My shop is in a part of my basement that is a bit of a walkway to the washer & dryer. It houses the circuit breaker panel directly over my workbench. The telephone and cable TV drops are right next to the electrical panel. Plus, it is situated directly under my kitchen. So you can imagine the rat’s nest of plumbing and wires that go through my space.

Due to a plumbing job, my space has been taken over by the detritus of copper pipes and solder that represents my attempt to fix a leaky spigot whose outlet is also directly over my workbench. Come to think of it, that seems like abysmally poor planning on the part of my home’s builders.

Anyway, I’m not really good as sweating solder joints for plumbing, but I’m good enough at it that I refuse to call a plumber for something as simple as a spigot replacement. But I’m bad enough at it that I take two full days to accomplish what a plumber could do in two hours, even if said plumber took a leisurely coffee break in the middle of the job.

So I haven’t done any woodworking in quite some time. But I do have some projects on tap:

• New table saw base with better dust containment
• Make a wing of the table saw into my router table
• Build a new rolling storage cabinet for some of my larger power tools, and a rolling base to set them on when I use them

Yeah, it’s all shop projects. But they’re things I’ve needed to get to for quite some time, based on experience and observation during past projects.

I’m hoping that once the month of May is past, I’ll get to these. May is loaded with events in my family, including my birthday, my son’s birthday, Mothers Day, and my father’s birthday. We spend most of May either driving across town, or hosting events for which others drive to us.

In the meantime, I have a few blog posts stored up that I’ll share soon.

Part of the reason that I needed a deadline of January 5th was that the month of January is a tough one for me. Following on Christmas and New Year’s Day, I have the birthday of my triplets, which is a week-long challenge to schedule parties and visits. Then is my mother in law’s birthday, then my mother’s, and finally my wife’s at the end of the month.

So I haven’t done any work in the shop since my last post here. It may be February before I make any more progress, but hope springs eternal. I do have a 4-day weekend coming up this week, so I’m hoping for the best. And February brings a new fiscal year at work, which means a new raft of vacation days that I may use for more frequent 4-day weekends this year. Still have to talk that idea over with SWMBO (she who must be obeyed). Just kidding, I couldn’t ask for a cooler spouse. And I might get into trouble if I did. Kidding, again!

So I’m hoping for something interesting to talk about later this week, but I’m not holding my breath just yet.

I suspect the problem is related to two things about my fence.  First, the fence is relatively narrow, about 1 1/2″ wide, made of aluminum.  Second, it hooks in both the front and the back of the table saw.  Lets take these characteristics one at a time.

The first problem is the narrow width.  Now, I haven’t noticed it flex while I push a workpiece against it, so despite its narrow width and aluminum construction, it seems solid enough.

The trouble is that it hooks on a back rail as well as the normal front rail.  I believe this design was necessary because of the fence’s relatively insubstantial design - it wasn’t strong enough to be rock solid hooking only to a front rail like the Biesemeyer fences do.

These two features combine to make a fence that is particularly hard to count on.  Because it hooks on both the back and front rails, it is easy to get the fence canted either away from the blade, producing sloppy cuts, or toward the blade, producing a situation ripe for kickback - and serious injury.

On every single cut I perform, when I set the fence distance from the blade, I am careful to take precise measurements not only from the blade (to set the width of the cut), but also I measure the distance from the miter slot at the front of the table and at the back, and make sure they are identical.  If not, I tweak the fence position until it is correct.  I never skip this step!

Since the fence is so temperamental, this is a large reason why I think the splitter is so critical.  The splitter, when properly aligned, will help you avoid the kickback situations if the fence is set wrong, and the anti-kickback pawls on it will also grab the wood if the blade does want to kick it back, and will keep you safe in most situations.

So, needless to say, I would really like to replace this fence with a Biesemeyer or similar fence, that is substantial enough to stand on its own, and that I can trust to be rock solid once I set the distance from the blade.  The time I’ll save will be wonderful.

One last note about this.  Because the fence is so bad, I never use the measuring tape that is attached to the fence’s front rail.  In fact, I ultimately ended up moving the rails and the fence to the right by 6″, so that I could turn the space to the right of the blade from 24″ to 30″.  So the ruler is irrelevant anyway, even if I could trust it.

Next: A zero-clearance insert dilemma.

That’s not what I wanted to tell you about.  I want to tell you about the saw’s splitter, which I use religiously.  For about the last two months, anyway.

When I bought the saw, I had a little experience on a bench-top saw, and quickly found its limitations for the kind of woodworking I had wanted to do.  So, being a devout follower of Norm Abram, I bought a new contractor style table saw from Sears (money is always an object), and never took the splitter and blade guard out of their plastic bags.  I put them in a drawer and promptly forgot about them, and began using the saw Norm-style, sans protection.

I can already imagine the fright half of you feel at reading that, as well as the chorus of “me too” from the other half of you.  Well, as much due to luck as care, I have never had a table saw accident of any kind.  No severed fingers, no serious kickbacks, nothing.  Not that I didn’t deserve it, because I did some crazy things from a safety perspective.

It was the table saw class with Frank Klausz a couple of months ago, as well as episodes of Matt’s Basement Workshop podcast where Matt Vanderlist conversed with guest Hendrik Varju regarding table saw setup, use and safety, that finally converted me.  I searched my shop, and miraculously found the splitter, blade guard, and mounting hardware all hidden in my shop.  This is amazing to me, because I am really good at not being a pack rat, and I throw stuff away all the time.  Also, I have moved twice since purchasing this table saw, and I really cannot believe that I didn’t misplace anything!

I mounted the splitter, and verified it was parallel to the blade, and began to use it for the first time in nine years!

Table saw splitter and blade guard

Its features include the blade guard, which swings up and out of the way for blade setup; a splitter (not a riving knife, even though that’s what the saw’s owner’s manual calls it) that tilts with the blade’s tilt; and anti-kickback pawls on both sides of the splitter.

I have found the usage of the blade guard and splitter to be far less irritating than I expected, once the apparatus is installed on the saw and properly set up with the blade.  Of course, it isn’t usable with my crosscut sled, and can’t be used while my dado set is installed.  But for all rip cuts, it is in place and has not proven to be a problem.  Quite the opposite, in fact.  I find the leading edge of the blade guard to be a welcome reminder of the position of the spinning blade, and it makes it easier to keep my fingers away from it.  Now, I’ve always been scrupulously careful about my fingers while using the saw, but really, isn’t that what we all say right up until the first time we have an accident?

This apparatus does indeed have a down-side, though.  While it’s easy to use once installed, it is the installation and uninstallation that is the biggest problem.

Splitter attachment to the table saw

In the photo, you can see that the splitter is attached to the saw via three thumbscrews that are tightened and loosened with a supplied allen wrench.  There is no quick attach/detach mechanism.  Each time the splitter is to be installed, these three screws must be installed.  The two on the back support aren’t too bad, but the one under the blade insert (seen in the photo to the right near the blade) is almost impossible to get to, and is the crucial one for setting the splitter’s leading edge directly behind the blade.  The other two are manageable. Uninstalling the splitter requires using the allen wrench to completely remove all three screws.

With practice, I have managed to get the installation and setup time to less than ten minutes, though I must say, I’m not racing to get it done quickly.  I tweak it until it is right, regardless of how long it takes.  Removal is a matter of two minutes or so.

So what did Frank and Hendrik say that convinced me to dig out the splitter and use it?  Well, they discussed in great detail the importance of the splitter or riving knife in preventing kickback.  Honestly, though I may have heard it mentioned before, I never realized with any clarity that the splitter played such an important role.  But when properly aligned with the blade, it keeps the rip cut firmly against the rip fence, making kickback much less likely.

Though I had never experienced kickback myself, I had come close a few times.  My saw’s motor is no more than 1hp, and so when the workpiece binds against the blade, most often it just stops the blade.  Like I said earlier… I’ve been lucky.

So add my voice to those advocating the splitter.  I haven’t had to lose a finger, or suffer a kickback punch to the gut, to come to that realization.  But my experience with this saw, combined with the words of these woodworking masters, made their impression on me.

I mentioned in my previous post about this project that I am using an existing stock of poplar plywood.

My stock of birch plywood

However, I remembered today that this wood is actually birch plywood.  I had purchased this wood about 4-5 years ago in a quantity large enough to build a set of bookshelves in the den of our previous house.  Luckily I had no time to start this project due to the birth of the triplets in 2004.  When we moved in 2005, the wood moved with us, and has been parked in my workshop ever since.  I used a large quantity of it for the beds I built for the kids this year, and since there is much remaining, the coat center will also be primarily made of this wood.

So, the cuts are mostly made, and I have begun cutting the dadoes and rabbets I’ll need to fit the top and bottom to the sides, as well as to fit the dividers and center shelf in place.  That process has not been completed, and there is much left to do.

Also mentioned previously was my intention to fit the coat hook board to the shelf box using a sliding dovetail.  Once I saw the bottom piece, though, I changed my mind.  Instead I will use pocket screws, since they need not be seen by anyone as they’ll be in the back of the board against the wall.  I know not everyone cares for pocket screws, but I think this is a place that calls for their strength.  Flame on if you have an opinion.

I am unlikely to have any shop time until the new year (Saturday) since I’m back in the office on Monday, and New Year’s Day will likely be spent at my parents’ house across town for a much delayed Christmas.

Until then, I have a few other things to post that may be of interest.  Enjoy!

The problem: My kids are too short to hang their coats up on the hanger bar in the coat closet.  Plus, they are unable to keep track of such items as library books.

The first solution: Put a set of coat hooks behind the front door at a height the kids can reach.  This has been an improvement, with the kids finally able to take responsibility for their coats, hats and gloves.  But it needs more…

The final solution: A set of shelves and cubbies for their hats and gloves, and also larger cubbies for library books.  Books have been hard to keep track of, since the kids have many of their own, and also visit the library on a regular basis.  Lately, the library books have become mixed in with their own, and this has been a problem.

The design: It’s a simple bos with some dadoes to fit the shelves, back and dividers into.  I’m not sure yet, but I think the goal with this project, as with many of my recent projects, will be to use up some of the large amount of poplar plywood stock I have had around for years.

The shelf area of the coat center

I will face frame it with some solid wood, and paint the whole thing white to match the foyer.  The board with the coat hooks will be attached to the bottom using a dovetail groove.  I’ll have to practice this on some scrap.  Finally, this will be hung on the wall using a french cleat.  I chose this method in order to achieve the most flexibility as the kids grow, because I imagine I’ll want to raise this unit higher as they grow taller.

I have attached a Google Sketchup (free 3-D modeling tool download) file that is coat-center Sketchup drawing for this project.  If you download it and take a close look, you’ll see that this exposes my inexperience with the tool.  I find it difficult to use, to the point of wanting to abandon it for pencil and paper.  But, I see its potential, and will give it more time.  Also note that I have yet to show the attached coat hooks at the bottom.  I’ll update that later and post it here.

The width was chosen to precisely fit the width of the foyer wall behind my front door, and the number of cubbies directly relates to the number of kids I have.  Your mileage may vary.  If so, you can edit the Sketchup drawing all you want.

I actually have a deadline on this.  My wife has asked that this be complete by the time the kids go back to school the week of January 5th, 2009.  so, the bad news is I have pressure.  The good news is I should have plenty of shop time to get this done.

Updates to follow!

Frank Klausz and his tenoning jig

Sorry if the picture is a bit blurry, but it was not the brightest classroom, and the picture was taken with my cell phone.

One humorous, but serious, anecdote to share. Frank made sure he told us how serious it was that we lock down our rip fences, since failing to do so can, and usually will, result in kickback. This of course would cause serious injury if you happened to be standing anywhere behind the workpiece. Frank told us that the first thing he does before cutting his workpiece is to push against the fence in order to ensure that it is properly locked down.

So as Frank demonstrated his tenoning jig above, I noticed, from my front-row seat, that his tenon came out a bit less than straight. It turned out that he had forgotten to lock down his rip fence. He said, “Don’t tell my Grandpa!” We all had a good laugh, but I couldn’t help but think how close we came to seeing Frank Klausz get injured by kickback with his own table saw jig.

It’s a class I won’t soon forget, especially when I’m about to turn on my table saw.

I am also getting ready to enable blog updating via email so I can accomplish this from my workplace on my lunch hour.

For some reason, I can’t access my own site from my workplace. I think there is a DNS issue at my office. But, how does one ask about access to one’s personal blog site and not have it look like you’re trying to waste time at work? So I let it be.

More to come, I hope!

Sorry about that.  It became easy to forget about this nascent effort once school began for the kids, and then the inevitable illnesses came.  And they only spared my wife, but that’s OK.  Couple all of that with some tight deadlines at work, and here we are 63 days later!

So, I’m not giving up on this, and I hope to find my rhythm again on this.

I’m a longtime user of Microsoft Outlook, since I’m well accustomed to it after years of use with various employers. It is relatively easy to use, not too badly organized, and has a few nice features. I had settled on Outlook 2000, since it is a license I own from way back. Having to spend around $80 to $100 to get a newer version was never very enticing - the 2000 version did what I needed it to do.

The trouble was that I found it to be increasingly crashy. After much trouble for both myself and my wife, it occurred to me that I hadn’t patched it (or any of the other Office components we use) since installing them. Not cool - as a software developer, I know better than that.

So, I patched Outlook and Office up to current levels. It’s great that we now have software where all the known problems and vulnerabilities have been fixed. But I was still experiencing crashes. Many more than previously, even though my wife was having better luck than ever.

It was clear that I had to change something. My choices included using a different client software, or use a web-based solution.

I had previously tried the ubiquitous Squirrel Mail as well as Horde without being very excited about them. These both have been available on every web hosting plan I’ve had for years. Neither one was particularly responsive, and I found them a bit clumsy to use. Plus, I had to login separately for each email account I have, and I have a few.

I don’t use the free email addresses that come from my ISP, but when I did, I never liked those web-based email interfaces much either. They were always slow and clunky, and once again, I had to login to those separately for each account.

I had also tried Thunderbird, but don’t recall being convinced that I should abandon Outlook for it. Plus, my wife didn’t need to be dragged through another email client experience where the default client changed. We had used Eudora long ago, and the transition to Outlook wasn’t always easy. So I didn’t wish to make my wife the victim of my experiment anymore.

Another difficulty is that I like to be able to check my email from work, but for some reason they have blocked the ports that Horde and Squirrel Mail operate on. For reasons less nebulous, they have blocked the SMTP and POP3 ports as well. So standard clients would not help me at work.

I had been using a web-based service known as Goowy to act as my email client at work. But it is a Flash based system, and was slow and clunky to use. It was effective, but hardly compelling enough to make me abandon Outlook at home.

Finally I heard about the Gmail site. Now I’ve had a Gmail account for quite some time - I grabbed one back when they were invitation only, and now use it as my login to my iGoogle page where I keep my RSS feeds. But I had never used it for email.

Then I heard (wish I could remember where) that Gmail allows you to configure it to read your POP3 email accounts into the Gmail interface. So I took a look, and was impressed with how responsive it is. It’s relative intuitive, and with 8GB of space, I can keep as much email archived there as I like. I can customize the display of email from my various accounts so they show up with different colored tags. Finally, their spam filter is top-notch. I haven’t seen a single spam message in my inbox since I began using it. It did catch one email from a legitimate sender as spam, but it was simple to mark it as “not spam” and move on.

I do wish the archived email storage allowed you to create folders to store emails by categories, or at least allowed you to tag emails with keywords for easy retrieval. But in spite of this shortfall, the search function works fine, and I don’t think I’ll lose track of any emails.

The bottom line is that I don’t miss Outlook. I don’t miss the crashes. I don’t miss worrying about backing up my Outlook .PST files, or about corrupting them. And I don’t miss being tied to a single machine for my email access. I can access my email - all of my email - from any internet connected computer I want.

I don’t think I’ll be going back.