NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1983, No. 43, $3.50 Making ... - Wood Tools

Notes and Connnent (continued)
2x2 turning square was an exercise in
patience, requiring raising the blade a
little at a time on a series of passes. I
developed great reflexes for turning off
the motor before the overload could.
When you woodwork for a living, you
quickly grow impatient with processes
that eat up shop time without bringing a
return. I started looking for a better saw.
When I explained my needs, the
salesman extolled the virtues of the
Rockwell Unisaw, until he came to the
price-$ 1800. I gasped, and he switched
to the virtues of the Rockwell contractor's
saw almost without taking a
breath. It had the same bearings and
ttunnion as the Unisaw, came with an
honest l�-HP motor, and had a rackand-pinion
fence. Although it cost
$1,000 less, he carefully explained, it
was no less a saw. Of course, it had
stamped table extensions instead of the
Unisaw's cast ones, and a flimsier base,
but I could live with that.
When the saw arrived, I put aside an
afternoon for the set-up and adjustmentS,
and I gOt a pleasant surprise. There were
no adjustments to make-900 was truly
900, 450 was 450, the blade was parallel
to the table grooves, and the fence
was parallel to the blade. The miter
gauge fit neatly on both sides. The saw
saved me $40 worth of production time
the first day, just by coming from the factory
in working order. Once, the pulley
wandered off the arbor, and the plastic
adjustment wheel eventually stripped its
slot, and I admit that I blow the overload
once in a while, but it's my fault,
not the saw's. The saw has enough power
that I now can appreciate the efficiency
of special-purpose blades. With the old
Sears saw, nothing seemed to make a
difference. It either cut or didn't, at its
own whim
full
and speed. Now my Winchester
ten-tooth rip blade eats up walnut
to blade height, a Freud thinrim
veneer blade cuts without leaving a
tooth mark, and I get glue joints I can
St. Louis showstopper
John Noel of Kansas City, Mo., won
top prize in the table category for his
koa table desk (30 in. by 30 in. by
60 in.) at the First Annual Midwest
Wood Furniture Show and Competition
during June. The event, featuring 37
pieces by 27 makers, was co-sponsored
by Hibdon Hardwoods and the Craft
Alliance, and was open to woodworkers
living within 300 miles of St. Louis.
104
to count on directly from a combination
blade. By now I've spent more on carbide
than I did on the machine itself.
I eventually sold the Sears saw a
man who came in one Saturday wanting
me to make him a cherry display case.
He was in a hurry, and he hung around
while I did the job. Like a lot of other
people, he'd apparently never had the
emotional kick that comes when you
first realize how furniture comes from
trees. He got hooked on woodworking
in about 20 minutes. He gave me
$225, about two-thirds what the saw
cost new, and I gave him a year's guarantee.
We both made a good deal-the
Sears saw, while inadequate for my current
needs, would last him forever.
Will I step up again, or stick with my
Rockwell? I've been looking at the
Swiss-made Inca, which costs about as
much as a Unisaw. But for a picture
framer, who rips a lot of shallow rabbets
into moldings, the Inca just plain won't
work-you can't retract a lO-in. blade
low enough. At full-bottom it still
stands about an inch above the table.
Over the past year I've also had access
to an older, heavy-duty Wadkin. If
my Rockwell saw is like a pickup truck,
the Wadkin is a tractor trailer, and JUSt
as unforgiving of bad manners. I soon
found out that it tears great chunks out
of ill-fed boards, and that its big motor
doesn't stall if a board binds. It sure
CUts wood, but it takes some getting
used to. Kickback, for instance, a relatively
minor problem on a weaker saw,
is a real hazard. If I were a full-time
framer again-and could afford the
price-I'd still have to think twice about
its "advantages." Having a 5-HP tablesaw
in your shop might be like feeding
crocodiles to your pet goldfish. You'd
better have a pretty big goldfish.
One last word: Although I'm resisting
stepping up to a better saw, I have
to admit that I've never once wanted to
step down. -Jim Cummins
One gallery tells
what it can sell
by Judy Coady
There aren't enough foyers in America
to house all the hall tables built by contemporary
furnituremakers. On the other
hand, there is a real shortage of wallmounted
mirrors for the Me Generation.
If your goal is to sell the furniture
you make, your first order of business
ought to be finding out who sells what,
to whom, and how. As director of the
Gallery at Workbench in New York
City, I can tell you about our sales experience.
You may be able to use it to better
your own prospects.
Ask yourself first if your reason for
making furniture is really to sell it.
Some woodworkers build a piece on
speculation, to showcase their talent,
hoping to generate commissions. Some
want publicity, or to be discovered by
sympathetic art galleries. Then, too, lots
of furniture is made for the sheer handson
joy of it, for the satisfaction that
comes from self-expression. Such pieces
may be as much art as furniture, and
there is a limited collectors' market. If
artistic self-expression or complicated
technical challenge is your reason for
making, however, it's unrealistic to
superimpose the goal of selling your
work to the general public.
Cradles and music stands are cases in
point. They present worthy aesthetic
and technical challenges, yet they don't
often sell in our gallery. We think it is
because babies don't remain small enough
long enough to justify a $1500 crib
whose mattress is the wrong size for
standard sheets, and because most musicians
are in the same tax bracket as
woodworkers, and buy the $29.95 adjustable
metal stand.
To find out what is wanted and
needed, ask your potential outlets what
has sold there. The answer will depend
on the geographic area and the type of
business-shop, store, boutique, fair or
gallery. If you think you want to sell,
you can be sure these businesses do too.
Find out who the typical buyer is, what
Notes and Comment
So there 's a terrific exhibition of woodworking
going on in your
cr
town? Just
finishing some unusual project? Got a
theory you 'd like to try on the woodworking
world, a beef you want to air,
some news to share? Send text and photographs
(preferably with negatives) to
Notes and Comment, Fine Woodworking,
Box 355, Newtown, 06470.