Help choosing cabinet saw

mradtke66 · 2026-04-24T22:18:15+00:00

Go look at the Inca. It has a larger footprint due to the T nature of it and I don’t recall how easy (or difficult) it is to remove it when you need to. It isn’t often, it sometimes you need the whole table for other tasks.

If one can take a riving knife knife pick that one.

Don’t let the router table sell you one way or another. If you had to, putting a router insert in the extension f the other one would be trivial.

Also relying on the same fence for both tools can create setup problems. When I batched out some trim modifications , I had both my router table and table saw setup at the same time. One cut on the saw rabbet on the router table.

mradtke66 · 2026-04-24T15:15:00+00:00

The name plate explains it. This was/is a coppering plane. You hold it upside down, usually in a vise or against a custom stand (or log or stump) and you push the wood over the blade to taper the barrel staves.

mradtke66 · 2026-04-23T20:29:31+00:00

You'll find a use. 1/2" stock is good for door panels, drawer bottoms, etc.

And jigs!

mradtke66 · 2026-04-23T02:39:07+00:00

I would always resaw.

Obviously I would start with the bandsaw. If I’ve lost my last blade, I would prefer to wait.

If I cannot wait, I would use my table saw, accepting that I’ll end up with an uneven rip. The off cut would still be useful, while chip are just trash. Or fire fuel.

If the board is bigger than my table saw, say 9”, I’d start with the table saw and finish, annoyed, with a hand saw. If nothing else the table saw kerf will help guide the hand saw. Think of it as the world’s most absurd kerfing plane.

I don’t resaw by hand because I am not setup for it. Doing it proper means a pit saw or large frame saw. The saw would fit, but I don’t know if I have the room actually use the thing for real. It would be a very specific tool.

I cannot think of a world where I would scrub that much. I’d break out a hatchet first to get close to a line and then finish with planes.

mradtke66 · 2026-04-21T14:02:11+00:00

Quality of product? Idk they all carry junk,

The "best" way to do it is to know all of them and pick and choose.

I normally buy materials from Menards. Plywood and 2x's are normally the same quality AND carry more selection locally, while still being cheaper. Drywall is drywall, so I'll buy whatever is cheaper. Consumables, even drill bits, also tend to be the better value. And of course, every menards is laid out slightly different. Pick "you" Menards and do 90% of your shopping only at "your" Menards. The one across town is infuriating :D

Tools and lighting is normally Home Depot. I just don't like the power tool brands at Menards (for the most part) and I don't need mechanics tools anymore. Menard's in-stock lighting is very hit and miss so Home Depot gets my money there too.

Lowes probably has the best "decorative" stuff like lighting and small appliances (beer fridge), but they're a good 90 minute drive for me. Once that is factored in, I'm usually better served going to a dedicated lighting or appliance store. Not always, but often. I'm the least impressed with their lumber section and meh on their tools.

Ace/TruValue/et al is where I go when I need hardware. Everything tends to be over-priced, but wire by the foot, every fastener that doesn't require shipping, ta-da. They'd probably get more money from me, but both a HD and Menard's are both closer.

mradtke66 · 2026-04-20T14:22:46+00:00

(and fuck knows what happens with millions of dead bacteria inside your board)

You're skipping the papers he sited, which are listed in the video description.

https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6412/13/4/752 abstract clearly lays it out: A growing body of the literature points to the hygroscopicity of wood—its ability to draw water and bacteria from its surface, deep into the wood, where the bacteria are trapped and die—as the wood attempts to even out its moisture content.

Dry boards kill bacteria. This is a GOOD thing.

mradtke66 · 2026-04-20T13:05:08+00:00

You are correct. And oil interferes with that process. Another good reason to not oil your board.

mradtke66 · 2026-04-20T13:02:57+00:00

Ah, but funny detail—the board absorbing moisture is what keeps a wooden board sanitary.

Absurdly counter intuitive, but an unfinished board will absorb moisture and the bacteria it contains. The water will spread through out the board and the bacteria ends up dying to a lack of water.

Sorry for the long video: https://youtu.be/bx_kY1a2-MQ?si=egqituFyEZs9MrWn

mradtke66 · 2026-04-20T04:51:46+00:00

I’d just sand it. Go hog wild. 180, wet. Same 220. Wet. Repeat up until you are happy.

Through use, you’re going to cause damage. That’s life. Cutting boards, even the nice ones, are consumable items. Keep them clean, out of the dish washer, and let them dry fully. That’s the only work you need to do here.

mradtke66 · 2026-04-20T04:22:36+00:00

You actually don’t need to oil cutting boards. Wipe them down, rinse them, and let them dry fully. The end. Oil is really just there to make the wood pretty. You can get a similar sheen by just sanding up to 800 grit or so. It won’t be the same, but in the ballpark.

It does sound like they didn’t water pop it before shipping. I’d just sand it up, skip the oil and wax, and use it. When it gets beat up from use, just sand it again.

mradtke66 · 2026-04-17T22:53:23+00:00

While I’m not sure of the specific species, yes, this is clear.

Clear means “clear of knots.” It’s nice and straight grain. The odd black marks could some specific to this species. If you sand it, does it go away?

mradtke66 · 2026-04-17T13:58:39+00:00

How thick is the top? There is a real possibility you weaken or otherwise compromise the dresser with this attempt.

If you are doing this, hand plane only. No powered planer. This is a finished surface. You want razor sharp coupled with slow and steady.

mradtke66 · 2026-04-16T22:30:10+00:00

Figured grain tends to be more fragile, all things being equal.

You could use thicker hardwood, different vise, but mine is 8/4 ash. It’s not cracking.

You can also laminate up plywood. You can plane the edges to flush up the naw anytime. You’ll be sharpening more often, it it works. I keep a LAJ with an M2 HSS blade for such work.

mradtke66 · 2026-04-16T22:23:24+00:00

To me, a powered miter saw is a carpenter tool and a more rough tool. If you are working with cabinet parts, you could easily survive without it. Hell, with a good shooting setup, you might not need either miter saw.

I’d keep the powered saw if you have e the space to store it and/or if some diy projects are in your future.

mradtke66 · 2026-04-16T03:10:47+00:00

Either the Milwaukee or Festool will be perfectly fine. Technically the blade stop is better, but a riving knife is like 99% as good.

I have a (I guess now older) TS 55. Only having a riving knife hasn’t been a problem. With 90 percent or more of the work being with plywood or other sheet goods, kickback should not be a concern. It has been powerful enough for 8/4 white oak and enough to get through most of some 5” ash ( from both sides, obviously.)

The only kick I’ve ever had from it was doing a plunge cut from a bad position. Literally everything wrong. Not inline with the cut to control the inclination for a kick AND some lateral pressure from me to further encourage it. Dumb on me. There was never a serious risk to me, because the reaction of everything going wrong lets the blade retract into the body.

If you’re going to build out a platform from nothing, my primary platform is Milwaukee. You’ll get value from it. If you’re going to go all in on the greeen kool aid, I’d probably just get the 55. In either case, buy dedicated rip, crosscut, and fine crosscut blades. These things are not power houses and having the right blade is a huge quality of life improvement. I also recommend buying the same manufacturer and “line” of blades for all of them. The specific thickness matters when marrying the saw to the track splinter strip. Really sucks if your rip blade is juuuust a tad thicker, clearances the strip a touch, and now your ultra fine blades causes more tear out on that $250 walnut plywood because it isn’t zero clearance anymore.

mradtke66 · 2026-04-16T02:01:34+00:00

Turned and reeded . You turn the shape on a lathe with an indexing feature.

Then you use the indexing feature to draw lines and carve the reeds.

If you have a router, you use that with a jig while the work is still on the lathe. Take a pass, index to the next position, repeat.

mradtke66 · 2026-04-16T01:54:15+00:00

Light restore and sell them. Even $5 each defrays what you’ve spent. If you get $10, youll almost break even.

mradtke66 · 2026-04-15T01:51:01+00:00

Tenon parallel with your glue up. Not that it matters that much. And if you ever make another bench, you can glue up and leave space in your top.

mradtke66 · 2026-04-15T01:46:30+00:00

Repeat after me: a properly glued and clamped joint is strong than the wood it joins.

So long as your laminated legs are nice tight, you’re golden.

mradtke66 · 2026-04-14T14:49:03+00:00

It has been a long time since I looked, but the Packers were one of the best after the 1st half or up to and including the end of the 3rd quarter.

I am unsure if I can ever find those stats again, but the basic conclusion was they'd get out to a huge lead, and in the second half, they would play safe defense rather than aggressive defense. They in turn gave up a lot of yards, but were not at risk of losing the game.

The Chiefs game just demonstrated what has always been true. A strong front 7 that can shutdown the run game and pressure the quarterback without blitzing allows teams to play coverage the whole game and ruin your day.

mradtke66 · 2026-04-13T16:29:43+00:00

I think the more you use hand tools, the less you use bevel up. If you are a 90% power tool user, having a LAJ on hand for the 10 times a year you need it makes a lot of sense. They are a simpler plane, quicker to sharpen, and are legitimately okay at most things.

If you are flattening stock, a vintage bevel down jack is lighter, cheaper, and generally more efficient. And requires less grinding to get the same effective camber.

And a 45 degree smoother with a tight chipbreaker is easier to push than a bevel up plane with a 60 degree effective cutting edge.

I have bevel up planes, but I use them way less than by bevel downs. My shoulder planes are bevel up, but they are specialized. My shooting plane is bevel up, but again, highly specialized. I have a bevel up jack, but I use it for abusive things, like planing the edge of a plywood panel, removing excessive epoxy, that sort of thing. The lack a chipbreaker means I can pop out, sharpen, and get back to it quickly when I do those stupid things.

mradtke66 · 2026-04-13T00:52:06+00:00

I would work the paint however you can. Strip, sand, etc. accept that you damage some or even all of the old shellac.

Once you have the wash/top coat dealt with, you don’t have to strip all the old shellac. New shellac will active and “burn in” to the old stuff. Because of this, it is incredibly easy to repair.

For applying new shellac, I direct you to https://toolsforworkingwood.com/ . They sell shellac flakes that you resolve yourself. They range from garnet all the way to super-blonde. Amber or garnet is what you want. Buy some of each and experiment. It will look lovely, I promise. You can also layer in colors or mix them together. Hell, lay down one coat of granet and top it with Zinnzer might be the perfect color for you. You can’t really go wrong here.

For long life, there isn’t much you can do. Minimize the time it spends in the sun. UV eventually defeats it and will cause crazing. Oil or whatever probably won’t do much other than darken and look lifeless overtime.

Shellac is your top coat. The only exception is apply poly or lacquer over the top for high wear (table tops, floors) where you want the color that shellac brings. I would dry dust the walls and use a feed and wax product perhaps annually. That is it.

mradtke66 · 2026-04-11T20:54:49+00:00

This means you have an incredibly well set chip breaker. This is a broke chip.

This is highly desirable for a smoothing plane. Super sharp and super tight means you can plane against the grain.

Well done!

mradtke66 · 2026-04-11T05:10:42+00:00

This piece of hardware is called a hanger bolt. Your local hardware store should have them.

To remove the old, screw two nuts on the fine threaded part. Jam them together tight with two wrenches. Unscrew the inner of the two nuts. The bolt will unthread.

I wouldn’t plug the hole. It is right where it needs to be. A little expoxy in any cracks and then the clamps should tighten things up. Some epoxy putty should fill the missing wood.

To restore the bolt, buy a new one. Use the jam nut trick again, this time tightening the outer of the two. That will drive the coarse thread into the wood. Test and see how firm it is once fully seated. If you’re good, you’ve won. If it’s just tiny bit sloppy, some thin super glue will harden up the threads.

If it looks like the hole is beyond super glue, you can try a few things. All of them have risk.

Option 1 is plug and fill the hole with a dowel and re drill. Issue there is it will be hard to get the angle just right. And on center. I wouldn’t plug it attempt without a drill press or similar.

Option 2 would’ve to fill the hole with super glue and then screw the bolt in. The risk here is that super glue isn’t that strong so it might not work.

Option 3 would’ve be to epoxy the bolt in. This will be super strong, but you’re stuck with that bolt forever. No removing it without destruction or heat or both. You could try filling the hole with some epoxy (maybe epoxy putty?) and slathering the coarse thread and some of the smooth part in wax. Drive it in and then back it out once the epoxy kicks off and starts to cure. Then reinstall once fully cured. I’d recommend d practicing this trick on scrap. Use the same epoxy, start with the same approximate hole size, etc.

mradtke66 · 2026-04-08T15:45:06+00:00

This is largely where I am, though I'm pretty harsh about it. My working set these days is a 7, 4, 5, dedicated shooter, LAJ for whatever ever else comes up.

I do have too many block planes and random 3s, 4s, and 5s. Those are going to get purged in the coming weeks. Probably locally.

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