It’s show #522. On today’s show, we’re talking about sliding dovetails in thin stock, the best finish for a kitchen countertop, and a Contractor Table Saw vs Cabinet Saw
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What’s On the Bench
- Marc is working on his TV console and marveling at his complex joinery
- Matt is finishing up the slab flattener
- Shannon is making picture frames
News and Kickback
- Jimmy Diresta and company have a new show on Netflix called “Making Fun”
- Blue Spruce Toolworks releases a new sharpening honing guide
Emails and Voicemails
- Andrew has questions about using a router to cut sliding dovetails in really thin stock.
- Devin needs advice on choosing a finish for a wooden countertop.
- Justin is looking for advice on buying a contractor table saw vs cabinet saw.
Ask Us a Question
Send in questions via the contact form here on site or hit us up on IG at woodtalkshow or send us a voicemail using your phone voice memo app to woodtalkshow@gmail.com
Finally you can find us individually on Instagram at mattcremona, woodwhisperer, and renaissancewoodworker
2 replies on “522 – Does She Have a Sister?”
I already have Justin’s sister. My wife bought me my sawstop cabinet saw and talked me into my, on order, 16″ jointer/planer. You can’t beat a great wife.
Hey, (all) jobsite tablesaws aren’t (completely) terrible, and make entering the hobby easier for those who’re just getting into it.
My biggest complaint about my jobsite saw (the new version of the HF Hercules) is that, because the blade is centered in the middle of the table, there’s just not much room before the blade to register your piece when ripping. And the insides of the miter slots are a little wonky, but the outside edges of both slots are parallel; I can work with that. Now that I’ve dialed it in it works remarkably well, and the fence is dead on to thousandths of a mm over reasonably long rips – but the saw does have a rack and pinion fence, which makes cuts dead-on as set and repeatable. And there’s one advantage to a small saw that doesn’t have wings, which is a consideration to me as a relative newb: if you’re making a cut that seems somewhat hairy, you can step around to either side of the machine and make the cut, depending on the cut you’re making, and get out of the most likely cone of fire. (It’s also somewhat easier to make long rips when you can stand to one side and pull the infeed and outfeed stock against the fence to keep it against it.)
In any case, I think that a -decent- jobsite saw is a great entry point if price is a consideration and you take into account the caveats. Yeah, you’re gonna need to putz with it to dial it in, and it’ll probably have some ‘quirks’ you’ll need to work around. Yeah, you can get a cabinet saw for about the same price on craigslist, but like as not it doesn’t have things like a riving knife, and operating a table saw without a riving knife makes parts of my body want to crawl up into my stomach. (Yeah, I know, splitters can work … but still.) And if someone does decide to stick with it and upgrade to a better saw, well, you can flip a used-but-not-abused jobsite saw on CL for most of the price you paid for it. But if not having a table saw because you can’t afford it is keeping you out of the hobby, or if you just don’t have the room for a fill sized cabinet saw, well, jobsite saws are workable, if not ideal, and I’d rather see someone get started making sawdust than putting off getting into the hobby because they can’t justify the investment in a ‘good’ saw.
Anyway, great show, and thanks for your effort. Just don’t rag on entry-level tools -quite- so much; you -can- make great stuff with a cheaper saw, it’s just going to take more effort. But trading time and effort for money is something is a deal that a lot of people who don’t have a lot of money are used to making.
(And, for the record … yes, I’m going to ditch my jobsite saw — once I either find a good deal on a saw with modern safety features on CL, or save up, or a combination of both. But until then, it’ll do.)