Leaderboard

IT WAS THE BEARING! Thank God I did not send the cutterhead back. SKF bearing came in today and while I haven't seated it completely it's at least as tight as the cheapest one and I think tighter. Also tying the links together solved the twisting issue. It's a good day.

Actually, the cut in my picture was a plunge cut to start with. There was a wall at each end. I put a mark on the blade, with a Sharpie, and that could be seen when the blade was spinning, so I knew where to lock the saw. It was also at a very slight angle, so I didn't have to put any surface fasteners in the adjoining board we were dropping in. The matching angle on both pieces held the board in place while the construction adhesive underneath cured. This was an 1828 house that had some rotten parts in the top 3/4" of the 1-1/2" thick flooring. We milled off the 3/4" bad tops. The replacement boards were 20' long, mostly clear, milled out of old Heart Pine beams, and cost $27 a board foot.

A single sheet of 1/2 or 3/4" ply makes a good-sided "tool wall" area. Nothing says the entire wall has to be that way. My tool wall/board is screwed to studs through the drywall.

I was just out looking at this unit. It's Big. I think it's about 4 feet tall, and 4x5 feet width, and length. The fan motor is a 1-1/2hp Baldor. Change of plan on the wiring. I can buy 100 amp aluminum service entrance underground wire for about the same thing as no. 6 UF, so will put another 100 amp subpanel next to it, and use the breaker to it as the nearby cutoff. Then I can pull other stuff out of this box, if I need to. There was a power pole here already, about 100 feet from the building, with a 200 amp service on it, that only feeds a 100 amp subpanel to that building. Right now, the plan is to build a small deck for it, and let it blow right into the building about 5 feet high. That will keep it from taking wall space inside. I'll run a return duct up high. That'll make it a little trouble to change filters, but it won't be used That much anyway, and will be right beside where I store all the ladders anyway. The building is 24x40, with 12' walls, but the roof has a strange gambrel framing, under the gable framing that lets me raise a full sized dump truck bed inside-not sure of the height of the high part. I had quit doing fiberglass boat work, when a tornado destroyed my shop for that in 1988. I never wanted to do fiberglass work again, without a really strong air conditioner. Cool it down to 65, and you have all the time in the world. Then raise it to normal, and let it kick.

I saw your picture on Instagram tying the links together and that looks like a great system. It's good to know that you found the easiest solution to your problem.

Guides were used for decades, before track saws were ever seen. This particular one is a few decades old. I just don't use it that often. I think this picture was taken in 2011. The only time I've used it since then was to rip a stack of plywood for roof sheathing. When cutting plywood, it's easier to use it, than not to. I have a shorter one for trimming house doors too, that's probably 35 years old. This particular cut was 20 feet long, and had to be perfectly straight. The guide is a piece of 1/4" Luan plywood, and a straight factory edge of MDF. You glue the fence on, and make the first cut with your circular saw. That will always be the edge of the blade. Mark your cuts on the ends, and clamp the guide in place. The other side was cut with, and for a router. You lay it where you want it, and clamp it in place. In this case, I had my helpers stand on it. It's not hard holding the saw against the fence. The biggest difference in this, and the commercial ones is dust collection. I have hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of tools, for all sorts of jobs. If having a commercial track saw was worth it to me, I'd have one. If I was just making one set of cabinets, I'd have a hard time justifying the cost of one.

One serious thing to make it wobble back and forth is a developing crack. Stop the saw at the wobble point and inspect it closely. If you are lucky its just a minor kink, but watch that as it might decide to start a crack there later on.

Probably not.. Reality is that you have pretty much the same options for material as he does. He has to add a markup to cover costs of pick up and transport etc so, costs you more. Plus, if you buy and pick up all that stuff and it's wrong, it's 100% your fault..

Man this is thread giving me a lot of shop envy.

She can keep the house and you keep the shop ? I lived in Greg Pennington’s shops loft for a bit and loved it!