Cutting Some Edge Chamfers with my TS75 Track Saw

[butzla]

I'm currently making 4 end tables for my mantown/office.  I'm making them out of salvaged red oak 1" thick, 12" wide, 12' long.  When i glued up the table tops, each one took from 45-60 minutes to sand flush to 120g using my RO150 sander.  This stuff is tough as nails.  I knew when it came time to route a profile on the edges, it would take me 3-4 passes to reach the desired depth.  Multiply that by 4 tops and I'm to it for another 2 hours plus.  Tedious and boring.  Not to mention the mess I'd make with a big chamfer bit.  I was feeling too lazy to make a jig for the table saw so I thought I give the track saw a try. 

I started by overhanging the track over the table top by 1/4" using a small combo square.

Then marked the back edge of the track where I measured 1/4" overhang

Then adjust a 12" combo square to that mark and transfer the line all the way around the top with the square

Now I can drop the back of the track on the pencil lines, clamp and make the cuts.  Edit: I tipped the saw to 45 degrees for this cut

The resulting chamfer is pretty gall darn accurate.  Any discrepancies I can tidy up with a block plane.  Overall, I'm pretty happy and once I had the lines drawn, the cuts took all but 30 minutes.  It's always fun to try something new with a familiar tool.

 

[FestitaMakool]

Clever use of the TS.. [smile]
Nice work, I like the table, looks very good!
Kind of Scandinavian style..

You know what you’re doing.. [wink]

 

[TSO_Products]

@JimKirkpatrick - it's very distracting when your very nice table is posed on your Benchcrafted ROUBO bench!

Your illustration of the chamfering approach is a great addition to Track-Saw-Tips-and- Tricks - thanks for sharing your nifty "how-to" !

Hans

PS: what is the letter carving on the ROUBO? - couldn't quite read it.

 

[Sparktrician]

PS: what is the letter carving on the ROUBO? - couldn't quite read it.

"J. P. Kirkpatrick"  [smile]

 

[FestitaMakool]

PS: what is the letter carving on the ROUBO? - couldn't quite read it.

"J. P. Kirkpatrick"  [smile]

Attention to details.. I noticed too. On such a nice workbench, yes - it’s yours forever.  [smile]

 

[butzla]

@JimKirkpatrick - it's very distracting when your very nice table is posed on your Benchcrafted ROUBO bench!

Your illustration of the chamfering approach is a great addition to Track-Saw-Tips-and- Tricks - thanks for sharing your nifty "how-to" !

Hans

PS: what is the letter carving on the ROUBO? - couldn't quite read it.

Thanks guys.  I always appreciate when people post good ideas here so just trying to pay it back even though I often think my "great ideas" are very obvious to everyone else..  The Roubo bench is sublime.  It's the ultimate MFT.  I can't recommend it enough.  Hard to believe it's been 10 years.  Here's a link to a post on the build thread RE: the letters:
http://www.talkfestool.com/vb/woodworking-projects/3068-benchcrafted-split-top-roubo-bench-build-13.html#post49189

 

[goulwen]

wow.  such a clean work and a nice result! bravo!

 

[FestitaMakool]

The “obvious” is very often not so obvious as one might think.
Most people with a router would jump on using that first..

As for perfection.. I tend to look for signs of “hand made” when looking to buy (or admire) used old furniture. These signs can be small “imperfections” maybe not visible to anyone other than those with a trained eye. The more perfect, the more likely it is mass produced. So, leave “a mark”  [wink]

 

[butzla]

The “obvious” is very often not so obvious as one might think.
Most people with a router would jump on using that first..

As for perfection.. I tend to look for signs of “hand made” when looking to buy (or admire) used old furniture. These signs can be small “imperfections” maybe not visible to anyone other than those with a trained eye. The more perfect, the more likely it is mass produced. So, leave “a mark”  [wink]

Oh believe you me, there's plenty of "marks"!

 

[FestitaMakool]

The “obvious” is very often not so obvious as one might think.
Most people with a router would jump on using that first..

As for perfection.. I tend to look for signs of “hand made” when looking to buy (or admire) used old furniture. These signs can be small “imperfections” maybe not visible to anyone other than those with a trained eye. The more perfect, the more likely it is mass produced. So, leave “a mark”  [wink]

Oh believe you me, there's plenty of "marks"!

Good, then it’s (or all of them) a “one-off”!

Seriously, it looks great!

 

[butzla]

As for perfection.. I tend to look for signs of “hand made” when looking to buy (or admire) used old furniture. These signs can be small “imperfections” maybe not visible to anyone other than those with a trained eye. The more perfect, the more likely it is mass produced. So, leave “a mark”  [wink]

In keeping with leaving some "marks" on my tables, spent some time plugging some old screw holes this morning.  This wood was once old library shelving so lots of bracket screw holes.  Since they're just for my mantown I wanted these tables to look kind of rough.  I didn't spend so much time matching grain and weeding out parts that have screw holes in them.  I was planning on making some fancy butterfly dutchmen for the holes but there was just too many so I went with 1/2" plugs.  I didn't count but there's lees than 10 combined in the aprons and tops.

I cut some plugs in various shades of scrap cut-offs on the drill press and released them on the bandsaw

I made a lot more than I needed so I have a good selection of colors and grain patterns to choose from. 

After the glue dried I used my flush trim saw and followed up with my chisel plane and finally a light pass with my RO150 with 180 grit paper.

Even before I sanded it all but disappeared.  The picture on the right is after sanding.  I think once I apply some finish they will stand out more.  Not all the plugs came out this good.  Adds character that you were referring too...."Marks".

 

[mike_aa]

Hi [member=3220]Jim Kirkpatrick[/member]

A little late to comment, but those are really nice.  I especially like the overall lines of the pieces with the tapered legs and chamfered tops.  They look light and airy.

I did have a question or two.  What angle degree did you use for the chamfer and which plug cutter bits?

Thanks for sharing your great work!

Mike A.

 

[butzla]

@mike_aa
Thanks I used a 45 degree on the chamfer and 1/2" hole plug.  I tried using a 1/4" hole but the Brad point of the drill bit kept wandering into the screw holes and made a mess of the hole shape.  It's key to use a good drill bit with a sharp Brad point for a perfect circle. I use Colt Brad point bits with a double spiral.  The plug cutters are cheap General brand.  They work well enough.  Thanks I should have included that in the post I'll edit and insert the info in there

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[FestitaMakool]

..Still looks great. You have some fine techniques, freeing the plugs on the band saw, I wouldn’t thought of that.
Makes me want a band saw!
(I have eyeballed the smallest Metabo, the BAS 261 Precision. It’s small, but a quality saw. And the most I can accommodate in space for now. And it’s only about $259,- sooo, that’s only a little more than a couple of Festool saw blades [blink])

Actually, I have used screws to hold a bed frame, then plugged the recessed screw holes - without gluing the plugs. That way it’s easy to dig the pugs out and dismantle the whatever furniture if needed for moving. It did hold up well in my instance.

 

[butzla]

..Still looks great. You have some fine techniques, freeing the plugs on the band saw, I wouldn’t thought of that.
Makes me want a band saw!
(I have eyeballed the smallest Metabo, the BAS 261 Precision. It’s small, but a quality saw. And the most I can accommodate in space for now. And it’s only about $259,- sooo, that’s only a little more than a couple of Festool saw blades [blink])

Actually, I have used screws to hold a bed frame, then plugged the recessed screw holes - without gluing the plugs. That way it’s easy to dig the pugs out and dismantle the whatever furniture if needed for moving. It did hold up well in my instance.

You don't necessarily need a bandsaw, a tablesaw would suffice.  Though I would suggest running a piece of painters tape over the plugs on the outside of the blade to keep them from spraying all over the place.

 

[FestitaMakool]

Yeah, tape would be another good tip.
- You see, although I’ve done and learned quite a lot.. It’s still room for more!
Learn from skilled and creative people, there’s always something new technique to pick up. Some have said to me, “boy, you know a lot”, and I’d say maybe, but there’s always new things to learn, and new/other ways of doing things.

So; keep it coming [big grin]
(Soon I’m going to learn about exchanging linear ball bearings)