I find turbines a bit easier to use but you need to budget for a good one. The Earlex 5500 is the entry point and the Apollo and Fuji may be well worth the extra money.

The big advantage of the turbines are that they are easily portable. The disadvantage is that they are strictly HVLP.

The advantage of a compressor and separate guns is that you can get different guns relatively cheaply and spray more finishes. You can also run air tools etc. The disadvantage is that a good compressor and HVLP gun will usually cost you more than a comparable turbine system and they aren't very portable.

BTW what do you think that you need a 3HP compressor for? Are you running a cabinet shop?

I took that as a bit of satire on his part, but may be wrong.

Yes, it is very interesting. Thanks for posting it.

Wouldn't it be great if someone fluent in Japanese did a translation, or voice over...

I used to do this before I had a planer (yes, you read that right).

I don't like resawing this way because I have to remove the guard and splitter and the blade is often raised quite high.

When it works well, the output is nice and flat.

But if the wood has any internal tension, which in my experience is pretty common with 8/4 KD material, the wood will start to pinch the blade. Best case I get burn-marks on the wood; worst case, the saw tries to kickback.

Taking multiple passes with shallower cuts - such as for wide or really hard or burn-prone species - kind of negates the problem but then its no faster than a bandsaw and any wood movement between passes means I don't end up with nice parallel surfaces either.

-Mark

My just received LN catalog says up to 4" for their holdfast, with a 3/4" dia. bore hole. No minimum specified.

If your drafting table top is sugar pine, and the rest is available, you may find it worth more that way then converted to a work bench.

Since you are talking about a relatively small piece of wood, I think you will be fine to use it. The problem with burl is that the grain runs in all directions so the shrinking and swelling is not along just one dimension. Consequently, they develop cracks as the wood movement fights within the block. The smaller the piece, the less problem. Really chaotic burls won't have much structural strength so if this burl would make lights out veneer, you will need to consider if it has enough strength for your needs. Ken

Mike (the other half of TGIAG) and I were talking today about offering saw kits. These would include a spine, saw nuts, a medallion, and a wooden handle. Now the wooden handle would be cut to the overall shape of the finished one but be missing the holes for the hardware as well as the final carving that makes the handle comfortable to use. But we're thinking of making the cut for the saw plate (since we have a set up for that)

We were going to start with some small saw first. You know, a dovetail or maybe 12" tenon saw. The handles would be cherry or walnut. Depending on what we could get flat or quarter sawn. They would also be CNC cut to overall shape. (There is NO way we'd NOT loose money if we did them by hand!)

The game plan would be that (since we know what handle pattern is used) the saw plates would feature the drilled holes.

So let's talk about what size kit you'd like to see offered. 10" dovetail? 12" Carcass saw? 14" Tenon or Sash saw? What handle pattern? I'm favoring the Disston D-4 handles because of the lines. They are simpler and will work better with a CNC set up (at least I think so).

Spray adhesive. I use 3M "Super 77" though it is a bit tough to remove when the paper needs to be change. A craft-grade spray adhesive would be easier to work with.

Its better than the one you have now.

Here's Roy's link on making a "tallow pot"...

http://video.pbs.org/video/1425807116/