In Part One and Part Two of this Building a Live Edge Slab Table series I showed how I went about flattening, sanding, and finishing all parts of the slab in order to turn it into a tabletop.The last part of the puzzle is the table base. Continue reading
With the live-edge slab flattened (Part 1), the real question is what to do with it? In my case, I decided that the slab is well-suited for a long, narrow table such as a buffet or sideboard in a dining room or, a sofa table. My slab, while a nice wide 32″ at one end tapers at the other to a relatively narrow 18″. From a design standpoint, this presented a problem for keeping the slab whole, and in the end I decided it was best to cut the slab down to make a long slender top measuring roughly 19″ by 66″. This dimension provided for a live edge down the full length of one side and a small section of live edge on the other. It also allowed me to remove some defects at both ends when cutting the slab to length. Continue reading
I grew up watching my dad whittle caricature clowns and other whimsical items. He’d sit in his living room recliner with a towel across his lap and use nothing more than his pocketknife to make shavings to turn a block of wood into an eye-catching piece. His pocketknife was a little smaller than the no-name, old (but sharp) knife I carry in my pocket (photo below).
I was skeptical at first. Why would anyone need a blade so thin that it only cuts a 1/16″ kerf? Then I tried the Laser Thin-Kerf Table Saw Blade (010-046) by Infinity Cutting Tools. Not to sound too cliché, but it cut like a hot knife through butter. Seriously. It sliced through 2″-thick red oak, 3/4″ mahogany, and 3/4″ cabinet-grade birch plywood without flinching. And the resulting cut edge was flawless. Best of all, there was minimal, if any tearout. This is impressive, especially when cutting plywood. (A zero-clearance insert also helps immensely, regardless of the blade you’re using on your table saw.)
The table saw is arguably the most-used tool in the woodworking shop. Almost every piece of wood in a woodworking project is cut at least once at the table saw. But setting the rip fence for a cut is usually a trial-and-error process that can be frustrating. Adding a Wixey Digital Table Saw Fence Readout to the table saw fence eliminates this hassle, greatly increases accuracy, and is easily one of the best upgrades you can make to your table saw. Continue reading
Our time in the workshop should be relaxing and enjoyable. After all, isn’t that why we do woodworking? But, unfortunately, woodworking isn’t without some risks. A lot of us take for granted basic safety precautions. Let’s face it, safety in the workshop is mostly governed by common sense. Read the instructions for any power tool you use, keep your fingers away from the path of cutting edges like saw blades, chisels, drill bits, etc.
When it comes to the workshop, hearing and eye protection should also be a top priority. Flying sawdust and debris is a real danger, as well as damaging noise from routers, planers, and other power equipment. Getting in the habit of wearing hearing and eye protection will pay off down the road by helping to prevent ear and eye injury.
Getting in the habit of wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) is largely governed by how comfortable it is. We think we’ve got a great selection of PPE that not only offers protection, but is comfortable to boot. Continue reading
It certainly is a great time to be a woodworker. There are companies that specialize in all types of different lumber including slabs and, with a little digging, salvaged slabs to boot. As woodworkers, I think we all have the desire to work with the big stuff but it definitely can be intimidating. It’s not like we all have wide-belt sanders or CNC machines large enough to handle a slab the size of a dining room table, or even the size of a coffee table for that matter. Just about anyone can flatten and thickness even the largest slab. If your interested in working with the big stuff, stick around and I’ll show you how to go about flattening a slab using nothing more than a sheet or two of MDF, a Trition 3.25hp Plunge Router, and Mega Dado & Planer Router Bit. Continue reading
The most difficult task of making rail and stile doors for kitchen cabinets or furniture is making the cope cut in the ends of the rail. This is difficult because the workpiece is narrow and doesn’t have enough surface area to reference off of the router table fence. Also, the cope cut is made across the end grain of the workpiece and is prone to blowout as the workpiece passes the router bit. The Infinity Cutting Tools Pro Coping Sled COP-101 solves all of these problems and a few more that you may experience when building any form of frame and panel, glass panel, interior and exterior door, or many other joinery cuts at the router table or spindle shaper. Continue reading
Launching a new web site is never easy. But it’s something we knew we had to do here at Infinity Cutting Tools. Our old site was a great site to navigate but it wasn’t very mobile-friendly. So we’ve spent the last several months working on a total redesign to make it easier to find what you’re looking for and add it to your shopping cart. It works equally well whether you’re accessing it from your smartphone, tablet, laptop computer, or desktop PC.
Besides a new look with larger images and easier-to-read text, there are several features I want to point out. Continue reading
One of my jobs here at Infinity Cutting Tools is to scout out quality products to add to our expanding product offering. One product category I knew we had to add to our inventory is the handscrews made by Dubuque Clamp Works.
You see, there’s this little company in Iowa, the heartland of the U.S., that has been making quality clamps for over 40 years. And, as a friend of mine says, handscrews are classic, essential tools every woodworking shop must have.
Keith and Edna Clark are the owners of Dubuque Clamp Works and they only have a few employees. They want to keep it that way. They’d rather focus on producing quality woodworking clamps. They don’t even have a web site. (They tried once but had to remove it after they got swamped with orders.)
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