I was debating whether to fess up to a “rookie” mistake. I was trimming a cabinet door, (Maple, rail & stile, raised panel)(I was rushing naturally), and had the door kick back. My fault, totally, still have all ten, but smashed the door when it impacted the wall behind me. I post this as a warning to others, and I do ask for some suggestions on how to properly trim cabinet doors. On the long cuts, I sent it through the jointer, but on the cross cuts, I’ve cut successfully on the table saw. (PM66 Beismeyer w/ Forrest blade) I set the fence and slowly feed through. This time, I used a piece of cherry as a backer to eliminate tearout on the end grain. The door made it through successfully, but the cherry twisted and the rest is history. Still a little shaken. Obviously, the cherry was a bad idea and rushing is always foolish. Suggestions? Thanks!
John
Replies
I'm going to try a rookie guess at this one: Use a cross-cut sled instead of the fence. It just "feels" wrong to me to take something of these dimensions and weight and run it along a fence with the short side registering against it. If you use a cross-cut sled, and hold the piece steady, it seems highly unlikely you'd have a problem.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Jamie's right. I doubt this would have happened using a sled. If you're going to use power tools you need the necessary jigs and fixtures.
John,
Quite a wake-up call huh? Now you see it, now you don't...be thankful that does not apply to your fingers.
I use a cut-off sled for trimming the tops and bottoms of doors. Essentially a 2 ft x 3 ft piece of 3/4 plywood with a runner for the miter slot on the bottom and a piece of hardwood on the leading or trailing edge at 90 degrees to the blade. No fence involved so no possibility of trapping the door for kickback to occur. I use one very similar to Norm's on NYW. If you put the runner on with excess 3/4 ply on the blade side, you can cut off the surplus to get a "zero clearance" effect for the panel on the sled. Then attach the 90 degree cleat. If that is not clear, let me know and I'll post a diagram.
Dr. Bill
Glad I didn't need your medical services. I have been a remodeling contractor for a number of years, and "in the feild" we use some comparativley crudes techniques for trim work that have followed me into the shop. In any event, I appretiate your input and must further cofess that I am aware of such a sled and just have not taken the time to make one.(Always in a rush) Dumb mistake. Customer not too happy. Your description is fine, but I do have one question, what do you make the runner from? Maple OK or should it be steel.? Thanks Again.
John
An old miter gauge runner would be ideal. I think they sell aluminum or steel runner stock now. Not sure. You could use maple, but I would use a more stable wood like mahogany or anything quartersawn. Something that's been sitting in your shop awhile would be even better, so it's somewhat acclimated. If you insist on doing it the way you were. Make your crosscuts first, and use your jointer to clean up the tearout on the stiles.John E. Nanasy
I made myself a crosscut sled from available wood and it worked fine.
I even clamped 'sacrificial' stock to the 'tail lip to ensure no 'tear out.
A week later, the damn thing would not workat all (Due to a damp basement and swelling of the guide bar. ) I deep-sixed it and now am making a new one from Fiber reinforced plastic and Phenolic material
I know either Woodcraft or Lee Valley sells a white plastic type bar for your mitre slot that you screw to the underside of your jig, plus if you need a little play one way or the other you just tighten or loosen the fastening screws as the material flexes with the screw.
Now if i only had the cash to get a nice Contractor or Cabinet saw to use it in :)
JD
I used MDF and made the cleat adjustable ....getting it exactly 90 degrees and holding it there can be a pain. The cleat is 30" long so I can clamp on a stop block for repetitive cuts...
I also have a long cleat that attaches to the miter gauge. This comes in handy for using the dado blades, etc.
Edited 5/15/2003 8:10:23 AM ET by BG
Even better, Lee Valley sells very low friction UHMW plastic already accurately sized to 3/8 x 3/4, a 24" length for $3.50, a 48" length for $6.25.
Other dealers sell 3/8 x 3/4 aluminum in various lengths and one or two even have them with screw width adjusters along the length for extreme accuracy buffs.
I have used both wood (QS oak) and aluminum and had godd results with both. I next intend to try the UHMW, which I think will outperform both the others.
--
Lee in Cave Junction, Oregon
Gateway to the Oregon Caves
Lee,
I'm not to crazy for the UHMW Plastic as a runner for a cross cut sled....the screws cause the plastic to spread requiring lots of minor adjustments...
I then dadoed the underside of the sled and glued the plastic on. It worked better and ran smoother but I saw no advantage over the hardwood runners....and I don't like cutting the stuff on the saw
Glad you still have all ten.
If you have a little to trim try using a low angle plane. Just clamp the door firmly. Makes a nice curl and that's always satisfying.
Otherwise I use a crosscut sled, like others have suggested.
Len
Three suggestions:
1. Use a splitter.
2. Use a splitter.
3. Use a splitter.
Green Gables: A Contemplative Companion to Fujino Township
I wish I could remember who said: "There are only two times when a woodworker hurries: right before the accident, and immediately after!"
I haven't had room in my borrowed workspace for a tablesaw for several months now, and have achieved great results using a marking knife, cutting close to the line with a bandsaw, and trimming to the line with a LN adjustable mouth low-angle block plane.
Since all of the force is directed downward when using a bandsaw, there's no chance of kickback - heck, it's even safe to use a bandsaw freehand. I also like the relative quiet of the bandsaw over my tablesaw. Of course, I'm limited to ripping pieces less than 20" wide, but there are always ways to work around these kinds of limitations.
Good luck with your projects,
Paul
You now have a wonderful excuse to add a sliding table to your saw. Any family disharmony over this subject can be rightly answered with"But it's a safety item, hon."
A sliding table. Now that's a thought. Recommendations?
John
I have a Unisaw, and put on the Delta slider. Not great, IMHO. I saw the Exactor at a WW show last Nov., and it looked much better. It is on the web. He had it mounted on a General 350, but I would guess it will fit the PM66. When you call, you might get the owner on the phone. He was at the show, and was a pleasure to speak with.
http://www.exaktor.com Have bought stuff from them before, and read lots of good reviews of their sliding tables. I'll look, there was a great discussion on sliding tables a few months back. What got me hooked on this site actually. I'll see if I can post a link. It had links to at least one site that compared different after-market sliding tables.
I use the Exactor 60" on a P66. It's a must if you cut alot of plywood like I do. It's not a fancy European sliding saw, but it is very accurate and repeatable.
A Crosscut sled is worth its weight in gold.
I once was ripping a piece of 10' base shoe through my saw and had a kick back. It left a perfectly shaped hole in my garage door, flew across the street (about 120') and hit the neighbors garage door. Made a loud sound and the neighbor came out to see what it was. You could barely see where it hit, but it did leave a mark of the exact profile of the molding.
On the "home-made" front, both Rockler and Woodcraft offer adjustable miter bars. Woodcraft's are made by Incra and are called Miter Sliders. If they're anything like my miter gauge, they're great.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
I use the "Dubby" miter as my sled, but shop around because there are better quality ones or DIY simple sled.
Expanded comments here.
http://forums.taunton.com/tp-knots/messages/?msg=12139.10
Enjoy, Roy
Since you were "trimming" a rail/stile cabinet door my guess is that you weren't removing very much. If I had to do that, I would use a plane, specifically a L-N Low Angle Jack. Clamp a block to the exit side of the cut or work from each end into the center, as to eliminate tear out.
Cheers
Kyle
The use of a miter slot sled is a fine idea but I find it is more of a rough procedure rather than a trimming step to a nearly completed door as you still have saw marks. I build raised-panel doors on a shaper and make them 1/16 larger on all 4 edges. After assembly I use a 1" straight knife on the shaper with a split fence which acts as a horizontal jointer so you are not attempting to balance a door vertically on a jointer table. This leaves a smooth straight and square edge that you can then rout your edge detail on. Start with an rail end so when the end grain chips slightly the next pass on the stile side will clean up your chipped edge or you can use a backup board as you push it through. If you are using a knife that shapes the full edge profile this step is not needed. Using this method leaves no chance for a kickback as you described.
I've always raised my tablesaw blade as high as it would go without exposing the blade stiffeners. I've never had a kickback, even though I don't use a splitter.
There was an article some time back in FWW (I think) about kickbacks where the writer (a teacher) simulated kickbacks with foam blocks. He showed that the main cause of kickback is trying to push the wood through too fast, which then causes the wood to climb up the blade until it hits a critical angle, and "back at you".
The trick, it seems to me, is to keep the wood firmly down on the table ( watch it when you're ripping that 12 ft. 1X8), and keep the blade up high. It is a little scary when your fingers are near it, but it is safer. The geometry is obvious when you think about it. First the teeth are striking the wood in a nearly vertical (downward) direction. Second, you have fewer teeth in the kerf, thus making the cut go quicker and lessening the chance of burning the wood.
I use a homebrew crosscut sled made with phenolic runners from Highland Hardware.
I've been reluctant to suggest this practice, though I use it myself. I have to agree with 'Enery's evaluation of the geometry, though it flies in the face of the usual advice.
Most true kickbacks occur when the wood gets ever so slightly sideways, whether by warping or faulty feeding, and catches the rising rear arc of the blade. The more blade in the kerf, and the fewer the teeth in the kerf, the straighter the wood path and the less chance of kickback.
If you're worried about the kerf warping closed, a simple shop made removeable wood splitter extending maybe 1/2" above the table should suffice, but a strong holddown, such as the "Board Buddies" sold by Grizzley/Shop Fox/Woodstock Intl, on a fence that locks front AND rear will keep the wood on the table.
When all is said and done, the best safety device we all have is the one between our ears. USE IT!
--
Lee in Cave Junction, Oregon
Gateway to the Oregon Caves
Lee,
You're correct, and I use the board buddies when I have a quantity of wood all the same thickness to rip.
I've seen directions for some table saws that recommend that the saw blade be set so that the gullet between teeth goes just above the top of the wood being ripped.
I never had a lot of luck setting mine that way, especially when I'm ripping southern yellow pine. It is good lumber, but sometimes it is not well-dried when I get it. I usually wait a week or so after bringing it into my shop before using it.
thanks for the reply
Henry
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