1) I get free tools. 2) You get free tools. 3) We're a bunch of big fat sellouts, so... 4) If someone gives me a free tool and it stinks, I won't write a review about it.
Dan Shapiro
CEO of Glowforge, creator of Robot Turtles, proud dad
My brother recently told me about an update to a curious safety story I've been following for a few years: the persistant people of SawStop, who invented a new safety feature for tablesaws.
If you want to learn more about safety, there's lots of excellent books and courses you can pay for. But why spend your own hard-earned dollars twice... your friendly federal government has spent the money already!
When you're adjusting your tablesaw fence, it's common practice to have it slant ever-so-slightly away from the sawblade. If you do this, don't move the fence to the opposite side of the blade!
My new table saw came with a Biesmeyer-style rip fence. Bies fences are only attached on one end; the far side doesn't clamp at all. I was having a little difficulty with it after setup until I figured out the problem.
I was messing around with some cocobolo this week. It's crazy stuff. When you finish sanding it, the red parts are suddenly yellow. And I don't mean "it gets slightly more yellow", I mean post-it note, bug-lamp yellow.
So I made some picture frames recently, and they had pretty mediocre corners. If you've tried to get a perfect 45 degree miter before, you know what a pain in the posterior this can be.
Sometimes you want to make something that can be chewed on, drooled over, or used as a serving implement. When that time comes, you want to steer clear of most commercial finishes.
I have to let go of the Green Machine, old faithful, the single instrument that is most responsible for me Not Severing Anything Yet.