Weekly Blog April 23rd

john · Post by **john** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 9:42 pm

FINALLY, the snow is gone and spring has sprung in Montreal.

Not much activity in the shop as it was too nice outside. I did get around to purchasing a small 1hp dust collector with a 2 micron filter bag, to replace my shop vac. Reducing the hose to 2 1/2" to fit the ports on my equipment also reduces the efficiency but in the long run I am sure it will be better and cleaner than the shop vac, I know it is quieter! As mentioned earlier, this will now leave some money for the strip sander I would like.

The good weather is good for my woodworking too as I will bring some of the portable stuff up from the basement to the garage and do as much planeing (?), routing, finishing, etc as I can in the open air. Too bad the 510 isn't portable.

Besides starting spring cleaning on the lawn, I took stock of how many pieces I had to replace on my garden swing this year. I thought I had them all counted until I sat down to enjoy a cup of coffe and heard the snap beneath my posterior. Like I said, "spring has sprung" along with a few other things.

Now I have to decide what summer WW projects I can get started on.

I hope your are all enjoying some good weather.

Have fun

John

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 11:56 pm

Spent the weekend at the Shopsmith Factory Sale. They invited me to show off a couple of the Wright gliders my students had built. Not my "old" students here at the Academy, but my "young" students from Russia Local Schools where I volunteer a day a week. These kids (13 and 14 years old) have participated in the construction of six Wright gliders and Flyers, and have built two complete aircraft all by their lonesome, including this one which we brought to the sale:

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The aviatrix on that 1902 Wright Glider replica is just 13 years old, and she flew about 400 feet her first time in the cockpit! The best that Orv and Will did in the same aircraft was 600 feet, so I'd say that's not too shabby.

While I wasn't bragging on the kids, I gave a few seminars. One of them was called "Gnat's Hairs: Working to .005" on the Shopsmith." Our new Wixey Angle Gauge arrived just in time for the seminar, and I thought I'd show you couple of the tricks you can do with it.

Let's say you want to be dead-to-nuts sure your miter gauge is set 90 degrees to the blade. First, be certain that the Mark V is properly aligned and adjusted, and the miter gauge slots in the table are parallel to the saw blade body.

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Clamp the bar of your miter gauge so its roughly vertical -- the actual angle to the horizon doesn't matter. Attach the angle gauge to the bar magnetically and "zero" it.

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Remove the gauge from the bar and rest it on the face of the miter gauge. Adjust the face until the gauge reads "90.0." Cool, huh?

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And you can take it a step further. Let's say your real goal was to cut 22-1/2 degree miters to make an octagonal frame. With the miter gauge face now precisely square to the bar, "zero" the angle gauge again. Then tilt the miter gauge face until the angle gauge reads "22.5." Cooler and cooler.

With all good wishes,

paulmcohen · Post by **paulmcohen** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 2:47 am

Nick wrote: Remove the gauge from the bar and rest it on the face of the miter gauge. Adjust the face until the gauge reads "90.0." Cool, huh?

Was I wrong to think most of the Shopsmith parts are not magnetic? What are you attaching to? I thought about getting the Wixey products but when I inquired they said they did not work with the Shopsmith.

Guess I may have to check again.

rkh2 · Post by **rkh2** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 10:32 am

I want to say a thanks to Nick for posting the pictures of the Wixey showing how easy it is to use it to check the miter gauge for whatever angle you are looking for. Also for those that haven’t been to the OLSC(OnLineShopClass.com), they use the Wixey to set up the SS table saw blade to the table in video 2 of 5 as well as the old way using a engineers square. I was considering purchasing one of these gauges, but now am convinced that I need one. I really can see how valuable of a tool they are for setting up for perfect degrees as well as the ease of use. Also looking forward to seeing the SS available for purchase in the Home Depot Stores, seeing that I am a part-time associate in the hardware dept where all the tools are set up. I am always plugging for the SS anyways and will be really thrilled to be able to sell them and can talk from many years of experience being an owner.

manvelar · Post by **manvelar** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 11:50 am

I suspect he is using gravity in the second picture (where the Wixey is reading 90 degrees). I use it to make sure the blade is 90 degrees to the table - the blade is steel so I zero it on the blade then use gravity to set the Wixey on the table and adjust it to 90 degrees.

And if that doesn't work, you can always use duct tape - duct tape fixes EVERYTHING!

john · Post by **john** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 4:44 pm

Nick:

I am always amazed at those pictures of the gliders, and to think that they are made by such young people is doubly amazing!

Thanks also for the tips on the Wixley. I don't have one but like many others hope to get one soon.

John

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 6:23 pm

No, you are correct when you say most of the Shopsmith is not magnetic, at least not the parts that you are most likely going to want to attach the Wixey to but that is not a problem.

I use the Wixey and find it satisfactory for doing what it is advertised to do. When setting a tilted table, the Wixey might be "inclined" to slide some but just prevent that. It reads the correct angle (with respect to the blade).

However, when I brought my Wixey home, the first thing I did was check alignments (without doing any adjustments). The greatest deviation found was .2 degrees; that was the miter gauge with respect to the miter bar.

The table (with respect to the blade) was sort of a surprise. As I moved the Wixey around to different locations on the table top, I got readings of 0.0, 0.1, and 0.2. I interpret this to mean that I have high spots and low spots on my table top.

Incidently, this can be verified with a good straight edge and a set of feeler gauges. My table varies as much as .003" (is not perfectly flat) but I don't witness any adverse effect on my projects. Maybe I'm just not as precise as some are. "Close Enough for Government Work".

Final Conclusion: My original alignments, eye balled using a square and a level, were good. The Wixey confirmed it. For $40, I am satisfied. Will I become more dependent on the Wixey than on the square? Probably not for 90 degree relationships. For angles in between, maybe, just.... maybe.

rdubbs · Post by **rdubbs** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 7:56 am

Sure, the main table and the band saw table are aluminum, but the blades are steel. Typically the Wixey zeros on the table and then attaches to the blade to set the angle. Just use it in the reverse for the table saw and the band saw.

But don't stop there. You can follow the same process in drill press mode (horiz or vert) by setting zero on a drill bit and then setting the table angle. The Wixey will help you set your table to 4 degrees to use the conical sanding disk as well. You can use it in it's "intended" fashion to set the fence on the jouinter, and to set the table on the belt sander.