Monday, October 30, 2017

Ever milked a rattlesnake?

The Festool Domino has been on the wishlist for a long time, a really long time, but as everyone knows the price is a little steep.  By the time you get even the smaller version, in the set, with the accessory bundle, you are upwards of a ratty ole car, or horse, or maybe a truck to pull the horse.

First thing you have to do is test out the new toy, oops, I mean tool, right?  As it turned out, Tornado had previously broken his sword that we had made that was just wood glued together.  I had been holding off just glueing it again knowing it would end up breaking again and I had visions of it being over Hurricane's head.

A few test cuts with the Domino, wait, who am I kidding, test cuts, practice, please...  Jumped right into using it and well lets just say it isn't as perfectly in the center as I might like.  Luckily kids don't care that much and I learned a bit.

It's a bit like milking a rattlesnake.  You'd bess hold on or something other than what you want is going to get bit.

Part way through Tornado decided he wanted it painted and I was left with trying to figure out how to hold it and let him paint it.  Yea, you can also imagine my hands and arms all silver and black from him learning how to spray paint and me holding it.

And then it hits me, why not use my brand new tool, who are we kidding, toy, solve that problem too!  Dry fit a couple dominos in, drilled a couple holds, and presto perfect hanging points.
Domino to the rescue.

Blade and Handle hanging by their dominos, painted and drying.

Love this tool and can't wait to find more neat uses for it.

 Anyone ever seen a Tornado chase a Hurricane through the house wielding a sword?

Sunday, October 29, 2017

Zero Clearance Insert for Miter Saw

In my search for a Zero Clearance Insert for our Bosch Glide 12in Miter Saw ( GCM12SD ) I came across a couple different solutions.

The one we are trying out first is the FastCap Zero Clearance Tape.

Installing it was nothing more than cleaning off the plastic inserts and putting the tape down.

After the tape was installed I made a gentle slow cut through the tape.  For the most part it made a nice clean cut but there was a few places it chipped out.

I'm hopeful that the zero clearance works to keep smaller pieces from falling down as well as give a true mark for cutting.



Thursday, October 26, 2017

The Naughty List

Since I threw together a list of the GOOD companies I figured I should probably put one together for the not so good ones.  Luckily, the list is much shorter.

California Air  Don't get me wrong, I think their compressors are incredibly quiet... when they work.  The better half got me one for Christmas and it didn't work right from the begining.  It won't restart all the time when the pressure goes down.  I think I've narrowed it down to a heat issue but I'm not sure.  It seems that if it runs to pump up the tank, you empty the tank as quickly as possible, it won't start back because it is too hot.  Most of the time turning it off and back on will get it going but many times it has to sit for a while.  Customer service is very slow to respond unless you call them and want me to ship it back under warranty which they will take care of IF they believe it is their problem and not something I did.

Oneida Air I'll start by saying my father has a big Gorrila and likes it.  They did his DC design and for the most part it works.  Myself, on the other hand, have had nothing but problems with their customer support ( Picking up a pattern here yet? ).  I wanted to get a cyclone for a Grizzly 2HP DC so I found their Super Dust Deputy.  Seemed like a great solution, but I needed to know the actual size of the inlets and outlets because everyone calls something 5" but no one is using a consistent measurement.  I called, got a lady, she said she would check and email me.  I got an email saying they didn't know the size other than 5".  I replied nicely stating I know 5" but what EXACTLY is the measurement, 5.1", 4.9", whatever.  No response so I called.  The next person got irritated with me and said it is 5".  Again, people, can you just measure one???  Nope...

Hopefully I won't have any more but you never know.

Things happen, I get that, stuff breaks, etc, but it is all in how you handle it.  Handle it well and I'll be a long time customer, handle it poorly, and I won't deal with you again.

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Keeping a list

As I work with more and more companies and their products I thought it would be handy to start keeping a list of the great ones that I can easily recommend to other people.


  • Woodcraft of New Berlin, WI
    • Can't say enough about Chris the owner.  He has bent over backwards for me many times and always has my best interest at heart.
  • Clearvue Cyclones
    • Fantastic Dust Collector and cyclone.
      • Still going strong with no issues after a couple years.
      • Nothing has collected in the filter clean out yet after multiple bins full of dust.  Now that's efficient.
    • Absolutely terrific customer support before, during, and after the sale.  2 years later I can still email them with questions and get immediate responses.
    • Cyclone was ordered and arrived within a week.  They even added other parts that I ordered like transitions to boxes to save shipping costs.
  • CNC Router Parts
    • Their CNC's are definitely a step ahead of most others.  
    • Can not say how pleased I am with their Pro CNC.  From fit and finish to strength to precision it is a work of art.
    • Terrific customer support from before the sale to after.
    • I feel sorry for the poor UPS guy for sure.
  • Paint Sprayers Plus 
    • Terrific company and customer support.
    • Jason spent a lot of time with me on the phone helping me decide on an HVLP system and gave me a lot of tips and tricks.
    • Order was placed and arrived in a couple of days.
  • Festool Products / ToolNut 
    • Very fast shipping and a great product assortment.
    • Customer support is terrific
  • Sawstop
    • Great saw.
    • Great customer service the once I have called them.
  • Incra
    • The TS-LS system ( Table saw and router fence ) is in a class all it's own.  Unbelievable precision.
    • The Incra router lift is wonderful.  So smooth and easy to adjust.
    • Fantastic customer support every single time I have contacted them.  From asking about buying a few more mounting bolts to how to get things set up.
  • Woodpecker
    • Wonderful precision tools.  
    • I have various straight edges, angles, and markers.
    • I love the cases their products come in which hold the tools securely and are nice to mount on the wall.
  • Nova
    • I have the Nova Voyager Drill press and love it.
    • Customer support bent over backwards to help me with a firmware issue.

I think that's about it for now.  As I remember more or run across more great companies I will update this post.