Shopsmith Forums

Evening all!

My dad's just retired this week from 33 years on the Police Department - so it's been my looming deadline for a few months now lol. I saw an opportunity to try and tackle a new challenge and try my hand at something new...
It's a 32" wide Maple + Padauk combination with a painted star field. I planed the boards down, and jointed/ripped the sticks down on the shopsmith. Had a heck of a time with my first saw blade, I had to go and buy a new diablo to get the 8/4 pieces down. Glued it up, carved it with an angle grinder chain-saw attachment, and sanded sanded sanded.

Overall I'm pretty happy with it, learned a lot to be sure! Example: if your respirator drips condensation onto your maple/padauk dust mixture... that lovely maple will slurp up that beautiful red pigment.

that is fantastic- how big is it? Hard to tell by the picture

Pure art there !

stew wrote:that is fantastic- how big is it? Hard to tell by the picture

But the dimensions are in the text just below the picture.

farmerwd wrote:Had a heck of a time with my first saw blade, I had to go and buy a new diablo to get the 8/4 pieces down.

Flag looks great. Make sure your belts are properly tensioned and that you have a clean & sharp blade. I have done a fair bit of 8/4 cherry on my Mark V and it was easy, but if the blade is dirty and gummed up, it will cut like a dull blade and struggle to make it through 8/4. FYI...Rockler has a nice blade cleaning kit with a round plastic container and blade cleaning solution that works really well.

Very artistic! That is the kind of work I never attempt. I can cut a straight line, but when it comes to art, I get left in the dark.

Thanks all!

And no sweat@stew - I followed flag code for my dimensions off of a 32" wide flag - which roughly lent it to being 17" tall.

And @RFGuy Definitely true -My belt is fraying a bit which I need to get around to fixing for sure - I had an assortment of blades that I think are just dulled out. I've cleaned all the pitch I can, I think it's just time to sharpen it. Has anyone every tried https://familyhardware.com/mail-in-blade-sharpening/? I've been considering giving them a go.

I'm sure your father will be proud to display your wonderful gift.

farmerwd wrote:Thanks all!

And no sweat@stew - I followed flag code for my dimensions off of a 32" wide flag - which roughly lent it to being 17" tall.

And @RFGuy Definitely true -My belt is fraying a bit which I need to get around to fixing for sure - I had an assortment of blades that I think are just dulled out. I've cleaned all the pitch I can, I think it's just time to sharpen it. Has anyone every tried https://familyhardware.com/mail-in-blade-sharpening/? I've been considering giving them a go.

If you haven't tried cleaning them yet, definitely give it a try. I have a Forrest Woodworker II blade that I had used for awhile. It looked pretty clean, but felt dull to my fingers and was burning a board that I was cutting. I was about ready to have a local guy sharpen it...However, after cleaning the blade, the cutters are now very sharp to the touch and it cuts like a hot knife through butter again. So, I still haven't sharpened it yet. I can only speak for myself, but I definitely put off cleaning too long and will make it a more regular practice going forward. Not saying you didn't need a new blade, because you might have. Just don't forget to routinely clean your sawblades because it can make a significant difference (IMHO).

This is a sawblade sharpening guy that is local to me here. I saw someone else comment on him on this forum in the past. I believe he is very reasonable on pricing. There are lots of sharpening places all around. You might want to check craigslist, etc. and see if you can find a local place to drop it off at. It helps to save the shipping back and forth on sawblade sharpening.
http://scottssharpening.com/

Beautiful and artistic!

Something I would never have the confidence to atempt.

Congratulations on a fine piece.

John