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New in the shop "The generic thread"

reible

Not long ago I posted a new in the shop thread:

https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=25246

And now I'm wondering if there would be any general interest in having this as an open thread for anyone who has something new in their shop to show. We use to do that at work but the new item had to fit in your pocket or possible fit in a briefcase as the large size exception. We did it weekly but this tread could be used as often as you like.

To get us started, if that actually happens here is something that just came in today. They are called "Original Strawbyte Saw Guide" "They are simple aid to aligning your guide rail to layout marks when it is the waste side of the cut that you need to be the accurately dimensioned part."

Those of you who use guide saw systems know that the rail goes on the line and you cut the waste side but what happens when you want the waste side to be your part? Well these solve that problem. It simply spaces the rail 2.2mm back from the line. Such a simple tool, but oh so useful.

I have some 2.2mm steel pins that I have used but this is much cleaner a solution and I while I have not used them yet I have seen them in use and instantly wanted them.

For the Festool TS55 saw the blade is 2.2mm, of course life is never so nice as to have every track saw use the same blade width. So check your saws blades width. If you happen to have a standard saw/blade it is likely you can get a set. I know they listed several sizes.

https://www.strawbyte.com/merchandise

bainin

I had to wait a couple days until my new toy arrived. Its not a big deal-but for me it is as I havent thought of a good way to get around this problem on my own.

Many times, I find myself trying to "eyeball" a target using things that are fairly hard to discern the center of. For instance-this spiral router bit. I've marked the center line on the wood-but aligning further using the bit is not easy. Somehow I dont expect it to get any easier as I see my reader prescription is slowly creeping up !

I know I could use a small drill bit to do something like this but with the different size arbors, I wanted somethign that had both 1/2" and 1/4" shaft on it to work with both arbors. I came across this doo-dad. BigHorn router bit centering gauge-which conveniently has both size shaft ends I wanted.

Likely im the last to the party on this-but maybe it will help someone coming along. Its $10 on amazon.

Anyways-now it is much easier to center on marks I've made with good accuracy. Once you have aligned-its just a matter of removing the centering gauge and replacing with the bit of your choosing.

P.S - the grind mark on my fence was the teenagers doing - not mine 🙂

dusty

Don't blame it on the teen years thingy. I have a couple marks just like that, probably created in exactly the same way and I am no teenager.

Stuff Happens

edma194

Someone needs to make one with a built in LED putting a spot of light right on the mark. Since I'm not a teenager anymore my alignment skills have degraded a lot. It's not just my eyes, stiffening joints make small adjustments more difficult also. I do like using the fence on my SS drill press because once I find the center I can drill a line of holes right on the center line. Even then getting them right on the transverse marks is tough.

dusty

edma194 wrote Someone needs to make one with a built in LED putting a spot of light right on the mark. Since I'm not a teenager anymore my alignment skills have degraded a lot. It's not just my eyes, stiffening joints make small adjustments more difficult also. I do like using the fence on my SS drill press because once I find the center I can drill a line of holes right on the center line. Even then getting them right on the transverse marks is tough.

I understand completely and can certainly relate

I am always impressed when I view the work that reible so often posts. He has certainly mastered the art of accurate in all that he does (well, at least all that he shows us). His precision drilling has been a personal challenge for me.

RFGuy

reible wrote
For the Festool TS55 saw the blade is 2.2mm, of course life is never so nice as to have every track saw use the same blade width. So check your saws blades width. If you happen to have a standard saw/blade it is likely you can get a set. I know they listed several sizes.

https://www.strawbyte.com/merchandise

Ed

Ed,

Did you see that Festool just launched some new thinner kerf blades that are 1.8mm wide? I believe these came out with their new TSC 55 K anti-kickback tracksaw, but of course these blades can be used on their corded tracksaw as well. Might need a new spacer from Strawbyte if you decide to change blades...

The aluminum cutting blade is a nice option now.

reible

Hi, yes the new blades are thinner but I have the older TS55 and the blades do not work with that version. The riving knife would be the issue I think but I have not verified that. I think it is a nominal 2mm so that would be a no go.

In fact I just decide to check out the information to be sure what I heard was correct and

"This blade is not compatible with TSC 55 models manufactured before 2021, TS 55 EQ, or TS 55 REQ" Mine is a REQ.

Ed

reible

Yes I use those router bit centering gauges all the time. So much so that I have two of them. One with my router stuff and another in my drill press stuff.

I'm glad you found them and I would recommend that if you don't have at least one you should get one.

thunderbirdbat

edma194 wrote Someone needs to make one with a built in LED putting a spot of light right on the mark. Since I'm not a teenager anymore my alignment skills have degraded a lot. It's not just my eyes, stiffening joints make small adjustments more difficult also. I do like using the fence on my SS drill press because once I find the center I can drill a line of holes right on the center line. Even then getting them right on the transverse marks is tough.

I do not remember where I got this information but it supposedly works. Gun companies make something called a "Bullet Laser Bore Sight". It is basically a laser inside a bullet casing that is used to help sight in a rifle. The correct size bullet laser can be held in a router collet to allow centering of the router by the laser point. I have not tried to locate one to try but I do use the bore cleaning brushes to clean the inside of router collets.

DLB

thunderbirdbat wrote I do not remember where I got this information but it supposedly works. Gun companies make something called a "Bullet Laser Bore Sight". It is basically a laser inside a bullet casing that is used to help sight in a rifle. The correct size bullet laser can be held in a router collet to allow centering of the router by the laser point. I have not tried to locate one to try but I do use the bore cleaning brushes to clean the inside of router collets.

It's a great idea, might be something the router companies should do. Many pistol/rifle cartridges are tapered or rimmed, I would think the boresight lasers would have to match that profile. I have two of these, neither would be a good choice. I usually use a countersink. I like the laser idea, putting in my request for green as my eyes don't do as well with red for whatever reason. Perhaps out friends at ToolQuest LLC will take this on. ;)

- David

edma194

Thanks Brenda, good idea. Maybe it can be made to work eventually.

If the cartridge for a bore sight is not quite the right size it shouldn't be too tough to put the same components into a simple cylinder. I'd want something fairly small to use in a drill chuck as well as collets. The chuck would have to be in very good shape to realign different size bits, or just use collets for every size bit, but even my shakiest chuck now will do better than I am sighting by eye alone. The dot for the boresights might be a little large, but if it's a laser it just needs smaller hole at the tip.

I see a number of these on Amazon, and I'm impressed with the ones that have alignment screws to refine the laser alignment. A 22 version should be small enough to be useful.

Green or red is fine with me, but not blue, I can only pick up a limited range of the blue frequencies.

ETA: I'm impressed with reible too Dusty. He makes great contributions here and on YouTube also. The same with so many of you guys, I love the info but I frequently feel inadequate seeing what you guys do so well.

Hobbyman2

bainin wrote I had to wait a couple days until my new toy arrived. Its not a big deal-but for me it is as I havent thought of a good way to get around this problem on my own.

Many times, I find myself trying to "eyeball" a target using things that are fairly hard to discern the center of. For instance-this spiral router bit. I've marked the center line on the wood-but aligning further using the bit is not easy. Somehow I dont expect it to get any easier as I see my reader prescription is slowly creeping up !

bit-align.jpg

I know I could use a small drill bit to do something like this but with the different size arbors, I wanted somethign that had both 1/2" and 1/4" shaft on it to work with both arbors. I came across this doo-dad. BigHorn router bit centering gauge-which conveniently has both size shaft ends I wanted.

Likely im the last to the party on this-but maybe it will help someone coming along. Its $10 on amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003NE5ATG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

centering-punch.jpg

Anyways-now it is much easier to center on marks I've made with good accuracy. Once you have aligned-its just a matter of removing the centering gauge and replacing with the bit of your choosing.

punch-align.jpg

P.S - the grind mark on my fence was the teenagers doing - not mine :)

b

------------------------------------

Not only can this be done to find and set the center of a cut or hole , if use properly it can also be use to set depth of the cut , even the flatness from one end / side of the stock to the opposite end /side by cranking the table in or out . be sure to check it on the table alignment first before you make the cut or drill a hole . not sure my MK500 table will hold the precision this is capable of detecting, seems like my table has some deviation when ya add weight or force , I keep my tables waxed regularly and the locks are tight to help reduce the drag , deviation and friction .

reible

If you can get over the sticker shock they do make a laser center locator designed for mounting in a chuck/collet and you can find one here:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WVG4OUI/?coliid=I1UBEH5FVEA74Z&colid=OB95ICBAIUZF&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

One of our members here has one and it is not me. But I do have one on my wish list. A couple years back we had a discussion on these and the possible use of bore sight lasers. I think the issue with the bore sight might be the focus. You want a really sharp spot to view without any or very little reflection.

Here is a thread from the past with my first experience with lasers in the shop:

https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=17544

Shopsmith later started selling a version of these but I was very unhappy with the mounting system they use and suggest you just make your own mount.

Then for my SO I got a pair of these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0788B8CSY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Which I used to make prototype mount in place of the spindle on the SO. I still have to go back and do a final version sometime when they surface again in the shop. Still way more projects then time to do them.

Ed

reible

I'm repairing a garden box and working alone I needed an extra set of hands to hold things in place while I screw them together. Since getting an extra set of hands is not easy to do it was much simpler to get a couple of C-clamps. The problem was that the reach needed to be 8". I'm thinking oh boy that maybe $20 each or at least $40. Ouch!

Well I couldn't have been more wrong! Harbor Freight has these 8" versions for $6 each! I couldn't believe how cheap.

Shown with the optional jaw pads..... so add another $2 to the total cost.

Used them today and they did fine for the job at hand. Not sure when or if I will need them again but now I have them I'm sure that they will be of some additional use but if not the added cost to the project was minimal. I've already spent over $25 on wood, $17 on screws and washers so not that much more to add.

reible

I decided to go ahead and purchase the mid-size router table baseplate from Rockler. Here is a picture of it being unboxed:

There is also a little bag of screws and a starter pin laying somewhere there????

This plate will fit various routers, those listed are the Dewalt DW616 and DW618, Bosch 1617, Hitachi M12VC Makita 1100 and Porter Cable 100, 690, 890's. I own three of the listed routers so I have to decide which one will best fit and still allow the baseplate with router attached to be added and removed from my table with out much hassle. I'm leaning towards the Hitachi. It has more holes so very possibly it fits other routers as well but they are not listed.

If I have time tomorrow I will do a test run of the mounting and see where the switch and latch line up and if I will have to remove the handles or not, I know they come off on some routers but I haven't tried Dewalt.

Rockler had sent me a 10% off coupon which helps and it still good until 7/1/21 so if I like the setup I will see about getting the Set of 3 Clear Insert Rings for Rockler Convertible Benchtop Router Table. One of those rings allows you to use guide bushings so that is the one I really want but they only come as a set.

reible

This is actually the third or is the forth one of these that I have purchased. I got one for myself then one/two as a gift then just got another one today. What is it? It is the Johnson 12" inch/metric combo square. It is the same one that I have mentioned before and I'm still happy with how it is working out. We are talking a out lay of $10.91 at this time, plus tax and free prime shipping. No it is not a $100 version but the others have tested very well and I'm looking forward to getting this out in the shop tomorrow to check it's squareness. They are a little stiff when you start out but after some use they loosen up to a nice feel.

I've been working between the backyard and the front yard and having one square I was carrying it back and forth all the time. I do have others but I don't like switching measuring with one tool then setting up to cut with another. I think these will be a good pair to use that way but time will tell. I'm also liking the idea of having two heads on one rule for a few things, something best done with like squares.

So stay tuned for results tomorrow.

reible

Newest sander arrived today:

I did manage to power it up and do a little sanding.

Yea, anything to make sanding a little more fun and less of a pain...........

reible

reible wrote This is actually the third or is the forth one of these that I have purchased. I got one for myself then one/two as a gift then just got another one today. What is it? It is the Johnson 12" inch/metric combo square. It is the same one that I have mentioned before and I'm still happy with how it is working out. We are talking a out lay of $10.91 at this time, plus tax and free prime shipping. No it is not a $100 version but the others have tested very well and I'm looking forward to getting this out in the shop tomorrow to check it's squareness. They are a little stiff when you start out but after some use they loosen up to a nice feel.

I've been working between the backyard and the front yard and having one square I was carrying it back and forth all the time. I do have others but I don't like switching measuring with one tool then setting up to cut with another. I think these will be a good pair to use that way but time will tell. I'm also liking the idea of having two heads on one rule for a few things, something best done with like squares.

combosq.jpg

So stay tuned for results tomorrow.

Ed

Again the square is square against my reference square so again I'm very impressed for the cost, I mean this is really pretty cheap!

Ed