Canadian Woodworking Magazine eNewsletter

Delta/Porter Cable
Delta showcased two new exciting products: a new line of drill presses and the much anticipated Omnijig Joinery System. There are three models of the new drill press. The 17-959L ($649 list) is a 17" press with a tilting 14" x 18" table top specifically designed for the needs of woodworkers. It incorporates an integrated laser pod, 16 speed 3/4 HP motor, large non-tip base, integrated task light, and 5/8" chuck. The 20-950 ($899 list) is a 20" variable speed drill (200-2,500 RPM) with a 14" x 24" tilting table top, 6" quill stroke, large non tip base, and 1 HP motor. The real beauty is the 20" variable speed model 20-959LX ($1,099 list), which has a wider speed range (150 to 3,000 RPM), and a digital depth and speed readout. The LCD displays depth of drilling in .000" and 1/32" increments, and has a zero function that enables you to set for incremental depth drilling. The LED also has an automatic shut off. The spindle run out is guaranteed to be .008" or less, and the left and right tilting table top scale features 1° increments. This looks to be a super drill press. The Omnijig is one impressive dovetail/box joinery system. With it you can do variable spaced half blind dovetails, variable spaced through dovetails, sliding tapered dovetails, box joints, fixed spaced half blind dovetails and mortises and tenons. The Omnijig comes in both 16" ($399 list) and 24" ($569 list) models. They both feature textured top and front surfaces to prevent stock slippage, removable stops and built in tabs to ensure proper template alignment, pre-set router depth stops that simplify the task of measuring router bit depth before making a cut, a stabilizer bar that helps prevent router tipping, an optional dust hood that deflects most of the chips, adjustable fingers for variable spacing of pins and tails, One of the neatest features on this jig is the color-coded onboard instructions; with this you don't need to refer to an instruction manual, just follow the yellow brick road.
Delta 20-959LX	Digital readout
Porter Cable Omnijig	Perfect dovetails in minutes

Steel City Tool Works
Steel City is moving into granite in a big way. Not only are they offering granite table tops on their hybrid table saws (Models 35900G, 35905G, 35910G, 35915G), but it will be available on bandsaw table tops and jointer fences. In the Feb/Mar 08 issue of CWM we'll look a little more closely at granite as an alternative to cast iron. Legislation in the US will require riving knives on new table saws beginning in 2008. Steel City will incorporate a riving knife and guard system on all its hybrid table saws early in 2008 with the cabinet saws coming on-line by the spring or summer of 2008. Riving knives have been common on European table saws for quite some time. A riving knife is a metal blade installed behind the saw blade, and unlike a splitter, rises and lowers in tandem with the blade. The knife is curved, and covers the area behind the back of the blade. Part of its job is to keep stock pressed against the fence after it exits from the back of the blade. This design prevents an errant piece of wood from moving into the saw teeth, as well as preventing your hand from coming into contact with the back of the blade. Steel City is well know for its quick response in integrating user feedback into its product design. On the blade guards for new band saws you'll now find a small window that enables you to see the blade easily when the guard is lowered close down over stock. Another user suggested enhancement is yellow colored band saw tires instead of dark tires, which make it a lot easier to track blades.
Granite table top on 10" table saw Riving knife is a long overdue safety feature	Granite table top on bandsaw Granite fence on jointer
Window on bandsaw blade guard makes it easier to see what it is you're sawing	Yellow tires make blade tracking easier

General Canada
Of the several interesting products General Canada had on display the one that really caught our attention was their new 10" cabinet saw, model 50-560 ($4,999, until January 31, 2008), with an anodized European style sliding table and separate 1/2 HP motor for a scoring blade. The unit comes with either a 3 HP or 5 HP motor. It also features a see -through blade guard with dust port and quick release splitter. A sliding table is a fabulous accessory that until recently has been available only on smaller hybrid saws and much more expensive imported European saws. Sliding tables make repetitive cutting much easier and safer; both your stock and the table move in unison. The General slider looks to be well thought out and was a real smooth operator. General also has an innovative bandsaw, model 90-200 (estimated $1,750) that features a rack and pinion head that enables you to use different blade lengths. The bandsaw also features a telescoping blade guard and a gauge to read the bevel angle built right into the table tip. The saw features all metal flywheels with dual speed (belt change on the lower wheel). The 90-200 will be available in early 2008.
Sliding table with adjustable fence and work hold down	Bandsaw with variable blade feature
Dual speed via belt change on the lower bandsaw flywheel Bevel scale built into the bandsaw table top	Telescoping blade guard on the bandsaw

King Canada

King Canada's new router table ($399) has a number of great features including:

a solid aluminum extruded fence with hold downs and feather boards and grooves for your own devices
sectional melamine inset fences close the gap to accommodate any diameter of bit
shim bars for the outfeed to use as a jointer or fully remove and profile and edge
router plate takes any router, is height adjustable and has removable insert rings for bit sizes
standard size aluminum mitre gauge slot
dust collection at the fence and the cabinet
lots of storage below
a sealed compartment to contain the dust
remote safety switch

King Router Table

Oneway
Oneway displayed a prototype CNC lathe that was garnering a lot of attention. According to the folks at Oneway, the CNC unit, which is about the size of a microwave, was reasonably straightforward to build. The software to run the unit was considerably more complex to develop. Developed in conjunction with Professor Sanjeev Bedi at the University of Waterloo, the Oneway CNC System is designed to enable users to build complex legs and spindles without having to know anything about CAD, or CNC for that matter. The user mounts a piece of stock onto the lathe, and the software takes care of everything else. You select from a menu of various key components (for example, leg mount, transition, body, foot) specify specific design criteria (such as length of the mount, radius on different parts of the transition) and the software calculates the final design (which you can refine before committing to production). The Oneway CNC System is still in the prototype stage, but if you are interested you can contact Kevin Clay at Oneway or Kevin Moule at the University of Waterloo.
Oneway CNC System	Sample CNC Turnings
Screen Shot of the CNC Software Menu

Dimar Canada

It seems that insert tooling is becoming mainstream. Dimar Canada introduced a new line of insert router bits. Essentially this is a router bit that has a body onto which replaceable carbide inserts are attached by means of a torx screw. When one face of the insert becomes dull or chipped, you simply rotate the insert to The benefits are hard to ignore:

Inserts are high quality carbide, manufacturer to strict tolerances
Never needs sharpening
No downtime on the job
Economical, cost less than to re-sharpen
Indexable, so it always keeps the same diameter
Easy to replace, Do-it-Yourself style
Blade is fixed directly into the body; no wedges are used
Standard blades available anywhere

A selection of Dimar insert

Federated Tool Supply
Federated Tool Supply a dealer for Mini Max machinery, had the C26 Genius on display, It's an ideal combined universal machine for the advanced do-it yourself woodworker. It incorporates a 10" table saw with sliding table, 10 1/4" jointer, 10 1/4" planer, 1 1/4" shaper and an optional mortising unit. The unit is powered by three 2.6HP motors. Changing from one machining function to another is simple, quick and safe.

Felder Canada
The Felder line of precision woodworking machinery have been available in Canada since 2000, though the Wooden Edge in Winnipeg. The company is now taking a more prominent role with the opening of two new sales outlets (Calgary, Toronto). There are three lines of machinery available from the Felder Group: Format-4 (industrial line), Felder (professional woodworker) and Hammer (dedicated hobbyist woodworker). Felder showed quite a few machines at the WMS, including the Hammer C3-31 combination machine (10" sliding table saw, 12" jointer, 12" planer, and four speed 1 1/4" shaper), and the Hammer A3 jointer/planer (12" jointing and planing width with a 55" jointer bed length). For the spatially challenged these machines cut the mustard and more.
C3-31 in jointer mode	C3-31 in planer mode