Build a Tetris DVD (or book) shelf

Step 6 The Table Saw

Here we are at the table saw. Take nine of your now eighteen 10" boards and move them aside, because they are cut correctly. Adjust the table saw so a 45 degree angle titled toward the wood. Set the height so that the saw blade is just barely above the height of the wood. You don't want to lose a finger. The guide on the right side of the board has a handy little measuring tool, so adjust it to exactly 10". with the long end at the bottom, cut the board using a scrap piece first to test it. Look good? Okay, then continue. Take each of those boards in that stack and run them through the machine one by one. Do both sides so they are trimmed nice and evenly. With those guides you should be able to get them through no problem.

Next, do the same with six of the 20" boards (remember the 7th is already correctly cut). If your table saw is not large enough to cut the 30" and 40" boards like this, then you take it back to the miter saw and just flip it around. but be SURE that the cut goes on the right side and that you don't cut it too short. Remember the rule, measure five times, cut once.

Congratulations, you have now done the hard part. There is just one more thing we need to cut in order to make these pieces perfect.

Comments

[rakudrama]

I love this DVD shelf and I have been musing over making a bigger one for books. Tablesaws are pretty dangerous and you don't show or mention that you should be using a blade guard. The safety issue is very real. I know someone who lost several fingers in a tablesaw accident, and over 30,000 people are injured by tablesaws every year. Using the blade guard will drastically reduce the chances that a slip, distraction, or the release of intermal stresses in a board will result in a hospital visit. http://journals.lww.com/jtrauma/Abstract/publishahead/Nonoccupational_Table_Saw_Related_Injuries_Treated.99630.aspx

[glorybe]

Perhaps some personalities should never go near a table saw. I can tell you that pros often use no blade guard at all and often have no accidents in their entire working lifetime. Those that design or implement very expensive prototypes often work with their fingers a tiny fraction of an inch away from open blades. Frankly for these folks it is just not an issue at all. But I am talking personalities that would not be distracted by a small bomb going off near them. I spent several years in a model shop with quite a few workers and without guards or kerf keepers ever being in use there was never a single scratch on any worker in that shop. Yet in cabinet shops I know that carbide often leaves blade tips and workers usually are not prepared for what happens. Protection for the entire face as well as the throat is essential and I have know pro cabinet makers that used old phone books over their chest area. That still left a few incidents where carbide acted like little bullet wounds in their arms. I suspect that too many individuals use saws for too many purposes in cabinet work and due to blade prices they push those blades too long before sharpening and replacements.

[roboguy]

Neat project! I would also add a little table-saw advice. You shouldn't run a beveled edge along a fence with the bevel facing up (e.g. the point of contact with the fence is at the bottom). The bevel can slip underneath the fence in some places, and this will result in an uneven cut or binding/kickback. I'd just use the miter gauge, or some sort of jig.

[drmastermind]

Other than that great project. I'll have to try to build some for my kids room when I get back from Korea :) have you had any problems with the but joints failing? I think if you have access to a biscuit joiner you could probably use it to reinforce the joint, or possibly a spline. one safety note though... you shouldn't cut a board using both the miter gauge and the fence together or you run the risk of kickback should the wood bind between the blade and the fence. Attach a stop block to the fence and use that to set up the length then run it across with the miter gauge.

[nitrohelix]

Agreed. Thanks for that kickback tip! My friend and I are first time table saw users and werent sure if we should use both for accuracy. We would like to cut the wood right 1st time around lol

[odecom5]

with the combo of nails and glue, these joints aren't going anywhere. i sat on the square one, and it didn't even crack or bow or anything. thanks for the safety tips :)