A clever trenching trick with the Kapex
- Thread starter ChuckM
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Cheese
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Duckler said:
Radial arm saws are the charm for this task. 40-60 years ago when alternative machining methods were limited, producing dados with a RA saw was easy peasy and it was considered to be a normal function for the saw. Unfortunately, that's also the reason I haven't yet jettisoned my RA saw as I "just may need it in the future", even though I haven't turned it on for almost 15 years. [eek]
They take up a lot of real estate. [sad]
In the video in the opening post, what did he spray onto the back of the MDF molding? Water?
You can pick up a used Craftsman radial arm saw for under $100.00.
Once you adjust the bearings for the overhead arm, you are good to go.
For cuts under 16” in length or dadoes of that same length, it is an excellent choice. Much better, in my opinion, than a router mounted on a track (with a negative hook angle dado head only).
If you have the bearings properly adjusted and use only blades with a negative hook angle, it is a relatively safe tool.
I have two dado head sets. One with a positive hook angle that I used with my table saw before I got my radial arm saw. The second one with a negative hook angle that I purchased to use on the radial arm saw.
Once I got the negative hook angle set, I never used the original dado set. The negative hook angle dado set makes much cleaner cuts in plywood and melamine clad particle board and cuts almost as fast. A better fit for me.
I’ve been moving away from dadoes since I learned that the joint alone does not add much or any structural strength for racking (side to side movement). Dowels, Dominoes, and tenons do much better. I mostly use dadoes for back panels on cabinets and for wall-mounted cabinets where the wall provides the racking strength.
On the old Norm Abrams TV series he had a big old Delta (???) radial arm saw which he used frequently, but I don’t recall seeing him use it with a dado set.
You can pick up a used Craftsman radial arm saw for under $100.00.
Once you adjust the bearings for the overhead arm, you are good to go.
For cuts under 16” in length or dadoes of that same length, it is an excellent choice. Much better, in my opinion, than a router mounted on a track (with a negative hook angle dado head only).
If you have the bearings properly adjusted and use only blades with a negative hook angle, it is a relatively safe tool.
I have two dado head sets. One with a positive hook angle that I used with my table saw before I got my radial arm saw. The second one with a negative hook angle that I purchased to use on the radial arm saw.
Once I got the negative hook angle set, I never used the original dado set. The negative hook angle dado set makes much cleaner cuts in plywood and melamine clad particle board and cuts almost as fast. A better fit for me.
I’ve been moving away from dadoes since I learned that the joint alone does not add much or any structural strength for racking (side to side movement). Dowels, Dominoes, and tenons do much better. I mostly use dadoes for back panels on cabinets and for wall-mounted cabinets where the wall provides the racking strength.
On the old Norm Abrams TV series he had a big old Delta (???) radial arm saw which he used frequently, but I don’t recall seeing him use it with a dado set.
tsmi243 said:
Yeah. He was not sliding because sliding wouldn't make a difference in the result but chopping was faster.
The main difference between his cutting and a regular dado/trench cutting on the Kapex is that the board was placed directly against the fence to create "arc or curve" cuts, not against a spacer block that would be added to the fence when cutting dadoes.
GoingMyWay
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Packard said:
Norm used a dado in his radial arm saw in Season 1 Episode 2 of The New Yankee Workshop at the 4:13 mark:
I met Norm Abrams at a International Hardware Show in Chicago. That would have been about 30 or 35 years ago. He was hired to help out at (I think) the DeWalt booth. They had just introduced their version of the Contractors II table saw.
Abrams was every bit as nice a guy in person as he appeared in his TV Show.
I have mentioned this in another thread that he was showing a colonial style laptop dest done in pine. I had asked him how he dealt this splotching on the stain with pine. He said he used Minwax’s Polyshades on pine, maple and birch.
He said the Polyshades makes the wood darker with each application. He applies Polyshades until he gets the tone he wants and then if more poly is called for, he continues with clear.
Abrams was every bit as nice a guy in person as he appeared in his TV Show.
I have mentioned this in another thread that he was showing a colonial style laptop dest done in pine. I had asked him how he dealt this splotching on the stain with pine. He said he used Minwax’s Polyshades on pine, maple and birch.
He said the Polyshades makes the wood darker with each application. He applies Polyshades until he gets the tone he wants and then if more poly is called for, he continues with clear.
