Grain Direction

[trido]

Regarding compound miter saws. No such thing as a good and inexpensive one. If its a one time use thing for you. Ryobi or Delta. If you want a saw that can take a beating (tools thrown on top of, etc) and still be within a 1/4 degree of accuracy in a few years. I loved my last couple Hitachi saws. And lastly, The DeWalt 12" saw has been good to me so far. Its truely not old enough to tell the "test of time". Bleedinthought makes an excellent point about the ability to make a bigger cut with a 12". You cant cut a miter on a 2x6 with a 10" saw without flipping the board.

Are you building the whole face of the stand out of one sheet of plywood? If so you likely wont have a choice but to run the grain vertical unless you can special order a sheet with the grain opposite of normal. If you do use plywood, your idea of using your cuttouts for the doors will work like a charm. Cut clean, use some trim to hide the cuts and viola' your done. Bleedingthoughts magnet holds will work great with that one as well.

 

[Anonymous]

Since I do not do carpentry for a living I do not want to invest hundreds of dollars into something I use once in a blue moon. On the flip side I do not want to buy a disposiable tool. I want something that will last the years with infrequent use.

I will have to look at the magnet idea. I could just have one large pannel the slips in and out.

 

[Anonymous]

Buy an affordable table saw with a good fence and miter gauge and you will be set for many small projects.

 

[Anonymous]

They take more room to store and I have been buying attachments for my skill saw to rip and such so I really do not want a table saw at this point in time.

 

[Anonymous]

Waz, if you're not going to be doing A LOT of finish carpentry, go with either the dewalt or the delta $100 saw. BUT: spend some time setting it up so it cuts nice and square. TAKE LOTS OF TIME AND YOU'LL BE REWARDED later.

And I run the grain with the long side of the stand. Remember, your eye will 'follow' straight lines. if you run the grain up/down, your stand will look taller. If it's side/side, the stand will look wider. You can use this to your advantage if you're careful. a small squat stand will look taller if you run the grain up and down.

On my last stand, i ran the grain up/down. On the canopy, it's side/side. That's the pieces of wood I had, so I made it work.

Also, think of cabinet builders. Back when they used solid lumber. They would run the boards the way they would be easiest, and strongest.

B

 

[Anonymous]

I do not plan on doing lots of carpentry. Things like the tank stand and a bit of trim work from time to time. I think I will run the grain side-side since it will make the citting and fitting less difficult.

 

[trido]

For long rip cuts with your skill saw you can clamp a straight edge onto the plywood as a fence . No need for a table saw. I have built alot of custom cabinetry/shelving in people driveways and would recommend a skill saw over a table saw for long rip cuts when your by yourself. A full sheet of ply is real awkward and dangerous when ripped alone on a table saw.
Get on out there and buy yourself a semi decent compound miter saw so you can hide all of those plywood edges with nice trim work.

And the build begins... Good luck. Oh, and have fun doing it too!!

 

[Anonymous]

Waz, I think you are hearing our incredulity that a there is a guy out there that does not want to spend absolutely as much as he can get away with on a tool

Dewalt 12in chop saw, or their 10in with the slides.

I know, I know... But you can re-sell them in a Heartbeat when you are done if you are not into having tools sit around and not be used. And you'll have one of the best tools in the business to do the job with.

I never saw so many tool recommendations in a thread about wood grain

 

[Anonymous]

I go the 10" hitachi compound miter. It was $137 at Lowes. Working good so far. It was just a tad small to make a 45 cut on a 2x6. but not a big deal.

 

[Anonymous]

The new toy