Shopsmith Forums

I was watching several U-Tube videos today about converting regular fluorescent lights to LEDs. There must be a hundred options... I have chosen "Ballast Bypass" bulbs but even there options abound.
What was funny was that many videos were made by woodworkers and I watched about 6 of them. In over half of them the subject was using his tablesaw as a bench to work on the light conversions. Flat spots can be a premium at times. More funny, was one fellow with an enviable woodshop who was using his saw table as a bench but did a 360 degree pan around the shop and I saw 3 benches with clear tops...
Note that I am guilty of using my saw table for glue-ups once in a while. I keep a roll of that old style "red rosin paper" in the shop to put under such working to keep glue or finish off of things.

robinson46176 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 15, 2020 8:52 pm I was watching several U-Tube videos today about converting regular fluorescent lights to LEDs. There must be a hundred options... I have chosen "Ballast Bypass" bulbs but even there options abound.
What was funny was that many videos were made by woodworkers and I watched about 6 of them. In over half of them the subject was using his tablesaw as a bench to work on the light conversions. Flat spots can be a premium at times. More funny, was one fellow with an enviable woodshop who was using his saw table as a bench but did a 360 degree pan around the shop and I saw 3 benches with clear tops...
Note that I am guilty of using my saw table for glue-ups once in a while. I keep a roll of that old style "red rosin paper" in the shop to put under such working to keep glue or finish off of things.

A sheet of 1/2" thick Homasote works great too.

Isn't that why they're called a table saw? Because you can use one as a table?

I have a workbench, it is covered with stuff, so doing work on it always requires some tidying.

Thus my saw table (10ER) often gets pressed into service for doing things on, because it is kept fairly clear, so as to enable it's use for sawing, disk sanding etc. It also gets used as a photo booth, (just add a sheet of poster board and cardboard presentation board, both from the dollar store) as it has the best light and is at a good height.

I have a piece of melmaline about 24' x 30' that Iuse on top ofthe table saw table when I want extra room for glue ups, assembly, and sometimes painting smaller projects. Works well and the melmaline is fairly easy to clean. I often use the extention table for additional support.

John

I'm building 3 tables so I ca get off my table saw !

bainin wrote: ↑Mon Nov 16, 2020 6:58 pm I'm building 3 tables so I ca get off my table saw !

Time will tell how long THAT lasts!

My main table saw (Ridgid TS-3650 with wings) Is this minute sitting there in its carefully chosen home has so much stuff sitting on it that if I had a bottle of water in my hand I might have to turn around a couple of times to find a place to sit it down. That is actually a bad example because I would never sit a bottle of water on my saw table but you get the idea.
The table is loaded with mostly tools acquired at yard/garage sales and one auction this summer/fall. Things start out getting carried in the house from what ever vehicle we were in and usually sat on the kitchen table. Then they migrate to the inside basement stairway which has a landing and ledge where we can safely sit things headed for the shop until one of us makes a trip downstairs. From there they move to the shop and since few of them have a home they end up on the saw table.
Most of my summer woodworking is more carpentry stuff and tends to be done out of a van or pickup. The woodshop fares better during the winter months when I am in the shop often feeding the big wood burning furnace. Sometime you need to chuck some wood in and wait with it a few minutes depending on the condition of the wood etc. to fine tune air intake and I enjoy spending those times doing simple things like putting things away and sweeping up. Some of my best times are about 2 or 3 AM if I happen to be awake. Guinness the dog often doesn't respect our schedule so he will wake one (or both) of us up about that time wanting a bathroom break so I'm often up about then. He often wants to spend some time finding just the right spot. He seems to take the chore very seriously.