New shop pieces being built. Questions


bushwacked

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Thats up to you. Keep an air hose next to the saw when working with prefinished. There will be some cuts when you are forced to cut finished side down, put painters tape ski's on the piece and blow off the saw top. You also have to keep in mind the prefinished is designed to go inside dark cabinets so a little scuff will never be seen. 

 

I go through a bunch of painter's tape. Here's a tip, I buy it at "The Re-Store", for like a buck a roll.

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If I went to the 120 I'd have to move my stuff around to accommodate the extra length, or GOD FORBID, break down the sheets ahead of time. - BLASPHEMY!

 

For what its worth, almost every time I buy sheet goods I have the stores do a few cuts for me ahead of time.  The one exception was my router table build as I had a lot of odd cuts to make, so I brought home 2 full sheets, and I broke them down on the driveway.  

 

That said, neither of our vehicles will hold a full sheet of ply, so that is part of the equation, as well as storage.  While I have plenty of room for hardwood, I have very little room for sheet goods, so space is an issue.  I tend to only buy sheet goods when I absolutely need too.

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Hey Chet - Do you have an in-feed table for your cabinet saw for those large sheets?  I struggle with the before the blade support.

 

You don't need an infeed table. Set one end of the sheet on your saw. Stand at the left rear of the sheet. Push just the corner of the sheet against the fence don't try to get the sheet against the fence keep it off slightly with just the corner touching. Push it up to just touch the blade as it hits the blade swing the sheet against the fence pushing the sheet though only by the left rear corner. To much man handling is where most go wrong. Its more of a one handed operation your left hand is just a light helper.

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Damned, PB, you nailed it.

I'd also add one more thing. I have my table saw set about 92" from a work bench that's exactly the same height as my table saw. There's a space for me to the lower left of the table saw. That way I can set the full sized sheet on both the table saw and this bench. I position myself at the lower left of the sheet just as PB recommends above. It works great.

In addition, I have a "rail" that I can stick out to the left of my saw to support sheets that I need to cut horizontally. Either way, I use pretty much the same method as PB describes The "rail" or the bench are just helping hands to get my sheet positioned. Then a good outfeed table is all you need from there.

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You don't need an infeed table. Set one end of the sheet on your saw. Stand at the left rear of the sheet. Push just the corner of the sheet against the fence don't try to get the sheet against the fence keep it off slightly with just the corner touching. Push it up to just touch the blade as it hits the blade swing the sheet against the fence pushing the sheet though only by the left rear corner. To much man handling is where most go wrong. Its more of a one handed operation your left hand is just a light helper.

Thanks for the help on that. Always wondered if i was doing it right. Kinda but not really it appears haha

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Thanks Particle Board - this helps. That definitely sounds like one of those things you just don't know until someone tells you (or you ask).

(sorry to thread-jack, but already seemed to go off the tracks a bit :))

Nah no worries. I like involved threads with lots of info, even if it is not part of the original topic. I learn from everything said so it's all good. Keep on throwing down the advice :)

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I use pocket screws 99% of the time rather than grooving plywood and we use prefinished 2 side plywood. Sometimes when it's needed we do a groove, its only to locate a part, maybe a 1/16 deep. Never had an issue with joint strength since almost everything gets a back panel. As far as cutting, I cheat, have a HolzHer 1265 vertical panel saw. Makes cutting sheet goods super easy and no back pains. Dustin

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  • 3 weeks later...

You don't need an infeed table. Set one end of the sheet on your saw. Stand at the left rear of the sheet. Push just the corner of the sheet against the fence don't try to get the sheet against the fence keep it off slightly with just the corner touching. Push it up to just touch the blade as it hits the blade swing the sheet against the fence pushing the sheet though only by the left rear corner. To much man handling is where most go wrong. Its more of a one handed operation your left hand is just a light helper.

 

Reviving this old thread a bit because I have to say thanks to PB for this explanation.  This method of keeping just the corner touching until it hits the blade makes SO MUCH difference in my limited experience.  It seems if you set it up that way it almost feeds itself through afterwards.  I used to feel like I was struggling to keep pressure in the right direction to keep it against the fence and really struggled to keep my feed rate even remotely consistent, but with this technique the whole operation is much smoother and easier.

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