Table Saw Blades

I had a customer call the other day and the Eagle America catalog he used to order from was a catalog he borrowed from his father, that is not that unusual but the catalog was from 2000.  He is not the first customer to order from one of our catalogs from several years ago. I’ve asked "Why do you keep them so long" they usually say they keep it for reference. They would see a woodworking accessory or router bits that they had not seen before. So they hold on to it for when they need that item.

Do you know we carry over 6000 different woodworking tools? We have everything from; router table systems, router bits and router bit sets, saw blades and saw blade accessories, woodworking clamps, sanding supplies, wood carving tools, Kreg pocket hole jigs…. and the list goes on.

A few years back we ran a promotional offer to see who had the oldest catalog and I believe we had multiple customers that supplied us with catalogs from the late 80's and early 90's.

  Yesterday's Catalog                                      Today's Catalog
                                 

Wow what a difference, so don’t be so quick to toss that old Eagle America catalog it just may be worth something in the future.

When I saw Robert Beam’s Isuzu Trooper this weekend at the Green Grand Prix, http://www.greengrandprix.com/index.htm , I couldn’t help but think of all the woodworkers I talk to everyday on the phone at Eagle America that have dust collection accessories filling up with wood chips. 


His 1988 Isuzu Trooper runs on wood chips.  Yes! Wood chips.  He doesn’t use any gasoline in his SUV.


The process, which is called pyrolysis, is accomplished by cooking the wood (under low oxygen conditions) in a wood-gas generator and collecting the vapors, which are then directed to the vehicle's (ideally a truck or SUV with room to carry the gas generator) carburetor to be burned instead of gasoline.


Here I am checking out the gas generator.

What a great way to recycle sawdust from all the table saw blades, shaper cutters, and wood carving tools you are using every day! 

This SUV is able to run 20 miles on 25 pounds of wood chips. How far do you think Robert could go each year just from the sawdust you make from your woodworking projects?

Maybe “making sawdust” someday will have a whole new meaning……..

Visit the Beaver Energy website to learn more about the  Isuzu Trooper.

When this happens I find one of my favorite sources of inspiration is woodworking books.

I turn to books when I feel like learning a new technique or for new project ideas such as building my own router table and fence.

As any passionate woodworker knows, even when you are on vacation, you can’t resist spending some time inquiring about a great woodworking project when you run across one.


When I was on vacation in Tennessee, I spent the day at the Dollywood amusement park.


Not only are there great rides for the whole family but there are many arts & crafts displays.


Dollywood has a working grain mill powered by a water wheel, glass blowing furnaces, a blacksmith shop and to my surprise, a woodworking shop dedicated to building authentic wagons and carriages.

 
I was like a kid in a candy store when I walked into the wooden framed barn that housed the old woodworking tools and woodworking accessories used to make the wagons and carriages.

All of the wood cutting tools in the shop are authentic to the mid to late 1800’s. The tablesaw, bandsaw, and drill press are powered by an overhead belt and pulley system just as it would have been during that time.
 

Suddenly, my mind was filled with all kinds of dreams about what it might have been like to change the wood bandsaw blades or table saw blades on that old equipment.


The wagons and carriages are made from yellow poplar, hickory and white ash so you know the woodworkers building the beautiful pieces on display have to be using premium drilling products in the old drill press to get through those hard woods.

The one tool I noticed was missing from the shop was the dust collector and dust collection accessories.


Aside from a broom and a dust pan, dust collection is the result of modern health concerns thanks to improvement in science.

If you are ever in the neighborhood or you are looking for a great place to take the family, Dollywood really has something for everyone.


By the way, for those who are interested in buying and wagon or carriage, the ones at Dollywood are for sale and they can make you almost any style you can think of!   

• Woodworking Router Bits
• Table Saw Blades
• Wood Bandsaw Blades
• Scroll Saw Blades
• Woodworking Clamps
• Sanding Supplies
• Wood Carving Tools
• And more!

I ordered a 20” x 24” oil painting for our 50th wedding anniversary and needed to frame it.

I wanted to use some nice cherry that I have so I set out to create a simple frame that would complement the painting and not compete with it.

I chose a simple profile that was easily done on my router table system with two simple bits, a 45 degree chamfer bit and a basic rabbeting bit. 
 
After milling the profiles on my router table system, I cut the pieces to length with mitered ends.

After applying glue to all the joints, I used some woodworking clamps, specifically, a simple picture framing clamp that keeps everything nice and square. I did not use any fasteners because I planned on adding a simple corner spline. 

After the glue had cured, I cut a slot in each corner using a simple shop made jig and made 1 pass through the table saw.
 

The splines were made to match the thickness of the saw kerf. A little glue was added and the splines were tapped in. After the glue dried I trimmed the excess wood off with a flush trim saw and sanded them flush.

I found that one of the easiest ways to hold a picture into a frame is to use fender washers that overlap the inset picture. The washers are slightly countersunk using a forstner bit just slightly larger than the washer.



 

All in all, a successful little project!

Anthony Szik (courtesy Burbank Leader)

• Could it be attending a meeting of a local woodworking club or guild to network with other woodworkers? 
• Could it be time for you to register and take some woodworking classes to expand your knowledge of the craft?
• Could it be that you simply don't have to tools to get the job done?

• Wood Cutting Tools of all shapes and sizes
• Router Jigs and Router Accessories
• Woodworking Router Bits
• Table Saw Blades
• Wood Carving Tools
• Etc., etc., etc.

You know you want me, but do they know that?
 

• Festool Power Tools - They will change the way you work, we promise!
• Kreg Pocket Hole Jigs or a new Kreg Router Table - Both will make your woodworking life and projects much easier.
• Router Bits - We are "The World's Router Bit Source" after all, you can never have enough bits.
• Sanding Supplies - Have you seen our new Scuff Balls?  They are one of our most popular new items because they are a true problem solver.
• Table Saw Blades - A sharp new Freud blade would be welcomed by your table saw.
• Woodcarving Set - Give carving a try, it's fun!
• Woodworking Clamps - Seriously, do you ever have enough clamps?  NO!

Mike, one of our Eagle woodworking guru's writes:


The Christmas season found many woodworkers looking for gifty projects. One type of project that was very popular this year was making bowls and trays using a router and various templates.

Besides the standard tray and bowl templates, there were also holiday oriented templates such as a Snow Man, Christmas Stocking and a Christmas Tree.

I too thought this to be a good project, but I wanted something different than the templates that were available, so I decided I would make my own.

I wanted to keep it simple since I planned on making ten trays. I also had some 5/4 wide cherry stock and did not want to do a bunch of Glue ups. I was in the shop one day thinking about size and noticed the template I had used to cut the opening in my router table top for my router height adjustment lift. It was the perfect size!

The beauty of this template was that is featured straight sides that could be ripped on the table saw to get the width of the tray sides after it was hollowed out using my routers bits.

Templates, patterns and router jigs are great time savers but don't let them limit your imagination. It’s easy to make your own for whatever shape you desire.

Following are some photos of the sanding supplies and finishing process I used after drilling out and routing the hollowed out part of the tray.
 

I first used the direct drive setting on the Festool Rotex sander to smooth out the bottom of the tray and clean up the radius corners.

 




The final sanding was done with  the Festool rectangular random orbit sander so I could get into the corners better.

The inside radius edges were done with the Fein Multimaster with the profile sanding attachment.

To speed things up while applying the finish I used Painters Pyramids so I could do both sides at once.

 
And here is the final batch of nine trays. My kids loved them and it didn't take me all month to make them!

JR, Eagle America's Creative Director writes:

Every good builder knows a few simple rules…

#1 – Wood is good – Vinyl is final
#2 – Think like a drip
#3 – Wine is fine – Liquor is quicker
          and
#4 Be smarter than the woodworking tools

Unfortunately I had trouble with being smarter than the woodworking tools last December.





Actually, my story starts in August 2009 when I asked my wife and kids to help me install a signpost at the front of our property for our alpaca farm. In Ohio’s summer weather and in full daylight, the job was a breeze. Maybe too easy.

So, I decided to wait until December’s first snow to ask my 12-year-old son to help me hang the actual sign. I thought I heard my high-school wood shop teacher’s voice telling me this was a bad idea and that in these conditions, woodworking tools are often smarter than the woodworker, but I stubbornly proceeded anyway. My wife wanted the sign hung before the end of the year.

In my haste to drill a half-inch hole using premium drilling products through a 4 x 6 post while holding a support brace, I expertly drilled a chunk out on my left index finger. My son stared as I did the dance of pain and expressed my discomfort.

I waited two weeks, until Christmas Day to go to the hospital. It took an ER doctor, an anesthesiologist, an infectious-disease doctor, a hand surgeon, a bevy of nurses, an overnight stay and weeks of occupational therapy, but I’ve been drilling just fine since what has come to be known as the “expensive sign incident”.

Remember, woodworking tools such as table saw blades, shaper cutters, premium drilling bits and woodworking router bits are sharp and dangers if you are not careful!

In Summary:

August – Involve the family and make an enjoyable memory.
September – I’ve got plenty of time.
October – I promise the wife I would finish the sign within a week.
November – The weather hasn’t changed, I've got time.
December – I need to get this finished before the Christmas party so my neighbors don’t jab at me.
Christmas Day – My hand is swollen and finger movement is strained. I guess a trip to the emergency room is in order.
January – The stitches are out and I’m on my way to occupational therapy.
Today – Got to go, I’m late. I’ve got to get a mantel hung. Anyone see my hand plane?
 

Are you TOO COOL to be safe?

• Over 37,000 people per year go to emergency rooms because of power nailers
• 39,000 ER visits per year are the result of chain saws
• 10,600 patients fell victim to their circular saws
• 5,800 people go to the hospital due to power drill injuries
• 3 people per year DIE using Wood Chippers

• Table Saw / Table Saw Blades
• Router / Router Bits
• Shaper / Shaper Cutters
• Bandsaw / Bandsaw Blades
• Scroll Saw / Scroll Saw Blades
• Etc., etc., etc.