Old table saw to router table?????

[turnagerg]

I realize that you're trying to recycle the remains of your table saw, but it sounds as if you need a router table also. I was given an OLD well made double pedestal desk a couple of years ago with a good flat top. I removed the legs and put it on a frame with casters, removed the center drawer, and cut a hole in the center of the top to mount the router. The drawers in the pedestals are handy to store bits, etc. When I built the frame for it I made the height the same as my tablesaw so I can lower the router and use it as an out/infeed table as required. This might be more functional and easier to do than having a hole milled in the tablesaw top.

[Pat]

turnagerg, Kudos to you, your conversion sounds really neat. I wasn't expecting to have to mill a hole in the table and will study on that and alternatives for a spell.

Outfeed...infeed... ohhh I will love to get set up properly in my new shop. Over the weekend I cut up some rough sawn 5/4 cedar to get bark and waste off the edges prior to stacking to dry. The slabs ranged from 4-6 inches wide at one end and 14 at the other with lengths of 10-18 feet. Being wet and heavy it was a bit of a hassle for my wife and I to rip them. Especially since my "helper" was NOT happy to see me cut up "PERFECTLY GOOD BEAUTIFUL BOARDS" to make stickers. I was advised that by stickering with stickers made from the wood to be stickered you would avoid any staining/discoloring problems.

It was our first time working with freshly felled and milled logs and hopefully the last without any in and outfeed support when ripping. Luckily we only had 4 logs to process. The ignition switch messed up on the mill before the 5th and largest(over 24 inches in diamer at base 3 1/2 feet above ground) could be sawn so I have to repair that for the mill owner to get back in production.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[egon]

Pat:

Have you tried saran wrap or plastic around the stickers. Might let you get away with less lumber.

Egon

[Pat]

Egon, I would think that Saran wrap or other fairly impermeable material would prevent the area of a board that is in contact with the "coated" sticker from drying promptly and that it might induce or promote staining of some sort. The stickers of untreated wood should wick moisture out to a degree, if not as fast as the uncovered wood.

I got the recommendation over on the forestry forum to use the same wood for stickers as the wood being dried. IT is a chemical match and should be as safe as anything.

This is all untested (by me) and new for me so I am considering it an experiment.

What saw do you use for your chainsaw mill? How long is the bar and what HP is it? Do you buy rip blades or resharpen regular ones for ripping?

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[egon]

Pat:

Pete, Boondox. made a comment about different wood stickers staining and to use the same wood for stickers.

I have a Husky 365 with 18 in bar and use a rip chain. Sharpen it myself. A 22 inch bar would work better but would have to make sure I don't heat things up by getting impatient. The saw isn't quite large enough to handle a 22 in. bar with ease.

Egon

[Pat]

Egon, The particular comment, not to detract from Boondox, if I recall correctly was posted on another forum. If he didn't get it from the same place I did then I have it from two sources and am glad I did it that way, over my wife's protestations of ruining all that beautiful wood.

http://www.forestryforum.com/

Thanks for the data point. A Husky 365 will work but more is better.

What I was wondering is if you resharpened a regular cross cutting chain to different specs to make it a rip chain or if you bought a rip chain. Someone on ebay claims to sell the "secret" of doing that for $20. NOT TO ME!

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[fivestring]

"If he didn't get it from the same place I did then I have it from two sources and am glad I did it that way, over my wife's protestations of ruining all that beautiful wood."

I was taught that way years ago.
One thing you can do when you cut the stickers, is to cut them to a size that you can re-use later. I cut mine anywhere from 1/2 inch to 2 inches wide and the length to match the width of the boards being stacked.
I re-use maple and walnut stickers to make banjo bridges.
I re-use larger maple stickers for knobs, plugs, push sticks and spacers for repetitive cutting.
I re-use oak stickers to make plugs and knobs.

[Chillimau]

Pat, Did you seal the ends? My understanding is that will help prevent drying too fast, splitting the first few inches of the board as the wood near the ends shrinks and splits because the wood closer to the middle hasn't shrank yet.

I'm not saying it very well but basically you want the wood to dry through the faces and not the ends, allowing it to shrink evenly (in theory) I think even sealing the ends you will still have some splitting because of faster drying or better air circulation around the ends.

[egon]

Pat:

I think Pete posted on the other forum but can't remember when.

The ordinary chain has teeth that are filed at 35 degree angle. The rip chain is filed at 6 degree angle. I have one specific rip chain purchased for that purpose. Please note that there are many different tooth configurations so others may be different. What we mostly see are the chains that reduce the chances of kickback but cut a little slower and this is all I'm familiar with.

After I'm through sharpening a chain there are many different angles so all bases are covered. he-he

Egon