Choosing a Verical Panel Saw or Slider A question about choosing a panel saw slips into familiar territory: would a slider be better? That all depends, of course; cabinetmakers here share experiences they've had with both. November 23, 2012
Table Saw Safety Accessories A long discussion on the utility and practicality of guards, splitters, and automatic blade brakes. November 26, 2007
Table Saw Blade Height Above Material Here's a long, thoughtful discussion of the practical and safety aspects of setting blade height when working with a table saw. November 13, 2009
Sliding Table Saw Accuracy Cabinetmakers discuss how to tune up a slider and provide tips for accurate cutting. January 13, 2009
A Sliding Table Saw in a Small Work Space Here's another long discussion of the value of sliding table saws, and the practical aspects of fitting one into a small shop footprint. July 29, 2012
Radial Arm Saw Cut Tolerances After a discussion of the inherent roughness of radial arm saw cuts, a woodworker gets his unit tuned up for fine cuts on melamine. October 14, 2009
Plunge Cut Circular Saw Versus Table Saw For a part-time shop, can a high-quality circular saw and guide setup take the place of a table saw for panel cutting on small jobs? June 3, 2009
Expanding Table Saw Capacity Woodworkers discuss choosing a second table saw, building on an outfeed table, using a "shoot board," and other ways to expand panel ripping and crosscutting capacity. August 3, 2009
Value of a Sliding Table Saw Cabinetmakers discuss whether, and why, a sliding table saw is worth having around when other tools can do (sort of) the same thing.April 29, 2012
Shopping for a Panel Saw Advice on how to get your money's worth for a panel saw, and thoughts on choosing a slider or a track-guided circular saw instead. May 28, 2010
Squaring Up a Sliding Table Saw Pros walk a newcomer through the steps of getting a slider trued up for accurate rips and crosscuts. February 20, 2008
Eliminating Melamine Chip-Out Suggestions for blade choice and equipment tweaks that will help reduce chip-out when cutting melamine on the table saw. May 6, 2010
Melamine Chipping on a Sliding Table Saw A cabinet shop goes through the learning curve cutting melamine on an entry-level slider. The discussion covers blade choices, sharpening, setup, adjustments, and technique. August 8, 2008
Cutting Square on the Table Saw The main pitfalls are that your stock is out of square from the factory, and that table saw fences move. Here are tips on squaring up panel cuts. December 11, 2006
Boring Machines Casework assembly methods that rely on evenly-spaced 32-mm holes are most efficient when you have high-volume precision equipment to bore the holes. Here's a rundown on the options in machinery for that purpose. September 18, 2008
Buying a Used Beamsaw Input from users and maintenance techs on what to watch out for when buying a pre-owned beamsaw, and advice about teardown, transport, and re-assembly.July 29, 2011
Shopping for a Slider Comparing and contrasting two makes of sliding table saw, with comments about the fine points of user-friendliness. February 2, 2011
Choosing Table Saw Blades Thoughts on table saw blade selection for cutting plywood and for ripping hardwood. March 26, 2010
Sliding Table Saws — New Versus Used When the budget is tight, a used high-end slider can be a better value than a brand new low-end machine.November 15, 2011
Shopping for a Used Slider Cabinetmakers discuss the desireable and undesirable attributes to consider in purchasing a previously owned sliding table saw on a budget. November 15, 2011
Budget Alternatives to a Sliding Table Saw If a slider's not in the budget, what are the alternatives? Cabinetmakers discuss table saw attachments, vertical panel saws, and track saw packages. April 6, 2011
Shop-Built Sliding Table Saw Sled Decisions Advice on whether to build a shop-rigged table saw sled, buy a sliding table attachment, or step up to a professional-grade slider. January 19, 2011
Budget Cross-Cutting Solutions Suggestions on gearing up for wide panel cross-cuts without investing in an expensive sliding table saw. March 25, 2007
Sliding Table Saw: Manual or Digital? Cabinetmakers consider how to assess the productivity benefits of a digital or computer-controlled slider. November 15, 2010
Upgrading the Table Saw Where do you go when you step up from that old table saw? February 8, 2008
Squaring up a Vertical Panel Saw Here's advice on tweaking a second-hand vertical panel saw into square (with the proviso that a trained tech will do it faster and better).February 16, 2014
Track Saws for Breaking Down Panels A tracked circular saw is no substitute for a panel saw or sliding table saw, but it's a productive tool that's worth the investment. October 13, 2010
Slider, Panel Saw, or Festool? "All three" is the easy answer; but here are some thoughts for the cabinetmaker who is forced to choose. April 29, 2012
Squaring Up a Cross-Cut Sled Getting a cross-cut table-saw sled jig squared up just right is a finicky and time-consuming process. June 30, 2007
Cabinetmaking Forum -- 32mm: Imperial Versus Metric Frameless cab systems use metric measurement. Your crew will make the transition with ease, but you'll still need to talk feet and inches to most customers. August 29, 2006
Cutting Veneered MDF on a Bevel Tips on blade selection and table-saw technique for clean cuts on veneered panels. November 28, 2006
Whether to Keep the Slider Does a sliding table saw earn its keep when there's also a CNC in the shop?February 1, 2011
Beam Saw Cut Quality Assuming the saw is well set up and in tune, you rarely see chipout when cutting stacked panels on a beam saw. March 26, 2012
Squaring a Sliding Table Saw Advice on how to adjust the fence on a slider to restore its ability to make accurate, precise cuts. January 13, 2015
CNC V-grooving Suggestions for tooling and techniques. March 23, 2002
Blade Life when Cutting Melamine Melamine tears up saw blades. Here are some observations on blade life expectancy, some thoughts on blade choice, and a success story involving diamond blades. August 14, 2007
Buying a Sliding Table Saw A second-hand, high-quality slider is a good investment. Here are tips on tuning it up and getting the best out of it. February 16, 2012
Sawblades 101 Select the right blade for the job with this quick rundown of blade characteristics. January 7, 2007
Blade Life in Melamine Cabinetmakers discuss triple chip blades, hollow ground blades, blade sharpness, and equipment adjustments to get long performance from blades. January 26, 2009
Double-Refined MDF Double-refined MDF provides a cleaner, smoother machined edge. But there are also ways to improve the edge of standard MDF. November 5, 2007
Drying Siberian Elm Slabs Prone to warpage and bug damage, Siberian Elm is tricky wood to dry. March 31, 2008
Setting Up a New Slider Nine out of nine doctors agree: have the supplier's tech set up your brand new sliding table saw for you. Do not do it yourself. January 23, 2014
Troubleshooting Curved Rips in Melamine Cuts coming out curved when you rip melamine? It's probably due to stresses in the material, not a problem with the table saw. August 14, 2007
Beam Saw Versus Sliding Table Saw Which to buy, slider or beam saw? Versatility, productivity, and ease of maintenance are issues to consider. August 24, 2008
Drum Sander Sanding Marks Drum sanders typically leave "washboard" contact marks, so that sanded pieces still require hand sanding with a random-orbit sander. March 13, 2007
How to Saw Curved Panels Advice on cutting up bowed panel stock for making curved cabinet doors. February 13, 2009
Foreign Material in Sheet Stock People have found nuts, bolts, wrenches, nail sets, and sheet rock knives embedded in sheets of MDF or plywood. September 3, 2011
Is CNC Equipment Practical for a One-Man Shop? A long and thorough analysis of the value of an investment in CNC equipment for the small shop, this thread should be read by anyone considering the upgrade to CNC. August 23, 2006
Cost of running a CNC router Choosing the right CNC machine based on projected capabilities and costs. November 29, 2000
Nested Base Versus Beam Saw and PTP A closet system fabricator and installer describes his journey through various shop equipment situations. May 26, 2014
Drawers and the Utilization of Space Why slide-integrated drawer systems are less costly to produce and provide greater space efficiency than traditional drawer construction. 1998.
Why Does Plywood Warp? An extended technical and practical discussion of dimensional instability in plywood panels. January 20, 2010
Chinese Plywood Cabinetmakers complain about the quality of hardwood plywood imported from China. April 13, 2012
32mm manual vs NBM setups Will any efficiency be gained by adding high-tech equipment to a small shop? July 24, 2002
Compensating for Material Thickness Variations Thickness differences between pieces can cause trouble when machining parts out of sheet goods. But a savvy operator can work around the problem. August 29, 2006
Components--Not Cabinets A longtime adherent of the system process of cabinet manufacturing makes his case for componentizing. 1998.
Do Edgebanders Provide Perfect Output? Few, if any edgebanders will consistently produce panels that can pass your thumb's feel test — and none will without continual tending by a good operator. December 27, 2006
Think before you take the CNC plunge WOODWEB technical advisor Brian Personett offers some food for thought to those thinking about purchasing CNC equipment. November 15, 2000
Panel Processing Time with and without CNC A CNC shop and a cabinetmaker using conventional equipment compare the labor time used to cut up and bore an entire kitchen. January 1, 2012
CNC Versus Panel Saw Accuracy CNC equipment has a reputation for superior accuracy. Here, cabinetmakers discuss the reasons it may be so. March 25, 2007
Machining Scallops or Flutes into MDF Panels With CNC equipment, you can machine any kind of regular or irregular scallops, waves, or flutes into MDF — but it can be pricey, and makes a lot of dust. January 26, 2008
Bit Selection for a CNC Router A shop owner gets advice on what bits he'll need for his new CNC router, along with tips on bit care and re-sharpening. August 30, 2005
Stripes in Fir Plywood A cabinetmaker's finisher notices a strange defect in some Fir plywood, probably caused by grain compression that happened at the plywood mill. October 13, 2012
Dowel drilling and use guidelines A quick guide to dowel clearances and practices, including drilling depth, diameter-to-edge ratios, and dowel selection. 1998.