Starting to understand

[collinb]

Picked up the book

"Cabinetmaking and Millwork" by John Feirer, 1970

This book does a great job of not only discussing the things that need done for a quality project but why as well. There may be better books but, for me, this is a good one for where I am at.

Also, some things of interest.

1. A couple of years ago I found some spring thingies. It seems they were used the way we would use a feather board.

2. Using a radial arm saw like we would use a router or shaper.

 

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[krtwood]

My shaper has those metal hold downs.  I mean, had.  Cheap and cheesy.  Also putting metal things right next to spinning carbide isn't a good idea.  I did something stupid and wrecked a cutter because of it.  I came off the fence at the end of a cut and I didn't want to run the whole stock through again so I just went near the end and pushed it under the holddown sideways, pushing it into the cutter.  You're pretty much supposed to throw those away and put a power feeder on it anyway.

[mat60]

I pretty much agree with @krtwood except no power feeder.  I prefer to control the speed during the cut.  You can also hear the cut even with hearing protection.  If  I get chips my cutters are set up so the second pass is light and usually takes care of it.  I always shape stock that's a little wide and rip to size after.. As far as your book @collinb I see nothing wrong with a book that gives you a starting point on things and you can take what you want from it and make it work for you.

[Chet]

I had a molding head setup for my radial arm saw that you used the same as in the photo above.  It worked well but was a little scary even with the guard in place.  I built all of my kids bedroom furniture back in the day with nothing but the radial arm saw,  it was a great tool in its day.

[Coop]

I’m glad I was chasing girls and delivering papers back in those days. That thing looks scary! BTY, I was better at delivering papers

[mat60]

I was talking about a shaper...Molding heads on anything scare me.

[Tom King]

I have one of those molding head things for a radial arm saw, still unused in the box, that I bought at the same time I bought the radial arm saw.  I'm still using that saw, as well as another one that I keep a dado stack on.   I guess I was always too scared to use the molding head.

[Bob Lang]

Cabinetmaking and Millwork is one of the best woodworking books ever. It was a standard text for high school and college shop classes and it is very comprehensive. A great reference for situations where you aren't sure of the best way to do something -- it's probably in there. When I worked at Popular Woodworking I used to joke that every technique article, jig or trick published in woodworking magazines in the last 40 years can be traced back to this book. I wasn't kidding.

[collinb]

On 5/6/2018 at 9:23 AM, Bob Lang said:

Cabinetmaking and Millwork is one of the best woodworking books ever. It was a standard text for high school and college shop classes and it is very comprehensive. A great reference for situations where you aren't sure of the best way to do something -- it's probably in there. When I worked at Popular Woodworking I used to joke that every technique article, jig or trick published in woodworking magazines in the last 40 years can be traced back to this book. I wasn't kidding.

When you said comprehensive it was not any exaggeration at all. The book goes through all the equipment (only slightly dated), a number of woods, a variety of styles, a host of methods for both milling and assembly.  Anyone who gets this book's demands down will be able to make most anything.

 

On 5/5/2018 at 8:55 PM, krtwood said:

My shaper has those metal hold downs.  I mean, had.  Cheap and cheesy.  Also putting metal things right next to spinning carbide isn't a good idea.  I did something stupid and wrecked a cutter because of it.  I came off the fence at the end of a cut and I didn't want to run the whole stock through again so I just went near the end and pushed it under the holddown sideways, pushing it into the cutter.  You're pretty much supposed to throw those away and put a power feeder on it anyway.

The first ones that I came across were Craftsman and were probably from the 60s. The were pretty sturdy. The idea is good -- it's half of what a featherboard does -- downward pressure but without the kickback resistance. It has its place. The concept could be improved by making a t-channel mount instead of the clamping system. I was thinking that a pair or two of these might be useful on my jointer outfeed. That would feeding long pieces easier. Would take some experimenting for adjustments ... or I could make a wide featherboard to do the same thing, and lighter weight. I'd just have to come up with a clamping system.

[Dylder]

The only time I use the sears molding bit is cutting large coves.  Put the cove bits in it. Use it on the table saw running the wood at a diagonal Warning, this is not a rookie thing, lots of guides clamped on the saw, use push sticks,  be very careful.  Several passes and it does great.