Contest is over, winner announced!
Ed Bennett
people (E.J. Sample doesn't count). The winner, by a wide margin is:
Owen Lowe!
Soon Owen will be receiving his reward: brand new Starrett dial
calipers! Congratulations Owen, you did a very fine job.
For contest details, see:
http://www.ts-aligner.com/contest.htm
If you sent an entry before the deadline (12/31) and don't see your
results in the table, then please let me know as soon as possible. I
think that 21 days is a bit long to wait for delivery but you never
know! If you didn't send your entry before 12/31, then it will be
mighty early for next year.
Thanks all,
Ed Bennett
e...@ts-aligner.com
http://www.ts-aligner.com
FREE VIDEO! See web site for details.
Fly-by-Night CC
e...@ts-aligner.com (Ed Bennett) wrote:
> Well Folks, there were a grand total of four entries made by two
> people (E.J. Sample doesn't count). The winner, by a wide margin is:
>
> Owen Lowe!
>
> Soon Owen will be receiving his reward: brand new Starrett dial
> calipers! Congratulations Owen, you did a very fine job.
Woohoo! Thank you Ed. Prior to opening this post, I was planning on
suggesting a consolation prize for the runners up of a TS-A Jr...
Interesting results: I sent in three sets - 2 of Hard Maple and 1 of
1/2" Acrylic (maybe it was polycarb, I don't recall what it is). D.
Brown (who I'm guessing is Dan), also sent in wood. D. what type was it?
The wood came in at .011" accuracy (D.Brown); .012" (my maple) and .014"
(my maple). The acrylic measured .005". For my sets, all were cut on the
same saw, same alignment setup and using a standard miter gage with a
clamped on stop for length (the sets were different lengths, only the
three pieces of each set were aiming for the same length). I'm really
surprised at the difference between the maple and the acrylic - also the
closeness of the two maple sets given the variance with the acrylic.
What might account for the maple's variances of between 2x to 3x that of
the acrylic? If it was moisture, I'd think it would have similar effect
on all pieces of the sets as they were contiguous from one stick.
--
Owen Lowe and his Fly-by-Night Copper Company
Offering a shim for the Porter-Cable 557 type 2 fence design.
<http://www.flybynightcoppercompany.com>
<http://www.easystreet.com/~onlnlowe/index.html>
Steve Sierp
"Ed Bennett" <e...@ts-aligner.com> wrote in message news:1f1cd3fa.03012...@posting.google.com...
> Well Folks, there were a grand total of four entries made by two
> people (E.J. Sample doesn't count). The winner, by a wide margin is:
>
> Owen Lowe!
>
> Soon Owen will be receiving his reward: brand new Starrett dial
> calipers! Congratulations Owen, you did a very fine job.
>
> For contest details, see:
>
> http://www.ts-aligner.com/contest.htm
>
Congrats Owen.
--
Steve Sierp
Sullivan's Ford Custom Woodworking
North Vernon, Indiana
Dan Brown
640896.231...@corp.supernews.com:
> Interesting results: I sent in three sets - 2 of Hard Maple and 1 of
> 1/2" Acrylic (maybe it was polycarb, I don't recall what it is). D.
> Brown (who I'm guessing is Dan), also sent in wood. D. what type was
Also hard maple--and darn you for sending in that acrylic one! (-:
Makes me wonder what would have happened if I'd managed to get some
plastic-like material to cut up. You're right, it's very surprising that
three sets of wood blocks from two different people would have almost the
same amount of variation.
--
Dan Brown, KE6MKS, d...@familybrown.org
PGP Key Fingerprint 6FC9 E3CB EF9C 23BC 5478 7635 7E82 23B8 2C41 B5FC
Larry Jaques
the words:
>Well Folks, there were a grand total of four entries made by two
>people (E.J. Sample doesn't count). The winner, by a wide margin is:
>
> Owen Lowe!
Owie Lowie, COME ON DOWN !
-
In nature's infinite book of secrecy a little I can read. -Shakespeare
------
http://diversify.com Website Application & Database Development
Ed Bennett
> What might account for the maple's variances of between 2x to 3x that of
> the acrylic? If it was moisture, I'd think it would have similar effect
> on all pieces of the sets as they were contiguous from one stick.
Material does matter! The cutting process is quite dynamic. Most of
the variation was due to non-flat and non-parallel surfaces. The
samples measured much better when I checked them with calipers
(averaging out a much larger surface). Wood exhibits a lot more
instability as it experiences heat and pressure from the whirling
blade. I suspect it's not just thermal, moisture in the wood probably
vaporizes and causes problems too. Your plastic samples were much
flatter, much more parallel.
I did a test with aluminum before any of the samples arrived. I used
every trick I could think of (even mist coolant). Didn't do much
better than 0.001". It may not be the limit of what can be achieved,
but it sure seems like it to me. Tablesaws just aren't made for the
task. You can align it to the Nth degree and use the most awesome
fixturing around but it's still a tablesaw.
All of the samples from both of you guys had very clean, smooth
surfaces. Much better than what was previously seen in the NG.
Obviously, you guys have nice machines, well aligned, with nice sharp
blades. I challenge anyone to do better (next year, of course!).
Ed Bennett
> Also hard maple--and darn you for sending in that acrylic one! (-:
> Makes me wonder what would have happened if I'd managed to get some
> plastic-like material to cut up. You're right, it's very surprising that
> three sets of wood blocks from two different people would have almost the
> same amount of variation.
I think you guys were probably pushing the limits of the wood. Get
yourself some scraps of Delrin (acetal) and you might beat the
acrylic. I beat it with some aluminum scraps. It's a real lesson in
materials!
FREE VIDEO! See the web site for details.
Groggy
> every trick I could think of (even mist coolant). Didn't do much
> better than 0.001". It may not be the limit of what can be achieved,
> but it sure seems like it to me. Tablesaws just aren't made for the
> task. You can align it to the Nth degree and use the most awesome
> fixturing around but it's still a tablesaw.
Hi Ed,
do you know if any entries, or your own attempts, had blade balancers on,
and, if so, do you think this made a difference? Thin or thick kerf blades?
I'm kinda curious as to whether vibration at the blade tip causes much
variation and, if this proves to be so, is it *measureably* reduced by the
balancers (aka stabilizers) sold. I've read a few posts on this, and
personal opinions on whether one or two of the balancers should be fitted,
but I've seen no actual comparison data.
If I were to set up an accurate system (limiting machining to small bits
only) I would attempt to reduce vibration that can be transmitted to the
blade, so this would probably involve:
sandbagging the saw,
checking and perhaps machining arbors, flanges etc,
using as smaller a diameter blade as possible,
using as thick a blade as possible,
using balancers, and
using high quality bearings and belts if needed.
Mind you, I'm a hack and have probably missed a lot of points here, however
my peculiar sawbench doesn't lend itself to testing these things. In fact, I
count it as a good day when things don't fall off the wall as I use it.
Still, that's why jointers were invented.
cheers,
Greg
Fly-by-Night CC
"Groggy" <gmmi...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> do you know if any entries, or your own attempts, had blade balancers on,
> and, if so, do you think this made a difference? Thin or thick kerf blades?
> I'm kinda curious as to whether vibration at the blade tip causes much
> variation and, if this proves to be so, is it *measureably* reduced by the
> balancers (aka stabilizers) sold. I've read a few posts on this, and
> personal opinions on whether one or two of the balancers should be fitted,
> but I've seen no actual comparison data.
Hi Groggy. I don't have stabilizers. My saw is a 3-ish year old Unisaw
that I've set alignment by feel. The blades I use are all Freud standard
kerf - 24 tooth for ripping thicker pieces and 50 tooth combo for
everything else.
When I made my test pieces, I pushed very slowly and steadily. I'd guess
I took 3-4 seconds to cut the 1" (25mm) or so width of the maple pieces
('bout 3/4" thick ((18mm)). I wanted to equalize any vibration or
variances in the rotation of the blade.
I'm curious how Dan cut his pieces - like I mentioned in a previous
post, I merely used the Delta miter gage with a stop block clamped to
it and attempted to push it past the blade at the same speed and cant in
the slot.
Ed, I think for future contests, the entrants should record some of the
equipment and parameters used - at this point, I wish I had.
Dan Brown
> I'm curious how Dan cut his pieces - like I mentioned in a previous
> post, I merely used the Delta miter gage with a stop block clamped to
> it and attempted to push it past the blade at the same speed and cant
> in the slot.
Pretty much the same. I did have the stop block on the far side of
the blade from the miter slot, though, so I didn't have to flip the piece
end for end after squaring the first end. Pieces were cut on a Jet
contractor's saw, stock except for a link belt. Blade was a full-kerf CMT
General (40 tooth general-purpose), still pretty new, with a DeWalt 5"
stabilizer. The saw was aligned with a Dial Indicator On A Stick--more
precisely, alignment was checked that way; it was well-aligned out of the
box, so I didn't need to change anything.
Looks like it's time to hunt down some plastic pieces for next
year... (-: