Smitty
JULY/AUG
2002
Volume 45/Issue 4
IN
THIS ISSUE
Project
Articles
•
The Four-Poster Bed
• The Sunshade Sandbox
• The Secret Compartment Paper Towel Holder
DEPARTMENTS
•
Ask Smitty
• Owner’s Gallery
• Letters from Owners
Academy Notes
Finishing
Touches - Pt.6 Paints & Stains
Service Pointers
Keep
Your Thickness Planer Running Smoothly
Safety Tips
Safety
Dos and Don'ts
What's
New
Incra
TSIII Ultra Fence System
EDUCATION
• Find
A Shopsmith Woodworking Academy Near You
• National
Woodworking Academy in Dayton, OH
ONLINE
CATALOGS
• Online Accessory Catalog
• Request
Printed Accessory Catalog
• Online
Replacement Parts Catalog
MARK
V INFORMATION
• Find
A Shopsmith
MARK V Demo Near You
• Request
MARK V Information Package
LINKS
•
Links Worth Visiting
•
Free Woodworking
Tips
FEEDBACK
Contacting
Shopsmith
Copyright
2002.
Shopsmith, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
ASK SMITTY!
Don't worry, SMITTY can help. Just use the special e-mail link to send your questions to SMITTY. He’ll do his best to get back to you soon, with the answers to those questions.
Here are the questions . . . and SMITTY’S answers for this issue!
If you're having a problem
setting-up, aligning or maintaining your Shopsmith equipment, you should
contact Shopsmith's Technical Support Staff (NOT Smitty).
Call TOLL-FREE, 1-800-762-7555 during normal business hours to
speak directly with a Shopsmith Technical Support Representative.
Printer friendly PDF copy of article
Resurecting
old Shopsmith Way Tubes
From Chester Lambert, via e-mail:
I have four old Shopsmith's that I have never used (got them from
my Dad). The parallel Way Tubes are rusted with no chrome on any part.
Any chance of resurrecting them, or will they need to be replaced ?
First of all, the Way Tubes are not chrome plated. You can probably save them by cleaning them up with emery cloth followed by steel wool. Once you get them clean, coat them with two or three layers of furniture paste wax to protect them. This waxing procedure should be repeated at least once a year...more if your machines are stored in a garage or out-building.
If you have trouble getting them reconditioned properly, new MARK V Tubes are not that expensive - top tubes are $49.99 a pair - bottom tubes $33.99 a pair. Good luck.
Bandsaw
blades dull quickly when sawing cedar
Name unknown, via e-mail:
When cutting cedar, my bandsaw blades dull surprisingly fast. With
the limb tapering from 5" dia. to 3" and running Cool Blocks and lube,
I've found no metal to dull the blade before or after cutting.. As I progress
from sapwood to heartwood, the dulling seems to start. After cleaning
pitch from the blade and providing wedges to prevent blade binding, dulling
seems to progress extremely fast. Is it possible that the change in wood
is dulling my blade ?
Sounds like it's in the wood. Two things could be happening. First, cedar will extract minerals from the earth and deposit them in the sapwood. This mineral deposit is in liquid form and “soft” while still in the sapwood. As the wood transforms from sapwood to heartwood, it no longer has all the moisture of the sap running through it and is quite a bit drier, so the minerals crystallize. This can make the heartwood very abrasive.
Second, cedar has a fine, rough, flaky bark with lots of small recesses for dirt to hide. If this tree grew in or near a field that's dusty even part of the year (as many are), the tree will pick up the dust blown by the wind and capture it in the bark. Then, as the tree transforms the bark to sapwood, the dust becomes “soft” from all the moisture of the sapwood. During the subsequent transformation of this sapwood to heartwood, as described above, it no longer has the sap running through it and is drier. As a result, the dust becomes hard again and could be the cause of your dulling problem.
