House interior is nearly all painted, and exterior trim is about half done. As much fun as that is, I still enjoy making sawdust. The millwork outfit delivered mullions and some remaing woodwork for window and door trim.





And I got to play with a long-neglected toy. My old 10" Rockwell contractor's table saw spent the last three years in the storage shed. Fortunately it was to heavy for the burglar to steal, so was among the tools that didn't get stolen. I never had a dado blade for it before, so needing to rabbet a few thousand feet of cedar, I justified the cost to myself. While I was at it, I'd been lusting for a miter saw stand for a long time, and figured I'd never have a better excuse.





After initially planing the cedar I've been storing it in the garage behind locked doors. Since I'm not set up as a shop in the garage yet, I don't want to coat everything in sawdust. So I set up my table saw and chop box outside and carried piles of planed cedar boards out a few dozen at a time. I'm so glad I insulated the garage! The 78* in there seemed almost chilly to whatever the 90-something in the yard was. I was sweating like I was riding my bicycle up Washington Pass or something. Needed a sweat band to keep my safety glasses clear.

Note the cheapo plastic saw horses near a garage door. Guess what? They don't hold near the 300# the label says they're rated at. I probably had no more than 150# before one collapsed. They are light and convenient, but definitely need to be limited to light loads.

Got about 3/4 of the stack rabbeted on one edge yesterday. Got my after-work work cut out for me this week! So how's fishing been?

Sg

Very nice set-up for sawdust making. I think I lost 6lbs yesterday after drinking a gallon or two.

So with no powerfeed on the saw, I assume you used some feather boards to maintain a consistent rabbet.

JG, no powerfeed, no featherboards, just near-blisters on my hands from maintaining the pressure. Had to re-feed more than one or two boards. I need more gadgets for my tool shop. I debated whether to use a dado and the table saw or the router table. Longer fence and table on the saw, so I think that is better for this task. Most boards are 10'.

Sg

Had a pair of those palstic horses collapse on me on a job a few years back and it cost me a couple hundred to repair the damage. They will NEVER see a jobsite of mine again. Bucked up and bought 3 pairs of the nice tube steel ones rated for 1k each. No worries no more. . .. . . .

Nice work by the way Salmo, I alway get great satisfaction in making my own millwork and custom pieces. Alot easier when I used to have access to a molding machine though.

I would have also used the dado/tablesaw, that would have been a long stretch listening to that router whine.

Fish Ranger,

Moulding machine? You mean moulding isn't always made by multiple runs through the table saw and router? My projects are usually pretty small, so I haven't worried about efficiency. This adds up to around 2,000 ln. ft. of cedar, and it feels like I'm in production mode. Took 3 or 4 passes for each piece through the planer. Now it will take two passes each through the dado on the saw.

Jerry,

My last set of ear protectors broke while planing - cheap plastic over-the-head-band - so when I was at Western Tool last week I bought new ones for nearly $30. Wow! Can't hardly hear a thing with them on, like I'm in my own little dream land.

I guess I'll have to rout the ends of the boards as well. Don't want any unsightly gaps showing on the ceiling, presuming there will be seasonal shrinking and swelling?

Sg

I haven't been following this too closely, but if your building a new house I would highly reccomend waiting a year to do any crwon molding. Let the house settle first. Remember caulking is not your friend on seams and joints.

Salmo,
Thats how I do mine now that I no longer have access to the Moulder. The thickness planer and jointer are my friend, as well a the table saw and multiple routers.
Hopefully someday soon I will get a project big enough to just let JG handle it for me. . .. . .

It is nice to have nice toys at work. I would lap the ends Steve.