Revelations on Table Saw Set-up and Safety
By Hendrik Varju
5 DVD set, 9 hours 55 minutes.
Can$94.95. www.passionforwood.com

Like each DVD in this set, let me start this review with a warning and a disclaimer: If you are the kind of person who starts using a new tool as soon as they get it and only consults the manual after something has gone horribly wrong, this DVD set is not for you.  You will get bored well before the end of the first disc and nothing short of being confined to a chair with a broken leg will make you sit through the nearly 10 hours of instruction.

If, however, you read the fine print before you sign anything; you study the whole manual before assembling a tool let alone using it, and if you more than a little nervous about using the tablesaw, this DVD set is for you. Varju starts with setting up the saw, covering subjects such as blade parallelism, fence alignment and splitter placement. He then goes on to other safety features such as featherboards and inserts. We then learn about the basics of ripping and crosscutting, including how to safely handle wide or narrow stock.

How to safely make beveled rip cuts on a right-tilt saw is shown in great detail, as is how to cut dadoes and rabbets. Lastly, Varju shows you how to make a dead-on accurate crosscut sled and concludes with some general thoughts on woodworking. The $95 (Canadian) price may seem a bit steep (it currently equates to about $80 U.S.), but Varju’s DVDs match their claim of being “Private Woodworking Instruction in a Box”.

The only thing that makes me hesitate to praise this DVD is that Varju may ask me to review his next production. Based on his first DVD, “Jointer and Planer Secrets” lasting 4 hrs 38 mins, and this DVD set lasting nearly 10 hrs, at this rate of growth the next epic will last over 21 hrs. Broken leg anyone?

Mark Schofield is the managing editor