cutting round stock for wedges

[ljmathias]

Morning everyone (at least it's morning here):

I just finished up a set of legs for a workbench and was using through-tenons to brace the legs.  First I had problems getting the angle right on the hole drilled in the tenon but finally trial-and-errored that one.  Then I was thinking to save time on the wedges I needed: I drilled a hole at a slight angle (about 5 degrees is my best estimate) to the perpendicular of the tenon and set in so that it would draw the pieces together.  Then I took a pre-made oak peg and tried to "slice" it to the right thickness using a chop saw- almost took my hand off once and shot the peg out and about a couple of times.  Problem is the pegs are only about 8" long so it's real hard to hold while cutting (especially if you like your fingers).  Tried a jig- shot out of that when friction got a little high.  Tried pliers- almost got it sucked in to the teeth: sparks would have flown on that one!

Ok, so I've admitted how uncreative I am on this one- anyone got ideas how to cut a 1" diameter round-stock about in half with a slight angle?  Any (useful) suggestions appreciated- no need to remind me how unsafe my approach was and praise be, I still have all my fingers and my saw blade...

Lj

[WDH]

Put it in a vise and cut it by hand with a coping saw.

[getoverit]

Hand sawing is most likely going to be the safest shot on this one, but here is a trick you might try.

Cut a "V" into a length of 2x4 about the same length as the stock you are trying to saw and then lay the round stock into that "V" channel to hold it in place. The V will keep it from rolling around and should hold it securely enough to let you make the cut. If it still wants to roll around, try some double sided tape to hold it securely.

[Furby]

Band saw!

[Dodgy Loner]

I would probably use a Japanese ripsaw, but if you're going the power tool route, then using getoverit's jig with a bandsaw would be safe and effective.

[Sprucegum]

If I was only doing one or two I would wear'em down with a belt sander.

OR

Start with a piece long enough to hang on to, do the slice, then cut it to length.

[ljmathias]

Thanks, all- nuff ideas to try and I'm sure more than one will work.  My thought was also that the best way was to use a much longer piece, angle cut and chop off to length- just didn't have one laying around so I went with what was on hand and tried to make it work.  Impatience is handmaiden to necessity: the mother and daughter of invention.

Lj

[LeeB]

You might also remember "haste makes waste". Good thing you didn't waste your fingers trying to make the cut.

[ljmathias]

LeeB- thanks, I appreciate the warning and it's a battle I always fight, wanting to get something DONE and moving at a slow and careful pace.  Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose, but I always try to keep safety in mind as well...  Seems strange but much of life's work is based on "productivity" which is basically how much you can get done in a given amount of time.  This fosters the unsafe idea that faster is always better.  Striking that balance is one of life's major challenges, it seems to me, but as I get a little older and more experienced (not necessarily wiser, mind you) the balance moves more and more toward safer rather than faster.  Maybe that's why the best crews and teams seem to be composed of a few wizened and experienced leaders with lots of young, energetic and not-quite-as-safe workers.  There is some truth in what my sons often tell me, that their reflexes are faster and they "bounce" better than I do- no question about the latter.

Anyway, thanks again.

Lj

[LeeB]

Wood working should be enjoyable. Slow down a little and take the time for it. It's always faster to do it right once than do it twice. Don't think I'm picking on you Lj. Seems like my last few responces to you have been negative. No intent to push you the wrong way.

[ljmathias]

LeeB: no mis-intent taken; I appreciate the concern and you sound just like me talking to my sons about their plumbing business- hurry up and get it done is too often leading to revisits that cost profit.  I make progress everyday- making new habits is the key, and that just requires some concentration for a week or so and then the habit mechanism takes over.

Lj

[Ironwood]

I know you've gotten enough ideas but, As I look to the future and my three boys (and for that matter all my time in the shop on a daily basis) the bandsaw is by far one of the safest powered machines in the shop. I just picked up a bench top Craftsman circa 1950's to let my 6 year old use. There are very few REALLY dangerous senarios possible on a bandsaw. All my boys will start there. I am thinking this Craftsman will have a small 1/2 hp motor and a very "friendly" blade for starters, we may even start w/ styrofoam with an abrasive round band to get the basics. I try to do everything I can on the bandsaw, even sticker ripping. I sometiimes use a power feeder on my tablesaw, but try t ouse the bandsaw for safety reasons. 

              Ironwood

[ljmathias]

Ironwood- thanks, and that's one piece of workshop equipment I've been wanting.  I'll start looking for one right away- you can never have too many toys- oops- tools.

Lj

[Don P]

When my dad handed me my first coping saw he let me know that he considered it one of the more dangerous tools in the hand shop. That fine blade can remove a finger in less than a stroke.
Later in shop class our old teacher finally had to retire and we got a new teacher fresh out of State. He was a little flustered learning how to teach and work and while demonstrating the bandsaw he split his thumb right up the middle.
With round stock on a bandsaw if you try to cut something round and get off center it will try to roll. It cannot roll with the blade buried within it so things can get interesting real fast.

My try would be to bore a hole in a piece of square stock, insert the peg and slice. Hot melt glue is also a hand thing.

[Dodgy Loner]

When my dad handed me my first coping saw he let me know that he considered it one of the more dangerous tools in the hand shop. That fine blade can remove a finger in less than a stroke.

Your dad's coping saw must have been sharper than mine, or his fingers didn't contain bones ;).  I find that when working with hand tools, pain generally intervenes before any real damage is done.  Swiftly moving hand tools, such as axes, adzes, and hatchets are, of course, exempt from this generality.

[Cedarman]

I think that one of the reasons that spontaeous play is great for kids using the natural things around them, pots and pans, sticks, stones, water, mud, etc is that they become aware of the consequences of their actions.  They have in their minds eye what they want to happen and then when something completely different happens they gain an intuitive understanding of the physical laws of nature.

Doing things in a safe way is a consequence of all the  things we have done in the past and learned what happened when we did certain things.  People that are accident prone seem not to be able to foresee the consequences of their actions.

Opperating in a safe way is the ability to predict or foresee most of the probable outcomes of our actions.  By knowing, usually intuitively, the different ways things can react to our actions lets us take precautions.  A little example.  When tightening a nut with a wrench we have in our minds eye what we expect to happen. (The wrench turning the nut until it is as tight as we want it).  But experience has taught us that another outcome could be the wrench slips off the nut and mashes our knuckles between the wrench and the adjacent immovable object.   Also the whole bolt may turn and we need a backup wrench.  We could overtighten and strip the threads.  We could overtighten and break the bolt.  Now the trick is to do the same thing when we do things we have never done before. But we have done enough things in life that we compare what we are doing to something similar that we have done in the past.

Being safe is the ability to predict all possible outcomes and take the appropriate precaution to keep from hurting ourselves or what we are working on.

Parents working with their young kids is priceless because one of those things is teaching kids the consequences of their actons.

I hope this philosohical rant makes sense.  Life is a journey, enjoy the trip.

[Ironwood]

Great rant Cedarman. We have a number of sayings, including" keeping your weather eye out" like Burt Dow in one of our kid's favortie books. We use the "weather eye" to mean look for danger. Been teaching our 6 year old a ton of stuff. He held the welder (mig) breifly the other day while we worked on his homemade crane. We are wiring up some low voltage boom lights and a trailer lighting assembly.


           Ironwood