# I LIKE MY FINGERS



## Lonn (Aug 7, 2011)

I’m new to this forum and relatively new to pen turning. I turned a couple of hundred pens and made all the mistakes possible before I found you folks. Once in an earlier life I was a master cabinetmaker, then converted to become a master wood turner and yes I have all my fingers, but cutting these 3/4 to 1 inch square blanks  into short lengths to become top and bottom sections of pens can become a  dangerous ordeal  using standard size shop wood sawing machines . Big table saws, big band saws and chop saws can take off 5 fingers at once (your hand).  Small 4 inch table saws, scroll saws, jig saws and band saws take fingers from us one at a time. I realize PSI has a small 1 inch chop saw that should perform well to cut 3/4 square blank to say 5 inches long (that’s is basically squaring up both ends) but to separate the pen top section from the bottom section involves unavoidable risks or clamp modification to their saw that might be beyond the skill level of the typical pen turner. 
I took a different approach. Procured a 6 inch medal chop saw from Harbor Freight $34.95.  http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=chicago+saws   and an appropriate modifiable 5 3/8 inch Delta 24 tooth carbide tipped blade from Lowes for $18.95. The only operation you must perform is to enlarge the arbor hole from factory 10 mm to a useable 5/8 of an inch hole diameter. This can be easily accomplished centering the blade on your drill press using your pen 10 mm drill, leave the blade in the factory shrink wrapper with its cardboard side against the metal drill press table and clamp it on each side with secure clamps then switch the 10 mm drill bit to a good quality 5/8 inch metal drill bit and proceed at a drill rotation speed of about 250 RPM’S to resize the factory 10mm arbor hole to become a  5/8 inch arbor hole.  Install the blade and your saw is ready to use. It will produce a very smooth accurate cut while the wood is held with a metal screw vise. This saw turns at 9000 no load RPM’s (Caution DO NOT use inexpensive Harbor freight blades that are rated for speeds only up to 6,000 RPM’s).
I made two additions modifications to my saw in that I taped a ¼ inch dowel onto the first foot or so of the cord to prevent somehow clipping the cord (alternate method would be to power this saw via a GFCI style outlet). I know harbor freight  thinks  this machine is OK not being grounded since it has  an emery blade and a plastic motor frame, I differ  because the base frame is metal and if that ungrounded cord gets clipped an unpleasant experience will occur. The second addition was to use carpet two sided tape to glue a pen blank on the back side of the metal fence in such a position to touch the blade and serve as an indication of exactly where the bade is to pass through the wood. The reason for the two sided tap is that I may want to remove the blank occasionally to cut precise angles with this saw. 
I hope the pictures help.


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## Lonn (Aug 7, 2011)

*CORRECTION*

*The blade from lowe's is a Dewalt.* sorry i didn't closely proof read the post not that it makes a tremendous difference because to my knowledge Dewalt is the only manufacture of a 5 3/8 inch blade with 10 mm arbor . lONN


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## Old Lar (Aug 7, 2011)

Thanks for the information.  I have been looking for a small saw in case some day I may retire and leave SD in the winter for warmer climates.  This looks to be the deal.


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## Daniel (Aug 7, 2011)

Thanks Lonn, Cutting tiny pieces of wood with big saws has become my number one concern. Not only for myself but for turners in general. It can be done but requires making things for your saws that can easily not work well by the trial and error method. Mistakes are not really acceptable considering the consequences that they could have. I am rather fond of my fingers as well. that is why I keep them at arms reach.

In my first year of penturning I got into the "Find my own wood" thing. I cut up a lot of odd shaped logs and other pieces of wood but always knew my fingers where far to close to the blade as pieces got closer to pen blank size. heck far to often the cuts where clumbsy and out of control even for larger pieces of wood. It got so bad I foudn myself waking from my sleep with the thought that I had finally cut my hand off. I knew it was not a question of if, but when.

I have since given up finding cheap wood and buy my blanks from those that have the equipment to make them. I also have jigs and such for cutting even those. I have not had a sweaty palm moment for a very long time now. I still want to thank you for posting a bold comment as well as a solution to this problem. It has become more and more popular to do more and more complicated cuts on these pieces as well. as the cuts get more intricate the threat of mistakes are increased. Be careful folks.


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## Drstrangefart (Aug 7, 2011)

NEAT!!!! Dad was really on board with safety when showing me the ins and outs of cutting small blanks on large saws. Disposable push sticks work for me. I like using a pair of paint stirrers to feed stuff into the bandsaw.


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## Lonn (Aug 7, 2011)

Drstrangefart said:


> NEAT!!!! Dad was really on board with safety when showing me the ins and outs of cutting small blanks on large saws. Disposable push sticks work for me. I like using a pair of paint stirrers to feed stuff into the band saw.


 

If you use the band saw to cross cut consider using long shaft ice picks as a push and holding device. Then when the sparks fly say thanks its not flesh. The sharp ice pick gives you superior control of the workpiece.


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## DurocShark (Aug 7, 2011)

Small sleds for the table saw are my choice for 99% of my blank work. I also have a small Delta miter saw for repetitive cuts. 

Sled (it's been replaced several times now...): http://blog.woodscrub.info/2008/05/small-crosscut-sled.html

Miter saw: http://blog.woodscrub.info/2010/02/delta-8-14-compound-miter-saw.html


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## Drstrangefart (Aug 7, 2011)

Lonn said:


> Drstrangefart said:
> 
> 
> > NEAT!!!! Dad was really on board with safety when showing me the ins and outs of cutting small blanks on large saws. Disposable push sticks work for me. I like using a pair of paint stirrers to feed stuff into the band saw.
> ...



I might have to look into that. I also build jigs to hold most pieces I need to cut, so free-cutting is reserved mostly for making logs into blanks.


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## KenV (Aug 7, 2011)

Looks like a good adaptation --   Add a zero clearance plate on the bottom and it probably will do very very well for all kinds of square cuts.  

Tis the angled cuts where the chop box - sliding miter saw or sleds come into play.  The segmented turners use jigs and holddowns.   Pencil erasers being one - as noted above, awls being another.   Brass points are also easy to fabricate.

You are right on -- keep the fingers attached!!!!


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## Lonn (Aug 7, 2011)

KenV said:


> Looks like a good adaptation -- Add a zero clearance plate on the bottom and it probably will do very very well for all kinds of square cuts.
> 
> Tis the angled cuts where the chop box - sliding miter saw or sleds come into play. The segmented turners use jigs and holddowns. Pencil erasers being one - as noted above, awls being another. Brass points are also easy to fabricate.
> 
> You are right on -- keep the fingers attached!!!!


 
This little saw has a decent adjustable mitre degree indicator on the rear of the fence that works well just need to shorten an allen wrench and glue in into the hex head of the screw.


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## fernhills (Aug 7, 2011)

If you use a BS, make a sliding cross cut fence, turns your BS into a very accurate machine with your hands well away from the blade. Very simple to make, gets beat up, chuck it, make another.  Carl


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## Drstrangefart (Aug 7, 2011)

One thing occurred to me just now. I was gonna get a small saw like that, and I was warned before I bought it that those things have a habit of grabbing blanks and flinging them at you with considerable force. I skipped buying it, so can't attest from firsthand experience, just thought I'd pass it along.


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## DurocShark (Aug 7, 2011)

I heard that as well... Easily solved by using clamps to hold the blank in place. 

Wooden screw clamps or heavy duty spring clamps will work fine. I use both with my 8" miter saw, but they should work just as well with a 4" saw.


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## Carl Fisher (Aug 7, 2011)

Nice upgrade to a small chop saw like that.

I personally made a sled for the bandsaw.  If I turn the sled one direction and clamp it in place, it's a perfect fence for ripping blanks to size.  Turn the other way to cross cut the blanks to size.  Fingers stay plenty clear of the blade.

The next version I make will have interchangeable spacers for the different pen kit sizes.


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## Lonn (Aug 7, 2011)

Drstrangefart said:


> One thing occurred to me just now. I was gonna get a small saw like that, and I was warned before I bought it that those things have a habit of grabbing blanks and flinging them at you with considerable force. I skipped buying it, so can't attest from firsthand experience, just thought I'd pass it along.


 

Hey guys, this chop shaw was a metal chop saw so it has a perfect clamp system that hodls even 2 inch pieces secure while the cut is made.


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## eldee (Aug 7, 2011)

Lonn said:


> Drstrangefart said:
> 
> 
> > One thing occurred to me just now. I was gonna get a small saw like that, and I was warned before I bought it that those things have a habit of grabbing blanks and flinging them at you with considerable force. I skipped buying it, so can't attest from firsthand experience, just thought I'd pass it along.
> ...



Lonn, I used that same saw to cut many blanks including some that were segmented (not recommended). I always felt it was pretty agressive and was really rough on acrylic blanks. I often preferred a standard 10" miter. Now I normally use a Proxxon now for normal sized blanks. Hard to get your fingers or shatter a blank with it.


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## Lonn (Aug 7, 2011)

eldee said:


> Lonn said:
> 
> 
> > Drstrangefart said:
> ...


 
Whose blade did you use? I am using this saw to replace a dremel  4inch table saw. The cut is almost as smooth as the dremel ,rpm's about the same but the dewalt has less teeth. The dremel lacked ump and often bogged down and slipped its belt. Using the big 3 hp band saw with 3 teeth per inch that i resaw with is downright dangerous.


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## eldee (Aug 7, 2011)

Lonn said:


> eldee said:
> 
> 
> > Lonn said:
> ...



It was/is an Oldham 24T carbide blade. Perhaps not the best choice.


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## Smitty37 (Aug 7, 2011)

*Bosch*

I got a neat little jig from PSI that clamps to the fence on my Bosch 10 inch mitre saw.  It uses the tube to set the length the blank is cut too and clamps the blank in place while you make the cut.  removes in a couple of seconds if you need the saw for something else.


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## Lonn (Aug 7, 2011)

Smitty37 said:


> I got a neat little jig from PSI that clamps to the fence on my Bosch 10 inch mitre saw. It uses the tube to set the length the blank is cut too and clamps the blank in place while you make the cut. removes in a couple of seconds if you need the saw for something else.


 
Smitty, i looked at that jig. It appears to be a great safety device. Since penturnerss like to sand to exact length i assume one could get long stock tubes and make gauges several thousanths longer than stock tubes. or one could choose a washer thickness as an overage guide and place it on the metal rod permanately so every blank will be a tad longer than the tube that you intend to insert. lonn


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## Smitty37 (Aug 7, 2011)

Lonn said:


> Smitty37 said:
> 
> 
> > I got a neat little jig from PSI that clamps to the fence on my Bosch 10 inch mitre saw. It uses the tube to set the length the blank is cut too and clamps the blank in place while you make the cut. removes in a couple of seconds if you need the saw for something else.
> ...


 I actually set it up to cut the blank about 1/8 or 3/16 longer than the tube, that length is controlled by were you clamp the jig to the fence and I just clamp it a little farther from the blade than exact tube length.  I had a run in with my table saw 4 years ago and I am fortunate to still have all of the fingers on my left hand it took help from God and a darn good surgeon to get them back.


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