Before I really dig into CNC, I have a couple of things I want to address in this, my premier effort. If you are working without a guard on your table saw, get one. There is no tool that is used more often in a shop than the table saw and an unguarded saw is an unnecessary danger to you and others. Also get a splitter with anti-kickback fingers. I use a Penn State Industries PSI Table Saw Dust Guard with a Biesemeyer 78-431 T-Square Anti-Kickback Snap-In Spreader on my very old Delta Unisaw. This is the same saw that cut off two fingers and severely damaged three others (if you consider a thumb a finger, as I do) from the left hand of one of my employees 20 some years ago. You see, I had been told that guards caused more accidents than they prevented. The day I picked those two fingers off the floor of my shop and put them into a cup of ice to take to the hospital, I realized that the person who had told me that was simply too lazy to take the guard off and replace it after making certain cuts. I felt like an idiot. Since that day, I have used a guard on my saw for every cut that can be made with a guard. When making dado cuts I often put on the one way Yellow Board Buddies. If I can’t work with the Board Buddies, I make a jig in the shop.
View of my shop
Now to my favorite tool in my shop. This one has taken quite some time to zero in on, as I love all my tools. Since this is a ShopBot column, it would be nice if I could honestly say that it is my favorite, but while it is really up there, almost at the top, it lost out to my Bosch jig saw. The Bosch has stood me in good stead for the entire time I have been woodworking. I still have the original one I bought way back when. It has been really beat up, but I still use it sometimes when I am in a nostalgic mood. Now that I think about it, both the jigsaw and I are a lot alike, beat up and old, but still working. My newer models (all three) look better, work harder, but our relationship is “employer to employee”. My original is like “an old trusted friend”.
My second favorite tool is my old hand plane. Does this sound familiar, two of my oldest tools are my favorites. I think the reason I like that old hand plane so much is because it makes me feel like a woodworker. It is a Stanley 12-960 Low Angle Plane. It has lost its mouth adjustment. Again, like me, it has lost a lot of its younger appeal, but the old guy keeps working. For those of you that don’t use a plane often, try pulling it towards you when making a cut. You can control the cut better and it is easier to keep it and yourself balanced.
My ShopBot
My next column and my first ShopBot file for you will be for a screw/misc. container that will hold 6 one pound coffee cans and have label holders and an overhead handle. The screw/misc. holder is to replace the two I made over 25 years ago. They were made in about 30 minutes and were to only last for one job, until I found time to make a new set. They have now served me well for over a quarter century, carrying probably more than 1,000 pounds of screws. Were it not for this column, I would more than likely never make a new pair. Despite that, I know that I will make two very nice new ones, but more than likely I will also still use my old well-worn friends.