For many years I used my father's tablesaw (still in use today) but
the first table saw I purchased was a Sears Crapsman (about 25 years
ago). I learned a heck of a lot of woodworking on that machine and
never received a single negative comment from anyone about the quality
of my work. There was always a healthy amount of test cuts, re-
working joints and "creative fixes" involved in the process and I
figured that it was all a matter of skill (and a lack thereof). If I
could refine my skills enough then these problems would go away. But,
it didn't quite work out that way. Instead, I learned which tasks and
design elements proved to be the most troublesome and time consuming
so that I could avoid them. It struck me one day when I was trying to
talk a customer (an interior designer) out of doing what she wanted me
to do (mitered corners). I was being a brainless moron: going nowhere
and doing nothing. Pretty soon I'd be making kitchen cabinets as a
sub-contractor instead of furniture for designers.
Having the benefit of a formal education, I had the ability to work
through a problem in a logical manner. I could examine symptoms,
recognize specific causes, and develop systematic solutions to resolve
them. I purchased the proper instruments (dial indicator, magnetic
base, calipers, etc.) so that I could examine my machines to determine
what could be done to reduce or eliminate the test cuts, re-work, and
"creative fixes". Basically, I had decided to devote myself to
improving my machinery skills.
It didn't take me long to recognize major problem areas. The first
thing I did was replace the rip fence. It proved to be an
astoundingly amazing improvement. So much so that I decided that the
entire saw was a lost cause. I replaced it with the Unisaw that I
have today and realized yet another quantum leap in the quality of
work that came right off the machine. I probably could have continued
to use the Sears saw and optimize its performance but I was impatient.
During this same time, I was developing tools and techniques for
eliminating test cuts and rework. With the help of a machinist friend
and some engineers, I combined these tools and techniques into the
first TS-Aligner. That was in the spring of 1990 - more than 17 years
ago. I tested it on a commission from a designer that I would have
flatly turned down a year earlier: a night stand made in the shape of
an "A". Every joint came together at a compound angle (including the
dovetailed drawer sides). I pulled it off without a test cut. No re-
work. It was done to budget in record time.
For years I had fought against a poorly maintained junker saw thinking
that my woodworking skills were deficient. In reality, it was my
machinery skills that needed help. The quality of my wood work was
never the issue, it was the enormous time and effort that went into
making anything that went beyond simple square joinery, stock molding
profiles, curves, angles, shapes, etc. I was wasting time and effort
fixing everything that the machine did wrong - leading me to avoid
projects that could stretch and develop my woodworking skills.
There are a number of people who want to turn this into flame fest
against machinery and its proper alignment. They cite their personal
anecdotes about how many years they have been producing fine
woodworking without any regard for alignment. In addition to being
exasperating, this is nothing more than a straw man argument. The
issue has nothing to do with $2000 saws and alignment to within a
"thousandths of a gnat's ass". Amazing woodworking has been done for
thousands of years before table saws were even invented. Nobody is
saying that you have to spend a certain amount of money, or have a
certain machine, or align it in a certain way before you can do fine
woodworking. People who rant and rave on this point expose themselves
as extremely insecure.
This thread is about helping one person to make the most of a recent
machinery investment. It's about helping him to learn and apply some
machinery skills. It is not a waste of time; it is a way to avoid
wasting a lot of time and effort. People who can't sit by without
ridiculing him and continually citing examples of how well they get by
without any machinery skills are saying a lot more about themselves
than they realize.
Ed Bennett
http://www.ts-aligner.com
Home of the TS-Aligner