First Build - "Lucifer"

[TerribleTim68]

Haha. I saw the comment Rock.

Okay, I got over zealous. Took the router to that cavity to work it down deep enough. So I almost had a major problem. The router just seemed to be fighting me, vibrating and my depth lock wouldn't stay locked. At some point my bit rattled out!
Apparently I either didn't have the Collette tight enough or the shank down in the Collette far enough, I don't know. Bit if freaked me out man!
So I've got some of it that is a thin as 1/8". So I just stopped. It's not nice and smooth but honestly I'm scared to try and smooth it off now. So I just switched gears and started laying out controls and drilling pot shaft holes. So now, we've got this -

Yeah, I got excited and put all the hardware on and strung it up again.
None of the electronics are wired, it's just all "there". I just wanted to look at it.
I can use the holes for everything to make a legit wiring template out of a stiffer piece of cardboard and other than that in gonna hold for a bit to work on other projects, like the generator on my RV.

It does look good in among its brothers -

 

[ctmullins]

Oh. Yep, been there, done that, ruined a few pieces. Lucky you didn’t punch through….

Last time this happened I laid it down level and poured some epoxy in to strengthen and build up thickness again. Worked fine. But then you just had to go and drill holes in it, dincha?

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Quite the collection you got there! The new one fits right in. I had a scary router bit situation like that, still.not sure what I did wrong, and i think I permanently threw the bit out of balance.

 

[RichardW]

praying for you

 

[RichterScale]

Whatever is wrong with me (still haven't had a proper diagnoses other than my new primary doc said I'm an A-hole),..that causes the scatter brains and ADHD-like issues, I believe it also has some benefits (unless it's a completely separate condition). When it comes to things like setting up a tool, I'm obsessive and repetitive. It's part of why projects take so long. I triple double idiot check everything. I don't measure twice. I measure 4-5 times. It's almost like an anxiety type feeling that takes quite a bit of double checking to get to subside long enough to star running the tool. Especially something like a router or table saw. And I'm not new to it either, but I still go through all the motions when I fire one up, like it's my first time. Yes, it's a little miserable to exist this way,.... But I haven't had a major tool-related injury in 30+yrs. And you get used to it. Well you don't have a choice. It's not like you can divorce yourself and move out.
But I'm like that with other things too. I have an obsession with making sure the knobs on the gas stove are off, I can't deal with doors or drawers not closed all the way, little stuff like that.
But when it comes to things like losing an eye, a finger, blowing up your house, or even worse,...destroying your pup route,...it doesn't hurt to be a little nuts. Never take anything for granted.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I’ve gotten pretty OCD myself around tablesaws since my brother lost partial use of his thumb due to a cut tendon. He was just plain lucky he didn’t lose the whole thumb. I’ve dropped a router before which was…… exciting. I always “rehearse” a move before I do it, which won’t save me from a kickback, but I think it helps. Wish I had the spare coin for a Sawstop….

 

[TerribleTim68]

I’ve gotten pretty OCD myself around tablesaws since my brother lost partial use of his thumb due to a cut tendon. He was just plain lucky he didn’t lose the whole thumb. I’ve dropped a router before which was…… exciting. I always “rehearse” a move before I do it, which won’t save me from a kickback, but I think it helps. Wish I had the spare coin for a Sawstop….

SawStops are a funny topic. There's such a divide among the fans vs non-fans. It is amazing technology tho.

 

[RichterScale]

SawStops are a funny topic. There's such a divide among the fans non-fans. It is amazing technology tho.

It's amazing how people can and will argue about literally anything. Especially on the internet.
And let me guess,...99% of the people having these arguments, either for or against, have never seen one, let alone used one.

 

[TerribleTim68]

Oh. Yep, been there, done that, ruined a few pieces. Lucky you didn’t punch through….

....But then you just had to go and drill holes in it, dincha?

Yeah, I know, like I said, over zealous! I just wanted to see it look like a bass! I couldn't help myself!
I think what I'm gonna do is put the fixed base on the router and set the depth right at the spot I'm more comfortable with and go real easy to clean it up some. One thing I was kind of seeing was that the collet was very close to being flush with the base plate, so I'm not sure my bit is actually long enough to get down in there like I needed it to. I dunno, I'm just worried about breaking through. But I also noticed that when I put all the shafts in, those nuts are only on a couple threads at the very best. The Darkglass TC comes with pre-wired pots, so it's not like you can just order long shaft pots or something. It is what it is. I dunno. I'm debating how much I can just live with it like it is.

I can say this, my overall cavity ended up much smaller than I originally thought it would be. I know why, I just kind of overlooked the process of getting there. It has everything to do with sketching out the shape, then offsetting that a bit for the lip for the cover. I should have factored that in to begin with, because I lost some room through that process. It all fit's but it's all a lot tighter than I had imagined. Those knobs are gonna be all right on top of each other, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it is a thing.
I'm still holding on routing the lip, probably won't happen until next week some time at best.
I also need to visit the harbor of freight or the Amazonians of the interwebs because I don't own a soldering iron. That's yet another tool that I didn't own when I started this process, so like the router bit, I'm on hold until I purchase that. But on a good note, when I get to that Diva build I'll already have all this stuff!

 

[Rôckhewer]

It's amazing how people can and will argue about literally anything. Especially on the internet.
And let me guess,...99% of the people having these arguments, either for or against, have never seen one, let alone used one.

I've used one. My old makerspace had one.
*Did it make me feel safer?
Not really. It's still a table saw.
I had a kickback incident at my first woodworking job 30 odd years ago. My left index finger barely grazed the blade... it shredded the tip and took ⅛" off the bone. So... ... yeah. Mad post trauma respect.
...
*Was it a frustrating pain in the butt?
Actually... yes. Sometimes.
For one...I didn't know you couldn't cut Styrofoam insulation sheeting on one.
Got halfway through and the blade dropped...BAM!
I assume it was the static electricity generated by the foam that set off the failsafe. My fingers were well clear.
Cost me about $250 to replace the blade and locking mechanism.

 

[TerribleTim68]

I've used one. My old makerspace had one.
*Did it make me feel safer?
Not really. It's still a table saw.....

Yeah, I mean, I've seen them in action. I've watched the hotdog demo. I'm still not sure why these people try to slice their hotdogs on one, the buns are still full length.
I'm certainly not a hater, for sure. If I had the funds, I'd probably buy one. One more place where you don't lose a digit can't be a bad thing, right? But it does pose the question, do you own a bandsawstop? What about a jointerstop? How about a routertablestop? You see where I'm going. I can see where a sawstop can make one complacent, which could lead to problems on the non "stop" tools. Being hyper aware of where you are placing your pokey parts, in my mind, is the better plan. That damn jointer freaks me out to no end, even with the guard on it. My boss is missing half his pointer finger because of a jointer. Every time I turn it on I get super nervous.

 

[RichterScale]

Well, I don't have much of an opinion on the saw stop, but if I had to pick a side for the sake of argument, I'd have to vote against.
If for no other reason just because it adds to this trend of idiot proofing everything, which just lends itself to perpetuating the overpopulation of humans on this planet.
If you look at what happened to the environment when wolves were hunted to extinction in the US, the elk became over populated, which destroyed the habitat, ecosystems and increased disease and starvation among the elk, not to mention the other creatures affected by the decimated ecology.
That's why I say,...stop making cars that drive themselves and won't let you get in an accident, don't make tools that won't let you cut a finger off if you're careless,.....and bring back a predator, like the T-rex or something. Help keep the numbers in check and keep the ecosystem healthy.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

The Sawstop guy is supposedly working on the same tech for other tools, but I haven't seen anything come to market. I don't consider a bandsaw particularly dangerous, it can give you a hell of a cut, but not draw your whole hand into the blade in a microsecond. The other tool that scares the sh*t out of me is the Jointer, and that seems like it could be adapted with Sawstop tech pretty easily. In my Brother's case, he teaches set design and construction at a small City College. The cost of his anesthesia alone was three times what a brand new Sawstop cabinet saw costs. He was out of work for a couple months (with full salary under workman's comp) and god knows what the medical bill was in total, including months of rehab. His school bought (3) sawstops immediately. It's a no-brainer for institutions that would otherwise be open to liability from an injured employee. "Your honor, my client was horribly injured by an obsolete tablesaw, when the Administration KNEW that better safety technology was available! And Furthermore......."

So what's my excuse? I don't have one. Inertia? Cheapskatery? I guess you weigh risks all day every day, but most tablesaws are inherently hideously dangerous in a way that's kind of unique for mass-produced products, with jointers a close second, though I guess that's debateable.

 

[John_Nicholas]

Okay, here's my lousy opinion thrown into the ring... ideally everyone should own a sawstop. The trouble is, if you're like me (super cheap and broke most of the time) it doesn't make financial sense.

Especially since I use the table saw so rarely. What I have done is to build a table saw sled and use that 99.8 percent of the time. I use clamps whenever possible, keep my distance as much as I can and treat every single tool I use with complete and utter respect.

If I'm tired or spaced out? Do NOT even think about using any of those dangerous tools.

Honestly, they all scare the crap out of me, so I remain hyper aware of every thing when using these tools. And go slow, take your time... accidents do and will happen, try to make sure they are ones you can laugh about once you change your underwear.

 

[RichterScale]

I think maybe one of the reasons I'm so anal and careful when using the table saw is that I use it often enough to be familiar with it and somewhat comfortable, but not often enough to get very comfortable or complacent. I can see how if I used one almost daily, I might get a little too comfy with it, like anything else.
I bought a small Ryobi with the cheap legs, for work around the house. The motor has no ramp up or brake. You flip the switch and it's instant full speed. The whole thing jerks from the torque. I'm not too concerned with using it, as much as I am with turning it on. I feel like the thing is gonna explode one of these days and lodge the blade in my head.
And with my luck, I'd live.

 

[TerribleTim68]

I think maybe one of the reasons I'm so anal and careful when using the table saw is that I use it often enough to be familiar with it and somewhat comfortable, but not often enough to get very comfortable or complacent. I can see how if I used one almost daily, I might get a little too comfy with it, like anything else.
I bought a small Ryobi with the cheap legs, for work around the house. The motor has no ramp up or brake. You flip the switch and it's instant full speed. The whole thing jerks from the torque. I'm not too concerned with using it, as much as I am with turning it on. I feel like the thing is gonna explode one of these days and lodge the blade in my head.
And with my luck, I'd live.

Wow, the lack of a ramp up or brake would freak me out. I've seen videos where the blade can become loosened due to the saw stopping too quickly too.

 

[RichterScale]

If I'm tired or spaced out? Do NOT even think about using any of those dangerous tools.

I was gonna say the exact same thing.
And I do that a lot more as I get older. I feel like I got away with a few in my younger days. I don't chance it now. Even if it's something non dangerous, I tend to walk away more often now, so I don't screw something up. If I do something while tired or just out of it, it's pretty much guaranteed that I'll make a mistake. Translate that to a dangerous power tool and it's not something you can redo or sand out the next day. The next best thing to a saw stop is discretion.

 

[RichterScale]

Wow, the lack of a ramp up or brake would freak me out. I've seen videos where the blade can become loosened due to the saw stopping too quickly too.

Yeah, I don't use it often. We have the same saw, just the older model at work and I'll use that one first if I can. That one has a slight ramp up.
I plan to buy a nice saw and build it into a bench, whenever we get into the new house,.... And then whenever I get the funds, time and energy to build a pole barn/garage/shop. I'm guessing I'll just save the motor from the little cheap saw for, who knows.

 

[RichterScale]

I don't remember who mentioned it, but I really like that idea of filling the bottom of the pup holes with epoxy to level them off, if you've gone too deep or made them uneven.
If you have the bass perfectly level, you might not have to route them again. Just add enough to self level at the correct height.
Clever.

 

[dwizum]

I don't remember who mentioned it, but I really like that idea of filling the bottom of the pup holes with epoxy to level them off, if you've gone too deep or made them uneven.
If you have the bass perfectly level, you might not have to route them again. Just add enough to self level at the correct height.
Clever.

In my last hobby life I did a lot of composites work and would routinely do pours like that. If the piece already had holes in it, I'd use a rubber plug in the hole, or a well waxed tapered wood dowel if we didn't have a plug in the right size.