It's not been a bad week, managed to get an hour in after work every day, an afternoon on Saturday and nearly a whole day in today. New planer knives arrived on Monday, got those set up and have taken all the the stock down to size.
I previously owned a planer thicknesser with disposable, reversible knives. The Dewalt is different, now I have a set to use while the others are getting sharpened.
I can tell from the first pass the knife change was a little overdue, everything is coming out just a little bit smoother. I bought the best joinery grade Scandinavian redwood for this project, it’s heavy, straight grained and virtually knot free. There’s a tackiness to the touch I’m pleased about, that’s the resin, it’s natural preservative.
Wouldn’t have got anywhere on this project without the saw, I must admit it looks a bit like a toy in it’s basic form
The addition of extension rails and sliding carriage make for a very capable package. The fence can be used either side of the blade and it all breaks down to fit into the back of a car if needed. Now all the cutting is done I’m using it to hold the router table(s). It’s good in a small space to have things that will double up. I have managed to rout the profiles for the stiles and rails, and did the shoulder scribe for rails. It’s just a 45 degree bevel to emulate the putty line of the existing windows.
The joints are being done with loose tenons, time to dust off the horizontal router table.
Hi SplinterGroup and Pottz, the original windows are made from the same material, Scandinavian redwood, otherwise known as Scot's Pine or Pinus Sylvestris. They are the original windows and have lasted about 40 years. Would have been longer if the previous owners had kept on top of painting them.
A general comment on inverted router use. Most routers if used inverted require a deflector plate to be fitted. See this Makita 3600B for example. Check your DeWalt Model No and see if its suitable to be used inverted. The plate reduces the risk of fire from wood dust and foreign object entry damage.
My old table router threw a fan blade (internally). Took it apart and one of the vanes on the plastic fan decided to live elsewhere. I'm assuming that it had become damaged from some bit-o-wood getting sucked through.
I'd expect some older routers have metal fans which would be far better at taking the flack.
I looked up whether there was a Dewalt deflector plate for that router but there's no information to be found. The fan blows out from the bottom - i.e. upwards so not sucking any debris into the windings. I can see why you'd want one though.