Color Code Your Outlets To Eliminate Fuse Blowing Frustrations

For years Ive dealt with the frustration of running every power tool (& the lights) in my shop off of a single 15A outlet on a circuit shared with the hall in the house. This has meant that I faced constant mid-cut circuit popping. Because I do most work in the shop at night, Ive also had to learn to find my circuit breaker by feel when the lights go out.

My sorry old original 15A outlet.

Thankfully the new 110V electric for the shop has just been finished. There are now three (3) 20A circuits dedicated to the shop alone. This has meant fewer extension cords, much less unplugging & re-plugging, the ability to use multiple tools at once (table saw, shop vac, air filter & lights!) and most importantly - no blown fuses. I chose to install 20A circuits in the garage so that it would be near impossible to blow a fuse with a single tool. However, running multiple tools (such as my planer & dust collector) simultaneously on the same circuit could still exceed 20A. In order to avoid this, I used a two (2) step process.

First, I wired the shop so that the three (3) circuits were each equally distributed around the shop (or at least the wall I wired so far). While its not quite an A, B, C, A, B, C, A, B, C . . . pattern, it is close. From anywere on the wall at least two (and often all 3) circuits are easily reachable.

Outlets. So many outlets.

The second thing I did to avoid overloading any single circuit was to color code the outlet covers. I left one (1) circuit white and used the Rust-Oleum spray paint for plastic to paint the outlet cover plates for the second circuit blue and for the third, green. I dont expect the paint to look pristine for long, but as long as theres some trace of color, I should be OK. I had initially intended to buy outlets in multiple colors, but buying so many 20A outlets in non-standard colors proved prohibitively expensive. I think Ive managed to achieve the same effect for much less with spray paint.

White, Green & Blue. One color per circuit.

Because the outlets are all color coded, I can now easily avoid over using the same outlet. I simply plug the second tool into a different colored outlet.

Its now super easy to tell which circuit Im plugged into.

Ive not yet been able to build a full project with the new electric, though I have milled up a piece of 8/4 oak with no blown fuses. Running off my old, single 15A outlet, this would have been an exercise in frustration.

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Senin, 21 Maret 2016

A Simple Sharpening Guide

Some time ago, I purchased a roller ball, inserted in a cylinder and having a screw for fixing it into the wood. I tought to a sharpening guide like Record 161, and today, finally, I decided to realize it. Construction is easy and requires little time. Necessary:

Two hardwood pieces cm 12x4 ca., one piece cm 10x4 ca., 1 cm thick. Two M5 or M6  brass coutersunk bolts and their wing nuts and washers.Bore together, onto half line, one 12 cm piece and the 10 cm piece, so to have a 8 cm distance between the holes. Countersink holes in the 12 cm piece.

The bolts are blocked by gluing the third piece.  

When the glue is dry, the roller ball is screwed at center, under the guide. That is! This guide can hold skewed blade and, having only one point touching the surface, allows to sharpening cambered blades, like scrub plane blades.

For setting the wished angle it is useful to have a reference board, by which is possible to find the searched value simply laying the front of sharpening guide on the board edge.

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Jumat, 18 Maret 2016

BenchMark Miter Saw Station Review

The BenchMark table is much improved with the addition of the Miter Saw Station.

The setup Miter Saw Station on the BenchMark table.

After my initial review, BenchMark sent me their new Miter Saw Station and asked me to take a look at it. I’m embarrassed to say how long it’s taken me to open it up and put it through it’s paces, but as it’s finally become warm enough to open the table up and work in the drivechoice Ive managed to finally get the Miter Saw Station setup.

The setup took about 20 minutes. Half that time was spent looking at photos of the setup miter saw station online, since my pre-production model didnt have enclosed instructions. With instructions, it would probably have taken less than 10 minutes.

The Miter Saw Station components come packed in single box.

The Miter Saw Station consists of three (3) main components. The center section holds the miter saw and the two (2) outer arms hold the work supports (which are capped with rollers). The outer arms slide onto the center section and then the whole assembly locks onto the BenchMark table, fitting into the recesses in the tables cross pieces.

The stability provided to the Miter Saw Station by fitting into the recesses is surprising and impressive. Though I didnt need it, there is also a hook which locks the Miter Saw Station in and prevents it from possibly lifting.

The combination of nesting in the recesses and hooking on makes for very solid attachment.

The miter saw is attached to the Miter Saw Station by means of two (2) rails. The rails are first bolted to the saw. Slots in the rails allow for saws with varying spacing between their front and rear attachment points. The rails then bolt to the Miter Saw Station. This time slots in the saw station allow for saws with varying widths between the left and right attachment points.

Attaching my Bosch GCM12SD miter saw to the rails using the included bolts took some nimble finger worker to get the nuts on the bolds within the tight space of the rails. Attaching the rails to the saw station was a bit easier as there was more room beneath the station than beneath the rails.

These nuts are a bit hard to reach.

The outer arms are made of square tubing They slide over smaller square tubing which is attached to either side of the center section. The outer arms have feet with lock into the BenchMark table and prevent the Miter Saw Station from moving side to side.

The outer arms lock into the outer edge of the table.

The work supports slide in and out and up and down. This is done with square tubes which fit within each other. There are locked into position with clamping teeth that push in from two (2) faces. This pushed the inner tube into a corner of the outer tube preventing it from sliding in and out and from twisting. When tightened the clamping teeth hold very tightly.

By pushing the inner square tube into the corner of the outer square tube,
the clamps lock tightly.

When I was attached the miter saw to the Miter Saw Station I tried to keep the saw square to the saw station. This was difficult, as there was no good reference to use. I thought it was important to keep the saw as square as I could because there are rollers on the top of the work supports.

As with roller supports for a table saw, the roller supports on the BenchMark Miter Saw Station will pull the work piece into or achoice from the saw fence if they’re not installed perfectly perpendicular. This is one part of the Miter Saw Station I wish BenchMark had done differently. I think low friction plastic pads such as those on Ridgid’s outfeed supports would have been much better than the rollers, because the plastic pads don’t pull the work piece in any direction, regardless of how they’re aligned.

If not aligned properly, I fear these rollers could pull the work piece
in or out and mess up the cut.

Once assembled, the Miter Saw Station allowed for quick and easy use of the miter saw. It turned the BenchMark table into a very nice portable miter saw stand. If the BenchMark table is already setup, I can not assembly and attach the Miter Saw Station in about two (2) minutes.

The fully assembled Miter Saw Station.

When the Miter Saw Station is not assembled, I leave the center section attached to my miter saw. It raised the saw up a few inches, but the bottom of the center section is flat and stable. The bulky outer arms are a bit harder to store. For now they’re resting on my shop floor against the wall. Ultimately I’ll probably find a choice to hang them.If I were only looking for a miter saw stand, I think the BenchMark table / Miter Saw Station combination would be overkill. However, as an existing owner of the BenchMark table, the Miter Saw Station is a wonderful addition. It quickly and solidly attached to the table. It provide good support for the saw and for long workpieces. When I’m done it comes off just as easily as it went on, allowing me to keep using the BenchMark table as the awesome work surface that it is.

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Table Saw Blade Selection

I went to Lowes yesterday to pick up a small detail sander with a gift card from my wife.  While I was there I took a look at their table saw blades.  I didnt buy one because I wanted to do some research on what the different tooth counts were good for.  I checked my YouTube subscriptions this morning and lo and behold, there is a video from the WWGOA on just that topic.  I need to start thinking about how to win the lottery next....