Popular Woodworking 2006-11 № 158, страница 5
Out on a Limb The Perfect Saw is Still in My Head When buying tools, it's easy to either romanticize the past or be blinded by something shiny and new. Case-in-point: My long-standing effort to find the right band saw for my shop at home. I inherited my first band saw from my grandfather. It was a late 1930s Craftsman - completely solid but completely worn out. I considered restoring it, but one day I saw a beautiful steel-frame machine in a catalog and ordered it on impulse. Two days after it arrived, I sent the saw back. The machine's table simply wasn't sturdy. In fact it wobbled under the slightest pressure, unlike the table of my old Craftsman, which was stiff enough to perform chin-ups on -1 think it was the design of the saw's trunnions that made the difference. So I bought anew traditional cast iron-frame band saw. It was sturdier than the steel-frame saw, but not as stout as my grandfather's machine. The new machine was fine. And this is where things stood for many years, until I got a call from a friend. He'd found an old Rockwell band saw (likely from the 1970s) that had never been assembled or used. In fact, the base of the machine was still in the box. The trunnions and wheels were beefy. It was, in essence, a new saw but an old design. I was sold. This weekend I brought the saw into my shop and took it apart to lubricate it and set it up for use. And that's when I started to notice some problems. The screws that secured the guides were rusted, a thrust bearing was frozen, the top needed to be cleaned of rust, the tires needed to be replaced and the list is still growing. In short, I'm back where I started about eight years ago - with an old saw that needs some restoration. When it's done, it's going to be a nice machine, I'm sure. (In fact, check out the blog on our web site for more details and photos of the restoration). But now I j ust have to make sure that history doesn't repeat itself. In this issue we review steel-frame band saws, and all six of them are lined up in our shop right now. Last week I caught myself checking out the trunnions of the shiny beasts.... Good News and Bad This is Senior Editor David Thiel's last issue with Popular Woodworking. David started working for the magazine 11 years ago, right after F+W Publications, Inc. acquired it. I have worked side-by-side with David since I walked in the door here in 1996 and he is one of the reasons this magazine has come so far in the last decade. That is the bad news. The good news is that he hasn't gone far away. David has become the executive editor of Popular Woodworking Books, where he will be shaping the content of our company's line of woodworking books. Expect great things. I do. Our office is a little quieter now that he's moved upstairs, a little less raucous. But rest assured that we're working on finding a replacement and that we remain committed to providing a blend of power- and hand-tool techniques on every page. We're not about to knock down something we've all worked so hard to build. PW Christopher Schwarz Editor CONTRIBUTORS BILL STANKUS Before Bill Stankus began woodworking more than two decades ago, he was an oceanographer and fine-arts photographer. In addition to building custom fine furniture, Bill specializes in museum-quality restoration of antique furniture. He has taught woodworking and given woodworking seminars throughout the United States, consulted with major tool manufacturers, and written numerous articles and books on woodworking - including "How to Plan and Build Your Ideal Workshop" (Popular Woodworking Books). For this issue, he's written the Woodworking Essentials supplement (you'll find it in the center of the magazine) on lighting and electricity for your shop. TROYSEXTON Troy Sexton built his first project - an end table - in high school for his girlfriend. He didn't have a lot of tools and ended up rigging a table-mounted jigsaw to do the job. It was the start of something big. Troy married the girlfriend, became a successful cabinetmaker and has developed a passion and knowledge for power tools that few woodworkers can match. Sexton's cabinet-making career was launched by working as a subcontractor for The Workshops of David T. Smith in Morrow, Ohio. He later struck out on his own and now specializes in building reproduction American pieces and custom kitchens in his well-equipped shop in Sunbury, Ohio. Our Privacy Promise to You We make portions of our customer list available to carefully screened companies that offer products and services we believe you may enjoy. If you do not want to receive offers and/or information, please let us know by contacting us at: List Manager, F+W Publications 4700 E. Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, OH 45236 10 Popular Woodworking November 2006 |
