Category: Shop

DIY – Biesemeyer fence rails Part 4 – Filling the void

Getting close to wrapping this up. The Porter Cable PCB270TS Table Saw never had very much to the right of the blade and now that I extended it a couple feet the gap was really bad. I also need a way to better support the extra weight and stress on the far right end of the table. I set out to fill the void.
I made a frame out of 1 x 4 poplar, nothing fancy, just glue and screwed together.
  I then glued a piece of Birch plywood to the top and tapped it in for a dry fit. Snug as a bug in a rug!
Few coats of ploy and bolted it in.
Added the 4 x 4 legs with t-nut levelers on the bottom. Leveled it out and slid the old out feed table back in place.
Last couple things to do are line up the Very Super Cool Tools fence and put the Starrett SAE / Metric tape on. I ordered some plugs from McMaster-Carr for the 3 x 2 rectangle tube. I will post all that next.

DIY – Biesemeyer fence rails Part 3

Well finally had the time to paint my Biesemeyer fence system and put on my Very Super Cool Tools fence. Here is a shot of the spacing blocks and 2×3 bolt down.
  I dropped the VSC Tools fence on, Sweet! Slides great! It is on the left side of the blade and I need to dial everything in but it is installed and I now have a high quality, American made fence for my Porter Cable PCB270TS Table Saw.
and
Now on to the extension table. PART 4

DIY – Biesemeyer fence rails Part 1

It all started when I watched this 27 part series By AskWoodMan  and then watched this by AskTheSteelGuy My Porter Cable PCB270TS Table saw badly needed a new fence system. I watched the videos and contacted Askwoodman, who by the way is an all-around good guy. I went and got the required materials:
7 feet 3” x 2” x 11 gauge rectangle tubing             $51.00
7 feet 3” x 3” x ¼” angle iron                                $27.00
Cutting Fee                                                             $2.00
Tax                                                                          $7.00
Total                                                                        $87.00
I rounded everything up to the nearest dollar, 87 bucks not bad. Getting to make it myself, even better! A quick search on the internet shows 52 inch Biesemeyer fence rails going for $250 to $500. Mine will be 84 inches and a much higher quality.
Let’s get started. Here is a shot of the metals:
There is an extra piece of 3×2, I am saving for another project. Next I made some ¾” x ¾” blocks out of some scrap hardwood I had laying around and gathered up a couple ½” dowels:
I put the dowel and ¾” spacer in to get my distance from the back wall. Then I place the 3” x 2” rectangle weld side down and snugged it up against the block. I placed a mark about half way between the block and the edge. This does not have to be exact!
For me, that turned out to be about an inch from the edge.
Then I laid out the location of the holes on the angle iron that will be used to hold the tubing in place. I went an inch in from the sides and then cut everything in half until I was done. This is what I ended up with measuring from the end: 1” -> 10 ½” -> 21” -> 31 ½” -> 42” -> 52 ½” -> 63” -> 73 ½” -> 83  
Then I marked the holes with my metal punch. Again, does not need to be 100% accurate. You will understand a little further down.
Then I put the angle up on my drill press, chucked my number 7 metal drill bit and made sure everything was on the level. The number 7 bit is the size needed to tap ¼” x 20 threads that we need to hold down the tube. I then drilled all the holes.
I then put the angle back on the table using 3 sets of  2 x 4’s to raise it up high enough for the clamps. I put the rectangle, weld down; the dowel and then the ¾” blocks I made together. Making sure everything is lined up the way I want. I then clamped it tight.

Then I flipped it up to expose the #7 holes I just drilled. I don’t have a picture, kind of difficult to take. But I then put the #7 bit in my hand drill and drilled “marks” using the holes in the angle iron as a template. I drilled just enough to see the location I needed to drill. You can see the “mark” here:
Back on the drill press and drilled the marks out with the #7 bit.
I then measured the location of the holes on the saw and marked them on the angle iron.
I then drilled the holes for the rectangle tube out to 5/16” and the holes to mount to the table saw out to 3/8”
I will be using ¼” x 20 bolts to mount the angle to the table so I pulled out my ½” metal countersink and went to work.
Checked every hole to make sure I was at least flush.
Test Fit. SWEET!!!
While I have it mounted, I mark the miter slots. I then put it back on the table.
I then use a combination of drill press, jig saw and Dremel to cut out and clean up the slots.
I am going to build an extension table and out feed so I need angle iron for the back of the saw as well. I have extra 2” x 3” angle lying around. I clamped the 2 inch side to my already drilled 3” x 3” angle. Using shims I raised it up to be level with my miter slots and used a transfer punch to mark the holes.
I then drilled out 3/8” holes and moved everything out for cleanup. I used 3M abrasive pads to get everything all cleaned up.

I then started to Primer it up. At this point I am into it for about 4 hours. And I mean a Saturday, not a hard core work day. This has turned out to be a lot easier than I thought it would be. The paint and primer is going to take a while to dry in between coats. I will show the paint and mounting in the next post

Here is another link to Ask Woodman’s Video:

On to PART 2

Porter Cable Band Saw PCB330BS riser install using the Jet riser kit.

I have been pretty happy with my Porter Cable band saw so far. I got some new blades for it a Kreg fence, and I built a heavy duty base on wheels. Ever since I got the pecan log milled up, I have been wanting to try milling for my self. I decided to do the Porter Cable Band Saw PCB330BS riser install using the Jet riser kit.
I got the kit in the mail and opened it up. Comes with everything you need. I dont mind the cheap blade that comes with it. It works just fine to test everything out and get everything aligned.
First thing is to remove the upper part of the saw. To do this you will need a 26mm and a 1 inch wrench. My crescent wrench would not fit, to big. I dont know about you, but those are pretty large wrenches and I did not have them laying around. The 26 mm was a little tricky for me to find.
got it separated
Next I made a template of the top section so I would know exactly where to drill the holes on the bottom of the extension.
I put the template on the bottom of the Jet riser kit and marked the holes.
I then drilled them out with a 5/16 bit.
Test fit looks good!
I then created the template for the top
 Then I drilled the holes in the top of the band saw. It is the only modification I made to the saw itself.
Did another test fit, everything fit great. Painted everything black to match the Porter Cable PCB330BS.
Put the Jet Riser block in place and snugged everything up.
  At this point, I am thinking I am just about done. Couple more small things and done! Nope!
I try and put the new blade guard on, not even at all, It is so far off that I cant even get the mounting screws in. I pull out the Dremel and shave off the nipples on both ends.
Still does not fit, I end up using my Dremel to cut a piece of the upper arm cover away.
Now it fits and both the upper and lower doors close properly.
On to the next challenge, the upper guide bar. If you have been to other sites this is where you need to watch out for a small bearing and spring. They will pop out when you remove the existing guide bar.
Putting it back wont be a problem. You can slide everything back in through the top hole.
Well, it turns out that the new Jet upper bar guide is a little to thick. I want to keep all modification to the Riser kit just in case I want to remove it. So, I sand down the bar and polish it up until it slides freely.
But we are not finished with the guide post yet, turns out that the guide post seat is even smaller. Back to the Dremel! I grind down the bottom of the post until it fits. Sorry for the bad shot.
The guide post blade guard needs to be modified as well. The one you get it straight, it needs to have the half circle cut into it like the original. If you are keeping up, every major piece except the blade has been modified.
Here is a shot of everything put together
This modification is not for the faint of heart, it had me modifying more than I expected. I know that the Jet 6 inch riser kit was not intended for the Porter Cable PCB330BS, but is it really the best kit for the job? I don’t know. The 14 inch table saw is a great table saw. If I would have know that I wanted to do an extension, I would have looked more closely at the Grizzly band saws. To bad Porter Cable does not make an extension.

In the beginning, there was a Pecan Tree

I contacted the folks I got the pecan log from.They are nice enough to share some photos and a GREAT story on how this almost 100 year old pecan tree became the log that we struggled to get into my trailer.

In their own words:

“The first two pictures are the first time the tree fell in May of 2011. It covered over 90% of the house. We were in the process of remodeling the house. The tree gifted us a new metal roof and a whole lot more construction. This was also right before my daughters birthday, which we promptly moved to a friends house. My wife called me at work and said, “hurry home, a branch fell on the house…” I didn’t understand how bad it could be since it was just a “branch”. When i got home I said, honey, that is a tree, not even close to just a branch!
I wish I had a picture, but at the base of the tree there is a water spigot that the tree grew around. Little did we know that the pipe was active and at one point there was a “spring” flowing out of the top of the tree where the two large branches split. The squirrels were drinking out of it. We promptly got a plumber out to cut off the pipe! But this led to the trees demise.”
Pecan tree fallen across the roof of the house in 2011

Fallen pecan tree covering most of the house roof

Large pecan tree branches after falling on the house
Pecan tree trunk and branches down across the property
Pecan log sections cut from the fallen tree
Thank you again for letting me share the story.  I believe what we picked up was the log on the far right of the photo.

Shop Dust Collector – Harbor Freight 2HP Collector

I picked up the very popular Harbor Freight 2 Horse Power Dust Collector for about $150.00 bucks. I think Wood magazine usually has the coupon in it.

Harbor Freight 2 Horse Power Dust Collector, freshly unboxed

I am not the original designer of this modification, you probably ran across a few others before you got to this site. This is just my implementation. After unpacking, the first thing I did was paint it up.

Painted Harbor Freight dust collector with the impeller intake guard cut out

As you can see in the picture above, I cut out the guard in the impeller intake. I read in several places that they had issues with it getting plugged and I did not want to take it apart latter. I will be using a cyclone as well, but that will be a separate post.

Wynn Environmental 35A Series Cartridge Kit installed on the dust collector base

I put the base together and added the new Wynn Environmental35A Series Cartridge Kit

Dust collector motor and impeller housing mounted on plywood with vibration damping mounts

Then I mounted the motor and the impeller housing on a piece of plywood mounted to the wall. I also used vibration damping mounts I got from McMaster.

Dust collector mounting holes lined up on the wall-mounted plywood

When mounting it up, I made sure the holes lined up.

5 inch hose sealing the dust collector housing

Sealed it up by cutting a piece of the 5 inch hose that came with the dust collector

Harbor Freight 2 Horse Power Dust Collector fully assembled and tested

Here is a shot of the Harbor Freight 2 Horse Power Dust Collector all assembled and tested. The gaping whole will be filled with a Thein Cyclone, I will cover that in another post.

Finished dust collector setup with the gap left open for a future Thein cyclone

Zero Clearance Porter Cable Table Saw Inserts

Here is what I did to make table saw zero clearance inserts for my Porter Cable PCB270TS
First I cut some scrap ½ inch plywood to the same basic dimensions as the factory insert. Using small screws attached the insert to the wood:
Plywood blank cut to the same dimensions as the factory table saw insert, temporarily screwed together
I then trimmed the corners and using my router table and the factory insert as a guide, cleaned up the ½ inch plywood to have the same outside dimensions as the factory insert.
Trimming the plywood insert blank on the router table using the factory insert as a guide
I then made a template to mark the leveling screw holes. I drilled the holes from the top, if there is any tear out it will be on the bottom.
Leveling screw holes marked and drilled into the plywood zero-clearance insert blank
I then routed out about 3/8 inch material from the bottom leaving about 1/8 for the top. I used the factory insert as a template, so It is not exact. I went about 3/8 inch in around the ends and ¾ inch in from the sides.
Underside of the insert routed out to leave a thin top layer, using the factory insert as a template
This is not necessary, but I put on a coat of schlack and sand down.
Zero-clearance insert after a coat of shellac finish and sanding
I lowered my blade all the way down, inserted the insert, placed the fence over it and slowly raised the blade slowly until it was completely raised and through the insert. I had to use a 7 ¼ inch blade and then a 10 inch. The 10 inch would not lower enough to allow the insert to seat. Make sure your blade will not hit the fence when it comes up.
Table saw blade slowly raised through the new plywood insert to self-cut its kerf
I like the knife behind the blade. So using a ¼ inch bit, the smallest I have. I drilled out an area long enough for the knife.
Clearance slot routed into the insert for the table saw's riving knife
And there you have it:
Finished shop-made zero-clearance insert installed in the Porter Cable table saw

Bowl Blanks Part 4 – Sealing the ends

Last night I went ahead and put 1 coat of Anchor seal on the edges of the blanks. I put the second coat on this morning. I must have done a good job on the first coat, the second coat beaded up quite a bit.

Freshly cut wood bowl blanks with a coat of green Anchor Seal wax applied to the end grain
Second coat of Anchor Seal beading up on the sealed end grain of a wood blank

So far I am pretty happy with Anchor Seal. I still have a little left in the quart I purchased. I put 3 coats on both ends of the log and I am on the second coat of the blanks. I got it for $16.00, it is a bit more than the Latex Exterior paint I saw at WalMart. The only slight concern I have is the heat, I dont think it will be an issue but I will let you know.

Bowl Blanks Part 3 – The Borax treatment

To protect my freshly cut pecan bowl blanks and other blanks that are not bowls from bugs, I created a Borax solution loosely based on this article. I created a mixture of 1 pound 14 ounces 20 Mule Team Borax and 3 gallons of warm water.

Bucket of Borax solution mixed for treating freshly cut pecan bowl blanks against bugs

I then dipped the blanks in the solution, pulled them out and let the excess drip back into the bucket.

Pecan bowl blank being dipped into the Borax solution, letting the excess drip back into the bucket
I then set the blanks on some metal racks that I have to continue drying. Later tonight or tommorow I will Anchor Seal the end grain.
Borax-treated pecan bowl blanks set on metal racks to continue drying