Figure 1: Roman Ogee router bit makes a good profile on the door frame
So, for a novice wood ruiner, my books tell me I’ve made some correct guesses about how to build doors. The selection of the Roman Ogee router bit to make my own door frame stock was a good idea. It halves the cost of the frames, and I can say it’s unique to the project (because the depth-of-cut personalizes the profile a little bit (many slightly different profiles possible).
Step 1: Speedread woodworking book to become instant woodwork guru.
The term small means different things to different people. But, in this case, it means I’m saying something with – as they say – my tongue in my cheek. Recently, I decided that the skill saw in my possession (as nice as it is) – was not up to the approaching cabinet project that I find on the honey-do list.
I looked at saws, and found that most were of the 1 inch tube fold-up frame variety. This seemed to be a little less “solid” than what I told myself would be the ideal firmness for a table saw. So, I went a little overboard in the opposite way of thinking – and purchased a contractor saw made by Delta Power Equipment company. Cost-wise, it was only a little more than the fold-up jobs, which was surprising.
Step 2: Morning of delivery – early coffee – watching frosted window.
The particular Delta model I purchased was quite heavy, so I let the truck deliver it to my temporary assembly site / work area.
Step 3: Clean a spot for the saw to land on.
So, I cleaned a spot on the floor, and waited for the magic hour. It was an early afternoon delivery, which I would find to be fortuitous.
Step 4: Jump for excitement after the delivery is made. Whew -hoo!
Every retirement-aged boy needs to do this when the new table saw arrives. It’s normal.
Step 5: Gulp when I notice weight printed on the side of the box.
I did say it was heavy. But, fortunately, it was packed very well, and all the pieces and parts were securely tucked inside of the box. I pulled some small parts out of the box, and then removed the topside styrofoam packing piece.
Step 6: Start the unpacking
Below the topside packing foam I found an assortment of things, including the large tubular frame in two sections, the deck top and motor housing, the T-Square, the side rails, handles, wheels, blade guard parts and pieces, and other things. The tubular steel of the base frame is all of two and a half inches wide, if not more.
Step 7: Read the assembly instructions
I found a “quick assembly” guide in the box. Those are always a treat to find, and my main go-to assembly procedure. I guess quick is a relative term. Between reading the guide, adjusting my video camera for the unboxing video, and being generally non-speedy about the whole affair, i managed to steal about five hours from old man time in order to have the finished result, shown in Step 8.
Probably, I could do the assembly in two or three hours the next time, but I’m not thinking that’ll ever be necessary. The spin-crank on the blade height and tilt controls works nice and smoothly:
Step 8: Finished saw is awesome!
I was impressed by the solid feel of the rubber wheels, and the saw moves around quite well on them. Of course there is a lock-down that stabilizes the table for actual usage. Everything lined up well, there were no bent pieces, and the supplied setup feeler gauges said my installation was up-to-snuff.
The table has a nice solid feel to it, and trying the shake it doesn’t faze it much. I think this was the best choice for me, but time will tell. Day two will have the first cuts, so stay tuned !
Woodworking Miscellany 