it to turn it into a mini table saw. I search around, but was unable to find the name of the bench or the manufacture.

It really depends on what you want to do with it, such a table saw will not help you produce accurate cuts for building furniture. It might be ok for rough framing work.

(more…)

Continuing on from the part one of this article this article will review the cabinet and hybrid table saws. Why are cabinet table saws so heavily used in commercial wood working shops? What is a hybrid table saw and would it better suit my table saw needs in the wood shop? (more…)

There are many tools that are useful, but not essential to wood working, depending on what you are building. A dedicated mortising machine makes quick work of cutting mortises, but if you don’t build a lot of furniture that employs the mortis and tenon joinery do you really need it? However, there are some tools that are must haves if you want to build any significant projects.

A table saw is one of these tools. Try ripping a four by eight sheet of plywood down and get a nice straight line using a hand held circular saw. Not that easy. Table saws are great at cutting straight lines in to things. (more…)

This is the fourth post in a series of table saw alignment articles.

Here we will talk about aligning the sliding miter table.  The sliding miter table is an interesting twist on the standard miter gauge.  It offers a larger working area to hold the material being run through the saw.

Because of its design it there are two things that need to be checked for alignment the height of the sliding miter table relative to the main table saw and run parallel to the saw blade, within 0.004”.

What are we trying to accomplish?

1. The sliding miter table will be parallel to the table saw blade.
2. The sliding miter table will be even or slightly higher than the top of the main table.

What is the effect when the sliding miter table is out of alignment?
If it is not parallel, the cross cuts will not be square.  If the sliding miter table is below the main table the stock may catch on the main table and result in a dangerous situation.  If the sliding miter table is too high, it can lead to chipping and tear out on the bottom of the stock, or worse, the stock jambs the saw blade and becomes a dangerous situation.

Alignment process
 

Safety First
Unplug the table saw.

Adjust the side free play
The sliding miter table uses a set of plastic guides to control the free play and the friction of the table.  Loosen the lock nut on the top of the table.  Adjust the cam until there is as little free play as possible.  If the guides are too tight the table will not slide.  Once the free play has been adjusted, tighten the lock nut.

Over time these guides will wear down and will need to be replaced.

Adjusting the height of the sliding miter table
The sliding miter table’s height is controlled by the four clamps.  On each clamp are two set screws that control the height of the table and the table angle relative to the main table.  The height can be check with a straight edge and a feeler gauge. Adjust the set screws on he clamps as needed.

Adjusting direction of travel
A simple jig will be used to measure the alignment.  The jig consists of a scrap piece of wood and a screw threaded into the end of it.  Slide the jig and screw head over to the table saw blade until it barely touches the marked saw blade tooth.  Clamp the jig to the sliding miter table or to the cross cut bar. This is the ‘zero’ or reference point.

Turn the table saw marked tooth towards the back of the table saw and slide the miter table until the screw touches the marked tooth. 

If the screw head barely touches the marked saw tooth, the sliding miter table is parallel to the table saw blade!

If there is a gap between the screw head and the marked saw blade tooth, the sliding miter table is angled away from the saw blade.  Measure the distance with a feeler gauge.  Any gap greater than 0.004” needs to be adjusted to bring the sliding miter table into alignment.

If the screw head protrudes the saw blade, the sliding miter table is angled into the saw blade.

To adjust the sliding miter table’s alignment:

1. Unlock the sliding miter table’s clamp levers.
2. Loosen the infeed side clamp plate screws.
3. Adjust one of the screws.
4. Retighten the clamp plate screws.
5. Lock the sliding miter table’s clamp levers.
6. Recheck the alignment to the saw blade.

If you can’t get the sliding miter table to be in exact alignment, then it is better to have the table be slightly angled away from the saw blade to prevent kick back.

Once the sliding miter table has been aligned it should keep its alignment until the rip fence rails are moved.

This is the third post in a series of table saw alignment articles.

Verify and align the rip fence.

What are we trying to accomplish?
Straight rip fence

1. The rip fence to be parallel to the rip fence.
2. The face of the rip fence to be perpendicular to the main table.

What is the effect when the rip fence is out of alignment?
If the fence is slightly out of alignment one side of the cut wood will have slightly more saw marks than the other.  One side of the wood will have a slight cove cut to it.  On a piece of 3/4” thick stock it will be difficult to see the effects.

When the fence is more out of alignment, the saw blade cuts will be more pronounced on one side of the cut and the cove will become more obvious.  If the riving knife is installed it may begin to effect the cut and either pull the board away from the back of the rip fence or push it into the back of the rip fence.  Boards will not be cut straight; this will be especially obvious on longer boards.

If the fence is really out of alignment, there is a significant risk of kick back.  The riving fence will help prevent it.  Also there is a greater risk of jamming the saw blade and damaging the drive belt.

Alignment process
 

Safety First
Unplug the table saw.

Rip fence straightness
Check the rip fence for straightness.  Using a straight edge check the straightness of the fence.  There should be no gap greater than 0.002”.  If it is not, replace it.  Even after aligning the fence to the saw blade the cuts will be messed up because of the bow in the fence.  Potential sources for a replacement fence are: local classified ads, craigs list, Ryobi, and eBay.

Aligning the rip fence
Unfortunately the rip fence’s alignment mechanism is quite crude.  To adjust the alignment, unlock the rip fence, and then loosen the two screws on the top of the rip fence.

A simple home made jig is required to set the alignment.  The jig consists of a scrap block of wood with a screw threaded into it.

Raise the saw blade up almost to the top.  Mark one of the teeth of the saw blade with chalk.  This saw tooth will be the reference tooth.  Position the jig and rip fence so that the screw is almost touching the saw blade.  Adjust the screw so that it barely touches the saw blade.  This is the reference point or ‘zero point’.

Rotate the reference saw tooth to the back side of the table.  Position the jig against the rip fence and slide it toward you until the screw is next to the marked saw tooth.  If the screw head barely touches the saw blade the rip fence is in alignment.  If the screw head protrudes past the saw blade then the rip fence is angled toward the saw blade.  If there is space between the screw head and the saw tooth, then the fence is angled away from the saw blade.

In either case, adjust the rip fence adjustment screws until the fence is parallel on the front and back sides of the saw blade.  For the angled away case, use a feeler guage to measure the distance of the gap.  If the distance is less than 0.004”, leave the alignment alone.

Once the rip fence has been aligned it should stay aligned during normal usage.  Whenever the rip fence rails are repositioned, check the alignment of the rip fence rails and the rip fence.

This is the second post in a series of table saw alignment articles.

The Ryobi table saw rip fence rails are rather unique in that they are designed to be moved quite easily.  The problem is that most likely when they are moved any fine tuning alignment that was done is lost.  Most likely they will be out of alignment once they have been repositioned.  My recommendation is set the rails where you want them, align them, and then never move them again.

Rip fence rail alignment is crucial to the overall alignment of the table saw.  The rip fence and the sliding miter table depend on the rip fence rails to be properly aligned.

What are we trying to accomplish?

1. The rails are a uniform depth below the table saw top.
2. The rails are parallel to each other.
3. The rails are level with each other.

When they are out of alignment, what effect does it have?
The sliding miter table should be 90 degrees to the table saw blade.  When the rails are out of alignment, the sliding miter table’s angle to the table saw blade will be either greater then 90 degrees, or less than 90 degrees.  Either way, when using the sliding miter table the cuts will not be square.

The rip fence will also not be at a 90 degree angle to the table saw base.  The result will be stock that is ripped to an angle other than 90 degrees.

Alignment process 

Parallel rails
The rails are attached to the table via milled bosses.  The rails should be parallel to each other, if normal care was taken when the unit was assembled.  Use a ruler or tape measure to measure the distance between the rails at several points, far left, middle, and far right.  If the rails are not parallel, it will require shimming the rail to get them parallel.  It is better to shim the rear rail.

Uniform depth below the table top
The challenge here is that the main table top is very narrow.  It does not provide a very large surface to measure against when checking the depth of the rails.  To increase ‘size of the table top, clamp a straight edge to the main table.  This will provide a longer span to measure the depth of the rails.

If you have the extension rail kit, bolt it onto the main rails.  Then perform the depth alignment.  If one of the rails it too low or high, loosen the mounting bolts on the table saw and the extension leg.  Adjust the rail’s height from the extension leg adjustment screw.

This is the first in a series of posts that will cover several areas of the table saw that need to be aligned.  They are: Rip fence rails, rip fence, sliding miter table, crosscut fence.

Both table saws share many components and the BT3100 is an incremental version of the BT3000.  These alignment procedures will work on both versions of the Ryobi table saw. These are not the only ways to align your table saw; however, they are accepted as ‘best practices’ for aligning the table saw.

Some background terminology is needed.  There are to general types of tests static, and dynamic.  Static tests are performed when the table saw is powered down.  Dynamic tests are performed when the saw is running in ‘normal usage mode’.  When the saw is being used various forces are being applied to the saw blade, rip fence, sliding miter table and the crosscut fence.  These forces will change the results slightly from the static results.  For safety’s sake, dynamic tests will only be performed when needed while keeping the operator safe!

The final thing is, knowing when to stop.  Eventually you will reach a point where the table saw is in as good of an alignment that it can be.  Bear in mind that most of the measurements will be in thousands of an inch.  When working with measurements this small slight force changes, such as the pressure of the stock against the rip fence at the front verses the back, will change the results slightly.

ryobi table saw
table saw alignment
woodworking tools

I am an owner of a ryobi BT-3000 table saw with the factory base. I like the table saw, but I don’t like the base. The base consists of a set of stamped steel that are bolted together. The frame makes the table saw light weight and more portable. However, because of its design the saw is more susceptible to vibration when cutting stock.

Generally what I want to accomplish is to ‘bolt down’ the table saw and frame to the shop floor. The heavy duty commercial cabinet saws are constructed with a lot of mass. The top is typically constructed from cast iron and the base is made from heavy gauge steel. This effectively anchors the saw to the floor and any vibration from the motor, arbor assembly or saw blade does not allow the table saw to vibrate very much. Granted the more expensive contractor and cabinet saws’ trunions and arbor assemblies are better balanced.

Vibration is caused by the motor, arbor assembly, and saw blade being out of balance. Even if one of them is ever so slightly out of balance will produce some amount of vibration. In my opinion the biggest contributor to blade vibration is the saw blade. For my main table saw blade, I have switched from a no name brand carbide blade to a Freud 10” 50 tooth blade.

Ok, back to table saw base vibration. There are a couple of solutions to minimize the saw vibration. A quick solution is to weight down the frame with some sort of ballast. For the Ryobi BT-3000 reinforce the base with two 3/4” pieces of plywood. Then stack on top of the plywood ballast, such as paver stones, concrete blocks, or bags of sand. Paver stones are nice because they allow you to control how much weight you want to stack on the base. The draw back is it can be a lot of pavers to load and unload. Especially if your shop is in the garage and portability is a must. You know, the wife wants to park her car in the garage every night.

Note: Depending on how the table saw frame is designed, you might have to strengthen the base.

Another option is to cast your own concrete slabs. Depending on how much weight you need three or four slabs should be enough. This translates into fewer number of ballast to load and unload when the saw needs to be moved.

A third option is to build your own portable table saw base. When I purchased my Ryobi BT-3000 table saw it came with the extension rails and table. Unfortunately when the extension rails are bolted onto the table saw makes the saw much less portable. The base I am planning to build will have retractable wheels, and will be wide enough to hold the table saw and the extension rails permanently mounted to the base. The under the saw and under the extension rail will be built out with storage cabinets. If I needed I may put additional ballast into the base.

Quick tip: Make sure that all of the fasteners on the frame are tight. If any of them are loose the more vibration you will get. Use lock washers, or lock nuts. I like the nylon lock nuts. If you are not planning on taking the frame apart, consider using locktite or some other thread locking adhesive.

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.

This post is more about Ryobi bt-3000 sites that I have found helpful in maintaining and modifying my table saw.

Ryobi BT-3000 modifications – contains a very detailed description about how to deal with the shim problem.  If you haven’t already had to face this, you most likely will an unfortunate design problem of the BT-3000.  In the BT-3100 Ryobi has changed the shim design.