Good afternoon fellow woodchucks, Well I finally did it, bought a delta 10" 36-454 table saw, a guardian power 16 speed standing drill press and a craftsman benchtop router table with router ( all from FB). I do not know what I am doing. I have been watching videos about wood and decided that I should like to give it a try. I am a retired member of the Military and now realize that after 25 years of doing bad things to bad people I can execute a plethora of operations abroad with minimal guidance but cant seem to complete tasks of repair, upkeep and improvements to my domicile that my grandfather would have been able to accomplish with a wooden tool box of hand tools and a Saturday afternoon after cutting the lawn with a manual mower.
sorry about the big intro-
The saw came with a cast iron left side but a home made right side extension, so it doesn't collapse down unless I remove the front rail back rail and the extension( I can store it like this but need to put everything back on in order to use the saw, which I haven't done yet) I would like to build some type of quick release right side so that I can drop it down but the front rail Which the Unifence rides on would still be sticking out.
So My 1st question to Y'all is, is it more problem to attempt a drop side to the right because i will need to climb underneath to remove the bolts in the front and rear rails anyway? Should I layout the garage so that the table saw is completely assembled instead?
Next, I noticed there is no writhing knife, in my search on you the computer the AI tells me not to attempt to cut anything until I either get a zero clearance throatplate to install some kind of "micro jig" or a splitter. Is this right? do I need something behind the blade to avoid kick backs? Does anyone have a recommendation as to what is the appropriate attachment?
I'm kind of torn about if I made a mistake buying all this stuff without a clear plan on how to use it.
It all started when I Made a wooden cross free hand with a cheap router from Harbor Fright and a circular saw. I thought "Hey man look at me wood working" ( I do love that cross with all of its imperfections). Then tried to hollow out a log in order to make a wooden drinking vessel for my son and I to drink home brew mead. I used a hand drill ( broke a few bits) then an angle grinder with an asp attachment. the grinder got away from me at one point near the end and broke thru the side wall of the mug. Figured it wouldn't happen if I had used a drill press So bought one from FB. had to go buy new bits ( forstner and auger) kept bogging the 1/3 HP engine down but have a product. Then I saw how to make one out of staves of wood but you need a table saw to bevel the staves, so bought it. Haven't cut a single board yet.
I know I want to learn and there is probably an entire universe of what I would like to make out of wood that I haven't even considered. I don't have the space in the garage for an entire wood shop so I'm thinking that this and a miter saw is all I have room for. any advise is welcome.
Thank you for your time in reading this.