Woodworking advice...

[CADman_ks]

CadMan,

First, don't buy a 5 gallon pail, it'll go sour before you use it all unless your really cranking out big projects. On that note, I've had a 1/3 full gallon of the old Target Oxford W/B last 2 years, it did eventually sour and I tossed it. That was back when it was $35 / gallon. LOL
Water Based top coats look bluish on their own if applied to untinted light colored wood, I like a schedule of BLO / De-waxed Shellac / General Finishes High Performance Gloss. If you don't like gloss or prefer satin you can always pull the gun back 12" and give it a dusting as a final coat.
Go buy a water based set of tints, then you can tint / match any color that you like. (cheap at a real paint store (Not a box store, they use cheap colorants)) Other wise invest in some Transtints from Homestead Finishing.
I personally like the liquid as I find it easier/ smoother to mix. PLUS you can mix it with Alcohol and spray it. Spraying Tints/dyes and stains are the ONLY way to go IMO. I recently matched a white ring to an aged golden finish on a 98 year old Banjo I refinished. Sprayed on the tints until I was happy with the match. Nailed it.

Use 2 medium coats of DeWaxed shellac {Bullseye SealCoat}(DEWAXED) as a grain filler and you should be able to get away with one Quart of top coat on your Cornhole boards. Maybe use a cheaper top coat on the underside? Meh. Or 3 coats of dewaxed shellac on the underside? 3 coats of dewaxed shellac is asking for crazing, but if it's on the underside who cares?

Your price seems reasonable for such a quality product, enjoy your learning process. It's always a process.
Ron

Ron,

How long would one expect a gallon of General Finishes Pre-Cat lacuqer to last, once it's been opened? Any ideas???

[Renron]

Cadman,
Sorry, I can't help you with estimate of how long it will last. Give them (GF) a call. They'll be glad to help. Phone: +1 414 426 0194
Ron

[CADman_ks]

Cadman,
Sorry, I can't help you with estimate of how long it will last. Give them (GF) a call. They'll be glad to help. Phone: +1 414 426 0194
Ron

No worries!

Thanks for the phone number! I'm doing some work for a client, and we're testing this stuff on his project first. We will actually use most of the gallon he's going to buy on his project, so I don't think that there will be any left. I just was more curious than anything what the shelf life was...

[CADman_ks]

Rabbet tool...

I don't know how others trim out the rabbet on speakers, but I've generally gotten lucky in the past, that I didn't have to have any special router bits. I used the standard 3/8" or 1/2" rabbet and that always worked. Recently, however, I had a project, not a speaker, that I had to cut some rabbets, and I needed them to more precise than increments of an 1/8".

I turned to Amazon, and picked up a set of these. These aren't the cheapest ones on there, and they're not the most expensive either, middle of the road. So far, I've been very happy with the quality of these bits, and for no more often than I have to use them, they will last me a long time, and if they don't, I just get another set, as they are not all that expensive. These work really nice for the rabbets, because if you start with a smaller rabbet, you can change the bearing to the next size up, until you get the fit that you're after:

These are the Amazon links:

https://smile.amazon.com/Yonico-14706-Rabbet-Router-Bearing/dp/B00KZM1XEA?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07193K7WK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[technodanvan]

I love my set of bits like this, extremely handy to have.

[JonMarsh]

Next up, a review of how to setup the DeWalt DWS780 for 16" depth cuts- for those who might be considering making cabinets like the Isiris top module or Osiris Midrange/Tweeter module. I think this has been discussed before, perhaps just briefly, but for those curious about this, perhaps this would be useful- and I did this again for finishing the top section test cabinet, and this gave me a chance to do a documentation of the process, to inform anyone considering the same tasks.


The DWS780 has two standard rear fence guides which have to be removed to extend the cutting depth. Twist on bolts with handles are provided for attaching these, and are quick and easy to remove.




This is what the DWS-780 looks like with these removed- note the slight tabs at the back of the slots where the normal fences slide in- those will be your working rear fence after fabricating and installing a new cutting board platform.





The elevated cutting platform is fabricated from two 3/4" pieces of MDF that are 24" long and 15" wide. Why 15" deep? It needs to be deep enough to have material to hold it together at the front after making deep cuts, but shallow enough that you can operating the angle setting lock and be able to stick a flashlight under the board and read the angle setting from the scale.

They must be glued together stacked up, to make a piece that is 1-1/2" thick. As an experiment, out of curiosity, I glued them together with Gorilla glue, and I must say that was "entertaining" but not something I'll likely repeat. However, the glue junction is quite strong- undoubtedly stronger than the MDF.




I attached the cutting platform board with 3" #12 stainless screws- it's convenient to drill pilot holes with the board on the saw, then remove and drill out the holes to the necessary depth. I inserted and tightened slightly a screw at each position, leaving them in, to be sure they were all well aligned.

[JonMarsh]

Then, all of the pilot holes have to be drilled out, and the cutting platform board can be attached with the 4 #12 screws.





One of the things I still like about this ten year old saw is the XPS, or Crosscut Positioning System- a fancy name for a light that illuminates the blade in such a way that it casts a shadow that shows exactly where it will cut when you bring it down to the working piece. Newer saws like my Bosch have a laser indicator, but this old fashioned approach works quite well.





The last thing to do to get this ready is to make an initial index guide cut in the platform board. I'm pretty much only going to be making 90 degree cuts relative to the vertical, so for now I just made one sample cut to show you. When making cuts at other angles relative to the fence (we're going to need 78 degrees and 73 degrees on this project) I recommend making similar cuts without the working material first.

[JonMarsh]

That's a good question. You see, when the DWS-780 was introduced, it was sort of an "open source secret" that it was designed so that this could be done. However, there is no mention of it in the manual.

You sort of had to be a woodworking insider, and read the right column? And as you know, that hardly describes me...

My Bosch is in storage- when I see it next, I'll have a close look. But to me, it's obvious that this was some sort of design consideration for the DWS780 for those more "knowledgeable" and "practiced in the arts" to get a bit of extra utility out of their DWS780.

Of course, being the wires and sparks guy, I have no right to be messing around with this, but then, this is WHY I bought the DWS780 to begin with, for the Isiris, because I knew I would need it. I don't know if this will work on any other DeWalt models. The key is the height of the back fence support (1-1/2") and those relatively short tabs at the back, plus the through holes that you can put the 3" long #12 screws through.