"Never start something you won't finish." :)

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  • Jim Barry
    Forum Newbie
    • Feb 2006
    • 18
    • Nova Scotia, Canada
    • Ryobi bt3000, purchased 199 or 2000...so long ago! :)

    "Never start something you won't finish." :)

    First a flashback....I remember...way back in grade two I was in art class. I was half way through painting a picture and didn't want to finish it. The art teacher looked down at me and said, "Never start something you won't finish." He said it with such conviction that it was probably one of the few lessons that have stuck with me, though all the years, through all the projects, through all of the decision making in business and life in general.

    Now skip ahead twenty years...to the mid 1990's. I was working in the workshop, cutting a piece of plywood with a circular saw. Using my Ryobi BT3000 tablesaw as a flat surface. Table saw and sliding miter table are made of aluminium. Being aware not to have the circular saw depth to low as to cut through the tabletop, I was careful but I still had to cut through the plywood of course. So keep away from the tablesaw my mind told me. The body didn't listen to the brain and I proceeded to make a 3/8" deep kerf cut into my sliding miter table.

    Now its present day...a couple hours ago matter of fact. I'm in my new home, in my new garage. Cutting plywood pieces to enclose the electrical panel and all its wires. So I place a full sheet of 1/4" plywood on my tablesaw, needing to cut off 51 inches. Ever mindfull of the accident I did back in the 1990's, I still use that same sliding miter table and the saw cut is still there. A constant reminder of what not to do. So I continue...mark the plywood, get it stable on the tablesaw, maneuver the plywood cut line "away" from the sliding miter table extension, adjust the blade and decide to go a little deeper, know it won't happen again.

    It happens again. Only this time I clean cut off my miter table extension. Carbide blade, aluminum metal...hardly a competition. The 4" of the extension falls to the floor and what do you think was the first thing that came through my mind?

    "Never start something you won't finish."

    **** happens and life goes on.
    Woowork Safely,
    Jim Barry
    Nova Scotia, Canada
    my site - WoodchuckCanuck.com
    my blog - Daily News (...welll, almost daily)
  • Dwight
    Forum Newbie
    • Feb 2006
    • 29
    • Shelburne Falls, MA, USA
    • BT3100-1

    #2
    My apologies....but your story really made me laugh out loud. It's got to be some kind of karma thing that you had to work out. Thanks for sharing.

    Dwight (ex-Quebecois)
    "Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside a dog, it's too dark to read."

    Comment

    • scorrpio
      Veteran Member
      • Dec 2005
      • 1566
      • Wayne, NJ, USA.

      #3
      I guess you mean that you finally 'finished' your SMT. Riddle me this, though - it is widely known that for optimal performance, blade height should be set only about 1/16 - 1/8" higher than material thickness. When I cut 1/4" ply, I set the blade at most 3/8" deep...

      Comment

      • Jim Barry
        Forum Newbie
        • Feb 2006
        • 18
        • Nova Scotia, Canada
        • Ryobi bt3000, purchased 199 or 2000...so long ago! :)

        #4
        Dwight...love the quote on your signature. As for karma...I had it coming.

        Scorrpio...I typical set 1/4" below. For thin plys I go deeper especially if the work surface is a bit uneven.
        Woowork Safely,
        Jim Barry
        Nova Scotia, Canada
        my site - WoodchuckCanuck.com
        my blog - Daily News (...welll, almost daily)

        Comment

        • Russianwolf
          Veteran Member
          • Jan 2004
          • 3152
          • Martinsburg, WV, USA.
          • One of them there Toy saws

          #5
          hey jim,
          look in the member classifieds
          Mike
          Lakota's Dad

          If at first you don't succeed, deny you were trying in the first place.

          Comment

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